The Three Taps
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''The Three Taps'' is a 1927
detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...
by the British author
Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an ...
. Written during the
Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. While the Golden Age proper is usually taken to refer to works from that period, this type of f ...
, it is the first in a series of five novels featuring the
insurance investigator An insurance investigator examines insurance claims that are suspicious or otherwise in doubt. Investigators in this field have differing specialties and backgrounds. Some insurance companies have their own in-house investigation teams while other ...
Miles Bredon. It has been suggested that Knox's portrayal of Miles Bredon and his wife Angela as a crime-solving couple may have influenced
Nick and Nora Charles Nick and Nora Charles are fictional characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel ''The Thin Man''. The characters were later adapted for film in a series of films between 1934 and 1947; for radio from 1941 to 1950; for television from 19 ...
's creation of
The Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...
. It was published in London by Methuen and in New York by
Simon and Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
.Reilly p.912 In 1930 the author was one of the founders of the
Detection Club The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Louisa Rickard, Baroness Orczy, ...
.


Synopsis

Mottram, a wealthy businessman from the
industrial town An industrial city or industrial town is a town or city in which the municipal economy, at least historically, is centered around industry, with important factories or other production facilities in the town. It has been part of most countries' ...
of Pullford in the
Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...
, has a
life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...
policy worth half a million pounds with the Indescribable Insurance Company of London. When Mottram's body is found
gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...
sed in the room he is staying in for a
trout fishing Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera ''Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the fam ...
holiday on the village of Chilthorpe about twenty miles away from Pullford, the Indescribable send in Bredon in the hope he will prove it is suicide and avoid a large payout. Meanwhile, his old friend
Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...
Leyland of
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...
arrives. While Bredon draws the conclusion that it was suicide, Leyland is convinced that is murder and begins to home in on suspects who include the dead man's secretary and his estranged nephew.


References


Bibliography

* Bargainnier, Earl F. ''Comic Crime''. Popular Press, 1987. * Barzun, Jacques & Taylor, Wendell Hertig. ''A Catalogue of Crime''. Harper & Row, 1989. * Corbishley, Thomas. ''Ronald Knox, the Priest''. Sheed and Ward, 1965. * Hubin, Allen J. ''Crime Fiction, 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography''. Garland Publishing, 1984. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Rooney, David. ''The Wine of Certitude: A Literary Biography of Ronald Knox''. Ignatius Press, 2014. * Shaw, Bruce. ''Jolly Good Detecting: Humor in English Crime Fiction of the Golden Age''. McFarland, 2013.


External links

* 1927 British novels British mystery novels Novels by Ronald Knox Novels set in London British detective novels British crime novels Methuen Publishing books {{1920s-mystery-novel-stub