The Big Bow Mystery

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

28164

Title

The Big Bow Mystery

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Israel Zangwill's satirical murder mystery blends humor with a seemingly impossible crime. The narrator confesses to killing a man in an inaccessible room, only to reveal that the entire investigation was a elaborate hoax designed to test readers' deductive skills. A witty, self-aware tale that challenges the conventions of the genre.

Summary up to 500 words

Set against the foggy, frigid backdrop of early December London, Israel Zangwill's *The Big Bow Mystery* presents a meta-fictional satire on the detective genre. The narrative is framed as a confession by the narrator, Grodman, who reveals that the entire story is a deliberate literary experiment. Grodman admits to orchestrating the murder of his lodger, Arthur Constant, in a room supposedly impossible to access, staging the scene to appear unsolvable. The plot unfolds through the frantic efforts of the public and eccentric characters like the landlady Mrs. Drabdump, the detective Wimp, and the poet Denzil Cantercot to solve the puzzle. Zangwill uses this framework to mock the sensationalism of the media and the tendency of readers to jump to conclusions. The story is filled with red herrings, including a false alibi involving Grodman's wife and a dramatic confrontation with the Home Secretary. The climax occurs when Grodman exposes the crime as a fabrication, revealing that the 'unsolvable' nature of the case was a calculated design. The novel concludes with Grodman's suicide, described as an act of scientific precision, leaving the reader to reflect on the nature of truth, fiction, and the human desire to solve puzzles. Through wit rather than suspense, the novel serves as a commentary on the mystery genre itself, celebrating the author's ingenuity over traditional suspense.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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data/epubs/pg28164.epub

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2026-07-04 12:32 UTC

Categories

• Mystery