Martin Edwards's Blog, page 154
September 19, 2016
The Maltese Falcon
It's been many years since I last watched John Huston's legendary private eye movie, The Maltese Falcon, so when I came across it again on TV recently, I thought it was worth giving it another go and see how it's standing up to scrutiny after all these years. The short answer is: very well.
Dashiell Hammett's novel, on which the film is based, first appeared in 1930. The film came out eleven years later, and was, in fact, by then the third movie version. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, and I suppose it's best remembered for the performance of Humphrey Bogart as shamus Sam Spade. But there are equally splendid performances from Sydney Greenstreet, as Kasper Guttmann, and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo - two of the most distinctive villains to have appeared on the big screen, it's safe to say.
The story begins, as so many private eye stories do, with an attractive woman (played by Mary Astor in this case) coming to the P.I.'s office and seeking his help. As usual, the woman in question - who calls herself Miss Wonderly - has something to hide. She wants a man called Thursby followed, for trumped-up reasons, but when Spade's partner Miles Archer goes out to do the job that night, he is shot. For good measure, Thursby is killed too.
The pace doesn't slacken as Spade finds himself caught up in a tangle that involves Archer's wife (with whom he's having an affair) and a small group of bad guys who are in search of the legendary Maltese Falcon. Miss Wonderly, whose real name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy, is evidently also mixed up in the business, somehow. Even if you're not a paid-up member of the Bogart Fan Club, there's enough here to keep you entertained on more than one viewing. Great stuff.
Dashiell Hammett's novel, on which the film is based, first appeared in 1930. The film came out eleven years later, and was, in fact, by then the third movie version. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, and I suppose it's best remembered for the performance of Humphrey Bogart as shamus Sam Spade. But there are equally splendid performances from Sydney Greenstreet, as Kasper Guttmann, and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo - two of the most distinctive villains to have appeared on the big screen, it's safe to say.
The story begins, as so many private eye stories do, with an attractive woman (played by Mary Astor in this case) coming to the P.I.'s office and seeking his help. As usual, the woman in question - who calls herself Miss Wonderly - has something to hide. She wants a man called Thursby followed, for trumped-up reasons, but when Spade's partner Miles Archer goes out to do the job that night, he is shot. For good measure, Thursby is killed too.
The pace doesn't slacken as Spade finds himself caught up in a tangle that involves Archer's wife (with whom he's having an affair) and a small group of bad guys who are in search of the legendary Maltese Falcon. Miss Wonderly, whose real name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy, is evidently also mixed up in the business, somehow. Even if you're not a paid-up member of the Bogart Fan Club, there's enough here to keep you entertained on more than one viewing. Great stuff.
September 14, 2016
Deep in the Wood - 2015 film review
Deep in the Wood is a short but intriguing Italian film, which I watched in a sub-titled version. It was made last year, and originally titled Il Fondo al Bosco. It's set in a remote Alpine village, and stars Filippo Nigro and Camilla Filippi as a couple whose lives are torn apart following the disappearance of their four year old son Tommi, who gets away from his Dad, who is taking part in a festival where the locals disguise themselves as devils.
We see Tommi wandering into the woods, towards a lonely cabin, but then he goes missing. The father is suspected of doing away with him, but released by the police because of a lack of evidence. His troubled mother attempts suicide, but the couple stay together, very unhappily for five years. And then a boy is found. Could it be Tommi The police say that DNA testing proves that it is.
So far, so good. But the boy's mother doesn't believe her son has really returned, and her father is equally sceptical. Tommi's Dad is overjoyed that his son is back, though the boy remembers nothing about his old life, and nothing is known about what he might have been up to in the meantime. The family dog takes a dislike to the boy, and we start to wonder if there is something devilish afoot.
I was pleased that the twisty storyline resolved itself without resort to the supernatural, avoiding a flaw which I think marred another grim movie, The Reeds. The isolated location is evocatively portrayed, as in The Reeds, but the tale holds together much better. Overall, I thought this was a satisfying film, whose excellent premise was not ruined by an explanation that didn't hang together. The lead actors do a good job, and this is definitely worth a watch.
We see Tommi wandering into the woods, towards a lonely cabin, but then he goes missing. The father is suspected of doing away with him, but released by the police because of a lack of evidence. His troubled mother attempts suicide, but the couple stay together, very unhappily for five years. And then a boy is found. Could it be Tommi The police say that DNA testing proves that it is.
So far, so good. But the boy's mother doesn't believe her son has really returned, and her father is equally sceptical. Tommi's Dad is overjoyed that his son is back, though the boy remembers nothing about his old life, and nothing is known about what he might have been up to in the meantime. The family dog takes a dislike to the boy, and we start to wonder if there is something devilish afoot.
I was pleased that the twisty storyline resolved itself without resort to the supernatural, avoiding a flaw which I think marred another grim movie, The Reeds. The isolated location is evocatively portrayed, as in The Reeds, but the tale holds together much better. Overall, I thought this was a satisfying film, whose excellent premise was not ruined by an explanation that didn't hang together. The lead actors do a good job, and this is definitely worth a watch.
September 12, 2016
A day in North Wales
Back in May 2014, I wrote about
I've mentioned previously that I'm surprised by the paucity of detective novels set in Wales, and in particular North Wales. I can't call to mind a single story that is set on the appealing island of Anglesey, for instance, nor of any books set in Conwy - where on Friday I wandered for a while on the ancient walls, as well as around the narrow streets and along the river shore. It's a lovely town.
So too is Llandudno, a "model resort" with a terrific pier (it got rather windy on Friday!) where the seagulls regularly swoop down to nick people's ice creams. Llandudno's benefited from a lot of investment in recent years, and I was impressed to see plenty of "no vacancies" signs in hotels, even though the school term has started. Alice Liddell, of Alice in Wonderland, once stayed in the St Tudno's Hotel on the front (where my wife and I also stayed many years ago) and quite a bit is now made of the Alice connection.
Final stop of the day was Colwyn Bay. This was very much a nostalgia trip for me, as I spent numerous childhood holidays there. Sad to say, the Bay Bookshop on Sea View Road has gone after 40 years, a victim of internet competition; it was one of my favourite second hand bookshops. Even the hotel where my family used to stay has been bulldozed. But the visit did bring back many memories, and I'm tempted to set a short story there.
September 9, 2016
Forgotten Book - The Mystery of the Yellow Room
Is The Mystery of the Yellow Room a forgotten book? That's very debatable. It was once a bestseller, one of the most famous crime stories of the early years of the 20th century, and it remains much admired by many fans of the locked room mystery. But the author, Gaston Leroux, is now much better remembered as the author of The Phantom of the Opera - thanks to the Midas touch of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The Mystery of the Yellow Room was first published in 1907, and translated into English the following year. It made an instant impression, as did its very youthful hero, Joseph Rouletabille, a newspaper reporter with unquenchable self-belief and a penchant for sleuthing. The story is told by his friend Sanclair, who fulfils the Dr Watson role of bewildered admirer of the brilliant maverick detective.
A young woman called Mathilde Stangerson, daughter of a scientific genius, is overheard in a pavilion in the park attached to the Stangersons' chateau. It is clear that she is in terror as a result of being attacked, but she is inside the locked Yellow Room, and by the time rescuers break in, she is seriously injured, and there is no sign of how her assailant could have escaped.
Rouletabille can't resist getting involved, and pitting his wits against those of the capable cop who is assigned to the case - "the great Fred". The style is breathless and melodramatic, and there are plenty of twists and turns. It's a period piece, of course, but in its day, this story was highly influential. Agatha Christie talked about it in her autobiography and John Dickson Carr was another fan. Whether it counts as "fair play" detection is arguable, but I enjoyed rereading it after a gap of many years.
And I had a very pleasurable reason for re-reading it-too it is to form part of a trio of locked room classics to be sumptuously reissued by the Folio Society. And I've written an introduction to the set of books. More about this in due course.
The Mystery of the Yellow Room was first published in 1907, and translated into English the following year. It made an instant impression, as did its very youthful hero, Joseph Rouletabille, a newspaper reporter with unquenchable self-belief and a penchant for sleuthing. The story is told by his friend Sanclair, who fulfils the Dr Watson role of bewildered admirer of the brilliant maverick detective.
A young woman called Mathilde Stangerson, daughter of a scientific genius, is overheard in a pavilion in the park attached to the Stangersons' chateau. It is clear that she is in terror as a result of being attacked, but she is inside the locked Yellow Room, and by the time rescuers break in, she is seriously injured, and there is no sign of how her assailant could have escaped.
Rouletabille can't resist getting involved, and pitting his wits against those of the capable cop who is assigned to the case - "the great Fred". The style is breathless and melodramatic, and there are plenty of twists and turns. It's a period piece, of course, but in its day, this story was highly influential. Agatha Christie talked about it in her autobiography and John Dickson Carr was another fan. Whether it counts as "fair play" detection is arguable, but I enjoyed rereading it after a gap of many years.
And I had a very pleasurable reason for re-reading it-too it is to form part of a trio of locked room classics to be sumptuously reissued by the Folio Society. And I've written an introduction to the set of books. More about this in due course.
Forgotten Library, Forgotten Community?
For once, I'm not contributing today to Friday's Forgotten Books. Instead, I'd like to talk about a meeting I went to last night to discuss the fate of a village library - my village library, Lymm. A parochial subject? Not really. I feel the discussion raised issues relevant to all lovers of libraries everywhere. The issues and challenges vary from place to place, but a common factor is the vital contribution that libraries make to all communities, and to social cohesion within those communities - a contribution that is under serious threat.
The meeting was part of a consultation about the future of Warrington's libraries, conducted by LiveWire, a not for profit company which runs the borough's libraries, leisure centres and some related activities. The council is cutting funding, so money has to be saved from the budget for the borough's sixteen libraries. At the last minute the meeting was relocated from the library to Lymm Hotel because of the intense local interest. In the end, about 150 people crammed into the room to listen to managing director Emma Hutchinson and her team put forward their proposals.
In my other life as an employment lawyer, I've been involved in many restructuring exercises, acting for both employers and employees, and my impression based on that experience was that this was a genuine consultation exercise rather than a sham preceding an announcement of a fait accompli. Not everyone thought the same, especially since, having cited a failure to sublet vacant areas of the building that houses the library as key to their concerns, LiveWire couldn't give figures, when asked, as to the amount of the shortfall in rent. But I believe one has to trust in the good faith of people unless and until it becomes naive to do so..
The news was, however, appalling. The much-loved library is threatened not with a cut in opening hours but with total closure. We were told that libraries have to change (and of course all things need to change over time) but the option of Lego-style "lending lockers" for the supply of library books and a twice a year visit from a travelling themed library failed to win hearts and minds. When it was pointed out that disadvantaged people in the village would suffer, especially since public transport to the centre of Warrington is dire, the suggestion that the bus company might be persuaded to improve the bus service met with incredulity.
The proposals involve focusing resources on a few hubs elsewhere in the borough, but for the people of Lymm, especially young parents, the disabled, and the elderly, the proposal to close the library amounts in reality, whatever the intention, to an attack on a community and above all an attack on its most needful members. Shrewd questioning elicited the fact that Lymm library borrowings (along with those in the equally threatened neighbouring community of Stockton Heath) are the highest in the borough, and the £65k annual cost of running the library equates to the cost of employing (let's say) just one senior-ish local government executive.
I don't underestimate the difficulties in the current climate. But - trusting as I do in that element of good faith - I'm hoping that the passion shown by villagers at the meeting will lead to a total rethink, so that the premises are fully utilised and that the part played in village life by the library is broadened and enhanced, not wiped out. LiveWire's slogan is "Live well with LiveWire", but to close the library would not only destroy that reputation, but more importantly destroy a community institution of great worth and - I'm sure this is true of libraries generally - even greater long-term potential.
September 7, 2016
Another One Goes Tonight by Peter Lovesey
Another One Goes Tonight, published by Little,Brown, is the latest entry in Peter Lovesey's long-running series featuring Bath cop Peter Diamond. And the first thing to say about it is that it's a hugely enjoyable read with a discursive but ingenious plot, in which a whole bunch of inter-related strands are brought together quite splendidly at the end. .The story begins with a brief extract from a mysterious journal which begins "Another one goes tonight." Clearly, we are reading the words of a serial killer, but although this device is familiar enough, it's put to very good use here, as Lovesey shows a Christie-like mastery of the art of misdirection. After this opening, we move swiftly into a strange encounter involving an apparent traffic offence, followed by a police car crash with tragic consequences.
That crash brings Peter Diamond into the story, and when he finds an elderly man on the point of death at the scene, to whom he gives the kiss of life, he is plunged into perhaps the most baffling enquiry of his career - a case whose disparate elements include a group of railway enthusiasts, an imaginary cat, a debt owed to a gangster, and an ever-lengthening list of apparent murders.
This novel is an example of Peter Lovesey at his best, and I recommend it highly. This week, incredibly, he will be celebrating his 80th birthday while on a trip to the US. His friends and colleagues in the Detection Club will also be marking this milestone with the publication in November of Motives for Murder, a gathering of brand new stories with an intro by Len Deighton and an afterword by Peter himself, in which he tells the story of his early days in the Club. The collection will be published in the UK by Little, Brown, and in the US by Crippen & Landru. I like to think that, as with his latest novel, this is a book not to be missed.
September 5, 2016
The Moai Island Puzzle
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The Moai Island Puzzle by Alice Arisugawa is a Japanese mystery in the classic Golden Age vein which has recently been translated by Ho-Ling Wong into English and published by John Pugmire's excellent imprint Locked Room International. This edition benefits from an extremely interesting foreword by a leading exponent of the classic Japanese mystery, Soji Shimada.
The story is told by Alice Arisugawa, who is a university student and detective fiction enthusiast. He (yep, Alice is male) is a member of a small Mystery Club - and Ellery Queen and The Nine Tailors are referenced on the second page of the prologue, making it clear that the reader who is a Golden Age fan is in for a treat - a homage to the twisty murder mystery of days gone by.
The set-up is itself classical. Alice and his friend Maria make up a small party who travel to a tiny island off the coast of Japan in search of hidden treasure. The island is fictitious, but as the book's title makes clear, it is populated by a large number of moai, whose construction was influenced by the moai of Easter Island. And soon the moai themselves become clues to the puzzle.
Death has occurred on the island in the recent past, and soon crime returns. We are presented with a dizzying confection of cipher, locked room puzzle, and dying message clues as Alice and Maria try to work out what is going on. It's a well-constructed story with a satisfying pay-off, and there's even a mini-lecture on Dying Message Clues (in the tradition of Dr Fell's Locked Room Lecture). Great fun.
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September 2, 2016
Forgotten Book - Murder with Relish
Murder with Relish was the first novel written by C.Lindsay Taylor, and the only one to appear under that name. Constance Lindsay Taylor subsequently adopted the pen-name Guy Cullingford, and earned considerable admiration for a small number of books written with some distinction, the most famous of which by far is Post Mortem, a novel which counts Peter Lovesey (and me) among its numerous admirers.
Murder with Relish appeared in 1948, when its author was already in her mid-forties; she'd started out with journalism and poetry, but marriage and raising a family seems to have kept her fully occupied for some years before she tried her hand at a novel. Alternatively, the fact that the story is set in the mid-Thirties may suggest that she started work on it long before the publication date.
The story concerns a cook, Mrs Bonnet (who has never actually been married; those were the days when it was thought to be courteous to confer honorary marital status on a senior member of domestic staff) who has served the Everard family for many years. Her world is turned upside down when her employer, a widow, dies after a family meal .Mrs Bonnet suspects murder (though nobody else does) and turns detective with a view to achieving justice for her late employer.
This is a witty and unusual story, which affords considerable insight into the class divide in British society at the time. Even though it's a first novel, you can tell that the author is a novelist of genuine talent. I really enjoyed this story, and can recommend it. As for Taylor/Cullingford, she eventually earned election to the Detection Club, and Peter Lovesey recalls appreciating her company at Club dinners. She was born in 1903, and died as recently as 2000. An interesting writer, who deserves to be better known.
Murder with Relish appeared in 1948, when its author was already in her mid-forties; she'd started out with journalism and poetry, but marriage and raising a family seems to have kept her fully occupied for some years before she tried her hand at a novel. Alternatively, the fact that the story is set in the mid-Thirties may suggest that she started work on it long before the publication date.
The story concerns a cook, Mrs Bonnet (who has never actually been married; those were the days when it was thought to be courteous to confer honorary marital status on a senior member of domestic staff) who has served the Everard family for many years. Her world is turned upside down when her employer, a widow, dies after a family meal .Mrs Bonnet suspects murder (though nobody else does) and turns detective with a view to achieving justice for her late employer.
This is a witty and unusual story, which affords considerable insight into the class divide in British society at the time. Even though it's a first novel, you can tell that the author is a novelist of genuine talent. I really enjoyed this story, and can recommend it. As for Taylor/Cullingford, she eventually earned election to the Detection Club, and Peter Lovesey recalls appreciating her company at Club dinners. She was born in 1903, and died as recently as 2000. An interesting writer, who deserves to be better known.
August 31, 2016
Carol - 2015 film review
Carol is a highly acclaimed film from last year based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith. The storyline has some elements familiar to Highsmith fans, but it's not a crime story, even though a gun makes an appearance during one tense scene. The book was originally titled The Price of Salt, and Highsmith published it under a pen-name (Claire Morgan) in 1953 after her existing publisher rejected it.
At Christmas time, an aspiring photographer called Therese is working in a department store when she has a brief encounter with an older woman, an elegant customer who is looking for a present for her young daughter. Therese has a boyfriend who wants to marry her, while the customer Carol, is married to a wealthy man who is prepared to use their daughter as a pawn in an increasingly acrimonious custody battle if Carol persists in her determination to end the marriage. The lead roles are taken by Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchettl and they are both superb.
Therese and Carol are drawn to each other, but as their relationship blossoms it becomes increasingly evident that the course of true love is unlikely to run smooth - even when the couple throw caution to the winds and go off together to such not-exactly-exotic locations as Waterloo, Idaho. There are some parallels between this relationship and those between the male protagonists of so many other Highsmith novels, including Strangers on a Train and The Two Faces of January; but there are also important differences.
This very well-made film cast fascinating, if depressing, light on the moral climate of the time. Highsmith wove autobiographical elements into her story, well documented in Andrew Wilson's excellent biography of her, Beautiful Shadow, while anyone intrigued by the account of lesbian life in Fifties America may also like to take a look at Marijane Meaker's Highsmith: A Romance of the Fifties (2003), a memoir about her doomed affair with Highsmith. Meaker's book I found fascinating, although regrettably less than kind abotu her former partner. Highsmith was a troubled woman, clearly very difficult to live with, but truly gifted. Carol is an excellent adaptation of a very good love story - and if you want to know whether it has a happy ending, you'll have to watch it to find out!.
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At Christmas time, an aspiring photographer called Therese is working in a department store when she has a brief encounter with an older woman, an elegant customer who is looking for a present for her young daughter. Therese has a boyfriend who wants to marry her, while the customer Carol, is married to a wealthy man who is prepared to use their daughter as a pawn in an increasingly acrimonious custody battle if Carol persists in her determination to end the marriage. The lead roles are taken by Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchettl and they are both superb.
Therese and Carol are drawn to each other, but as their relationship blossoms it becomes increasingly evident that the course of true love is unlikely to run smooth - even when the couple throw caution to the winds and go off together to such not-exactly-exotic locations as Waterloo, Idaho. There are some parallels between this relationship and those between the male protagonists of so many other Highsmith novels, including Strangers on a Train and The Two Faces of January; but there are also important differences.
This very well-made film cast fascinating, if depressing, light on the moral climate of the time. Highsmith wove autobiographical elements into her story, well documented in Andrew Wilson's excellent biography of her, Beautiful Shadow, while anyone intrigued by the account of lesbian life in Fifties America may also like to take a look at Marijane Meaker's Highsmith: A Romance of the Fifties (2003), a memoir about her doomed affair with Highsmith. Meaker's book I found fascinating, although regrettably less than kind abotu her former partner. Highsmith was a troubled woman, clearly very difficult to live with, but truly gifted. Carol is an excellent adaptation of a very good love story - and if you want to know whether it has a happy ending, you'll have to watch it to find out!.
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August 29, 2016
Val and Versatility
As I mentioned the other day, I had the chance at St Hilda's to catch up with Val McDermid, who is always a witty and insightful companion. I've talked about Val several times on this blog, and since I first met her at a Northern CWA lunch in Yorkshire upwards of 25 years ago, I've followed her career and rise to the top with great interest.
Val's a doughty campaigner on all sorts of issues - here's an excellent piece she wrote last week for The Guardian, defending the crime genre from thoughtless criticism with gusto and common sense. She and I have a number of things in common (sales figures, alas, are not among them!) and Val spoke in her after dinner speech at St Hilda's of the transformational effect going to Oxford had on her after arriving from a state school. I had a similar experience at exactly the same time - we were contemporaries as students, though we never met. And even earlier, we'd both conceived a love for crime fiction after starting off with the very same book - Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. Quite a coincidence.
I'd also like to mention her generosity. A while back, I asked her to write an intro for the ebook publication of Suspicious Minds. Not only did she agree to do it, she delivered on the promise with a very incisive intro, simply out of the goodness of her heart. I had the same happy experience with a number of other leading crime writers, a reminder that the crime fiction world is a very collegiate one. . .
She is, of course, best known as a novelist, but her fiction is impressively varied, and her versatility as a writer is one of the qualities that I particularly admire. She's created winning series after winning series as well as writing great stand-alones. Short stories? Yep, she's very good at those, and I've included several in anthologies I've edited. Her collection Stranded is definitely worth seeking out. And that's not all. She published an excellent non-fiction book about female private eyes, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, and when not long ago she produced Forensics, I rushed out to buy it within a few days of publication.
Little did I imagine that her excellent book and my The Golden Age of Murder would one day feature together on two award shortlists. It's happened before, when The Coffin Trail was shortlisted for the Theakston's Prize for best crime novel - an award won by Val,and I have to say deservedly so. Whatever happens this time around, for me it's a real pleasure to see my work bracketed with hers, however fleetingly. She is one of crime writing's superstars.
Val's a doughty campaigner on all sorts of issues - here's an excellent piece she wrote last week for The Guardian, defending the crime genre from thoughtless criticism with gusto and common sense. She and I have a number of things in common (sales figures, alas, are not among them!) and Val spoke in her after dinner speech at St Hilda's of the transformational effect going to Oxford had on her after arriving from a state school. I had a similar experience at exactly the same time - we were contemporaries as students, though we never met. And even earlier, we'd both conceived a love for crime fiction after starting off with the very same book - Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. Quite a coincidence.
I'd also like to mention her generosity. A while back, I asked her to write an intro for the ebook publication of Suspicious Minds. Not only did she agree to do it, she delivered on the promise with a very incisive intro, simply out of the goodness of her heart. I had the same happy experience with a number of other leading crime writers, a reminder that the crime fiction world is a very collegiate one. . .
She is, of course, best known as a novelist, but her fiction is impressively varied, and her versatility as a writer is one of the qualities that I particularly admire. She's created winning series after winning series as well as writing great stand-alones. Short stories? Yep, she's very good at those, and I've included several in anthologies I've edited. Her collection Stranded is definitely worth seeking out. And that's not all. She published an excellent non-fiction book about female private eyes, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, and when not long ago she produced Forensics, I rushed out to buy it within a few days of publication.
Little did I imagine that her excellent book and my The Golden Age of Murder would one day feature together on two award shortlists. It's happened before, when The Coffin Trail was shortlisted for the Theakston's Prize for best crime novel - an award won by Val,and I have to say deservedly so. Whatever happens this time around, for me it's a real pleasure to see my work bracketed with hers, however fleetingly. She is one of crime writing's superstars.
