Book #1 in the Dr. Priestley Mysteries series.

A corpse in a railway carriage, a baffling question of identity, and a mystery that demands the cold precision of Dr. Lancelot Priestley.

When a man is found dead in a first-class carriage at Paddington Station, the case appears strange from the beginning. Who was the victim? How did he die? And why was he travelling under such peculiar circumstances? The police investigation soon becomes entangled in false names, suspicious movements, concealed motives, and the challenge of reconstructing a crime that appears almost impossible in its execution.

First published in 1925, The Paddington Mystery introduced Dr. Lancelot Priestley, the scientific and methodical detective who would become one of the longest-running figures of Golden Age British mystery fiction. John Rhode constructs an intricate puzzle of precise timing, physical evidence, police procedure, and logical deduction, delivering the kind of carefully crafted detective novel that made interwar crime fiction an enduring pleasure.

Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Freeman Wills Crofts, R. Austin Freeman, Anthony Berkeley, and J. J. Connington, as well as readers of classic British mysteries, Sherlock Holmes-style gentleman detectives, railway mysteries, and impossible-crime puzzles. Ideal for libraries, book clubs, and collectors alike.