From the Collins Crime Club archive, the first original novel to feature Ben the Cockney tramp, the unorthodox detective character created by J. Jefferson Farjeon, author of Mystery in White. Strange things are happening in the untenanted houses of Jowle Street. There are unaccountable creakings and weird knockings on the door of No.29, where a homeless ex-sailor has taken up residence. But even stranger things are happening in the House Opposite, from where a beautiful woman in an evening gown brings Ben a mysterious message; and worse—the offer of a job! Ben the ‘passing tramp’ was immortalised on film by Alfred Hitchcock in ‘Number 17’, based on a popular ’twenties stage play and novelisation by journalist-turned-author Joe Jefferson Farjeon. The House Opposite (1931) was the first full-length original novel to feature Ben, a reluctant down-at-heels Cockney sleuth, who went on to feature in six more successful detective thrillers from 1931 to 1952. This Detective Story Club classic includes an introduction by H. R. F. Keating, author of the award-winning Inspector Ghote mysteries, which first appeared in the Crime Club’s 1985 ‘Disappearing Detectives’ series.
| ISBN: | 9780008155841 |
| Publication date: | 31st December 2015 |
| Author: | J. Jefferson Farjeon, H. R. F. Keating |
| Publisher: | Collins Crime Club an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 272 pages |
| Series: | Detective Club Crime Classics |
| Genres: |
Classics Historical Crime and Mysteries Classic Crime and Mystery Fiction Crime and Mystery: Private Investigator / Amateur Detectives Thriller and Suspense Action Adventure |