Jumping Jenny

By: Anthony Berkeley

Narrated by: Seán Barrett

At a costume party with the dubious theme of 'famous murderers and their victims', the know-it-all amateur criminologist Roger Sheringham is settled in for an evening of beer, small talk and analysing his companions.

One guest in particular has caught his attention for her theatrics, and his theory that she might have several enemies among the partygoers proves true when she is found hanging from the 'decorative' gallows on the roof terrace. Noticing a key detail which could implicate a friend in the crime, Sheringham decides to meddle with the scene and unwittingly casts himself into jeopardy as the uncommonly thorough police investigation circles closer and closer to the truth.

Tightly paced and cleverly defying the conventions of the classic detective story, this 1933 novel remains a milestone of the inverted mystery subgenre.

©1933, 2022 The Estate of Anthony Berkeley Cox, Introduction Martin Edwards (P)2022 Soundings

Suspenseful

Kept me glued to the story and couldn’t stop listening. Don’t want to spoil the ending. A must read/listeni

Brilliant

Audible suggested this author to me, based on my extensive collection of the two most famous British mystery writers, Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. I had never heard of him but learned from Wikipedia that he was a contemporary of Christie and a co-founder of her writing group. This story was absolutely spectacular, full of twists and novel plot points; if you are really familiar with the Poirot canon, there is an interesting faint echo of The Veiled Lady! And of course, since this was written contemporaneously, the culture, language, and customs of the interwar period in Britain is captured beautifully. It rings with an authenticity that modern attempts to set stories in this time frame very often lack. Overall just an absolute gem, and I hope more of his work will be brought back into print and audiobook.

Holy shiitake mushrooms

Didn’t see that coming. Excellent narration and even better story. Highly recommended for any classic mystery fans.

Well….wow

This was actually brilliant. It managed to surprise me completely. It puts me in mind of The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, and I expect was actually at least some of the inspiration for that novel. You think you know, and you try to make it make sense, and you go through all sorts of mental calisthenics, only to find out that the solution both is and isn’t exactly what seems to be. This type of mystery is exactly why I love the Golden Age.

A Twisted Tale of Upside-down Murder

I was under the impression that nobody could even come close to Ngaio Marsh but, dash it, I was wrong! Here ABerkley gives us a well constructed tale (with very few mistakes) which is enclosed top to bottom in Ronald Stratton's cottage and which is sprinkled with a heavy dose of British humour. Read and enjoy. The Narrator is an acquired taste - but I think he does a very good job, and shines especially in the more theatrical scenes of the story.