Martin Edwards's Blog, page 46

Stonehouse - 2023 ITV series - review

I remember the case of John Stonehouse vividly, even though the crime for which he became famous was committed when I was just starting student life and had plenty of other things happening to occupy my attention. He was a Labour MP and former cabinet minister who enjoyed quite a high profile during the Wilson era. A charismatic but extremely disreputable individual, he faked his own death in 'Reggie Perrin' style, but didn't cover his tracks very well and was arrested in Australia. He and his lover Sheila Buckley were tried and found guilty of various crimes, but she avoided prison. Stonehouse did not. 

The story is an extraordinary one, and spice is added by the widespread belief that Stonehouse spied for the Czechs during the Cold War. Today, surviving members of his family have varying perspectives on his character and the extent of his criminality. Stonehouse is a recent three-part TV series telling the story with a screenplay by John Preston. The director was Jon S. Baird, who was captain of one of the teams in Christmas University Challenge, although I didn't get the chance to meet him. 

The versatile and accomplished Matthew Macfadyen plays Stonehouse and his real life spouse Keeley Hawes plays the MP's long-suffering wife Barbara. It's fun to watch them working together in very, very different roles from those which they played in Spooks. Kevin McNally plays Harold Wilson and Dorothy Atkinson is cast as Betty Boothroyd (whose part in the story in real life may well have been much more peripheral than the screenplay suggests). Emer Heatley is a rather subdued Sheila Buckley, by no means the self-confident character I imagined from press reports at the time, and the low-key nature of their relationship takes a bit of energy away from the story.

Stonehouse is good entertainment, reminiscent of Canoe Man, the story of a comparable dodgy fantasist, John Darwin. Really, the story is presented as a light comedy. Macfadyen's Stonehouse is bumbling and ridiculous rather than malevolent. Whether that's a reasonable version of the truth I don't know, but I enjoyed watching the series.

Forgotten Book - Murder at the Bookstall

I've never read anything by Henry Holt until recently, but I've been vaguely aware of his work. There isn't much about Holt (1881-1962) in the crime reference books or on the internet, but he enjoyed a career lasting over 30 years, his last novel being published the year before his death. In his prime, he was good enough to be published by Collins Crime Club, and some of his books earned paperback editions. But he isn't discussed in any depth by John Curran in The Hooded Gunman, though images of the book covers and blurbs are reproduced. After 1940, he moved to Robert Hale, a typical (and very common) sign of gently declining literary fortunes. 

Murder at the Bookstall was published by the  Crime Club in 1934, shortly after the rather better-known Why Didn't They Ask Evans? The story features a Scotland Yard cop called Silver and a journalist chum, Tony Collinson. Their investigation is triggered by the killing of a woman whose body is found at the back of a bookstall on Charing Cross Station. The bookseller had been distracted by a talkative man in glasses who wanted to buy a couple of crime stories.

The dead woman is soon identified as Lola Fortescue. She'd been in Paris, but she was due to travel to a house party in England and has evidently been intercepted by her killer en route. There is a 'closed circle' of suspects, confined to those who knew something of Lola's travel arrangements, but it is some time before the motive for the crime becomes apparent.

In many ways, this is a typical product of the Golden Age, quite skilfully constructed - and shifting viewpoints are used to good effect - but written in a workmanlike rather than exhilarating way. I think some readers will enjoy it more than I did. I found it ok but at no point did I ever care much about the characters or their fate. Definitely one for those who love the 'humdrum' style.

Perplexing Plots by David Bordwell

I first came across David Bordwell just over six years ago, when out of the blue he sent me a kind email, having just read and enjoyed The Golden Age of Murder. Although I was unfamiliar with his work at that time, I learned that he was a distinguished American academic and an expert in film history. This led to my discovery of his admirable blog which offers a wealth of info and comment about films, including many old favourites of mine. We have stayed in touch and I devoured with great enthusiasm his 2019 book Reinventing Hollywood: How 1940s Filmmakers Changed Movie Storytelling.

While I was working on The Life of Crime, I found on a number of occasions that David's ideas were invaluable in terms of leading me in fresh directions with my own evolving ideas about narrative. So was the information packed into his work. To say the least, it's uncommon to find a distinguished academic who writes with such clarity and elegance, while coming up with insights that are genuinely thought-provoking. This fascinating post is an excellent example, but there are plenty more I could have chosen. So he made a very real contribution to my book.

And now David has just published a splendid new book, Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and The Poetics of Murder, published by Columbia University Press. Again, it's an erudite and meticulously researched volume, but written in such an accessible style and full of such interesting material that I have no hesitation in recommending it. On the back cover, there's a quote in which I say that this is 'the most illuminating study of narrative technique that I've read'. 

High praise, yes, but I stand by every word. I don't mean it to sound as though we've formed a mutual admiration society, but I have found it exciting to come across someone who, although we have never met in person, shares a number of my interests and with whom it's been possible to exchange ideas to mutual benefit. So my warmest congratulations go to David and I hope and expect that this terrific book will achieve the breadth of readership that it deserves.

The Ice House - 1997 TV show review

I've mentioned Minette Walters several times on this blog over the years. She made a great impression from the start of her crime writing career, having previously written pseudonymous romantic fiction. The Ice House was a striking and award-winning debut in our genre; it was published in 1992 and five years later it was adapted for television with an excellent cast including the future James Bond, Daniel Craig.

I read and reviewed the book shortly after it came out, but I seem to have missed the TV version. I can report, however, that it stands the test of time very well. Credit goes not only to the author but also the screenwriter, Lizzie Mickery, who develops the characters and relationships effectively without sacrificing the momentum of the story.

A body is discovered in the ice house of a rather grand old home which is now occupied by three women: Phoebe Maybury (Penny Downie), Diana Goode (Frances Barber) and Anne Cattrell (Kitty Aldridge). The police assume that the deceased is David Maybury, husband of Phoebe and an unpleasant piece of work. The investigation is conducted by an interesting and contrasting pair of cops, DCI Walsh (Corin Redgrave) and cocky young DS McLoughlin (Craig). And before long, he becomes fascinated by Anne Cattrell. A dangerous liaison begins...

The quality of the acting matched the writing. Craig is excellent and so, in a very different way, is Redgrave. I thought Kitty Aldridge gave a truly compelling and charismatic performance and it's a shame that she gave up acting long ago, although she's become a successful novelist. This is a good example of a TV adaptation that doesn't go on too long. I really enjoyed it.

Forgotten Book - Mr Pottermack's Oversight

I started reading Richard Austin Freeman's stories about Dr Thorndyke when I was about twelve or thirteen. A schoolfriend lent me an omnibus of the short stories and I devoured them enthusiastically. But after reading one or two of the novels, my tastes changed and I found myself less attracted to scientific detection and more interested in other types of crime writing. When I came back to Freeman, however, many years later, I found that his merits endure. His writing style is formal and was old-fashioned even towards the end of his own lifetime, but there's something about his best work that is quite compelling. Even Raymond Chandler appreciated that.
For some reason, I've never got round to reading one of his most famous novels until now. This is Mr Pottermack's Oversight and it's an inverted mystery of the type that Austin Freeman first popularised with the stories collected in The Singing Bone just before the First World War. Dorothy L. Sayers was among his most fervent admirers and perhaps this was a factor that encouraged him to adapt his approach to the inverted story and write a novel.
And the first thing I'd like to say is that, rather more than ninety years on, it stands up to scrutiny. There are a number of reasons for this. First, the protagonist, Marcus Pottermack, is essentially a decent man, even though he is naive and ultimately driven to commit murder. His victim, a blackmailer, is devoid of redeeming features other than superficial charm and it's almost impossible not to root for him.
Second, the scientific element of the detective work undertaken by Thorndyke is interesting and clearly explained. Pottermack's methods seem ingenious, but they aren't quite craft enough to outwit the great man. Third, the situation resolves itself in a way that I find appealing. This isn't a conventional detective story, and it isn't even conventional by the standards of Golden Age inverted mysteries (I don't think Freeman Wills Crofts would have had the stomach to end the story in the way that Austin Freeman does, but then, the two Freemans were very different personalities). I really enjoyed this story and, although as I say I'm an Austin Freeman fan of long-standing, it appealed to me even more than I anticipated. Recommended. 

Reflections on University Challenge

Being invited to appear on Christmas University Challenge gave me a huge thrill. I've been a lifelong fan of the show and I thought my chance of taking part had gone forever when, as a student, I didn't get into the Balliol team (which then exited after a single game). I was pleasantly surprised, to say the very least, to be considered as a notable alumnus of the college. To be asked to captain the team was wonderful. And to realise that I'd be taking part in Jeremy Paxman's final series of the show was the icing on the cake.

Or so I thought. But as luck would have it, things got better and better. My team-mates, Elizabeth, Andrew, and Martin (O'Neill), whom I'd never met before, proved to be delightful. We were clearly going to be short of know-how in some areas, but it made sense to have a plan of campaign. My colleagues were not only receptive to the strategy (basically, answer fast, don't worry about making mistakes, and don't dither or engage in endless debate over bonus questions) but implemented it to perfection. 

We were thrilled to win our first heat against SOAS (the first of the entire tournament) and record a good score, after a number of early setbacks. The idea of the competition is that there are seven heats. The four highest-scoring winners go through to compete in the semi finals. A day or two after our match, we were told we were in the semis - a return to Media City, Salford, was duly booked.

The two semis and the final took place on the same day. First, Hull defeated York and then we took on Exeter College, Oxford, captained by the charming Reeta Chakrabarti. They were a strong team and led for much of the way but Martin O'Neill was in great form and in the end our victory margin was much greater than it felt at the time. I managed to get the spelling questions right but my technique with the buzzer was hopeless in this match, and I only had an hour to wait (involving a quick coffee and sandwich and a change of clothes for all of us) before I was practising for the final against Hull. I'd been very nervous before the previous two matches, but less so before the final. This was Jeremy's grand finale after 29 years as quizmaster, and it went incredibly well. 

Both teams toasted each other - and Jeremy - with champagne and he invited us to his farewell party, which was memorable. We'd arranged, win or lose, to stay overnight, and so we then set off for a celebratory cocktail before having dinner in the company of Sian Reese-Williams, the actor who captained Hull and was (like her team-mates) quite delightful to chat with.

I'll never forget the experience and I wrote an article about it for the Daily Express. It's also illustrated the reach of national television - we were trending on Twitter and featured in several cartoons such as the one above. I've had messages from an extraordinary number of people, including some with whom I'd lost touch. It's all been incredibly gratifying and I'm so pleased that I had the chance to take part. The Master of Balliol has invited the team to a celebratory dinner in the College and as a way of thanking my three marvellous team-mates for being so fantastic, I'll be dedicating Sepulchre Street to them...   

Forgotten Book - The Lord Have Mercy aka The Shrew is Dead

Over the years, I've reviewed several of Shelley Smith's books on this blog. I was introduced to her work by Julian Symons' Bloody Murder and I share his enthusiasm for her work. He was especially keen on The Lord Have Mercy, and having recently acquired an inscribed copy of the Collins Crime Club edition from 1956, I thought I'd share my thoughts on a book that I first read more than thirty years ago.

This is an English village mystery with a suspicious death at its heart, but first and foremost it's a study of character and of social attitudes. In many ways, it's a good illustration of the post-war shift in attitudes towards the genre. The puzzle is almost incidental to the portrayal of psychological disintegration and there's an ironic flavour to the writing that was guaranteed to appeal to Symons (as it does to me).

By modern standards, it's a short novel and frankly I think that is all to the good. A long, meaty crime novel is great - so long as the length is justified; alas, that isn't invariably the case. In The Lord Have Mercy, the writing is taut throughout and the final paragraph is disturbing and enigmatic.

I don't want to say too much about the detail of the story, but essentially it focuses on Editha, the desirable but provocative wife of the local doctor, a good man who is, as the story progresses, pushed to the limits of endurance by the behaviour of others. Smith portrays him with sympathy and understanding and there's a subtlety about the characterisation that was relatively uncommon in the crime writing of its day. 

To me, it's very surprising that after writing such a good novel, Smith produced only three more novels in the next twenty-one years. Like Margot Bennett and Mary Kelly, she seems to have run out of steam. I know less about her life than I do about those other writers, so I'm not quite sure why her productivity tailed off. But her books, even those that aren't wholly successful, are always interesting, and this quiet novel of small cruelties and misunderstandings is still well worth reading. 

Happy New Year!

Welcome to another calendar year on 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?' I'm looking forward to the year and personal writing highlights are likely to include publication of Sepulchre Street (with another great piece of cover artwork from Ed Bettison), which is the fourth Rachel Savernake novel, and a British Library anthology of classic Welsh crime stories, together with the first appearance of some new short stories. 

This month is mainly to be devoted to writing, but I've got plenty of events lined up at a variety of festivals and libraries. I hope to meet some of you at one or other of these events, including Alibis in the Archive, which will take place at Gladstone's Library in June - do consider coming along for the weekend. It will be great fun.

Although 2022 was a wonderful year for me, a number of great friends of mine experienced significant health problems, with cancer a recurrent theme. They are making very good progress and I'm hoping that this year sees them restored to full health. One sadness last year was that, in addition to my crime writing pal Peter Robinson, I lost an old friend in Alan Rawlinson, whom I met on my first day at grammar school.and, as I learned just a few days ago, Sue Bell, whom I met during my first week at Oxford. I've been asked to write a short reminiscence about Sue for her college's magazine and I'm working on that now.

Sue was an English student who shortly after Oxford married an American and went to live in the States, so although our friendship continued I only met up with her once in recent years. I have many fond memories of her. The photo shows us together at a champagne party when we were both 20. By one of those truly bizarre coincidences, this is the photo I supplied when the University Challenge producer asked me for a photo from my student days. On looking again at her very witty and lengthy letters, I see that at the same tender age she was encouraging me in my ambition to become a writer. As she said, perhaps wryly, 'You certainly seem to have plenty of ideas and imagination and at least a certain amount of confidence in your own ability.' She was amused when, seven years later, my first book proved to be a legal tome! I never imagined how lucky I'd get to be with my writing and I bet Sue didn't either, but I treasure the good times we had together and I'll never forget her warmth and wonderful sense of humour.  

   

Annus Mirabilis

So now the news is out. Last night Team Balliol were officially crowned series champions of  Christmas University Challenge 2022, a brilliant way to end an incredible year. (as illustrated by the top photo, with my editor Laura Palmer, on the night I got the Diamond Dagger into my clutches at last!) I'll talk about the show a little more on another day, but right now I just want to reflect on the past twelve months. And first and foremost let me say how grateful I am to you, my readers, for supporting my books and this blog in the way you do. Last month, for instance, the blog had nearly 50,000 views, which must be about as high a figure as any during the past fifteen years. I'm motivated to keep going, and also to think about a new venture, a newsletter. So let me know if you're interested in that idea, and I'll give it more thought.

It was great finally to be awarded that Diamond Dagger in person (having had a lovely virtual presentation from Ann Cleeves during the height of the pandemic) at a glitzy ceremony in London. A wonderful night, in great company. That same week I returned to Balliol for my first ever Gaudy, and met some people I'd last seen as a student. Another terrific occasion.

I published several books and The Life of Crime has to take pride of place, simply because it represented so many years of work. I was thrilled by the reviews in The Times, The Spectator, The New York Times, The Washington Post and elsewhere - and also by the sales, which continue to be remarkably buoyant, especially bearing in mind that it's not the cheapest book.

Blackstone Fell also garnered great coverage in The Times, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, and in other publications and blogs. It's another book I'm especially proud of. I've just been putting the finishing touches to Sepulchre Street, Rachel's fourth case. In the US, The Crooked Shore came out under a different title, The Girl They All Forgot.

I published a mystery map, This Deadly Isle, and edited three anthologies: Music of the Night, The Edinburgh Mystery, and Final Acts. The Crime Classics continue to prosper, and I also wrote a number of short stories, some of which have already been published and some of which will appear next year. I continue to write essays and articles for a wide variety of outlets and I've been pleased to contribute pieces to story collections by John Creasey and Josh Pachter, among others. 

I was fortunate to be asked to take part in many events, live and online. There were four festivals in Scotland alone - Colonsay (amazing island), Birnam, Nairn, and Stirling - plus CrimeFest (where I was one of the guests of honour and treated with great kindness), Harrogate, Cambridge, Oundle, Newark, Alibis at Gladstone's Library and Bodies from the Library. I was also honoured to give the first Jennifer Palmer Memorial Lecture at the Portico in Manchester. The advent of online events meant it was possible to also talk to audiences around the country and indeed around the world without leaving home - very good for time-efficiency! I took part in events with some lovely people ranging from Robert Goddard to Andrew Taylor, Elly Griffiths, Ann Cleeves, and Denise Mina. I was also pleased to meet Adele Parks, Richard Coles and Andrew O'Hagan among others for the first time. There were CWA and Detection Club events that provided yet more reminders of the conviviality of crime writers and readers. I also had the pleasure of being in touch with several family members of great crime writers of the past. On a trip to Kent, I met up with Catherine Aird, Frankie Fyfield, and the family of the late Julian Symons - great fun to see his collection of Edgar awards!

So it's been very busy, but very satisfying. Every year does have its tricky moments and I lost a number of good friends from school and university days as well as writing friends such as Peter Robinson, June Thomson, Ralph Spurrier, and Michael Pearce. It all nearly came to an abrupt end for me too, with a hit and run by a motorbike in July - how we both survived, I'll never know. But I was very lucky and thankful for the chance to keep going. That experience has made me all the more determined to make the most of every moment while I can.  
Research trips can be a lot of fun and I enjoyed staying at the Hark to Bounty, a pub which features in Lorac's Crook O'Lune as well as other fascinating places which will no doubt feature in future stories! 

For many people, including some close friends of mine, 2022 wasn't an easy year and one mustn't forget that. For my part, I've enjoyed a huge amount of good fortune and believe me, I'm grateful for it. There are more stories to be written! Above all, I appreciate the many messages I've received throughout the year. It's great to hear from readers and I do find the feedback hugely energising. Thanks again - and happy new year!

Christmas Viewing

There have been TV shows other than Christmas University Challenge on during the holiday season - though there's no doubt about which show I've really been glued to! - and I've enjoyed several of them. all too often 'Christmas specials' are a let-down, but Motherland was as sharp as usual, albeit with a very dark and sad storyline. The quality of writing is consistently high. 
The same is definitely true of Ghosts, a much gentler show, which has a 'feelgood' style that doesn't seem forced, but flows naturally from the well-drawn characters. Great fun. I've written before about my enthusiasm for Inside No. 9 and this year's special gave a nod to the concept of 'ghost stories for Christmas', but with a characteristic twist. It certainly wasn't the best episode of this brilliant series but Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith are always good to watch. They were actually the answer to a question in Christmas University Challenge this week, but alas Reece's name eluded the poor chap who buzzed in, even though he's a TV and film director. An example of what can happen under the pressure of a TV quiz!  
Michael Sheen is an actor I admire and he was one of the stars in Vardy v. Rooney, as the barrister representing the defendant in a headline-grabbing libel case. This was faithfully adapted for TV and I'm sure that millions of people were left, like me, wondering why the claim was ever brought. It was the legal equivalent of a footballer scoring an own goal from the half-way line. Bizarre but watchable.
Bill Nighy is always engaging and he played Inspector Kildare in The Limehouse Golem, a 2016 film adapted from Peter Ackroyd's novel and shown on the BBC. The cast was brilliant, the story interesting, the script rather variable in quality. This was one of those historical mysteries in which the suspects include famous figures from real life - Karl Marx and George Gissing, of all people - and although the ingredients were mostly excellent, the whole didn't quite match the sum of the individual parts.