The Reader is Warned (1939)
Blurb:
My review:
A genuine classic, and one of the three best Merrivales. Telepathy is neatly combined with pseudo-science, as a sinister mind-reader, with cast-iron alibi, claims to be able to kill with the powers of his mind ("Teleforce"). Naturally enough, this plunges Britain into a panic, a panic fostered by H.M., for subtle purposes of his own. The solution is genuinely surprising, with superb misdirection, every piece fitting together perfectly. The same idea (and, indeed, motive) were re-used in "The Empty Flat," a Colonel March story.