Five passengers bound for Paris sit in the same compartment on the London to Dover train. One of the passengers brings up the theft of the Wilmot diamonds and reveals a connection to the family. Of the four remaining passengers, one is a temperance lecturer, two are shady characters, and one is an inspector from Scotland Yard. By the time their train reaches Paris, one of the men will be dead. At Dover and again at Paris, a messenger has a communication to deliver to the passenger from Scotland Yard. Which one of the passengers is he? Will he reveal himself?

The passengers sort themselves out as the story progresses. Most of the action takes place in Paris. Inspector Byde’s Scotland Yard superiors assigned him to recover the Wilmot diamonds. He is interested in the murder only if solving it will lead him to the diamond thief. Byde fills in spare moments with proving geometry theorems. It seems like a strange hobby for a detective, but it’s a profitable one since the logic skills he’s honed help him to solve the case.

My edition of this book includes an introduction by E. F. Bleiler, who offers his opinion that “it is the best detective noel between The Moonstone and The Hound of the Baskervilles.” Readers should keep in mind that this book is an early example of the detective genre, and it predates the golden era of mystery novels. Byde and the narrator withhold some information from readers, so that readers who enjoy trying to beat the fictional detective to the solution may be disappointed. ( )

Interesting and entertaining. ( )

A curious early example of the crime novel (from 1888), a thriller rather than a whodunnit mystery, which follows suburban Scotland Yard detective Byde in a diamond robbery case. Not always coherent (the ending is particularly messy) but quite fun in parts. The relationship between inspector Byde and his old enemy, a crook who calls himself a Vicomte and lives exiled in France is well drawn and quite funny. Byde, like Holmes, has a logical mind and fondness for pipes, although he is a suburban husband rather an sybarite bachelor. ( )