Trent's Last Case
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| Trent's Last Case | |
 Cover of the fourth Nelson edition, 1917 |
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| Author | Edmund Clerihew Bentley |
|---|---|
| Country | U.K. |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Mystery, detective fiction |
| Publisher | Nelson (1st edition) |
| Publication date | 1913 (1st edition) |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 375 pp (hardcover 1st edition) |
| ISBN | ASIN B0008977GS (hardcover edition), ISBN 0-89968-165-4 (2006 hardcover reprint) |
| Followed by | Trent's Own Case |
Trent's Last Case is a detective novel written by E. C. Bentley and first published in 1913. Its central character re-appeared subsequently in Trent Intervenes and Trent's Own Case.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Trent's Last Case is actually the first novel in which gentleman sleuth Philip Trent appears. The novel is a whodunit whose unique place in the history of detective fiction is because it is at the same time the first major send-up of that very genre: Not only does Trent fall in love with one of the primary suspects — usually considered a no-no — he also, after painstakingly collecting all the evidence, draws all the wrong conclusions. Convinced that he has tracked down the murderer of a business tycoon who was shot in his mansion, he is told by the real perpetrator over dinner what mistakes in the logical deduction of the solution of the crime he has made. On hearing what really happened, Trent vows that he will never again attempt to dabble in crime detection.
[edit] Film adaptations
The novel was adapted into a silent movie directed by Richard Garrick in 1920.
A second silent adaptation was made by Howard Hawks in 1929.
The most recent film adaptation of Trent's Last Case was directed in 1952 by Herbert Wilcox. The 1952 film starred Michael Wilding as Trent and Orson Welles as Manderson.
[edit] References in other works
- The novel is read by detective Paul Artisan in Bad Twin, a mystery novel authored by "Gary Troup" (Laurence Shames) as a tie-in for the TV series Lost.
[edit] Release details
- 1913, UK, Nelson (ISBN NA), Pub date 1913, Hardback (1st edition)
- 1917, UK, Nelson (ISBN NA), Pub date 1917, Hardcover (4th edition)
- 2005, USA, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1-84637-709-9, Pub date 31 October 2005, Paperback
- 2005, USA, Echo Library, ISBN 978-1-84637-709-9, October 2005, Paperback
[edit] External links
