The Strange Case of Mortimer Fenley


Read by Kirsten Wever

(4.6 stars; 27 reviews)

At the country estate of Mortimer Fenley, artist John Trenholme works at an oil painting of Sylvia, the financier’s beautiful ward. She has just emerged from the lake where she swims every morning. A sharp rifle shot shatters the pastoral calm, and Fenley lies dead at the mansion entrance, four hundred yards away.

Enter Scotland Yard, in the form of Scotland Yard’s Winter and Furneaux, nicknamed “The Big ‘un and The Little ‘un.” Winter, Chief Superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department, is big, burly and genial – certain to soothe the anxious and calm the excited. He methodically gathers, sorts and sifts the available evidence and examines the known facts for patterns that might suggest theories of the crime. This knowledge is the basis of deductive method by which he uncovers, in Tracy’s words, “the only sound conclusion from ascertained facts.”

Meanwhile, the diminutive and high-strung Detective Inspector Charles Furneaux uses his uncanny instincts and startling intuitions to unravel the mystery inductively. He talks to people, provoking emotional reactions, triggering tempers, seeking out sensitive spots. In this way he builds psychological profiles of the main characters. He uses this knowledge to guess how, under various circumstances, they would probably behave. His intuition then suggests how, in the actual conditions of the murder, they really did behave.

In less than 36 hours Winter and Furneaux unravel the mystery, a mild crush blooms into a full-fledged romance, real-estate changes hands, an earlier crime is solved, and more. - Summary by Kirsten Wever (9 hr 49 min)

Chapters

01 - The Water Nymphs 31:15 Read by Kirsten Wever
02 - "Who Hath Done This Thing?" 34:19 Read by Kirsten Wever
03 - The Hounds 34:02 Read by Kirsten Wever
04 - Breaking Cover 33:36 Read by Kirsten Wever
05 - A Family Gathering 39:39 Read by Kirsten Wever
06 - Wherein Furneaux Seeks Inspiration 38:03 Read by Kirsten Wever
07 - Some Side Issues 40:17 Read by Kirsten Wever
08 - Coincidences 37:16 Read by Kirsten Wever
09 - Wherein an Artist Becomes a Man of Action 41:56 Read by Kirsten Wever
10 - Furneaux States Some Facts 37:56 Read by Kirsten Wever
11 - Some Preliminary Skirmishing 30:10 Read by Kirsten Wever
12 - Wherein Scotland Yard is Wined and Dined 29:37 Read by Kirsten Wever
13 - Close Quarters 35:49 Read by Kirsten Wever
14 - The Spreading of the Net 35:28 Read by Kirsten Wever
15 - Some Stage Effects 32:56 Read by Kirsten Wever
16 - The Close of a Tragedy 31:28 Read by Kirsten Wever
17 - The Settlement 25:37 Read by Kirsten Wever

Reviews

Great reader, book is a bit slow


(4 stars)

The plot is good although he explains everything down to minute detail. I did enjoy it and very much enjoy this reader

mediocre mystery


(3 stars)

Might have been better with a different reader. Her odd style made it a difficult listen for me.