Big Ben Strikes Eleven

De: David Magarshack

Narrado por: John Telfer

The discovery of Sir Robert Boniface's body on the floor of his limousine was made quite accidentally on a sultry Friday evening towards the end of June. The industrial and financial tycoon, and former stalwart of the British Cabinet, was shot in the head and left in the quiet Vale of Health. Nearby, a rejected portrait of Sir Robert is found riddled with bullets in the studio of the now missing artist Matt Caldwell. As it hurtles towards its feverish denouement under the bells of the capital's famous clock, this closely observed and stylish study of character and motive transports the reader from the Stock Exchange to Scotland Yard. It asks the question of what it means to be crooked and how immense power corrupts.

First published in 1934, this novel is now extremely rare, and is long overdue its rediscovery.

©1934, 2023 The Estate of David Magarshack, Martin Edwards (P)2023 Soundings

one of the best crime stories I've come across

Never heard of the author before, but so glad I finally listened/read his Big Ben Strikes Eleven. As one from the Dostoyevsky camp (we also have Tolstoy camp, you know;) and an immigrant from the same home country, I DID see that Dorothy Sayers and other 1930s reviewers WERE right and the story DID have the undertones of "Crime and Punishment". The story is as relevant now, as it was in 1930s..a bit philosophical (but hey, that 'Russianness' is bound to come out in some way), hence it's a bit longish, a la "War and Peace", but enjoyable nevertheless.. Recommend and thanks to Martin Edwards and the British Library Crime Classics!

Extremely boring book

The only beneficial aspect of this book was that it helped me fall asleep. The narrator portraying a character with a stuttering condition was painful to listen to, I agree with the other reviewer in their feedback. Please save your money or your 1 credit.

Boring, meandering, story filled with unnecessary sentimental tosh

The silverlining is that, according to the introduction, the author gave up writing detective stories after two more attempts which were, we are informed, were even worse than this one. I am puzzled why anybody thought an audible version of this dreadful work was worth the effort.