Hugh Mulvane comes to Pons and Parker at 7B Praed Street to tell them the truly lurid tale of the life and death of his creepy uncle, whom he is now accused of having murdered. Simon Hardcastle was a hermit who almost never left his home, Chalcroft Manor, and was resentful when his nephew Hugh left it as well. Nevertheless, one cold winter night the old man left the manor and was later found dead in the family mausoleum. It is subsequently discovered that though the body was fully clothed when found, the man had been stark naked when he was killed! Bizarre footprints left near the body resemble devil's feet, thus raising the specter of the Legend of the Devil's Claw.Pons interrogates the odd cast of characters: Peters, the estate manager and his drop-dead gorgeous wife, Sarita; Mulvane's girlfriend Sybil Masterson; Vincent Tidmarsh, the music master at a nearby college; and even the maid, Angela. The problem is that only Hugh Mulvane has any obvious motive for wanting the old man dead. Believing in the innocence of his client, Pons perseveres and eventually uncovers an astoundingly diabolical conspiracy.

Out of Basil Copper's many stories continuing August Derleth's detective Solar Pons (himself a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes), he offers only this single novel. Solar Pons Versus the Devil's Claw is a grand story, harking back somewhat to The Hound of the Baskervilles, hinting as it does of death at the hands of supernatural agencies. Of course Pons sees through that blind so soon as Mr. Mulvane brings him the eerie news, embarking on yet another intensive criminal investigation at yet another English manor with his faithful assistant Dr. Parker. Be sure that they solve the mystery, weeding through the many suspects and the hat full of clues that seem to point in every direction.

This book was published in a very small edition by a specialty press, is now out of print, and I gather that very few current owners are willing to part with their copies. I don't blame them. Therefore it sells for a small fortune in the collectors market.