4 h 59 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A respected man lies dead behind a door fastened from within. How can there be a murderer?
In London's working-class district of Bow, Mrs. Drabdump cannot wake her lodger, Arthur Constant. When the door is forced, the kind, public-spirited man is found dead, his throat wounded. The room is locked from the inside. Israel Zangwill builds The Big Bow Mystery around this stubborn puzzle: no one seems able to enter or leave, yet someone must account for the death.
Retired detective Mr. Grodman trusts his reputation and judgment. Inspector Edward Wimp relies on procedure and wants to prove himself against his rival. As suspicion gathers around labour leader Tom Mortlake, who knows Constant through their shared causes, the public hungers for news. Beneath the search for a murderer lies another question: what makes people decide that someone is guilty?
What you’ll discover
- An impossible room Test your judgment against a murder puzzle that grows stranger under close examination.
- Two rival detectives Follow Grodman's confidence and Wimp's careful procedure as each pursues the case.
- A sharp-eyed landlady Meet Mrs. Drabdump, whose watchful eye and ready words bring Bow into focus.
- Suspicion and the crowd Consider how a hunger for answers shapes judgments about guilt and justice.
- A puzzle with wit Enjoy dry humour and a light, ironic voice alongside a fair detective puzzle.
Who will love it
For readers who love clever locked-room puzzles, dry humour and Victorian London, and for Sherlock Holmes fans who enjoy rival detectives testing their judgment against an impossible crime.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A landlady cannot wake her lodger
- The room is sealed from inside
- Two detectives, two methods
- Suspicion falls on a labour leader
- What the story says about justice and the crowd
- A puzzle told with a smile
Who’s who
- Mrs. DrabdumpThe sharp-eyed landlady in Bow who finds that her lodger cannot be woken and sets the whole case in motion.
- Arthur ConstantA kind and respected lodger, known for his public spirit, who is found dead in his locked room.
- Mr. GrodmanA retired detective with a strong reputation, who lives nearby and is sure of his own judgment.
- Inspector Edward WimpThe official Scotland Yard detective, who relies on procedure and is eager to prove himself against his rival.
- Tom MortlakeA working man risen to be a labour leader, who knew Constant and whose name soon comes up in the case.
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- Audiobook
- 4 h 59 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Das Geheimnis von Bow
by Israel Zangwill · 1892
A kind lodger lies dead in a room locked from inside, and two rival detectives seek an answer as suspicion spreads.
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In short
The Big Bow Mystery is a short detective novel by Israel Zangwill, a London writer of Jewish immigrant parents. It first appeared in 1891 in a London evening newspaper, The Star, and came out as a book in 1892.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A landlady cannot wake her lodger
The story opens in Bow, a crowded district of East London. Mrs. Drabdump keeps a lodging house, and she is a woman who notices everything and says a good deal about it. One of her lodgers is Arthur Constant, a gentle man known for his kindness and his public spirit. He has asked her to wake him early on a certain morning, and she goes to do it.
She knocks, and there is no answer. She knocks again, harder, and still the room is silent. A woman of her habits does not give up. She grows uneasy, and the unease turns to alarm as the minutes pass.
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What is The Big Bow Mystery about?
It is about the death of Arthur Constant, a kind lodger in Bow, East London. He is found dead in a room fastened from inside, and two rival detectives struggle to explain how it could have happened.
Is The Big Bow Mystery the first locked-room mystery?
It is often called the first full-length novel built on a locked-room murder. Edgar Allan Poe had used a similar idea in a short tale, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, so Zangwill was building on earlier work.
When was The Big Bow Mystery written?
Israel Zangwill wrote it in 1891 for the London evening paper The Star, where it appeared in instalments. It was published as a book in 1892. It is fiction, not a true story.
The author
Israel Zangwill
1864–1926 · British novelist and playwright
Israel Zangwill was a British author born in London in 1864. He wrote novels, plays, and essays. His books include The Big Bow Mystery (1892) and Italian Fantasies (1910). He supported Zionism and later Jewish territorialism. He lived in England and died in Midhurst, Sussex, in 1926.
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