Twice Round the Clock

By: Billie Houston

Narrated by: Nick Rawlinson

Horace Manning, scientist, recluse and 'closed book' even to his friends, is found dead in his study at 4a.m., following a dinner in honour of his daughter's engagement. An ivory-handled carving knife rests between his shoulder blades as the houseguests gather round to witness the awful crime. The telephone line has been sabotaged - a calculated murder has been committed. Rewinding twelve hours, the events of the afternoon and evening unfold, revealing a multitude of clues and motives from a closed cast of suspects until the narrative reaches 4a.m. again - then races on to its riveting conclusion at 4p.m. as the listener is led twice round the clock. First published in 1935, the sole novel from the actor and dancer Billie Houston is a lively country house mystery and a true lost gem of the Golden Age of crime writing.

©1935 Estate of Billie Houston (P)2023 Soundings

What a great story!

Excellent narration. Even though I figured out part of the ending ahead of time, it didn’t spoil it. Very compelling characters. Highly recommend.

Fabulous!

This is one of the best British Crime Classics. It has a theatrical element and is structured in an interesting way.

Inventive and clever! So fun!

This little gem is delightful. I highly recommend it for lovers of classic British cozy.

Great. Keep Going.

At first, I was going to send it back. It seemed predictable.

However, I kept listening and found it intriguing and sometimes funny. I am glad I read it.

Excellent story!

Wish audible had more books like this. Wonderful Golden Age mystery. One of my favorites so far.

Classic mystery

Loved the story. The narrator’s voice was great. Voices worked. Sad she only wrote one book.

Creepy tale

Not sure why I listened to the end of this creepy tale, but I did, and I’ll say it was not worth the time. The reveal was somewhat expected. And a relief of sorts. But the actual story was hardly captivating and a bit hard to take in terms of believability. I did listen waiting for something. I’m not sure I found it. But I’m taking the time to tell others that they might do better.

Vile, predictable, trigger warnings. Great reader.

I can not believe this book has so many good reviews. The ONLY good thing I can say about it is that the reader is excellent, and I will look for other books read by him. The actual story, however, is vile. SPOILERS. First, we are treated to a description of what can only be be years of childhood sexual and psychological abuse. She says "he never does anything" but it's clear from the behavior described and the state she's in that he absolutely HAS been doing absolutely vile things, and for years. Then we are treated to the theft of a mother cat and her kittens and the horrible and extended torture death of one of the kittens. The other characters, hypocrites that they are, are horrified by what is done to the kitten, but they'd be just FINE with it if it was a rat or a mouse. THEN we get a guy who gets his face melted off by acid, gets a tree dropped on him and dies a horrifying slow death right in front of us as a result. At this point, I stopped and skipped briefly to the end where I found that the gaggingly obvious person was indeed the culprit, and stopped without waiting to hear the back story because I so emphatically don't care. This story deserved to be lost to oblivion and I am shocked and distressed that it has been dragged back into the light. This is the not what I expect from golden age mysteries.