Connington: The Castleford Conundrum

A wealthy woman (Winifred Castleford) married to a starving artist is shot to death. Was it her husband? Her mischievous young nephew who enjoyed playing with the air rifle? Or one of many others who disliked her so much? Sir Clinton Driffield investigates.

Review

. . . in his present novel, The Castleford Conundrum, [J. J. Connington] achieves the best work that has so far appeared from his pen. Although in the patterning of his story Mr. Connington breaks one of the established rules of the craft, and lets his tale begin on a subdued key, with a general impression of slow action, the story is found to gain in effectiveness through this procedure. As the story gathers momentum the interest mounts steadily, and the climax comes with a shock of genuine surprise, for very few readers are likely to penetrate the mystery of the murder which forms the Castleford ‘conundrum.’ (Hartford, CT, Courant, 1932)