"The Club of Queer Trades" is a classic treat: G.K. Chesterton's first foray into detective stories, before his 'Father Brown' stories. Private detective Rupert Grant and his unbalanced brother investigate a series of cases all of which seem to be linked to the club of the title.
There are elements of stylistic satire and outlandish characterisation to the stories which prefigure, and often surpass, later parodies of the detective genre, and which provide a bit of icing on the cake. A lot of fun!
-- Steven
We have two copies of "The Club of Queer Trades" in our libraries.
2 comments:
Brilliant! Thanks for pointing this one out!
It's pushing it a bit to call these detective stories as they don't follow the "rules". They are outrageously funny adventure stories though. Some of the situations come as a complete surprise like a slap in the face with a haddock.
Ooh, and all those untold stories!
If you enjoyed this you may well enjoy "The Man Who Was Thursday," which has some similar themes and even more unsettling scenarios.
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