<P> Bobby Jones finds a man dying at his local golf course . A photo he saw in the man's pocket is replaced, as police seek his identity . Bobby and his friend Lady Frances Derwent have adventures as they solve the mystery of the man's last words, Why didn't they ask Evans? </P> <P> The novel was praised at first publication as "a story that tickles and tantalises", and that the reader is sure to like the amateur detectives and forgive the absence of Poirot . It had a lively narrative, full of action, with two amateur detectives who "blend charm and irresponsibility with shrewdness and good luck". Robert Barnard, writing in 1990, called it "Lively" but compared it to Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies and felt that the detectives were too much the amateurs . </P> <P> Bobby Jones is playing golf with Dr Thomas in the Welsh seaside town of Marchbolt . Seeking the golf ball he hit over the cliff edge, he sees a man lying below . The doctor says the man is fatally injured and seeks help . Bobby stays with the man, who briefly regains consciousness, says "Why didn't they ask Evans?", and then dies . Bobby finds a photograph of a beautiful woman in the man's coat pocket, but no identification . Roger Bassington - ffrench, a stranger wearing plus fours, offers to stay with the body so Bobby can play the organ at his father's church . </P> <P> The dead man is identified as Alex Pritchard by his sister, Amelia Cayman, at the inquest . She is said to be the woman in the photograph; Bobby wonders how such a beautiful girl could become such a coarse older woman . After the inquest, Mrs Cayman and her husband want to know if Pritchard had any last words . Bobby says that he did not . Later, when talking with his friend Frankie (Lady Frances Derwent), Bobby remembers that Pritchard did have last words and writes to the Caymans to tell them . </P>

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