The Laughing Dog

Madeleine Burke is prepared to swear that she was Dr. Challoner’s last patient on Tuesday evening, and that he was alive and in good spirits when she bade him good night.

While holidaying in Algiers, Hugh Challoner encounters the lightning-sketch artist Aubrey Highton. Highton is desirous of finding a job back in England, and Challoner agrees to help—but then his enigmatic new friend disappears.

Back in England, Dr. Challoner is strangled in his own surgery, and it is discovered that Highton is one of the last to have seen the slain man alive. Who exactly is Highton, other than a former Foreign Legionnaire? And why was a drawing of a laughing dog left in the diary just before—or just after—the unfortunate doctor’s demise?

The Laughing Dog was originally published in 1949. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“The author’s pen has struck the gold with this one.” The Writer

“The reputation of detective and author are maintained in a swiftly moving story.” Sheffield Telegraph

“A detective story with a clever plot, good construction, and fine writing is a thing to welcome at all times. Mr. Vivian’s latest adventure of Inspector Knollis is very good indeed.” Edinburgh Evening News