The Club of Queer Trades

About this book

Basin Street is home to the Club of Queer Trades, whose members may only join if they have invented an entirely new way of earning a living. When strange complaints reach private investigator Rupert Grant and his poet brother Basil, each case leads to a profession more bizarre than the last, from professional mourners to inverted kidnappers. Chesterton uses these comic mysteries to poke fun at modern commerce, legal pedantry, and the logic of London life. The tone is playful rather than grim, the solutions surprising rather than forensic. A charming oddity for readers who like their detective fiction with a wink.