Originally published in 1934, W.F. Harvey’s The Mysterious Mr. Badman: A Yorkshire Bibliomystery is a recent entry in the British Library Crime Classics. Martin Edwards writes the introduction for this lighthearted, humorous mystery.
Athelstan Digby is on holiday in Keldstone in Yorkshire while his nephew, Dr. Jim Pickering, contemplates taking over the local doctor’s practice. When Mr. Digby’s landlords want to attend a family funeral, he offers to tend their bookshop while they’re gone. He expected a quiet day. The afternoon proves otherwise when three people, a vicar, a chauffeur, and a stranger all ask for the same book. They request a copy of John Bunyan’s The Life and Death of Mr. Badman. Digby finds it odd, but it’s even stranger when a young boy shows up at the last minute with a pack of books he wants to sell. In it is a copy of The Life and Death of Mr. Badman.
Mr. Digby decides to read the book to find out why everyone wants it. When he finds a letter stuck between the pages of the book, he realizes it’s the contents, not the book itself that is so important. In the wrong hands, the letter could change the course of British history between the wars. Then, the book is stolen.
Together with his nephew, Jim, and Diana Conyers, stepdaughter of the Home Secretary, Digby hatches a plot to catch the thief. But, the trio face a wily foe who thinks nothing of kidnapping, murder and blackmail in order to attain his ultimate goal.
The Mysterious Mr. Badman is a little lighter than many Golden Age mysteries. Mr. Digby himself is a delightful character whose pockets are full of stuff. When he packs, he packs in the fashion of Noah preparing for the Ark, with everything in pairs. But, he’s a shrewd man, not easily bested. There’s a touch of romance, and, of course, a satisfying ending. This might be one of my favorites in the British Library Crime Classics series.
The Mysterious Mr. Badman by W.F. Harvey. Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks, 2023. ISBN 9781728278681 (paperback), 224p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent a galley for review for a journal.
Sounds good! Another Golden Age mystery that I never heard of, surprisingly. There are some that I wish Edwards would pick that I have heard of, authors whose books were either just not available or too expensive to buy when we were traveling to England on book trips in the summers. But maybe he’ll get to them too.
I love it when I post one that you haven’t heard of, Jeff. You’re right, though. Edwards might get around to the ones you want eventually. He probably has such a treasure trove to go through!