Ever had a feeling of deja-vu, like we already did something, like it is happening again, as if we are in a sci-fi movie and re-visited the moment in the past, like gamers playing the same level from the checkpoint? That is how I felt while reading the Twenty Third Man!
I felt like I read this one, ages ago, but I couldn’t recall the story at all. I had a nagging feeling that I read the book, but managed to forget it entirely!
Anyway, let me review this one, for everyone.
Published on : 1957
Read by QB : 10th February 2026
Written by : Gladys Mitchell
Review :
Dame Beatrice Bradley, a well known psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and amateur detective, (probably in her late sixties) lands on island of Hombres Muertos (literally means dead men) for her month long vacation.
She makes friends on the ship, from London to Spain. One Mr.Clun, a 29 year old, ex-prison bird who spent 3 years in prison for manslaughter (i.e. killing someone in a burst of anger or jealousy without premeditation) Then there is Mr.Telham and his newly widowed sister, Caroline Lockerby. Interestingly, the brother and sister seem to loathe Mr.Clun for some reason.
As the ship reaches the island, we meet more characters like Mr.Peterhouse, who organises local tours and is also into growing orchids, but it is later revealed that he is into growing poisonous plants!
Mrs.Angel, who is an enigma, rumour has it that she sends the local girls to South America, to work in estates illegally, in short, slave trade!
Ruiz and his daughter, run the beautiful hotel where everyone is staying at. They are the locals.
There are Clement, an obnoxious, loud boy and his adoptive parents and also Karl Emden, the English casanova, who makes many enemies from his two month long stay at the island. His incessant flirting with every girl on the island makes him notorious and everybody’s enemy. The story turns on it’s head, when Dame Beatrice discovers Karl Emden is missing!
The island Hombres Muertos is famous for its cave, where twenty three mummified kings (wearing fine jewellery) have been preserved. Their final resting place is also the main attraction and is the reason the island got its name .
When the latest batch of tourists enter the cave for their visit, hell breaks loose. Caroline Lockerby becomes hysterical, she thinks she saw one of the 23 dead kings move! Mr.Peterhouse, the tour guide notices nothing and Telham is calmer than ever. Dame herself notices that one of the dead man is taller than the rest, like he had been added recently!
One day later, Clement comments that there are 24 and not 23 dead men in the cave!
Who is the 24th dead body?
Is it Karl Emden? Who killed him?
Why is Mr.Peterhouse growing poisonous plants? Is he down with dementia?
Is the death of Caroline’s husband and Mr.Clun’s manslaughter case related in anyway?
Unable to get any clues in the island of Hombres Muertos, Dame Beatrice reaches London, to do a background check on all the tourists she had met on the island. Meanwhile, Dame sends her assistant, a new mother, Laura and her newborn baby to the island in her stead. (The dacoits on the island kidnap Laura, but once they find out that she has a newborn waiting at the hotel, eager for his dinner of milk, they let her go. Who knew even a newborn can be a saviour from dacoits!)
To find who really is the villain, it is better to read the book. I know you will!
P.S :
1. The writing style is very different to what I have been used to, since it was written in 1950’s. It is indirect and exhausting at first, but I got used to it pretty soon.
2. We get no clues at all about who the killer may be.
3. Since the detective, Dame Beatrice is psychology expert, her brilliance only proves Gladys herself was a genius. I will surely try to find more of her books. She is also a contemporary writer of Dame Agatha Cristie.
4. Incidentally, the dacoits kidnap Clement too, but let him go, unable to bear him! LOL!
I love the location where the novel is based on, which is new and unique.
Till the next post, cheerio.
