A Case in Camera

An aviation disaster. A body with a bullet wound. And a mystery that begins where the accident ends.

On a seemingly ordinary morning in 1919, young artist Philip Esdaile is entertaining friends at his Chelsea studio when an extraordinary catastrophe shatters the gathering: an aeroplane crashes overhead, sending two parachutists plunging onto the studio roof.

One of the aviators is dead.

But the fall did not kill him.

Evidence reveals that the man was fatally shot, transforming a spectacular accident into an impossible murder case. As suspicion spreads among those connected to the incident, secrets, strained loyalties, and carefully constructed stories begin to surface.

Young lawyer John Saxon is drawn into the investigation, attempting to reconstruct what happened before the aircraft came down and determine how a death in the sky became an act of deliberate violence.

Originally published in 1921, A Case in Camera is a clever early twentieth-century mystery blending aviation, psychological suspense, social intrigue, and an unusual crime puzzle. Oliver Onions—better known today for his supernatural fiction—reveals another side of his storytelling in this atmospheric and intricately constructed detective novel.

Narrated by Lowell Neumann.