The Big Bow Mystery

By Israel Zangwill

It’s a cold and foggy night in London. A man is horribly murdered in his bedroom, the door locked and bolted on the inside. Scotland Yard is stumped. Yet the seemingly unsolvable case has, as Inspector Grodman says, “one sublimely simple solution” that is revealed in a final chapter full of revelations and a shocking denouement. Detective fiction afficionados will be happy to learn that all the evidence to solve the case is provided. One of the earliest “locked room” mystery stories, The Big Bow Mystery is also a satire of late Victorian society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781291652390

Israel Zangwill

Zangwill, the son of Latvian and Polish immigrants, was born in London’s East End and showed literary promise as early as eighteen. A teacher for some years after he graduated from London University, he eventually left the profession to write full-time, publishing hundreds of essays, as well as novels, short stories and plays produced in London and New York. His work concentrated on political, social and Jewish issues but The Big Bow Mystery was his only venture into detective fiction.

Reviews for The Big Bow Mystery

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A little tough to follow. Too many characters and too talky. I kept losing focus. Just not my cup of tea.

[datrappert · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Perhaps the first "locked room" mystery, this book has lost the power to surprise after over a hundred years, but it is still a good read thanks to the author's rather modern style. A wry sense of humor runs through it, starting with Zangwill's opening note. The story sags a bit in the middle and would have been better at about two-thirds of its length, but the narrative is always engaging. Luckily my Kindle's built-in dictionary included the occasional archaic English word Zangwill (spell checker recommendations for Zangwill include Pigswill!) throws in. You will probably guess the murderer before you're halfway through, but that's okay. There is still a lot of pleasure to be had here, and even so, Zangwill's ending has its surprises.

[bcquinnsmom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Written originally in 1892, The Big Bow Mystery is supposedly the earliest example of a full-length locked-room mystery. The action begins as one Mrs Drabdump, who rents rooms to lodgers in London, goes to wake up one Mr. Constant. She can't wake him up and gets herself completely agitated to the point where she goes across the street to fetch a neighbor for help. Upon breaking down the locked and bolted door in the room, they find Mr. Constant dead. The neighbor, George Grodman, a retired detective, and Inspector Edward Wimp of Scotland Yard start investigating the crime.This book is a bit difficult to read -- very wordy at times. However, if you get the urge to skim it, don't...the clues are all there, many of them within the space of conversations between characters. The characterizations are just okay; I didn't personally get attached to any one character -- the focus of the book is more on the solution to the mystery, although there is an interesting rivalry between Grodman and Wimp, which helps to add a bit to the story.Truthfully, this is really a book for those who a) enjoy historical mysteries, b) who really like locked-room mystery (an ingenious solution awaits the patient), or people curious as to the origins of the genre. It's a bit over wordy for modern readers, and I don't think cozy mystery fans would enjoy it very much. It is a bit funny in places as well. Overall...I'm happy I read it, but it's not one of my favorites in the genre.