A Smell of Smoke tpbTrade paperback. A distinctive smell of smoke presages a series of murders in the village of Lamsford, and it proves a puzzling case for Inspector Arnold and Desmond Merrion. Miles Burton was one of the two famous pseudonyms used by Major Cecil John Charles Street (1884 1965), who also wrote under the name John Rhode. The Miles Burton novels feature freelance sleuth Desmond Merrion, who collaborates on cases with Scotland Yards Inspector Henry Arnold.