''The Kink'' is a 1927

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 Irish-born writer

Lynn Brock Lynn Brock (1877-1943) was the pseudonym of the Irish writer Alister McAllister, who moved to England and wrote a series of mystery novels. Brock is best known for his series of Colonel Gore detective novels, which enjoyed popularity in the 1920 ...

. It was the third novel in his series featuring the character of Colonel Wyckham Gore, one of many investigators active 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 ...

. It is sometimes referred to as ''Colonel Gore’s Third Case''. The novel is noted for being comparatively sexually explicit for the era.Keating p.128

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

wrote a contemporary negative review of the book in '' The Saturday Review''.

Synopsis

Gore is engaged to recover some missing documents, and his search takes him to the

country estate An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...

of the politician Lord Haviland in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Here he encounters the debauched lifestyle of Haviland and his family, said to be the result of a

kink Kink or KINK may refer to: Common uses * Kink (sexuality), a colloquial term for non-normative sexual behavior * Kink, a curvature, bend, or twist Geography * Kink, Iran, a village in Iran * The Kink, a man-made geographic feature in remote east ...

in the family's bloodline. The resolute Gore ploughs on with his case against a backdrop of

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...

s and

orgies In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...

References

Bibliography

* Keating, Henry Reymond Fitzwalter. ''Whodunit?: A Guide to Crime, Suspense, and Spy Fiction''. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1982. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015.

External links

Full text of ''The Kink'' at HathiTrust Digital Library
1927 British novels British mystery novels British thriller novels Novels by Lynn Brock Novels set in Surrey Novels set in London British detective novels William Collins, Sons books {{1920s-mystery-novel-stub