Blind Corner - Dornford Yates

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Blind Corner

by
Dornford Yates

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

Title:	Blind Corner
Author:	Dornford Yates
Genre:	Novel
Written:	1927
Length:	225 pages
Availability:	Blind Corner - US
	Blind Corner - UK
	Blind Corner - Canada

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Our Assessment:

B : a decent treasure-hunt adventure story

See our review for fuller assessment.

Review Summaries
Source	Rating	Date	Reviewer
The NY Times Book Rev.	.	7/8/1927	.
Sunday Times	.	20/2/1927	.
The Washington Post	.	15/3/2019	Michael Dirda

From the Reviews:

"This unusual chronicle of mystery and adventure has elements which should make it appeal to the most adult and sophisticated reader. In a manner abrupt, businesslike and yet wholly ingratiating we are told how three young Englishmen discover the secret of the great Wagensburg treasure and contend for its possession with a band of international crooks. (...) It is not possible from such a summary to appreciate the sober skill and altogether convincing style which sets this tale apart from the usual run of adventure fiction. (...) It is a thoroughly masculine book from beginning to end." - The New York Times Book Review

"(T)he fun becomes fast and furious, so furious, indeed, that you have almost reached to the end of the book before you realise the complete lack of what is called love interest. But this is not wanted at all. Mr. Yates knows how to use his material to the best advantage, and boys (of all ages) will thank him for so delightful a yarn." - Sunday Times

"At times Blind Corner recalls a late-1920s version of the tongue-in-cheek British TV series, "The Avengers" (minus Diana Rigg, alas), with plenty of improbable yet gentlemanly derring-do. (...) Blind Corner is certainly kitschy fun." - Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       Blind Corner begins with a murder, but there is little mystery to it: narrator Richard Chandos -- twenty-two, and recently sent down from Oxford -- witnesses it as he is on his way back to England after five weeks in Biarritz. He overhears an argument and even hears the man who is killed name his murderer -- and is then spied by this Ellis, who takes a shot at him for good measure as well before disappearing. The victim is till alive when Chandos approaches him -- and asks Chandos to look after the dog that is with him, adding also: "'Look in her collar,' he murmured, 'and you'll find she can pay for her keep.'"
       There's a plate on the collar engraved with what Chandos assumes is a date -- 17-10-16 --, but someone who mistakes the coat for his own clears that up, noting that it identifies the dead man as a member of the secret service during the War; in a rather unlikely coïncidence, the stranger -- Jonathan Mansel -- knew him. When they open the collar they find a: "Statement of Carl Ramek, well-digger, aged 92", in which he describes where a treasure is buried, in a well, in Wagensburg, Carinthia, in Austria. Chandos, his friend George Hanbury, and Mansel decide to go hunt for the treasure.
       Ellis, the murderer, was obviously after the treasure as well -- and remains so, and though he doesn't know as many of the details as Chandos and his buddies, he knows the general location, and has already put an option to purchase on the property in question by the time Chandos and his friends arrive. They manage to secure a leasehold, so they in fact can take possession of the castle for the time being, but Ellis obviously remains a threat; indeed, he shows up soon enough with several others, making his claim. He's not the leader of the group, either; that is one Rose Noble -- "a man of some position among thieves", Mansel knows -- and while the first confrontation sees them sent off, it's soon clear that they're not going to give up.
       The well is easily found, but getting at the treasure isn't straightforward: it's apparently in a chamber off to the side, some eighty feet down. And the well is full of water. Chandos and his friends hope to empty the well -- but this too proves challenging, because the water fills back up quite quickly. Still, they have a go at it -- without exactly hiding their intentions:

Mansel inquired if there was any one line which we thought he should take in dealing with Ellis and his friends, “because,” said he, “beyond recommending them to return to the deuce, I’ve no plan at all. I don’t propose to deny that we’re looking for treasure, and I propose to announce that we’re cleaning the well. If you can’t conceal, advertise: it’s the next best thing. But I’ve little else in mind

       The story they spread is that they'd found the remains of a baby in the well, fouling the water and necessitating the cleaning of the well -- so that Rose Noble and his gang would think that was the reason for the emptying of the well, while the treasure might in fact be elsewhere on the property.
       It's hard work, and it only gets Chandos and his friends so far -- with Rose Noble still a constant threat. Even as they reach down far enough, the treasure remains elusive; they abandon that effort, leave it to Rose Noble -- knowing he will come up against the same problem they did -- and pretend to abandon the treasure-hunt. In fact, however, they simply choose a different approach, secretly digging a tunnel, to approach the chamber from the side.
       The conditions allow for the secrecy, but it too is difficult work -- and a race, since Rose Noble and his gang are going at it from the other side, through the well. Of course the tension mounts; of course, there's a mad last desperate dash as the treasure seems within reach .....
       It's an adventure-story -- a race to a treasure (which is well worth having; it's worth a fortune), pitting some very bad guys against the resourceful Mansel and the quite capable Chandos and Hanbury (and a few helpers, as well the dog). Chandos does get knocked out a few times, many shots are fired, and, yes, much of the action takes place deep, deep underground. There's also that castle, with its own secrets -- and the Rolls, in which they drive about .....
       It's all a bit complicated, too, with Chandos describing much of the action in great detail -- not only the actual plan and work of getting at the chamber and the treasure, but also, for example, the quite elaborate arrangements for the shift work they do; it rather bogs down the narrative at times. Still, there is good action, too, and especially appealing is how the two contending groups face off at various times, with several confrontations along the way; the race-aspect to the treasure hunt certainly adds to the overall appeal.
       It's a decent adventure story, with some clever ideas, but Yates does get too carried away with precise description of some of the many steps along the way.

- M.A.Orthofer, 14 January 2026

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See Index of Mysteries and Thrillers
See Index of Books Written Between 1900 and 1945

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About the Author:

English author Dornford Yates (actually: Cecil William Mercer) lived 1885 to 1960.

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