5 h 24 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A death unsettles a closed household, and old family secrets make trust a dangerous choice.
In Brandon Fleming’s The Crooked House, a country house with an odd reputation holds people bound by blood, money or duty. When death disturbs the home, those inside must face what they hide from one another. The puzzle lies as much in their characters as in the clues.
Murder and madness share the page in this mystery of concealed fears and misleading appearances. The house gives the suspense its close, uneasy setting; family ties give it weight. As secrets press against the surface, the question is not only what happens, but who deserves to be believed.
What you’ll discover
- A house with character Enter a country house whose odd reputation makes the setting part of the mystery.
- Family ties under strain Meet a household bound together by blood, money or duty, yet divided by secrets.
- Murder meets madness Explore a mystery shaped by fear of the mind and the loss of reason.
- Appearances that mislead Look beyond the household’s surface, where hidden fears make trust hard to place.
- A puzzle of people Weigh character alongside clues as a death brings private secrets into question.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like classic detective puzzles, eccentric sleuths, storms and secret rooms, and stories where the setting itself carries clues.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Dupont brings a hidden riddle
- Copplestone turns celebration into cruelty
- The garden hides a brutal crime
- A small detail exposes a lie
- The missing cry changes the puzzle
- Layton keeps his past concealed
- Other suspects have reasons to lie
- The obvious answer deserves doubt
Who’s who
- Monsieur Victorien DupontA huge, jolly French detective who comes to London with a riddle, and wants to save an innocent man from the gallows.
- John TranterA quiet Privy Councillor who owes Dupont his life and agrees to help, though he avoids society and distrusts the Richmond house.
- George CopplestoneA rich, eccentric host who lives in a house of crooked passages and loves shocking his guests with cruel stunts.
- Christine MandersonA celebrated actress of astonishing beauty who is introduced as Copplestone's fiancée, and who is frightened by what she sees.
- Inspector FayA careful Scotland Yard officer who tests every statement and wants a case that is complete.
- James LaytonA millionaire known as the Mad Philanthropist, who lives like a pauper in the East End and guards a secret past.
- Jenny WestA wild, loyal young woman whom Layton rescued from poverty, and who will do anything to save him.
- Mrs. Astley-RolfeA charming widow in debt who wants to marry Copplestone, and who owes money to the financier Gluckstein.
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The Crooked House
by Brandon Fleming · 1921
A giant Frenchman follows a trail of mangled beauties into a house where nothing is straight.
Easy read2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What if a murder was planned by the house and garden as much as by any person? A huge Frenchman named Monsieur Dupont arrives in London with a riddle he will not explain.
The Crooked House at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 5 min2 h 25 min fast, 3 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 44,000 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1921by Brandon Fleming
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A giant Frenchman arrives with a riddle
The story opens on a London doorstep. John Tranter, a quiet Privy Councillor, comes home late and finds an enormous figure waiting in the shadows. It is Monsieur Victorien Dupont, a cheerful Frenchman in perfect evening dress, who has stood outside for an hour.
Tranter owes Dupont his life, so when the big man asks a favor, Tranter cannot refuse. Dupont wants to be taken to a few social gatherings, because he has come to England on a strange mission. Two years ago someone gave him a riddle. He found half the answer in a faraway country, and he says the other half is in London. He cannot say what the riddle is, not even to a friend.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1921
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 30 min
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Fleming, Brandon. The Crooked House. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crooked-house.
Fleming, B. (2026). The crooked house. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crooked-house (Original work published 1921)
Fleming, Brandon. The Crooked House. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crooked-house.
@book{fleming2026crooked,
author = {Fleming, Brandon},
title = {The Crooked House},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crooked-house},
note = {First published 1921}
}
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What is The Crooked House by Brandon Fleming about?
It is a detective novel about a murder at a party in a strange house in Richmond. A French detective, Monsieur Dupont, and Inspector Fay of Scotland Yard try to find who killed a beautiful actress while an innocent man faces arrest.
Who is Monsieur Dupont in The Crooked House?
Dupont is an enormous, cheerful Frenchman who arrives in London with a riddle he will not explain. He works with Inspector Fay, reads people through their homes and habits, and promises to save a wrongly accused man.
Why is the house called the Crooked House?
Nothing in George Copplestone's home is straight. Its passages, stairs, windows and garden paths wind about and mislead, and Dupont says such a house suits crooked doings. The crookedness is both a literal setting and a symbol of the characters.
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