Detective Philip Trent investigates the mysterious murder of a leading financier. Despite the title, Trent's Last Case is the first novel in which the gentleman sleuth Philip Trent appears. The novel is a whodunit with a place in detective fiction history because it is the first major sendup of that genre: Not only does Trent fall in love with one of the primary suspects—usually considered a no-no—he also, after painstakingly collecting all the evidence, draws all the wrong conclusions! This novel was much praised, numbering Dorothy L. Sayers among its admirers, and with its labyrinthine and mystifying plotting can be seen as the first truly modern mystery. It was adapted as a film in 1920, 1929, and 1952. The success of the work inspired him, after 23 years, to write a sequel, Trent's Own Case.
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E. C. Bentley. TRENT'S LAST CASE (Detective Novel)
TRENT'S LAST CASE (Detective Novel)
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TO GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER I. KNOCKING THE TOWN ENDWAYS
CHAPTER II. BREAKFAST
CHAPTER III. HANDCUFFS IN THE AIR
CHAPTER IV. POKING ABOUT
CHAPTER V. MR. BUNNER ON THE CASE
CHAPTER VI. THE LADY IN BLACK
CHAPTER VII. THE INQUEST
CHAPTER VIII. A HOT SCENT
CHAPTER IX. THE WIFE OF DIVES
CHAPTER X "HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED"
CHAPTER XI. EVIL DAYS
CHAPTER XII. ERUPTION
CHAPTER XIII. WRITING A LETTER
CHAPTER XIV. DOUBLE CUNNING
CHAPTER XV. THE LAST STRAW
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E. C. Bentley
TO GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON
.....
Sir James smiled at the telephone: a smile of success. "Come, my boy, you're getting feeble. Admit you want to go and have a look at the case. You know you do. If it's anything you don't want to handle, you're free to drop it. By the bye, where are you?"
"I am blown along a wandering wind," replied the voice irresolutely, "and hollow, hollow, hollow all delight."
