The Clue of the New Pin by Edgar WallaceMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A clever locked-room mystery, though not so clever that I didn't guess something close to it. I completely did not guess the murderer, though. And for Edgar Wallace, the romance is fairly well developed, in the sense that the couple spend a good amount of time together both before and after getting engaged, and the woman isn't completely wet and passive.
In fact, it's a strong mystery thriller, with lots of action, but not so much that the protagonists (an unusually intelligent policeman and a newspaper reporter) don't get to reflect on events and on life in general. There's a Chinese man in it, and though an offensive epithet is used by a number of characters including the reporter, he has some depth to him and is not just a stereotype or a bunch of Orientalist tropes. (view spoiler)
It's solid work, enjoyable both as a mystery and as a novel.
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