Trent's Last Case by Edmund Clerihew Bentley [PDF]
by InfoBooks
Trent's Last Case by Edmund Clerihew Bentley is the 1913 detective novel that rewrote the rules of the genre. Before Agatha Christie, before the Golden Age, Bentley created a detective who was brilliantly, refreshingly fallible.
You can download this book in PDF format for free on InfoBooks. A mystery that still surprises readers more than a century after it was written.
Few people know this book, but it influenced every major mystery writer of the twentieth century. Dorothy L. Sayers said it shook the detective fiction world like a revolution. Ideal for fans of classic whodunits who want to discover where it all started.
Trent's Last Case by Edmund Clerihew Bentley
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Information: Trent's Last Case
- Author: Edmund Clerihew Bentley
- Publication Date: 1913
- Main Characters:
- Philip Trent: An artist, journalist, and amateur detective who is sent to investigate Manderson's murder. Intelligent and charming, but ultimately fallible in his deductions.
- Sigsbee Manderson: A powerful and ruthless American financier whose murder at his English estate sets the plot in motion.
- Mabel Manderson: The victim's young wife, who becomes the object of Trent's affection during the investigation.
- John Marlowe: Manderson's English secretary, a key suspect whose actions on the night of the murder are central to the mystery.
- Nathaniel Cupples: Mabel's uncle-by-marriage and an old friend of Trent, who provides crucial information and perspective throughout the case.
- Brief Summary: Trent's Last Case follows Philip Trent, an artist and amateur detective, as he investigates the murder of wealthy American businessman Sigsbee Manderson at his English country estate. Commissioned by a Fleet Street newspaper, Trent examines the scene, interviews the household, and constructs an elaborate theory of the crime. Along the way, he falls in love with the victim's wife, Mabel. The novel is famous for subverting the conventions of detective fiction by having its detective reach the wrong conclusion, a twist that stunned readers in 1913.
- Thematic Analysis: The novel explores the limits of logic and deduction, showing that even the cleverest mind can be led astray by assumptions and emotions. Bentley weaves in themes of love, perception, and the gap between appearances and reality. It is both a parody and a celebration of the detective genre, poking fun at the infallible sleuth while delivering a genuinely compelling puzzle.
- Historical Context: Published in 1913, Trent's Last Case was written as a direct response to the dominance of Sherlock Holmes in detective fiction. E.C. Bentley, a journalist and close friend of G.K. Chesterton, wanted to create a more realistic, human detective. The book is widely credited with launching the Golden Age of detective fiction and influencing writers like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Raymond Chandler.