Watson’s Choice
A review of Watson’s Choice by Gladys Mitchell – 230919
Reading a novel by Gladys Mitchell is never going to be an easy ride but by her often perplexing standards Watson’s Choice, the twenty-eighth in her Mrs Bradley series and originally published in 1955, is one of her more accessible. Unusually for her, we get to meet all the characters in the opening chapter, all of whom are guests who have been invited to a house party held by Sir Bohun Chantrey, who is concerned that his life is in peril. The party is to celebrate Chantrey’s love of Sherlock Holmes with each of the invitees is asked to dress as a character from the mysteries of Conan Doyle’s iconic creation.
Anyone who expects this to be a conventional country house murder mystery, especially when there is a thick, atmospheric fog swirling around, is in for a big surprise as, wait anxiously as we might, no body is discovered in either the library, on the lawn, or in a bedroom. However, the party does lay the groundwork for the mystery that is to follow. Chantrey astonishes his assembled guests by announcing that he is going to marry one of his nephews’ governess, Linda Campbell, a turn of events that upsets the plans of Manoel Lupez, Chantrey’s illegitimate bullfighting son who is determined to prove his entitlement to Chantrey’s estate.
The guests are put further at their unease when a large dog made up to resemble the Hound of the Baskervilles makes an appearance. Linda is particularly frightened by the sight of it. Inevitably, Mrs Bradley, who has assumed the guise of Mrs Farintosh, her secretary, Laura Menzies, and ger fiancé, Inspector Gavin of the Yard, are invitees to the party and take the opportunity to snoop around and experience the strained and strange vibes of the party.
One of the delights of the first part of the book is its unashamed homage to the works of Conan Doyle. It is full of references to characters and objects which play prominent or minor roles in the unfolding of the Holmes’ greatest cases, and it takes a will of iron not to be diverted and look up what part items such as Francis H Moulton’s hotel bill and Hunte’s opium-laced curry played in Sherlock Holmes’ bulging casebook.
During the night Linda disappears and the tutor tells the other guests that he had a dream of finding her dead on the heath. However, Linda returns, telling an equally cock and bull story of being abducted and then released. It is not until several weeks later that the events initiated by Chantrey’s house party reaches its dramatic and inevitable conclusion when Linda disappears again and her body is found in a nearby abandoned railway station, one in which the dog that played the part of the Hound of the Baskervilles was kept. Mrs Bradley, Menzies, Gavin, and a returning Alice Boorman, who happens to live nearby, in their various ways investigates what happened to Chantrey’s fiancée.
Inevitably, the threats to Chantrey and the death of Linda are linked, and the identity of culprit owed more than a little nod to The Red-Headed League. Their unmasking plays out a scene from The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, demonstrating that Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes holds a greater influence over the book than does Sophocles’ Oedipus.
It is a romp of a book, Mitchell having fun in demonstrating her love and knowledge of Conan Doyle’s works and, while the pace of the book drops in the middle section, it is redeemed as the narrative reaches its finale. Mitchell cannot resist muddying the waters of what is a straightforward tale, but has produced a book that will satisfy her fans and given those who want to see what all the fuss about her is about a moderately easy introduction to her distinctly left field take on detective fiction.
