The Mystery of the New 31 Inn

A classic English mystery with the detective, Dr. Thorndyke, solving what appears to be two disparate mysteries. One is an apparent suicide with a disputed will; the other is one of his sidekick's, Dr. Jervis, odd case of an apparent poisoning.

Summoned one evening to the house of a bedridden man and taken there in a carriage with blacked-out windows to obfuscate the location — Dr. Christopher Jervis suspects poisoning but is assured by the people looking after Mr. Graves that no poison could have been administered. Some weeks later, he is summoned a second time and, after administering some treatment that sees Mr. Graves begin to revive, is dismissed and never hears of the patient or his carers again. Between these two visits, however, Jervis consulted Dr. John Thorndyke, which proves to be most fortuitous when further investigation into the matter becomes important.

In the meantime, Thorndyke and Jervis are drawn into the matter of Stephen Blackmore, named as sole legatee in his uncle Jeffrey’s will. When Jeffery executes another will of identical intent only a short while before he dies, a small matter of wording leaves Stephen potentially losing out on a sizeable inheritance. Why, then, when a perfectly good will of the exact same intent existed already, would Jeffery write this second will? Thorndyke, delighted to learn that all other avenues have been explored and that he is frankly the final throw of the dice. “It leaves me unembarrassed by the possibility of failure,” begins to comb through the evidence and, wouldn’t you know it, finds some stuff going on that no-one would have previously expected.