Crime in Kensington

Review\nCrime in Kensington can hardly mean more than one thing - death and mystery in a residential hotel. This straightforward phrase should convey to the reader the atmosphere of popular journalism that pervasdes Mr Sprigg's first novel. Charles Venables, gossip-writer to the Mercury, was on the spot when the proprietress vanished; and his monocle was in the right place when, in due course, she was found distributed in various receptacles in her own hote. Mr Sprigg's characters are so extremely odd that half of them at least may be regarded as plausible suspects; indeed, one is almost tempted to toss for the perpetrator of the disgusting crime, for if the victim of the toss were not the author of this particular murder, one feels that he or she has probably committed a previous crime that would justify an arrest. -- "The Times Literary Supplement"\nHow many times have I told you that we must appear to run this hotel as commercial proposition?"\nNewly arrived in London, journalist Charles Venables has been invited by his friend Viola to stay - at least temporarily - at a residential hotel in Kensington. But there is something amiss at the genteel Garden Hotel. The prices are far too low. The residents are jittery and upset. On arriving, Charles overhears a threatening discussion between the proprietors Mr & Mrs Budge that suggests they are blackmailing some tenants. When the bedridden Mrs Budge disappears into thin air, it is clear that more than one inhabitant of the hotel has something to hide. Is it Egyptian medical student Eppiloki who believes Charles is working undercover? The elderly Miss Geranium who receives messages from the prophet Ezekial, the fanatical Reverend Septimus Blood, or the cat-loving Miss Mumby? Soon, a set of gruesome discoveries point to murder, and Charles must work with Detective Inspector Bray of Scotland Yard to prevent the killer from acting again.\nCrime combines an intricate plot with an appealing sense of humour and ironic tone: "Viola had two passions in her life, her art and her bridge. Charles had hoped to be a third but he was beginning to abandon hope. He felt that while he might make her a satisfactory partner in life, he would certainly let her down at bridge."\nFrom the Back Cover\nHow many times have I told you that we must appear to run this hotel as commercial proposition?"
Newly arrived in London, journalist Charles Venables has been invited by his friend Viola to stay - at least temporarily - at a residential hotel in Kensington. But there is something amiss at the genteel Garden Hotel. The prices are far too low. The residents are jittery and upset. On arriving, Charles overhears a threatening discussion between the proprietors Mr & Mrs Budge that suggests they are blackmailing some tenants. When the bedridden Mrs Budge disappears into thin air, it is clear that more than one inhabitant of the hotel has something to hide. Is it Egyptian medical student Eppiloki who believes Charles is working undercover? The elderly Miss Geranium who receives messages from the prophet Ezekial, the fanatical Reverend Septimus Blood, or the cat-loving Miss Mumby? Soon, a set of gruesome discoveries point to murder, and Charles must work with Detective Inspector Bray of Scotland Yard to prevent the killer from acting again.
CHRISTOPHER ST JOHN SPRIGG (1907-1937) was a witty and prolific writer who also published non-fiction under the pseudonym Christopher Caudwell. Crime in Kensington was the first of seven crime novels Sprigg wrote between 1933 and his death in February 1937 during the Spanish Civil
War.