''Constable Guard Thyself'' is a 1934

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

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 s ...

by the British writer

Henry Wade Henry Menasco Wade (November 11, 1914 – March 1, 2001) was an American lawyer who served as district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987. He participated in two notable U.S. court cases of the 20th century: the prosecution of Jack Rub ...

. It was the third in a series of seven novels featuring the character of

Chief Inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is use ...

Poole, although it was preceded by the 1933 short story collection ''Policeman's Lot'' in which seven of the twelve stories had featured Poole. After his more experimental novel '' Mist on the Saltings'' Wade returned to the traditional detective model.Magill p.1668

Synopsis

When the Chief Constable of the rural county of Brodshire is found shot to death in his office, his acting replacement reluctantly calls in the assistance 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 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

. Inspector Poole arrives to head the investigation in the face of hostility from the local police, a number of whom figure as prime suspects for the killing.

References

Bibliography

* Herbert, Rosemary. ''Whodunit?: A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing''. Oxford University Press, 2003. * Magill, Frank Northen . ''Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction: Authors, Volume 4''. Salem Press, 1988. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. 1934 British novels Novels by Henry Wade British mystery novels British thriller novels British crime novels British detective novels Constable & Co. books Novels set in England {{1930s-crime-novel-stub