''Trent's Own Case'' is a 1936 British

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 ...

written by

E. C. Bentley Edmund Clerihew Bentley (10 July 1875 – 30 March 1956), who generally published under the names E. C. Bentley or E. Clerihew Bentley, was a popular English novelist and humorist, and inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse ...

(in collaboration with H. Warner Allen) as a sequel to his best-known novel ''

Trent's Last Case ''Trent's Last Case'' is a detective novel written by E. C. Bentley and first published in 1913. Its central character, the artist and amateur detective Philip Trent, reappeared subsequently in the novel ''Trent's Own Case'' (1936), and the sho ...

'' (1913).

Plot

The artist and amateur criminologist, Philip Trent, investigates the murder of a sadistic

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

whose portrait he had painted. But there are many false paths and blind alleys in the case, and it is not until he has crossed to France and back again and searched England for the champagne ''Felix Poubelle 1884'', not before two others have died and an actress has disappeared, that Trent finally emerges triumphant to discover the murderer.

References to previous works

In ''Trent's Last Case'', Philip Trent had fallen in love with one of the chief suspects, the victim's beautiful young widow, Mabel. In ''Trent's Own Case'', they are happily married and have a six-year-old son. The reader gets a glimpse of their marriage in Chapter XV. Herbert Warner Allen was best known as the author of several books on wine, such as the frequently reprinted ''The Romance of Wine'' (1932). However, he also wrote detective fiction featuring wine merchant and expert William Clerihew (apparently named in tribute to Edmund Clerihew Bentley): the short story " Tokay of the Comet Year" (1930)Mike Grost on H Warner Allen
at Golden Age of Detection Wiki and the novel ''Mr. Clerihew, Wine Merchant'' (1933). William Clerihew makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

in Chapter XIII of ''Trent's Own Case'', where, in his capacity as wine expert, he provides Trent with information that proves crucial to the solving of the case.

Sequel

''Trent's Own Case'' was followed by a collection of short stories, ''

Trent Intervenes Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

'', published in 1938.

References

Bibliography

* E.C. Bentley. ''The Complete Clerihews''. House of Status, 2008. 1936 British novels British detective novels British mystery novels Novels by E.C. Bentley Constable & Co. books {{1930s-mystery-novel-stub