History Literature / TheSevenDialsMystery

* ChekhovsGun: Bill natters on about Babe St. Maur, an American actress who is supposed to be very beautiful. Bundle, who has feelings for Bill, gets annoyed. This is played for comedy, but in the end it's revealed that Babe St. Maur is the true identity of the mysterious Countess Radzky, whom Bundle met at George Lomax's house and who is a member of the Seven Dials.

It is a sequel to 1925 novel ''Literature/TheSecretOfChimneys'', featuring the return of spirited flapper Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent. The story kicks off at the Chimneys estate, where a bunch of {{Upper Class Twit}}s are indulging in upper-class twittery. Gerry Wade, one of the IdleRich spending time at Chimneys, keeps sleeping absurdly late in the mornings. The rest of the gang, including Gerry's nincompoop friends Jimmy Thesiger and Bill Eversleigh, get a bright idea. They will buy a bunch of alarm clocks and sneak them into Gerry's room. The alarm clocks will all go off at once and wake Gerry up at a proper hour.

* NouveauRiche: Sir Oswald Coyote is a self-made man, a steel magnate who rose up from being a clerk to a captain of industry. He is also an obnoxious jerk and looked down upon by Bundle's OldMoney elite as well as the snobby servants at Chimneys. (Of course, Bundle's circle is a bunch of {{Upper Class Twit}}s so this cuts both ways.)

* DetectiveMole: No. 7, the leader of the Seven Dials secret society, is revealed to be...Superintendent Battle. Played with when it turns out that the Seven Dials are actually good guys, an amateur secret service working under Battle's direction.
* DiscreetDrinkDisposal: The audience learns at the end that Jimmy tried to kill Bill with a poisoned drink but Bill, who knew that Jimmy was the killer, poured the drink out when Jimmy's back was turned.
* DistinguishingMark: How Bundle realizes that Countess Radzky is actually No. 1, one of the Seven Dials that she saw at the secret meeting. The Countess and No. 1 both have the same mole.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: The ending reveals that the killer is not one of the Seven Dials, but instead amiable, seemingly dimwitted Jimmy Thesiger, who has been helping Bundle all along in her investigation. In fact, it was actually Bundle unwittingly helping Jimmy in his efforts to defeat the Seven Dials.

* HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation: The ending reveals that Jimmy faked the shooting, wrecking the living room where the fight supposedly took place, then speaking both in his own voice and "a hoarse half-whisper."

* SecretCircleOfSecrets: The investigation in leads to the titular secret society, whose members wear masks shaped like clock faces and address each other by pseudonyms. It's a society of amateur detectives led by the police superintendent.

* SuspiciousSpending: Superintendent Battle gives as his reason for first focusing on Jimmy that Jimmy, who lives a life of the IdleRich, actually does not come from OldMoney like Bundle and the rest of the gang, and the source of his income was unknown.

* TitleDropChapter: The chapter near the end where Bundle wakes up in the clutches of the Seven Dials and finds out to her horror that Superintendent Battle is their leader, is called "The Seven Dials".

* DeadManWriting: Bill receives an "in the event of my death" letter that Ronny Devereaux instructed be sent fourteen days after his death. Subverted when it turns out that actually Bill got no such letter and it was really a trick to flush Jimmy out.

* CosmopolitanCouncil: The Seven Dials are a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] version. They're a secret society who wear clock-emblazoned masks, each showing a time from 1:00 to 7:00. Number One is a Hungarian countess, Number Two (who isn't at the first meeting readers see) a German former soldier, Number Three a British gentleman, Number Four an American reporter, Number Five a Hungarian ambassador, Number Six a Russian club owner, and Number Seven, whose identity is the central mystery of the book, is Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard. Several reveals follow: [[spoilerthe Dials are actually [[GoodAllAlong good guys]]; the "Hungarian" countess is an American actress affecting a voice; and Number Two was another Brit--the suspected German was an undercover police officer, explaining why he wasn't at the meeting. At the end of the book, heroine Eileen Brent agrees to become the "new" Number Two, bringing the total number of Brits in the Dials to three.]]

* CosmopolitanCouncil: The Seven Dials are a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] version. They're a secret society who wear clock-emblazoned masks, each showing a time from 1:00 to 7:00. Number One is a Hungarian countess, Number Two (who isn't at the first meeting readers see) a German former soldier, Number Three a British gentleman, Number Four an American reporter, Number Five a Hungarian ambassador, Number Six a Russian club owner, and Number Seven, whose identity is the central mystery of the book, is Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard. Several reveals follow: the Dials are actually [[GoodAllAlong good guys]]; the "Hungarian" countess is an American actress affecting a voice; and Number Two was another Brit--the suspected German was an undercover police officer, explaining why he wasn't at the meeting. At the end of the book, heroine Eileen Brent agrees to become the "new" Number Two, bringing the total number of Brits in the Dials to three.

** Even with TheReveal that Jimmy and Loraine have been criminals all along, Jimmy really has been developing feelings for Loraine, while her participation in his crimes has always been out of love for him. Their conversations where Loraine refuses to marry Jimmy "until they're safe" certainly take on a different context after the truth is known...

** This is arguably an undeserved criticism, though. Ronny Devereux even literally says who killed him. See: HisNameIs. This is as big of a clue pointing to the real killer as possible, if readers interpret his last words correctly. Another big clue are the biting marks on the glove, them being from someone whose other arm was injured, so he had to use his teeth to take off the glove. In fact, one can argue that it's the most FairPlayWhodunnit of any of her early thrillers.

** This is arguably an undeserved criticism, though. Ronny Devereux even literally says who killed him. This is as big of a clue pointing to the real killer as possible, if readers interpret his last words correctly. Another big clue are the biting marks on the glove, them being from someone whose other arm was injured, so he had to use his teeth to take off the glove. In fact, one can argue that it's the most FairPlayWhodunnit of any of her early thrillers.

** This is arguably an undeserved criticism, though. Ronny Devereux even literally says who killed him. This is as big of a clue pointing to the real killer as possible, if readers interpret his last words correctly. Another big clue are the biting marks on the glove, them being from someone whose other arm was injured, so he had to use his teeth to take off the glove.

** This is arguably an undeserved criticism, though. Ronny Devereux even literally says who killed him. This as big of a clue pointing to the real killer as possible, if readers interpret his last words correctly. Another big clue are the biting marks on the glove, them being from someone whose other arm was injured, so he had to use his teeth to take off the glove.

* PlotHole: TheReveal is that Jimmy and Loraine are the villains and partners in crime, and that at the Lomax mansion Jimmy actually faked the fight and tossed the secret formula to Loraine. So then, why did she give it back?

* UpperClassTwit: Bundle's social circle is filled with a bunch of idle rich youth who aren't terribly bright and don't have a lot of work to do. Bill himself confesses that he isn't the smartest. Bundle, when told that someone died at Chimneys, is particularly aghast that he died in her room (the house was being rented).