Martin Edwards's Blog, page 147
February 3, 2017
Forgotten Book - The Sixteenth Stair
E.C.R. Lorac published The Sixteenth Stair in 1942. As usual, it features her low-key but appealing cop, Inspector Macdonald, and as so often in books written during the first part of her career, it is set in central London. A family called the Hazelys are at the heart of the action, along with a house in St John's Wood called the Villa Eugenie, which has an intriguing history..
Timothy Hazely, an American member of the family, comes to London and is tempted by the stories he's heard to take a look at the Villa Eugenie, which has been left unoccupied for many years, but his visit takes an unexpected turn when at the foot of the stairs, he discovers the body of a man with his neck broken. It turns out that the victim is a member of the family.
The house may not have been lived in for a long time, but it hasn't been entirely deserted. Macdonald and his team soon find out that it has been used as a rendezvous for an illicit love affair. A doctor has become involved with one of his patients, and one possibility is that he may be the culprit. Another is that he may have been framed by his lover's husband.
The Hazelys are a complex family in more ways than one, and I would have found a family tree helpful to enable me to keep in mind all the different family members. One reason why Lorac may not have supplied a tree is that it would have spoiled one of her surprises, but I still think it would have been worthwhile. It's an interesting and fairly distinctive story, and although I prefer some of Lorac's other books, such as Murder by Matchlight and Bats in the Belfry, it is a decent, and at times atmospheric read..
Timothy Hazely, an American member of the family, comes to London and is tempted by the stories he's heard to take a look at the Villa Eugenie, which has been left unoccupied for many years, but his visit takes an unexpected turn when at the foot of the stairs, he discovers the body of a man with his neck broken. It turns out that the victim is a member of the family.
The house may not have been lived in for a long time, but it hasn't been entirely deserted. Macdonald and his team soon find out that it has been used as a rendezvous for an illicit love affair. A doctor has become involved with one of his patients, and one possibility is that he may be the culprit. Another is that he may have been framed by his lover's husband.
The Hazelys are a complex family in more ways than one, and I would have found a family tree helpful to enable me to keep in mind all the different family members. One reason why Lorac may not have supplied a tree is that it would have spoiled one of her surprises, but I still think it would have been worthwhile. It's an interesting and fairly distinctive story, and although I prefer some of Lorac's other books, such as Murder by Matchlight and Bats in the Belfry, it is a decent, and at times atmospheric read..
February 1, 2017
The Broken Horseshoe - 1953 film review
The Broken Horseshoe is a thriller based on a serial by Francis Durbridge. The director, Martyn C.Webster, had a long association with Durbridge from the Thirties onwards, and was a key influence on Durbridge's radio career, while Peter Coke, who plays the police inspector in this movie, was one of radio's best Paul Temples.
But this isn't a Paul Temple story. It's a stand-alone mystery, and it boasts some of the classic Durbridge hallmarks, although it''s not as consistently compelling as some of his later serials, in which his mastery of the cliff-hanger was so evident. The premise is a good one - a successful doctor operates on a man badly hurt in a hit and run accident, and become infatuated with a mysterious woman who has some inexplicable connection with the patient.
The mystery woman (played by Elizabeth Sellars) persuades the naive doctor (Robert Beatty) to say nothing to the police after she turns up at the block of flats where the doctor has just found his former patient murdered. Obligingly, he discloses to her that the dead man had given him an envelope addressed to an unknown woman, and that inside it he has found only a railway ticket. In the flat where the body was found, someone has daubed on a mirror a picture of a broken horseshoe.
The doctor's persistent foolishness is rather irritating, and tends to weaken the grip of the story. The plot hinges, as so often with Durbridge, on the antics of a criminal gang, and I didn't feel that the later development of the story fulfilled the promise of the set-up..There is a reasonable plot twist, but the acting isn't quite strong enough to allow us to overlook the shortcomings. Not bad, but by no means the best of Durbridge.
But this isn't a Paul Temple story. It's a stand-alone mystery, and it boasts some of the classic Durbridge hallmarks, although it''s not as consistently compelling as some of his later serials, in which his mastery of the cliff-hanger was so evident. The premise is a good one - a successful doctor operates on a man badly hurt in a hit and run accident, and become infatuated with a mysterious woman who has some inexplicable connection with the patient.
The mystery woman (played by Elizabeth Sellars) persuades the naive doctor (Robert Beatty) to say nothing to the police after she turns up at the block of flats where the doctor has just found his former patient murdered. Obligingly, he discloses to her that the dead man had given him an envelope addressed to an unknown woman, and that inside it he has found only a railway ticket. In the flat where the body was found, someone has daubed on a mirror a picture of a broken horseshoe.
The doctor's persistent foolishness is rather irritating, and tends to weaken the grip of the story. The plot hinges, as so often with Durbridge, on the antics of a criminal gang, and I didn't feel that the later development of the story fulfilled the promise of the set-up..There is a reasonable plot twist, but the acting isn't quite strong enough to allow us to overlook the shortcomings. Not bad, but by no means the best of Durbridge.
Death at Broadcasting House - 1934 film review
Thanks to the wonderful channel Talking Pictures, I've caught up with the film of a book I wrote about in The Golden Age of Murder. And what a terrific period piece it is. I can't easily recall any film from the early days of the talkies that I've enjoyed so much. The movie is Death at Broadcasting House, based on the book of the same name by Val Gielgud and Holt Marvell.
In the US,the book was called London Calling!, possibly because in its early days Broadcasting House wasn't well known on the other side of the Atlantic. I am lucky enough to have a copy of the American edition of the book, inscribed by Eric Maschwitz, who used the pen-name Holt Marvell, and is best known as the lyricist who wrote A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Like Val Gielgud, he was a BBC insider, and their know-how informs both the novel and the film.
Gielgud actually plays one of the main suspects, Julian Caird. He was a decent actor, if not quite in the same league as his brother Sir John. (Incidentally, when I presented the Classic Crimes course at the British Library recently, the curator Kathryn Johnson showed us Gielgud's anotated manuscripts as well as his scrapbook - quite fascinating.)
The film is, if anything, better than the book. It's a fast-paced story about a blackmailing actor who is murdered while playing the part of a murder victim in a mystery play for radio. There's a nice mix of suspects, and a good cast including Austin Trevor and the young Jack Hawkins. In one of a number of interesting cameos,the splendid Elisabeth Welch sings a song. The script is sharp, with some genuinely funny lines. But above all the film supplies a great insight into the early days of broadcasting. It's very watchable despite its age. Great fun.
In the US,the book was called London Calling!, possibly because in its early days Broadcasting House wasn't well known on the other side of the Atlantic. I am lucky enough to have a copy of the American edition of the book, inscribed by Eric Maschwitz, who used the pen-name Holt Marvell, and is best known as the lyricist who wrote A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Like Val Gielgud, he was a BBC insider, and their know-how informs both the novel and the film.
Gielgud actually plays one of the main suspects, Julian Caird. He was a decent actor, if not quite in the same league as his brother Sir John. (Incidentally, when I presented the Classic Crimes course at the British Library recently, the curator Kathryn Johnson showed us Gielgud's anotated manuscripts as well as his scrapbook - quite fascinating.)
The film is, if anything, better than the book. It's a fast-paced story about a blackmailing actor who is murdered while playing the part of a murder victim in a mystery play for radio. There's a nice mix of suspects, and a good cast including Austin Trevor and the young Jack Hawkins. In one of a number of interesting cameos,the splendid Elisabeth Welch sings a song. The script is sharp, with some genuinely funny lines. But above all the film supplies a great insight into the early days of broadcasting. It's very watchable despite its age. Great fun.
January 30, 2017
Miraculous Mysteries and Continental Crimes
I'm delighted to have received my author copies of Miraculous Mysteries, my latest anthology in the British Library's Crime Classics series. The book is due out in a few weeks' time, but I thought I'd whet the appetite of locked room fans by telling you something about it now. And the first thing to say is that I've dedicated it to the memory of the late Bob Adey, from whose superb and truly unique book Locked Room Murders I have derived a vast amount of information and pleasure.Bob collaborated on the production of one or two locked room mystery anthologies himself, and I hope and believe that he would have approved of this collection of stories dealing with a wide variety of impossible crimes. I've included the work of several major authors, and although this particular book does not include anything by the American maestro John Dickson Carr, it's not impossible (so to speak) that future BL anthologies will feature his work.
As usual with these anthologies, I've aimed to include some stories that are likely to be unfamiliar even to those well versed in the genre. Thus there are contributions from E.Charles Vivian, Grenville Robbins, and Marten Cumberland (best remembered as the creator of Saturnin Dax). I really enjoyed putting this one together, and I'm optimistic that it will encourage even those who aren't Golden Age fans or enthused about locked rooms to sample the delights of this very enjoyable form of the crime story.
In the early summer, there will be another Classic Crime anthology. This time it's Continental Crimes.- stories set in Europe long before the EU, let alone Brexit. I'm delighted to say that an Agatha Christie story - not an especially well-known one - is included, as well as stories by authors as diverse as Ian Hay, E. Phillips Oppenheim, J. Jefferson Farjeon, H.C. Bailey,, and Michael Gilbert.Finally, a bit of news. I've just reached an agreement to compile two more Classic Crime anthologies - and that will take the total of story collections in the series to twelve. The BL and I are delighted by the way the book-buying public has responded to the short stories as well as to the novels (Crimson Snow,for instance, has done wonderfully well, with very good sales and equally gratifying reviews). And I can promise that there are some real treats in the books that are yet to come.
January 27, 2017
Forgotten Book - Who's Calling?
I'm an admirer of the American writer Helen McCloy. She wrote engaging prose and was a skilled plotsmith. She also took care to vary her approach, so that even her series novels, featuring the psychiatrist Basil Willing, are pleasingly different. A case in point is my Forgotten Book for today, Who's Calling? It was first published in 1942, and I was pleased to pick up a Dell mapback edition in the bookroom at Bouchercon in New Orleans last September.
Frieda, a pretty but selfish young woman, is due to meet her boyfriend's family and friends when she receives a mysterious anonymous phone call, warning her off. Undaunted, Frieda goes to Willow Spring to meet the clan. Before long, someone is murdered. But it isn't Fieda. What's more, the murder method was that splendidly time-honoured method- yes, one of my favourites, poisoned chocolates!
Basil Willing is called in to assist the investigation, and his professional expertise is crucial in unravelling the mystery. In some ways, it seems to me that this book anticipates one that is rather better known, Beast in View by Margaret Millar, which appeared more than a decade later. I'd be interested to know if anyone else sees the parallels that seem to me to be quite striking (though I should add that Millar makes very good and original use of the central idea).
This is a highly readable and cleverly constructed mystery. Even though I figured out the identity of the culprit, I didn't pick up all the clues. There was one aspect of the story, concerning Frieda's reaction to the phone call, which I thought wasn't quite "fair play", but overall this is a crime novel that I can definitely recommend. McCloy was an excellent writer whose work deserves to be celebrated.
Frieda, a pretty but selfish young woman, is due to meet her boyfriend's family and friends when she receives a mysterious anonymous phone call, warning her off. Undaunted, Frieda goes to Willow Spring to meet the clan. Before long, someone is murdered. But it isn't Fieda. What's more, the murder method was that splendidly time-honoured method- yes, one of my favourites, poisoned chocolates!
Basil Willing is called in to assist the investigation, and his professional expertise is crucial in unravelling the mystery. In some ways, it seems to me that this book anticipates one that is rather better known, Beast in View by Margaret Millar, which appeared more than a decade later. I'd be interested to know if anyone else sees the parallels that seem to me to be quite striking (though I should add that Millar makes very good and original use of the central idea).
This is a highly readable and cleverly constructed mystery. Even though I figured out the identity of the culprit, I didn't pick up all the clues. There was one aspect of the story, concerning Frieda's reaction to the phone call, which I thought wasn't quite "fair play", but overall this is a crime novel that I can definitely recommend. McCloy was an excellent writer whose work deserves to be celebrated.
January 25, 2017
The Crime Classics Weekend at the British Library
Last weekend I did something completely different - presenting a two-day course on Classic Crime at the British Library. It's yet another fascinating project that has spun out of a relationship that I find truly rewarding. The BL people are great to work with. But I must admit that when I was invited to present a substantial course I was rather daunted. A talk for an hour is one thing, this was quite another.
One option was to present the course in three weekly instalments, but that wasn't practicable for someone living in Cheshire. It was much easier to focus on a single weekend in London, even though it meant that the course would be intensive. We agreed a plan, and the course was marketed. In the back of my mind I had the comforting thought that if nobody signed up, I'd have the perfect excuse not to worry about it any more.
What actually happened was that the course sold out within a very short space of time, and there was a waiting list for cancellations. This unexpected development meant I really had to focus on how I was going to do it. Fortunately, Andrew Nelson of the Library proved extremely supportive. Already in the plan was a "show and tell" in which curator Kathryn Johnson would talk the attendees through various rare items in the BL collection. I decided to add two more special features of my own, but keep them as surprises until the course actually began.
First, I invited Seona Ford, chair of the Dorothy L Sayers Society, to talk about DLS, which she did with great enthusiasm. Second, I brought along various rare Golden Age books, many of them signed, from my own collection for another "show and tell" linked to the course content. I've done this in the past (in fact, many of my books are acquired specifically with this purpose in mind) with shorter talks in places such as Nottingham, Windermere, and Lymm. This took the concept a stage further, and a variation of it is something I have in mind for the Alibis in the Archives weekend in June. . I was gratified by the reaction of the audience, one of whom tweeted the above photo (I took a photo of Kathryn's collectors' items, but have yet to figure out how to transfer pictures from my new phone...)
As a treat for myself, I'd arranged to visit the V&A the day before the course, and among other things I had the pleasure of meeting up with an old schoolfriend, Tim Benson, whom I've only met once before since we left school at 18. Tim is now a volunteer guide, and he had the great idea of taking me round the Revolution exhibition, which was the catalyst for many reminiscences about life in the Sixties. All in all, it was a hectic weekend, but a very satisfying one. And the BL has even invited me to consider presenting a follow-up course...
January 23, 2017
The CWA Diamond Dagger and Ann Cleeves
Today the Crime Writers' Association has announced that the winner of this year's CWA Diamond Dagger is Ann Cleeves. This news gives me special pleasure for two reasons. First, now that I'm the Chair of the CWA, I shall be the person to present Ann with the Dagger at the CWA Daggers awards dinner in London in late October. Second, she just happens to be (and it is a coincidence, I can assure you) one of my oldest friends in the crime writing world.
I first came across Ann's work before I met her. It was when I was battling away with my own first novel. I was interested to read her first book, not only because I'm a lifelong fan of detective stories, but also because it seemed to me to be a good idea to study the market, and what new writers of a roughly similar age to me were up to. In the same spirit, I was reading the first Peter Robinson novel at around that time. I enjoyed their books, and reviewed them. I even wrote an article discussing their evocation of rural landscape, with the title "Up the Garden Path". But the magazine I sent it to turned it down...
Later I met Ann in person - via the CWA - and we became friends. We both joined up with Murder Squad when Margaret Murphy founded it, and this led to many shared events. The first photo below, taken by Zoe Sharp, shows the original Squad line-up, including the late Stuart Pawson. The second, taken in her back garden at Whitley Bay, shows her with her husband Tim and CWA Northern Chapter doyens Peter and Margaret Lewis. I read and reviewed The Crow Trap, then apparently a stand-alone novel, and I like to think I was one of the very first to spot the potential of Vera Stanhope as a character.
After many years of working quietly away, in recent times, Ann has found fame and fortune thanks to the televising of her series about Vera and about Shetland's Jimmy Perez. Her story is a happy one. Her career (because she was writing good books many years before she became widely-read; I vividly recall us discussing how modest an income one could manage to live on as a writer) is a good example of why one should never lose faith. Yet she's always remained a good friend to readers, writers and libraries. Part of the point of the CWA Diamond Dagger, in the view of the CWA committee, is that it recognises not only the sustained excellence of a person's body of work but also their overall contribution to the genre. Nobody can be in any doubt that Ann is a very worth winner indeed.
January 20, 2017
Forgotten Book - Murder on Safari
Elspeth Huxley knew Africa very well, and wrote about it on many occasions with considerable insight. She also dabbled in detective fiction, and knowing that some good judges rate her very highly, I was glad to pick up a copy of her 1938 book Murder on Safari, which features her likeable cop Superintendent Vachell, a Canadian who has moved to East Africa.
Vachell is approached by a well-known hunter called Danny La Mere, who has been leading a safari funded by wealthy Lady Baradale. Absurdly, her ladyship has brought thirty thousand pounds' worth of jewels on the trip. When they are stolen, one is almost tempted to think it serves her right. But Vachell, a touch improbably, agrees to join the group, pretending to be a hunter himself, with a view to tracing the thief.
Vachell's cover is soon blown, and things go from bad to worse when her ladyship's remains are found - or what's left of them after the vultures have been at work. At first, it seems that she was killed by an animal, but it emerges that she was in fact a victim of murder. Before long, a second death occurs.
This is a classic "fair play" mystery, complete with cluefinder footnotes at the end which remind the reader of the evidence on which Vachell built a case against the culprit. This is a well-written mystery, and although I'm not in any way tempted to go on a safari myself, Huxley's presentation of life on safari has a very authentic feel. I didn't warm to most of the characters, but even so, I found myself admiring her way with words.
Vachell is approached by a well-known hunter called Danny La Mere, who has been leading a safari funded by wealthy Lady Baradale. Absurdly, her ladyship has brought thirty thousand pounds' worth of jewels on the trip. When they are stolen, one is almost tempted to think it serves her right. But Vachell, a touch improbably, agrees to join the group, pretending to be a hunter himself, with a view to tracing the thief.
Vachell's cover is soon blown, and things go from bad to worse when her ladyship's remains are found - or what's left of them after the vultures have been at work. At first, it seems that she was killed by an animal, but it emerges that she was in fact a victim of murder. Before long, a second death occurs.
This is a classic "fair play" mystery, complete with cluefinder footnotes at the end which remind the reader of the evidence on which Vachell built a case against the culprit. This is a well-written mystery, and although I'm not in any way tempted to go on a safari myself, Huxley's presentation of life on safari has a very authentic feel. I didn't warm to most of the characters, but even so, I found myself admiring her way with words.
January 18, 2017
Torment (aka The Paper Gallows) - 1950 film review
A film about two crime writers - what could be better? Well,what if one of them were heroic and handsome? Yes, that's better. And what if the other were deranged and homicidally inclined? Perfect! These are the key ingredients that meant I found the chance to watch Torment irresistible. I absolutely deny that the screenplay based on real life incidents in the crime writing world!
Torment was known in the US as The Paper Gallows (a title explained near the end of the story, and a rather good title, too, which deserves a fresh life). The director was John Guillerman, whose best known work in the crime film genre was the lavish production of Christie's Death on the Nile in the late 70s. He also came up with the script. It's a young man's work, and not short of energy if rather lacking in sophistication..
The two Brandon brothers are Jim, a very successful writer, who shares his posh house with his brother Cliff. The pair are played by Dermot Walsh (whom I recall from my youth as the star of Richard the Lionheart a series that I watched avidly when I was a child) and John Bentley, who was best known for starring in Crossroads, a TV show which in contrast I made sure I avoided.. Cliff, poor fellow, dreams of writing the ultimate crime novel. Any temptation I had to identify with him was killed off early on, even before he did away with the family cat, horrid fellow.
The Brandons have a pretty young secretary called Joan. She fancies Jim, but Cliff fancies her. It's a recipe for calamity, and calamity duly follows. This is a short, snappy film, quite engaging if not, I'd like to think, entirely authentic in its portrayal of a crime novelist battling his demons. .
Torment was known in the US as The Paper Gallows (a title explained near the end of the story, and a rather good title, too, which deserves a fresh life). The director was John Guillerman, whose best known work in the crime film genre was the lavish production of Christie's Death on the Nile in the late 70s. He also came up with the script. It's a young man's work, and not short of energy if rather lacking in sophistication..
The two Brandon brothers are Jim, a very successful writer, who shares his posh house with his brother Cliff. The pair are played by Dermot Walsh (whom I recall from my youth as the star of Richard the Lionheart a series that I watched avidly when I was a child) and John Bentley, who was best known for starring in Crossroads, a TV show which in contrast I made sure I avoided.. Cliff, poor fellow, dreams of writing the ultimate crime novel. Any temptation I had to identify with him was killed off early on, even before he did away with the family cat, horrid fellow.
The Brandons have a pretty young secretary called Joan. She fancies Jim, but Cliff fancies her. It's a recipe for calamity, and calamity duly follows. This is a short, snappy film, quite engaging if not, I'd like to think, entirely authentic in its portrayal of a crime novelist battling his demons. .
January 16, 2017
Death in the Dark
I'm delighted to bring marvellous news for locked room mystery fans. Locked Room International will, at the start of March, be publishing Death in the Dark by Stacey Bishop. This novel, set in New York City, was originally published in 1930 as one of pair of books issue experimentally by Faber with pictorial boards and no dust jacket. It has subsequently become one of the most sought-after rarities among crime novels.
Prior to this edition, no English language reprint has ever appeared. I'm sure the arrival on the market of a nicely produced and very affordable copy will be greeted by collectors with a good deal of pleasure. John Pugmire of LRI deserves great credit for bringing the book back to life - and he's already been rewarded by a starred review in Publishers' Weekly.
I've written an introduction to this new edition, and there's also a fascinating Afterword written by the author's nephew and executor. Mystery has, suitably enough, long surrounded this book. Julian Symons talked about it in Bloody Murder, and suggested that there was in fact another Stacey Bishop book out there somewhere. Plenty of people, including me, have tried to track it down, but it now seems clear that this novel was a one-off.
And what a one-off! Symons, who revealed that the Bishop pen-name concealed the identity of a controversial composer called George Antheil, called it "an extraordinary performance". Bob Adey said it was "an extraordinarily complex work". As John said when interviewed by Publishers' Weekly, this is "probably the only literary work of any kind in history to have had three Nobel Prize winners involved in its creation." Does that whet your appetite? I thought it might....
Prior to this edition, no English language reprint has ever appeared. I'm sure the arrival on the market of a nicely produced and very affordable copy will be greeted by collectors with a good deal of pleasure. John Pugmire of LRI deserves great credit for bringing the book back to life - and he's already been rewarded by a starred review in Publishers' Weekly.
I've written an introduction to this new edition, and there's also a fascinating Afterword written by the author's nephew and executor. Mystery has, suitably enough, long surrounded this book. Julian Symons talked about it in Bloody Murder, and suggested that there was in fact another Stacey Bishop book out there somewhere. Plenty of people, including me, have tried to track it down, but it now seems clear that this novel was a one-off.
And what a one-off! Symons, who revealed that the Bishop pen-name concealed the identity of a controversial composer called George Antheil, called it "an extraordinary performance". Bob Adey said it was "an extraordinarily complex work". As John said when interviewed by Publishers' Weekly, this is "probably the only literary work of any kind in history to have had three Nobel Prize winners involved in its creation." Does that whet your appetite? I thought it might....
