UNHOLY DYING

Mineola, New York, U.S.A.: Dover Publications, Inc., 1985. 1st US edition. [Originally published by John Westhouse Ltd., London, 1945] First Dover Edition. New unread copy featuring Prof. John Stubbs; Scotland; Academia. Campbell is the pen name of the eminent art critic, poet and fantasy novelist Ruthven Campbell Todd (1914-1978). Professor John Stubbs is the eccentric amateur investigating murder at an international conference of geneticists. He is reminiscent somewhat of Gervase Fen, or Dr.Fell. Stubbs is a fan of locked room mysteries, particularly those of JD Carr, but the first murder here is the opposite, taking place in an open laboratory to which there was unfettered access. An infamous fraud is poisoned at a gathering of geneticists and the possible killer includes a dozen vindictive former assistants and humiliated colleagues. The gallery of suspects ranges from a brash American, Dr. Swartz, and the victim's sniveling associate, Professor Silver, to a lovely young genetics student, Miss Mary Lewis, and even Stubbs' nephew, a reporter covering the convention. The novel's brisk pace, witty dialogue, and flavorful recreation of English university life during the mid-twentieth century combine to form an exciting and amusing page-turner.. 1st Edition. Pictorial Wrappers. New. Book.