Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our Oct/Nov buddy read of The Dusky Hour

Published in 1937 this is the ninth book in the Bobby Owen series.

'The hour of dusk was the climax in the strange case of the man found dead in the chalk pit. Who was the murdered man? And why did so many clues lead to that infamous London nightclub, the 'Cut and Come Again'?

E.R. Punshon leads the redoubtable Sergeant Bobby Owen and his readers on a dizzy chase through a maze of suspicions to a surprise ending - though the clues are there for anyone astute enough to interpret them.

The Dusky Hour is the ninth of E.R. Punshon's acclaimed Bobby Owen mysteries, first published in 1937 and part of a series which eventually spanned thirty-five novels.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

The plot centers around financial crime and involves a close friend of of the superior officer that Bobby is working with, care has to be taken not to upset the family included. We are not open so much to Bobby’s thoughts in this book as we have been in others, and the facts even when laid out for us, are pretty complicated. The ending is action packed, but I was grateful for the explanation at the very end, to confirm that I had missed nothing.
I do like the fact that the plots in these books have been very varied.

One reason there were so many suspects is because there were so many guilty parties. Even a couple of the 'good guys', the brother posing as a chauffeur and the butler with the criminal past, were thieving.

I agree that Bobby gets a variety of cases and that keeps the series fresh.

I've finished refreshing my memory of this book and remember that I found it a struggle. Altogether I must admit I found it fairly boring with all the stuff about financial crimes, a complicated plot and none of the characters really being developed.

I wasn't keen on the previous book either, so am tempted to give up on Bobby Owen, but I may just try the next in the series, as the plot looks more exciting than this one from the blurb.

I have finished, and feel even more dissatisfied after the final chapter. I did manage to get ahead with what I thought was the only 'real' clue (if you want to get ahead ...), but even after reading Bobby's exposition, I could not get the fraudsters straight in my mind, or totally understand their plots and plans, and relationships.

Would it have been better if after the confusion of the penultimate chapter, with figures running about in the dark, Bobby had sat everyone down and gone through the denouement in a Poirotesque way?

I think it might have been better if he'd done a Poirot type denouement as you suggest, Rosina, but for me the real problem is that the characters and their motives just didn't interest me. I agree with you that I couldn't get the fraudsters straight in my mind either.

I actually liked this a lot, I didn’t struggle to distinguish between the fraudsters as I had my eye on one of them from the start, and I enjoyed the way that each of them managed to cast suspicion on another so that Bobby seemed to be going round in circles.

I like Bobby’s mixture of grumpiness and enthusiasm, and his dry asides. His relationship with the Chief Constable was quite entertaining, Bobby certainly has to use his famous tact quite often and know when to keep quiet too!

Pamela wrote: "I actually liked this a lot, I didn’t struggle to distinguish between the fraudsters as I had my eye on one of them from the start, and I enjoyed the way that each of them managed to cast suspicion..."

I enjoyed Bobby's relationship with the chief Constable also.

I quite enjoyed this book and laughed out loud a few times. I loved the chapter headings and how the buck kept getting passed on from one to another.

I agree with all of Pamela's point too!

I agree with the earlier comments and enjoyed the book.

My review:
Quite a complicated mystery for Bobby Owen and everyone gets suspected for at least a chapter. Bobby and his boss whiplash among the suspects as each clue is introduced, then proved false but leads to another, only to have that one fall apart.

The plots in most of these books are quite complicated and that's one of the reasons why I enjoy them so much. I figured out the killer about 75% through when Bobby went to the pub to hear about the car accident. And I realised who the missing brother could be as well. I'm in banking, so the financial stuff didn't bother me. I really enjoy this series.