Not to Be Taken: A Puzzle in Poison

John Waterhouse has died of some gastric complication. Exhumed at his brother’s request, the discovery of death by arsenical poisoning catches the interest of a hungry press and fans the flames of gossip in the sleepy village of Anneypenny. As rumours of Nazi intrigue and that burning word ‘murder’ spread and smoulder, the deadly puzzle edges towards a toxic truth.  

Originally serialised in 1937–38 in John o’ London’s Weekly with a prize offered to readers who could solve the mystery before its final chapter, this new edition includes Berkeley’s final competition report as an appendix.  

A potent concoction of subtle clueing and vicious village politics, Not to Be Taken is one of the most beguiling novels of crime fiction’s Golden Age.