Trent's Last Case

by E. C. Bentley

Overview

Get to know debonair sleuth Philip Trent in the first novel in which the beloved detective ever made an appearance. In Trent's Last Case, author E.C. Bentley pulls off a remarkable feat -- a detective novel that is a sophisticated and hilarious send-up of the detective fiction genre! A must-read for die-hard fans of detective stories, or for anyone craving an entertaining whodunit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781775419341
Publisher:	The Floating Press
Publication date:	10/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	776,809
File size:	270 KB

About the Author

E.C. Bentley (1875-1956) was an English novelist. The son of a civil servant and international rugby player, Bentley was raised in London and attended the prestigious St Paul’s School before attending Merton College, Oxford. In his professional career as a journalist, he worked for several newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph and The Outlook. In his first published book of poems, Biography for Beginners (1905), he invented the clerihew, a form of rhyming light verse consisting of four lines satirizing the biography of its subject. Popularized by Bentley, the form would be used by numerous writers, including G.K. Chesterton and W.H. Auden. In addition to two subsequent collections of poetry—More Biography (1929) and Baseless Biography (1939)—Bentley published the successful detective novel Trent’s Last Case (1913). The novel, which has been adapted three times for the cinema, earned the acclaim of such writers as Dorothy L. Sayers, and was followed by a sequel and a collection of short stories involving its main character. Bentley served for a number of years as president of the Detection Club, a society of British mystery writers that included Sayers, Chesterton, Agatha Christie, and Hugh Walpole, among others. Recognized as a central figure for twentieth century detective fiction, Bentley has inspired generations of writers and readers.

What People are Saying About This

Jon L. Breen

One of the first important modern detective novels was E.C. Bentley's Trent's Last Case, often cited as the precursor of the Golden Age. The impact of the world war may have delayed Bentley's influence from being fully felt before the next decade.

Editorial Reviews

Bentley's 1912 mystery masterpiece, Trent's Last Case, which introduced Philip Trent, a fallible, human detective with reconizable emotions, was astounding for its time and still stands up well today.

Encyclopedia Mysteriosa

It is the one detective story of the present century which I am certain will go down to posterity as a classic. It is a masterpiece.”

Dorothy L. Sayers

The finest detective story of modern times.”

G. K. Chesterton

One of the seminal novels of the mystery genre.”

New York Times

One of the three best detective stories ever written.”

Agatha Christie