- Who is it for?
- Ages 10–14
- How long is it?
- 29 min
- What does it include?
- Synced read-along and a quiz
- What does it cost?
- Premium access in Emma's Library
About this audiobook
Antony Gillingham arrives at the Red House just after a gunshot. In the locked office lies a man everyone identifies as Robert Ablett, the rough brother from Australia whom the wealthy host, Mark Ablett, had announced was coming; Mark has vanished and appears to be the obvious killer. Antony recruits his friend Bill Beverley as Watson and examines the keys, an opened window, a secret passage, and a bundle of clothes hidden in the pond. The solution turns the case inside out. The real Robert died in Australia three years earlier. Vain, theatrical Mark had disguised himself as Robert for an elaborate joke against the actress Ruth Norris, even walking past witnesses so the invented visitor would seem real. Mark's cousin and manager, Matthew Cayley, encouraged every detail while secretly planning revenge. Once Mark completed the disguise, Cayley shot him and staged Mark's disappearance. Antony identifies the corpse as Mark and writes Cayley before going to the police. Cayley answers with a confession explaining his hatred, his manipulation of Mark's vanity, and his intention to end his own life. The sunny detective game closes on a morally uneasy human tragedy.
Why it's worth a listen
Step into a sunlit English manor where a sudden gunshot shatters the quiet afternoon and sparks a brilliant game of deduction. Follow the quick-witted Antony Gillingham as he pieces together physical clues, hidden passages, and psychological inconsistencies that the police overlook. This classic locked-room puzzle invites you to match wits with a charming amateur sleuth before the final, startling truth is unmasked.
What listeners will learn
Subjects: literature, storytelling, historical imagination.
- character
- setting
- conflict
- choice
- consequence
- theme
- retelling
- house
- mystery
- classic
Questions for after listening
- Retell the central conflict in order.
- Name one important choice and what happened because of it.
- How did the setting or tradition shape the story?
A question to keep
When the pleasure of solving a puzzle reveals a planned killing, what does the solver owe the dead, the guilty, and the law?
Chapters
- A Shot in the Quiet Afternoon
- The Amateur and the Watson
- The Pond and the Perfect Witness
- The Face in the Looking-Glass
- The Playwright's Fatal Jest
- A Question to Keep
Editorial review
Quality reviewed · 94/100 on . Certificate EL-4383-1253 is bound to the exact narrated script.
The review checks factual care, audience fit, teaching quality, structure, tone and source honesty. Read the editorial standards.
Published 2026-07-13 · Updated
