The ‘Colonel’ in British Mysteries Isn’t a Snob. He’s a Scandal.
The blustering ‘Colonel’ in British detective fiction isn’t a symbol of upper-class stability—he’s a ghost of imperial betrayal. After WWI, the British Empire promoted thousands of middle-class men to temporary officer ranks, used them in the trenches, and then stripped them of their status, pensions, and dignity. This is the story of how a discarded class of veterans became fiction’s most enduring suspects.