''The Duke of York's Steps'' is a 1929

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 first 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, published 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. The Golden Age proper is, in practice, usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was pre ...

. The title refers to the steps that connect the

Duke of York Column The Duke of York Column is a monument in London, England, to Prince Frederick, Duke of York, the second eldest son of King George III. The designer was Benjamin Dean Wyatt. It is sited where Regent Street meets The Mall, a purposefully wide end ...

to The Mall in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. It is notable for its portrayal of a

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

character, a

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

who seeks revenge for his mistreatment by murdering a fellow banker.Turnbull p.55 It was well-received by critics and sold well. In ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' the reviewer

Gerald Gould Gerald Gould (1885 – 2 November 1936) was an English writer, known as a journalist and reviewer, essayist and poet. Life He was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, and brought up in Norwich, and studied at University College London and Magdalen C ...

wrote "It would be difficult to overpraise it".

Synopsis

After banker Sir Garth Fratten is found dead near a London landmark, Poole 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 ...

leads the investigation. The victim has died apparently without human intervention.

References

Bibliography

* Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Turnbull, Malcolm J. ''Victims Or Villains: Jewish Images in Classic English Detective Fiction''. Popular Press, 1998. 1929 British novels Novels by Henry Wade British mystery novels British thriller novels British crime novels British detective novels Constable & Co. books Novels set in London Novels set on trains {{1920s-mystery-novel-stub