''St Peter's Finger'' is a 1938

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

Gladys Mitchell Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell (21 April 1901 – 27 July 1983) was an English writer best known for her creation of Mrs Bradley, the heroine of 66 detective novels. She also wrote under the pseudonyms Stephen Hockaby and Malcolm Torrie. Fête ...

. It is the ninth in her long-running series featuring the

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

and amateur detective

Mrs Bradley Beatrice Adela Bradley is a fictional detective created by Gladys Mitchell. Mrs (later Dame Beatrice) Bradley is Mitchell's most significant and long-lived character, appearing in 66 novels that were published between 1929 and 1975. Life Mrs B ...

.Walton p.89

Synopsis

Mrs Bradley is called in to investigate a suspicious death at a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

school in the coastal settlement of St Peter's Finer, so-called because of its towering

church tower Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

. One of the students has been found dead in the bath, but it becomes clear that rather than drowning she has died from

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

poisoning.

Reception

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

reviewing the novel in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' under his pen name Nicholas Blake found the opening impressive, "but I found it difficult to keep all the threads of the plot in my hand, and it does peter out a little towards the end: perhaps this is because the criminal’s motive strained my credulity".

References

Bibliography

* Klein, Kathleen Gregory. ''Great Women Mystery Writers: Classic to Contemporary''. Greenwood Press, 1994. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Walton, Samantha. ''Guilty But Insane: Mind and Law in Golden Age Detective Fiction''. Oxford University Press, 2015. 1938 British novels Novels by Gladys Mitchell British crime novels British mystery novels British thriller novels Novels set in England British detective novels Michael Joseph books {{1930s-mystery-novel-stub