Summary
Summary of The Darrow Enigma
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A song ends in sudden death
The Doctor brings his friend George Maitland into the Darrow household, knowing that the chemist has fallen in love with Gwen Darrow. Croquet gives Maitland a reason to visit, but a later gathering turns their courtship into a mystery. As Gwen sings at the piano, her father cries out that he has been stabbed.
No attacker appears. The doors are shut, and only one window stands slightly open. Before dying, Darrow reminds Gwen of a promise, leaving both his death and her obligation unexplained.
Key idea 2
Gwen insists on murder
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Key idea 3
Small marks challenge a tidy theory
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Key idea 4
An old feud changes the search
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Key idea 5
A strong suspect has an alibi
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Key idea 6
Maitland changes the question
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Key idea 7
The paper trail reaches a household
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Key idea 8
A confession needs testing too
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Key idea 9
Proof and love remain at stake
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who like puzzles with clues laid out fairly, scientific detection in the Sherlock Holmes spirit, and old-fashioned romance. It also suits anyone who enjoys a courtroom showdown and a narrator with a gift for humor.
What this book is
The Darrow Enigma is a detective novel by Melvin L. Severy, set in Boston and told by a young physician who calls himself the Doctor. It follows a death that seems impossible. A man dies in a closed parlor, in front of five witnesses, with no sign of a killer and almost no sign of a wound.
The Doctor tells the story from the side. He is a friend, a witness and, as he admits, a man who cannot always keep his mind on the case. The real hero of the book is his friend George Maitland, a chemist and lawyer who treats a crime like a problem in geometry. He gathers facts before he forms a theory, and he trusts a microscope more than a hunch.
The book mixes a locked-room puzzle with a tale of old love and revenge in India, a search through library slips and gambling dens, and a courtroom scene that few readers will see coming. Along the way you meet Gwen Darrow, a daughter bound by a strange promise. Let us begin on the night of the murder, in a dim parlor with an open window.
In this summary
- 1A song in the dusk ends in deathFree
- 2Gwen insists her father was murdered
- 3Maitland reads the room and the garden
- 4A sealed letter reveals an Indian feud
- 5The trail to Bombay and a stranger at the window
- 6Cleopatra, coincidences, and a new method
- 7A man called Latour and a girl at the window
- 8The trial turns on a confession
- 9What the story says about proof and promises
- 10How the Doctor tells it
Key point 1 of 10
A song in the dusk ends in death
The Doctor begins by admitting that his fame came from luck. A cure he stumbled on made his name, and his practice grew. The case of Mrs. P appears in the medical journals, where his skill is praised, though he now admits it was pure chance. He also has a remarkable memory, and he uses it to tell the story word for word.
He soon meets George Maitland, a chemist who claims to be ill but really wants an introduction to Gwen Darrow, the daughter of the Doctor's patient John Darrow. Maitland first saw her at an art show and fell in love at once. The Doctor arranges the meeting through a love of croquet, since old Darrow is a fanatic about the game. He has spent hundreds of dollars on his grounds. The wickets are fixed to pine planks buried two feet deep, and the gravel is sifted and rolled just so. Maitland plays well but loses to the old man, and then plays badly against Gwen because he is so nervous.
At a later party, the guests include two young men, Clinton Browne, a handsome painter with a watchful, jealous eye, and Charles Herne, a comfortable man of letters. Darrow seems nervous. He says he has dreamed seven times of someone striking him from the darkness, and a window that sticks shrieks as Maitland closes it.
As dusk falls, Gwen sings at the piano. Darrow suddenly cries out that he has been stabbed. A light is struck, but no attacker can be found. The doors are shut and the windows are secured, with only the east window open a few inches. Darrow speaks a few broken words to his daughter, reminds her of a promise, and dies.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
How does Maitland approach the investigation?
Right. “He gathers facts before he forms a theory, and he trusts a microscope more than a hunch.”Not quite. “He gathers facts before he forms a theory, and he trusts a microscope more than a hunch.”
Why can Ragobah not have committed the murder in Boston?
Right. “A broken propeller delayed the ship, so Ragobah could not have been in Boston.”Not quite. “A broken propeller delayed the ship, so Ragobah could not have been in Boston.”
Why does Gwen's promise put her future at risk?
Right. “Gwen has sworn to deny nothing to the man who brings her father's killer to justice.”Not quite. “Gwen has sworn to deny nothing to the man who brings her father's killer to justice.”
Questions about The Darrow Enigma
What is The Darrow Enigma about?
It is a Victorian detective novel about a man who dies in a closed Boston parlor with no sign of a killer. A chemist named George Maitland uses science and careful reasoning to follow clues from Boston to Bombay.
Who is the narrator of The Darrow Enigma?
The story is told by a physician known as the Doctor, whose name is Ned. He is Maitland's friend and a witness to the murder, and he admits his own faults with good humor.
Is The Darrow Enigma a locked-room mystery?
Yes. John Darrow dies in a room whose doors are shut and whose east window is open only a few inches, with five witnesses present, and the puzzle of how it was done drives the whole book.
Does the book mention Sherlock Holmes?
Yes. Maitland reads Conan Doyle's The Sign of the Four and takes from Holmes the idea that criminals copy one another. That idea leads him to library records and a thumbprint.
Is The Darrow Enigma easy to read?
It has short chapters, a lively narrator, letters and courtroom questions and answers, and a clear sequence of clues. The humor and the romance carry the reader along as the mystery unfolds.
