"The Mazaroff Murder" by J.S. Fletcher

Mervyn Hoyt is a former army officer in World War I. He’s drifting a bit, not sure what he’ll do next. The war has been over for more than three years when a friend encourages him to answer an advertisement. Salim Mazeroff, a wealthy man from South Africa, is in Britain and seeking a traveling companion around the country. Hundreds of people apply, but Hoyt is the one selected. 

Mazaroff is obviously and almost naively wealthy. He peels money from a wad he carries in his pocket. He’s known to carry loose diamonds, the business where he made his fortune. In fact, one of the reasons he’s in Britain is to sell a pair of blue diamonds, and he’s carrying one of them around with him. 

 

They reach northern England, not far from the Scottish border. While staying a few days at a country inn, Mazaroff tells his traveling companion than his real name is Merchion, that he grew up in the area, and that, 20 years before, he abruptly left his wife after only a month of marriage because neither of them really loved the other. And there’s a daughter. 

 

J.S. Fletcher

A might later, Mazaroff goes for a walk, and he doesn’t return. Search parties are sent out, and his body is found. All of his valuables – cash, loose diamonds, watch – are missing, presumably stolen. It takes a day or two to learn, but Mazaroff was also carrying his last completed will. It’s also missing.

 

The Mazaroff Murder by J.S. Fletcher was first published in 1922. It’s a fast-paced, something-is-always-happening kind of story, with each chapter surprising the reader with something new and unexpected. The second half of the book moves the narrative to London, with even more surprises in store. And for good measure, Fletcher throws in a budding romance between Hoyt and the daughter Mazaroff never knew he had.

 

Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist who began writing detective novels in 1914. Over the next 20 years, he wrote more than 100 of them, and is considered today one of the great writers of the Golden Age of the mystery and detective novel (roughly 1920s to the 1940s). He also wrote more than 130 other works, including poetry and non-fiction, but he is best remembered for his mysteries.

 

Related: 

 

My review of J.S. Fletcher’s The Middle of Things.

 

My review of The Middle Temple Murder by J.S. Fletcher.