Left-Handed Death is the first of Richard Hull’s mysteries I’ve read. It’s got an interesting perspective. We kind of start in the middle of the mystery. Arthur Shergold and Guy Reeves are sitting in their office, discussing recent events, in particular, Reeves’ lunch that day with a civil servant from the Ministry, Barry Foster. Foster has become a problem for their company, which deals with contracts for the Ministry of Defence. Neither of them particularly like the man either. The dinner seems to end with Reeves killing Foster in Foster’s home, strangling him to death. Later that day, Reeves goes to Scotland Yard and confesses to the crime. Inspector Hardwick isn’t quite ready to accept things at face value, he sets out to prove Reeves innocent.

It’s an interesting set-up. We know that there’s something fishy about Reeves’ confession, but not sure quite what? Why would he confess if he hadn’t done it? If he did do it, why did he confess before the crime was even discovered? Hardwick and his fellow detectives sort through the clues, look for alibis, talk to witnesses and gather medical evidence. The clues are well-done and it’s a fair book, we learn things as the detectives do.

I felt like the whodunnit was not much of a surprise, but I’m not sure if the author meant it to be or not. The problem was I just didn’t care. The dead man was uninteresting. Reeves and Shergold both seemed like jerks. Hardwick was a fine detective but didn’t stand out. Cynthia Trent, the company’s secretary and Reeves’ potential love interest, seemed a little dull and indecisive. So I liked the plot, but not really any of the characters.

How do I talk about this book and not give away the solution? Well, I’ll try.
Hull has once again surprised me with the format of a story. Almost from the first page, I got the feeling that all not is as it should be. It just doesn’t add up, nor does it to Detective Inspector Hardwick. It might just be that a trap has been laid for the Inspector, and by extension the reader. But by who? And why?
The solution to this mystery is pretty obvious. Instead, of wondering who committed this coldblooded murder, I found myself held in suspense as our rather ordinary heroes try to get gather the evidence to convict the killer. The author did a wonderful job of maneuvering his characters through an increasingly contradictory set of circumstances. For a while, I just couldn’t see how he was going to get them all out of the tangle they were in. Toward the end, I couldn’t put it down. Would the Inspector be able to sort through the red herrings and conflicting emotions?
There were several curse words, more than I have found in other books Hull wrote. Aside from those, it is a very clean book.
I received this book as a free ARC through NetGalley and Agora Books. No favorable review was required, and it was my pleasure to provide my honest opinion.

This book was published in 1946, but is set slightly earlier, just before the end of World War II. It begins with Guy Reeves, one of the two directors of the Shergold Engineering Company, returning to his office after lunch and making a shocking confession to his co-director, Arthur Shergold: he has just murdered Barry Foster, a civil servant who has been investigating the company’s finances. Foster may have been on the point of revealing corruption within the company, something which matters to the Ministry he works for because the Shergold Company have been supplying government contracts throughout the war.

Reeves describes his actions of the afternoon to his partner, finishing with a detailed account of how he carried out the murder, then he heads to Scotland Yard where he repeats his confession to the police. Inspector Hardwick doesn’t believe him – why would somebody voluntarily admit to murder? – but he sends his men to Foster’s home where they discover that Foster is indeed dead and that it’s entirely possible that the murder could have taken place exactly as Reeves has described it. There seems little reason to investigate further, but Hardwick still has his doubts and sets out to prove that Reeves is innocent.

All of this happens in the first chapter of the book and I was immediately intrigued. As I continued to read, I started to form my own theory about what was happening and I was able to predict the solution before it was revealed, but I still enjoyed watching Hardwick and his fellow detectives sorting through the clues, looking for alibis, speaking to witnesses and gathering medical evidence. I thought the ending did let the rest of the book down slightly, though – surely there was room for one or two more twists!

As well as being an entertaining murder mystery, I found this book interesting because of the time period in which it is set. The story takes place right at the end of the war and that has an impact on the lives of the characters and on just about everything that happens in the novel.

My favourite Richard Hull novel so far is The Murder of My Aunt, but this is another good one and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Richard Hull is a really interesting author. None of the characters in this book are particularly likeable, but the way it's structured and the unusual details about London in the aftermath of the end of the war make it very memorable. The characterisations are very distinctive, and the whole book is spent unravelling the truth from the lies and the complex motives of the characters. No-one is entirely who they seem, no-one is very heroic, and the spectre of the war and its repercussions for the ordinary people who have lived through it at home looms in the background.

Disclaimer: ARC provided in return for an honest review.

Look, I'll be up front, this kind of book is not for me. I belong firmly in the present century so far as narrative structures go, with the exception of authors like Agatha Christie.

On the whole, though I wasn't a dazzled by the book, I can see how this would be enjoyable for people who ARE into this kind of thing. It's understated wry slight absurdist humour is Very British....a tad too British for me, I'm afraid.

Now, all that said, the plot is solid. It's got something of a predictable end, so the intrigue is in how the detectives prove it. The characters are memorable, and the dialogue is snappy.

“I like my murders to start at the beginning with the corpse and go on to the end with the conviction. But when you start in the middle with the confession – well, all I can say is, that it’s all wrong!”

Arthur Shergold and Guy Reeves sit in their office, discussing recent events, in particular Reeves recent dinner with a civil servant from the Ministry, Barry Foster. Foster looks to be a thorn in the side of their company, a company dealing with military contracts, and neither of them particularly like the man either.

The dinner seems to end with Foster’s death, but luckily there’s nothing much to investigate – Reeves comes to the police station and confesses all. But Inspector Hardwick isn’t quite ready to accept things at face values – Reeves is playing some sort of game, and Hardwick is determined to find out what.


Richard Hull’s work has been something of a mixed bag to me. I loved Murder Isn’t Easy and Keep It Quiet and liked The Murder Of My Aunt, whereas some of his later titles haven’t really clicked with me. Others seem to like them though, and I’ve enjoyed enough of his work to keep trying with him. And thankfully, Agora Books are helping out with this by republishing his works one by one.

Left Handed Death starts really well – in fact, I enjoyed the majority of the book. It has real echoes of Murder Isn’t Easy, with a small number of characters, each with different motivations and all of them seeming to be up to something. There are a couple of great turns in the plot, in particular when Reeves reveals a little something about his confession – it’s a really clever idea that I’d not seen before.

As I said, I enjoyed the majority of the book – the problem is the ending. I suppose the question is, was Hull trying to make the final revelation a surprise. I got to the end and it just felt a bit flat – there was nothing there that surprised me, unlike, say, Murder Isn’t Easy. It’s a shame, as overall this is a really entertaining read and it’s definitely worth your time, but it just needed one extra surprise to make it a classic.

Funny and very readable, if a little slow to get going, this is yet another demonstration of Hull's versatility, and ability to spring a surprise.
This has a lot to say about wartime manners and mores as well as the Home Front bureaucracy which helped to win WW2. It was first published in 1946 and draws on Hull's own experiences as an auditor in government service.

Highly recommended, both to those already convinced of this author's worth and to newcomers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for the digital review copy.

Left-handed Death is my first Richard Hull read and I am certainly looking forward to reading more of his works. I found the writing/story style to be similar to that of Bellairs'.

The ending is okayish. Since it is an inverted mystery, I wouldn't want to comment on it. (Inverted mysteries are either a hit or a miss, and depends on the ending.)

But, the humour bits and the mystery behind the identity of the killer makes this story an enjoyable read. I recommend this book to those who love mystery classics.

Overall rating: 3.5/5 (rounding it off to 4)

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Agora Books, in return for an honest review. Agora Books is re-releasing books from the ‘Golden Age’ of Mysteries. ‘Left-handed Death’ was originally published in 1946, written by Richard Hull. It is quintessentially mid-20th Century English in the style, pacing, dialogue, characters and design. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s very different from most mysteries today. Opening with a dialogue between two Directors (men, of course) of an engineering firm, they discuss the challenges of a petty Ministry civil servant who is preventing their access to government contracts. The two men are of very different ages and personalities. Guy is ex-military, returned from WWII, which is still waging at the time of the story. Arthur, the elder man, ran the firm during the war. The results of the conversation (or is it?) is the death of the Ministry man, Barry Foster, and Guy turning up at Scotland Yard to proclaim his guilt in the death. Yet, inconsistencies in the story and the reasoning are slowly unraveled in the two days covered in the book. So, is Guy executing a double-bluff or is there another explanation? This is a story that requires attention, given the changes in language, cultural norms and modern behaviors. If you are a fan of this era in mysteries, you should find this book to your liking.

This is another thoroughbred from Agora’s Richard Hull stable, set in April 1945 and published the following year. The book really is a pleasure to read with some laugh out loud moments caused by the waspish dialogue.

Barry Foster, an employee of the Ministry of Labour, had been investigating the company of which Guy is a director, the Shergold Engineering Company and there were some anomalies with their figures. Why were they so much more expensive than other firms?

The company was Arthur Shergold’s until Guy Reeves bought in, introducing more capital. Shergold insists on having the windows of his office closed, thus making it uncomfortably warm for everyone else. That’s a clever touch – because it’s emphasised, the reader feels uncomfortable too.

Guy appears to have murdered Foster. Indeed, Guy goes to Scotland Yard and insists on making a confession. Guy has lost three fingers of his left hand and Foster appears to have been strangled by someone using their left hand – it does look as though Guy did it.

However, some aspects don’t look right. But did Guy make them not look right so that people would realise he’s actually innocent. Or did he do that because he really is guilty and wanted to make people think he was innocent although he seems guilty prima facie? Oh, dear!

Cynthia Trent works for the firm and thinks she might be able to like Guy. However, he’s selfish and pretty obnoxious to her – I really don’t know why she wastes time on him. I’m afraid Guy and most of the main characters aren’t very likeable as they all have their flaws. One exception is the minor character of Mr Pennington, the tax inspector, who increasingly enjoys himself, despite the murder of a member of his staff.

Financial shenanigans, much meddling and murder in a classic Richard Hull mystery. Typically well crafted, cleverly plotted and full of trademark wit - an entertaining and enjoyably quirky read.

There is something about this author that resonates with me, the skill with words makes up for anything missing from the actual deaths and the ensuing revelations. Once again, I used my husband to measure the random reactions of someone other than me. I left him the task of keeping the kindle page from going off, and to read the page if he felt like it in the meantime. Although it was the middle of the chapter, with no proper introductions to the people in the story, he found it intelligent and entertaining. 

The story is straightforward, and the solution is plain to see, but that is almost beside the point of reading this book. It is more about the interesting conversations that the 'ordinary people' have. The civil servants are the fodder for the tale. Their monotonous jobs(or that's how they are portrayed) and their self effacing manner of speaking is featured in a very entertaining fashion.  We are introduced to one company that is the focus of this particular incident. The two directors are talking about one of them confessing to a murder. The twist comes when the police given the case want to prove the man innocent. Then the story proceeds down the standard route giving us a play by play of the process. We have witness being hunted, people being questioned and alibis being checked. During all of this, the brilliant narration continued to hold me and make me chuckle. Below are two statements that I highlighted initially, but beyond that, I kept doing it so much that it became too much to put down anywhere, so I stopped:

"He had not taken a liking to the face of the man slumped in the chair by the fireplace. Perhaps he had not made enough allowance for the fact that the man was not looking his best-"

"..failing to make any impression on him, he was reduced to putting his discourtesy into words"

It may not be for those who are on the lookout for an intriguing plot and a twist to top all twists, and it will not keep anyone glued to their seats, but it is still worth picking up just for the intelligence behind those words that are strung together. I just wish I had the forethought to request the other books by the author, which the publishers re-published recently.

Originally penned some time around 1938, this is a very twee, and gentile murder mystery.


I would like to think, that like Nostradamus, the prediction of world war being in full throw during the setting of the book. Were, that of the author. However, I think that this may have been edited into the work to give it the extra impetus. Not that this detracts from the story itself.



It is everything that you would expect from a work that is circa 80 years old. A part of the Crime Club books. Having read some of the blurb at the start of it, Mr. Hull, helped Agatha Christie hone her skills for the Murder Mystery genre, that was popular at the time of the original release. However, I digress.


To the story. Like I have already said, it twee, gentile and exponentially British. In a tongue of the time, there are times when you are left wondering about a word or two. But it flows. You don't necessarily need a dictionary with you. Because sometimes the words just leaves a satisfying buzz in your ear as all the others around it draw you in.


A man back from the war, discharged on medical grounds, an MD, Government contracts, accountants and London's finest. The twists and turns, meander. Not in a bad way. But, are present.


A very British framing, featuring manipulation, coercion and suggestion.


This may not be for everyone, but it does give insight into just how different things were. It does take a little getting used to the prose. But overall, a good read.


Status: Completed


Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

“I like my murders to start at the beginning with the corpse and go on to the end with the conviction. But when you start in the middle with the confession—well, all I can say is, that it’s all wrong!”

Thus spake Scotland Yard’s Detective Inspector Hardwick, who doesn’t like the fact that a conceited dimbulb is confessing to the murder of a Ministry of Defense accountant. Hardwick doesn’t believe handsome rich boy Guy Reeves, mustered out of the Army due to a hand injury, and now the joint managing director of the Shergold Engineering Company. But why take the rap at all? Quite a bit isn’t hanging together, so Hardwick finds himself seeking to prove Reeves innocent.

I absolutely adored author Richard Hull’s The Murder of my Aunt, with its shocking ending. Excellent Intentions also included a twist ending and a novel treatment where the novel begins with the trial and then goes backward; however, it dragged off and on throughout, and I didn’t like it as much. Left-Handed Death drags a bit in the first 20 percent of the book, but once it took off, whew! I was glued to the pages! As with The Murder of My Aunt and Excellent Intentions, Left-Handed Death had a shocking ending of its own.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Agora Books in exchange for an honest review.

I love Richard Hull's books because he was a talented storyteller and this one was no exception.
It's well written, with a well crafted and somehow unusual plot that entertains and keeps you hooked.
The cast of characters is well developed and interesting, the mystery is solid and I enjoyed it even if it wasn't hard to guess the culprit.
I look forward to reading other books by Mr Hull.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Agora Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Aside from two or three titles, Hull’s work, second hand, is hard to come by, and never at a reasonable price, so I really value the reprints Agora are releasing. Hull, in the main, never settled for writing a conventional detective novel and today’s read is no different.

The book begins with conversation between Arthur Shergold and Guy Reeves, in their offices at the engineering company they are directors of. Hull pulls away from simplified notions of causality as the reader has to decide whether these two characters are discussing something which has happened or something which has yet to happen. The pair of them are mainly opposites in age and in personality. Arthur is cautious and focused, whilst Guy has a more indolent frame of mind. But back to the all-important conversation. Hull teases out over many sections the item Arthur wishes to discuss. Initially we get hints of shady dealings and of a civil servant/accountant in the Ministry, Barry Foster, who they blame for their loss of new government contracts. Barry’s faults and failings begin to mount over the succeeding pages, so it should be no surprise when his death is on the cards. Based on the conversation we have read between Arthur and Guy we seemingly have a timeline of events culminating in Barry’s demise. Yet we are taken aback when immediately after this Guy visits Scotland Yard to inform them of what he has done. Why does Guy hand himself in like that? Is he playing a cat and mouse game with the police, hoping to use his own confessions as a means of proving his innocence? Or is there something else going on?

Overall Thoughts

Hull’s tale is set in April 1945 and takes place over two days, concentrating a lot of police work into a short period of time. This gives the book an odd sensation, as when you’re 20 odd pages from the end, the police are still checking out the version of events given by Guy; a plot trope which I more naturally associate with occurring earlier on in a mystery story. However, within the wider sense of the book, this structural device fits, as the plot unfolds from Guy’s confession.

WW2 is still ongoing and the effects it had on everyday life make their way into the narrative. At the forefront is Guy, who has been invalided out of the army, having lost three fingers from his left hand. Yet Guy is not set up as a figure of sympathy, as we are soon told that his disability is ‘more a convenience […] than a handicap’ to him, using it for his own ends.  

During the war Hull worked for the Admiralty as an auditor, which he continued to do until 1958. I wonder whether his time working there was the source for the satire in this book as the “Ministry” becomes a primary focal point for the humour in this story. A good example of this is when the police ring them up to inform them of Barry’s death:

"Establishments Branch speaking." The voice sounded quite live at first.

"Scotland Yard here." (Well, if the Ministry liked to talk that way, he could do it too.)

"Oh, yes?" There was a gentle implication that the Ministry had heard of the Yard.

"You employ a Mr Foster - a Mr Barry Foster."

"Very possibly. We employ quite a lot of people, you know."

"We have reason to think - but I am instructed to ask you to keep this matter to yourself if you would be so good - that he was murdered this afternoon. At any rate he is dead."

"Really?" Establishments Branch was quite unruffled. Apparently, members of the staff of the Ministry were murdered frequently, especially in the afternoon. "Foster, did you say? I must put his name in the appointments list."

"Appointments?" It did not seem to Troughton that many more appointments were likely to go the way of Barry Foster.

"Yes. But with a note 'deceased' beside the name. We usually abbreviate it. That is so that the vacancy can be filled if necessary. They may decide not to, of course, as it is so late in the war - the European war, I should say."

Although Guy sees himself as the star of the tale and is portrayed as a self-dramatist the narrative spends more time with the investigating officers, Mr Pennington; from the Ministry and Cynthia Trent; a secretary at the engineering company. Cynthia nominally occupies the role of the love interest, yet I don’t think this is due to poor writing on Hull’s part. It seems a little more intentional than that. Cynthia is not quite the hapless heroine and is well aware of Guy’s faults. In some ways I think Cynthia is designed to be a bit of a red herring, but if the plot had been expanded and developed further, she may have gone on to have an even more encompassing and interesting role. Perhaps the compact nature of the plot meant it was better for a short story than a novel.

If you’ve read Murder Isn’t Easy or Keep It Quiet, then unfortunately I don’t think this ending reaches the heights of those earlier titles. Despite being a shorter book, the plot it still a bit too small for the space and I think the conclusion in its most essential part is a little predictable. The element which should be a bit more surprising is undermined by ambiguous writing and relies on a psychological component which I don’t feel is grounded enough to fit. Character psychological has played a large role in other novels by Hull, in fact some narratives have completely hinged upon it, yet in those cases I think it was developed sufficiently to work more effectively.

If you haven’t read anything by Hull before then I would seek out of his earlier works. Agora have reprinted Murder Isn’t Easy, The Ghost It Was, And Death came Too and Keep It Quiet. The first and last ones in this list are the best, in my opinion.

It took a while to get into this book, and unfortunately it was predictable in outcome. Having said that, it was a very different approach to a mystery that I have come across, as with other Richard Hull books, the twist is in the prospective of the mystery.
I did enjoy it, again a book from the Golden Age era, with lots of connections to the era and great storytelling skills