Martin Edwards's Blog, page 163

The Human Flies by Hans Olav Lahlum

The Human Flies, published in the author's native Norway six years ago, was the first novel by Hans Olav Lahlum. He's a historian, chess player, - and politician: well, nobody's perfect! This book, published in the UK by Mantle, has made quite a splash, and is often described as a homage to Agatha Christie. It features a murder victim in a locked room, and is set in 1968, with plenty of references to events n the 1940s, making good use of Lahlum's historical expertise.

A famous hero of the Resistance is found dead in his apartment. It seems clear that one of his fellow residents must be guilty, and before long a variety of connections emerge between the victim and his neighbours. So we have a "closed circle" of suspects, and also references n the text to Christie and - more surprisingly, but not very significantly, to that American master of the short mystery story, Stanley Ellin.

We also have a detective duo in the classic mould, Kohljorn Kristiansen, a likeable detective inspector, narrates the story,but in effect he plays Dr Watson. The role of Sherlock goes to a wheelchair user called Pamela who is a brilliant sleuth and keeps giving him clues to the mystery when he's running out of ideas. This pair are very appealing, and I enjoyed the characterisation of them. Yet another pleasing nod to the classic mystery was a complex will - read with relish by a rather sadistic lawyer, if such a character can be imagined.

The first hundred pages or so were totally gripping, but I must admit that my enthusiasm faded a little as the story delved deeper into war-time events, and the classic plotting elements faded into the background to some extent. Overall, I felt the book would have benefited from cutting - as is so often the case - and I did feel that Karl Dickson's translation was clunky at times.. But there's a lot to enjoy here, and I'd be glad to read more about Pamela and "K2".

In Fear - film review

In Fear is a low-budget British horror film that is at times genuinely frightening. Less ambitious than The Shining, yes, but I found it at least as impressive, partly because writer and director Jeremy Lovering was wise enough to keep the film short - it's just 84 minutes long, and perhaps could have been cut even more ruthlessly - there are only three characters, and the storyline is restricted in terms of both time and place.

Tom (Iain De Caestecker) has been going out with Lucy (Alice Englert) for just two weeks. He's taking her to a music festival, but springs a surprise on her - he's booked them into a hotel before they reach the festival. She agrees to accompany him, but an incident in a pub (the setting is Ireland, though the film was shot in Cornwall and Devon) in which Tom gets involved in a contretemps with some locals, is rather unsettling.

Off they drive to the hotel, but soon they get lost. Round and round the narrow country lanes they go, following signs that seem to lead nowhere. And is someone watching them, enjoying their discomfort? The sat nav is on the blink, the hotel isn't answering the phone, and the petrol is running low. Soon bad things start to happen....

I have vivid memories of a beautiful evening which I spent driving in Ireland's Wicklow Mountains with my family a good few years ago. Incompetently, I got lost - and as I drove round and round the narrow country lanes, my petrol started to run low....so I really did find it easy to empathise with Tom and Lucy's plight. I'm not suggesting this film is a masterpiece, but Englert's performance in particular is excellent, and a creepy soundtrack enhances the fear factor. Well worth watching.

The Terror by Edgar Wallace

I've very much enjoyed reading the Detective Story Club reprints that are being so attractively republished by Harper Collins. They occupy a slightly different part of the market than the British Library Crime Classics series, covering a longer time frame and including thrillers as well as whodunits. The books are keenly priced hardbacks with dust jackets that reproduce the original cover artwork. As you can see from the above image, The Terror is nothing if not dramatic!

The Terror was written by Edgar Wallace and is the second book in this series to which I've provided an introduction; the first was that very intriguing Victorian novel Called Back, by Hugh Conway. This is a very different kind of story, but it's packed with twisty action; reading it,you can see that Wallace had the storytelling skills of a mega-seller.

The Terror headed the list of six books which got the Detective Story Club off to a flying start, and was the only one of the half-dozen that was not a reprint. Wallace got the idea while on holiday in France in 1926, and turned it into a stage play before writing the novel. It was quickly filmed, and then remade with Alastair Sim and Bernard Lee in lead roles.

This edition also includes, as a bonus, Wallace's story White Face, which was also based on a stage play. Again, it was also filmed, though the film is now considered 'lost', and again it supplies lively escapist entertainment. The titles included in this series are highly diverse, ranging from the two books I've introduced to The Ponson Case by Freeman Wills Crotts and the highly enjoyable first appearance of Colonel Anthony Gethryn, The Rasp. And quite apart from their lively contents, these books do look lovely on the shelf!

Houdini & Doyle - ITV review

The premise of Houdini & Doyle is excellent. The legendary escapologist and the man who created the world's most famous detective knew each other in real life, and someone had the bright idea of teaming them as a sleuthing duo in a television series. Even better - potentially - the first episode of the series sees the pair investigating a locked room mystery. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, I'll answer that question in a moment. The first clue that something might be amiss came with the relegation of episode one to a rather obscure place on the schedules. Did the TV bosses know something we weren't being told? But in these days of catch-up, perhaps that meant little. However, it wasn't long before the dialogue had me cringing. A low point was the moment when Houdini used the phrase "Garbage in, garbage out". Did people really talk like that in or around 1900? (The story was set some time before the characters met in real life, but that example of artistic licence wouldn't have troubled me had history been respected in general terms)

The setting for the crime, a Magdalene laundry, was evocative, and the glimpses we were given of Houdini's stagecraft were well done. In fact, Michael Weston made a pretty good job of playing Houdini. Alas, the American producers of the show reportedly told Stephen Mangan not to play Doyle with a Scottish accent (something Nicola Sturgeon ought to complain about, surely) and he seems to have lost heart as a result, splitting his infinitives without a care. At no point did I find his portrayal of Doyle compelling. Nor did Tim McInnerny convince as the grumpy senior cop; a shame, as I still remember him fondly from Blackadder and he is very good in the new film based on Spooks.

For gender balance, we were presented with an attractive female police constable character, who contributed little to the detective work. How many women PCs were there in 1900, anyway? I don't mind when stories veer away from strict historical accuracy, or make mistakes on matters of detail. Goodness knows, I've erred myself, more than once. But there needs to be a sense that the writer is striving to get it right, even if not with complete success. Houdini & Doyle gave me the impression that those in charge didn't care enough about the history or the characters, and as a result that splendid premise seemed to me to have been wasted. A shame.

Forgotten Book - The House that Kills

The House that Kills was the first detective novel published by Noel Vindry, a major French writer of the Golden Age who was unknown to almost all English-speaking fans until recently, simply because nobody translated his work. Now, John Pugmire of Locked Room International, has repaired the omission,and published a nice paperback edition with an intro and appendices.

As John says in the intro, at one time Vindry (1896-1954) had a reputation to match those of two Belgians, Georges Simenon, and Stanislas-Andre Steeman (whom I've discussed
Vindry trained as an examining magistrate,and put his professional know-how to work by giving the same occupation to his Great Detective, Monsieur Allou. Vindry's focus was on puzzle rather than character,and Allou is not drawn in great depth (but then, you might say the same of Hercule Poirot). His speciality is solving impossible crimes, and here he is confronted by a bunch of them.

This is a clever book, if dry in style when compared to John Dickson Carr's atmospheric writing. Vindry was certainly ingenious, and Locked Room International have done a great job in making his debut available at long last. They also publish Paul Halter, a present day exponent of the impossible crime story who has attracted many admirers. Halter's work is also worth seeking out, and if you liked miraculous murders, I think you'll enjoy The House that Kills. Will you be able to solve the various puzzles before Allou? They aren't easy to crack believe me..  .

The Art of Crime

When I was in Torquay last autumn, attending the Agatha Christie Festival, I popped into an art display in the Grand Hotel. Like pretty much everything happening in Torquay that particular week, it had a Christie theme, and I was instantly taken by one of the pictures, in which the artist had painted a host of Christie hardbacks on two shelves. Very striking indeed. Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, someone had already bought it. But prints were also available, and I was quick to bag one.

As well as being a very occasional crime writer, with two published stories to her credit, Mrs Edwards is also an accomplished artist, and she too was impressed with the Christie print. There is something very attractive about old books in good condition, and they make appealing and rather unusual subjects for paintings. So she has set about producing a few of her own devising - an example is above - and at least there is no shortage of old books in the Edwards household to appear in her works.

They make excellent presents, so if you're looking for an unusual present for the crime fan in your life, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with the artist herself. She has also started a blog, which tells you a lot more.

The Annie Haynes Mystery

"Continuation novels", where a writer adopts another writer's character - such as Sophie Hannah's The Monogram Murders -have long interested me. But even more fascinating, though less common,are books which are begun by one author and completed by another, and it was this fascination that led me to finish the late Bill Knox's The Lazarus Widow. Recently, a Golden Age example of this type of novel has come my way, thanks to the valiant efforts of Dean Street Press,who have reprinted the complete crime fiction of Annie Haynes, who until recently was a very obscure writer indeed..

She was in very poor health when she started writing her last book, The Crystal Beads Murder, and she died with it still unfinished. Another author took over - but here is the really interesting thing: we don't know who it was. The original introduction, by Ada Heather-Bigg (with whom Haynes lived for many years) simply describes her as one of Haynes' friends, and adds that she "also a writer of this type of popular fiction...it says much for her skill that she has independently arrived at Miss Haynes' own solution of the mystery, which was known only to myself."

In an interesting new intro to the book, Curtis Evans speculates about who completed the book, listing prominent women crime writers of the time as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Gilbert (Lucy Malleson), A.Fielding, Molly Thynne and Margaret Cole. I feel sure that Christie, Sayers, and Cole can be ruled out, and I don't know anything about Thynne, and little about Fielding. Curt suggests Anthony Gilbert is the likeliest candidate, though I think that if that were so, she would be likely to have discussed the book, and Haynes,in her memoir, and she didn't. It's also perhaps doubtful that they moved in the same social circles. One name that occurred to me is Jessie Rickard, who was a minor crime writer who became a somewhat peripheral member of the Detection Club, but I don't know enough to say whether there's any similarity between her writing and Haynes', or any other connection.

Curt says, and I agree, that the completion is professionally accomplished. It's quite hard to see the join. The main problem with the story is that it's a tired effort, no doubt because of Haynes' poor health. I couldn't interest myself in the fate of the dastardly Robert Saunderson; the detective puzzle is very much secondary in appeal to the authorship mystery. But Inspector Stoddart is quite an appealing cop,and I look forward to reading some of his earlier cases. Dean Street Press have also reprinted Haynes' non-series mysteries,and I hope to review The Bungalow Mystery in due course..

The Golden Age...and feminism

Ann Cleeves has been a guest of honour at a literary festival in Dubai (sponsored by Emirates Airways, who no doubt find it a less stressful form of marketing than backing Arsenal!) and I was delighted to see that she's been talking about the implications of the renaissance in Golden Age fiction and the mega-success of the British Library Crime Classics in particular. The Sunday Telegraph picked up on her comments in a very intriguing article.

We can debate endlessly whether the renewed popularity of Golden Age mysteries strikes a blow for feminism. Obviously it can be said that many of the social attitudes evinced in the books are wholly out of date, and as inappropriate today as some of our attitudes would have been back then. And it's certainly true that not all Golden Age books are masterpieces. Ann is, as she says, by no means a total fan of them, although she has also pointed out that there are GA influences in some of her books, not least The Glass Room, a very good Vera Stanhope novel.

What is, to me, most striking,is the fact that the renewed interest in Golden Age fiction is giving rise to debate, not just in the UK and US but further afield. It's reasonable for views about the merits of the books to diverge. One (very generous) review of The Golden Age of Murder which said I'd never read a GA book I didn't like was, to be honest, well wide of the mark in that respect. It never bothers me if people tell me they don't like Christie or Sayers, or both of them, even though I'm a big fan. I do, though, wince when critics who have never, or rarely, read the books dismiss them and their authors out of hand.

Ann's suggestion that enthusiasm for GA books is in part a reaction to gory serial killer novels is especially thought-provoking. I think there's something in it,even though I'm one of those people who likes all kinds of crime fiction, ranging from fairly cosy (I draw the line at cats as detectives, I'm afraid) to noir; grisly novels certainly aren't always exploitative, even if some are. What is really gratifying is that those readers who do want to escape into the Golden Age now have a very wide range of titles to choose from. And I can promise that there are some quite excellent Crime Classics in the pipeline....

Trap for Cinderella - 2013 film review

Trap for Cinderella, Iain Softley's recent adaptation of a novel written by Sebastien Japrisot sixty years earlier is one of the best psychological thrillers I've seen in years. On release, it met with indifferent reviews (often from film critics who simply don't care for plot twists, it would seem), but if you like classy, convoluted plotting in a movie, and you're willing to suspend disbelief somewhat - a requirement not confined to mysteries, of course - then give this one a go. It's gripping, and very elegantly done.

A fire in a French mansion leaves one young woman dead, and another terribly disfigured. The survivor undergoes extensive reconstructive surgery, but suffers from amnesia. She's told that her name is Mickey, and that she is due shortly to inherit a fortune, on her 21st birthday. Soon she meets an old boyfriend, and discovers a diary written by her dead friend, Do. As she reads the diary, her memory starts to return...

This is a complex story centring upon the intimate friendship between Mickey and Do. They were childhood friends, but a crisis separated them for years. When they meet again, they become very close, but it soon becomes apparent that Do's devotion to Mickey has its unhealthy side. What happened in the past, and can Mickey trust those who claim to have her best interests at heart.

Mickey is played by the brilliant Tuppence Middleton, who is rapidly become one of the actors I most enjoy watching. Do is equally well played by Alexandra Roach, while the cast also includes Aneurin Barnard and Frances De La Tour. There are a couple of plot elements which one can quibble about - concerning Do's psychology, and the content of the crucial will - but overall, the story moves so briskly and so entertainingly that these didn't bother me much. Japrisot is a very entertaining writer, and I think he'd have been well satisfied with this adaptation. (The book was filmed in  France back n the 60s, incidentally, and Jean Anouilh was one of the scriptwriters.)

Forgotten Book - Mystery of Mr Jessop

E.R. Punshon was a strangely variable author. I find his very inconsistency rather intriguing, and that's partly why I've featured him several times in this blog, as well as in The Golden Age of Murder. He could, and often did, write well, although he was also apt to be wordy, and pace wasn't his strongest point. His books display a sharp sense of humour as well as providing quite a few worthwhile insights into different aspects of British society of the time. He could plot with a degree of ingenuity, and - on occasion - his characterisation could be incisive.

Dorothy L. Sayers was a fan, and she was not easily pleased. Today's Forgotten Book, Mystery of Mr Jessop, first published in 1937 and now reissued in Dean Street Press's welcome series of classic reprints, was enjoyed by P.G. Wodehouse, who was a keen reader of detective stories and friendly with Christie and Anthony Berkeley, Given all Punshon's virtues, then, it's not surprising that he was elected to the Detection Club, of which he proved to be an affable and popular member.

Mystery of Mr Jessop begins well, but slows after the first hundred pages. A partner in a jewellery firm has been murdered, a diamond necklace has gone missing, and a duke and duchess and the dodgy Cut and Come Again Club are mixed up in it all. At one point, Sergeant Bobby Owen makes a list of questions and observations about the case. There are more than forty questions, which illustrates Punshon's fondness for complication, and, perhaps, over-complication..

Dean Street Press are republishing a great many of the Bobby Owen books - some of which have long been scarce - and this initiative gives readers the opportunity to see just what an interesting writer he was. I would not, myself, rate this one too highly, but Bobby is on good form in books such as Information Received, Death of a Beauty Queen, and Diabolic Candelabra . And there's another title, recently published by Dean Street Press, which has some fascinating features and which I'll be covering here before long.