The Body Missed the Boat

by Jack Iams

In new vein for humorist Iams- this is high-handed and often high-spirited doings of the American Consulate in Brassaville. Equatorial Africa, as well-hated Consul Mallery is found dead in a gorilla's oage. His young assistant, in trying to keep peace with Washington, the British, the French and the substitute Consul, gets dizzier when an FEI investigator is killed, but manages to unwind when infiltration plots and characters are. [Kirkus Reviews]

Genres: Mystery

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

Samuel Harvey Iams, Jr. was born on November 15, 1910 in Maryland. Iams began his writing career in American and British journalism. Adopting the pseudonym Jack Iams, he proceeded to publish his own books. Iams is best known for his mysteries, including Death Draws the Line, and his crime novels featuring the character Rocky Rockwell. He passed away in January of 1990.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brazzaville, a city in central Africa, was under French control in the 1940s during the period in which The Body Missed the Boat is set. The book was published in 1947, soon after the end of World War II. It is concerned almost solely with people not of African descent, white people from Europe, England, and the United States. As the Goodreads reviewer Susan points out, "This story, set in the French Congo, doesn't so much treat the Africans badly or scornfully; they barely seem to exist in their own country."

The body in the title is that of Warren Mallory, the American Consul in Brazzaville. He is found dead in a box that was to be used to ship a gorilla to the United States. Had the body not been found, the covered box would have been at sea before the death was discovered. Mallory was despised by all who knew him. The gorilla is missed; Mallory is not.

The book is narrated by the American Vice-consul, Frederick Benson. Benson is informed that he will not be taking over Mallory's post. A senior member of the diplomatic corps, Ethelbert Stone, Consul of a neighboring country, is sent to take temporary charge of the Brazzaville consulate.

The person in charge of the investigation is the Commissaire de Police, Monsieur Anatole Mauclerc, who seems very conscientious, but admits that he had his own reasons to resent Mallory. He suggests that the United States send someone from the FBI to aid in the investigation, and this is done.

The FBI agent seems to be one of the few people in the story who had neither the opportunity nor an apparent motive for killing Mallory. Stone, summoned from another country after the murder, would seem to not be a suspect. Likewise it appears that the British Ambassador and his wife have no motive.

But many others do. All of Mallory's own staff disliked him, including Fred Benson. The other members of the staff include the cipher clerk and the secretary, who makes no secret of how much she despised Mallory. The American woman animal-trapper who was in charge of the now-missing gorilla is a strong suspect, as is her housemate, an English woman who works at the local radio station. (Fred Benson's attraction to the British woman from the radio station grows through the course of the story.) A male reporter for that station is another possible suspect, as is an aging clergyman. There are also a female German Jewish refugee and her male friend from the Balkans. As I mentioned above, the actual Africans are seldom discussed and none of them would be a likely suspect.

One of the people involved suffers a serious blow on the head and spends most of the book in a coma. It is assumed that the person who killed Mallory also attacked this other person.

Iams makes the most of this tale. The setting is unusual and the various characters are intriguing. There is one fine action sequence involving a car chase. As with many mystery books from that time, the amount of alcoholic beverages consumed would probably in real life account for another death or two. Perhaps the best thing about most of Iams' books is the humor. The narrator, the two people from the radio station, and the animal-trapper are all friends, all witty and charming.

The solution to the mystery is unexpected, but not in a pleasurably surprising way. It is almost as if the ending of another book were substituted for the proper one. Because the rest of the book is so good, the poor finish seems even more egregious.

But because most of the book is that good, the ending does hurt the book but does not ruin it. As with almost all Iams' work, I enjoyed this and would recommend it.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1947, when The Body Missed the Boat by Jack Iams was published, the story was set in Brazzaville in French Equatorial Africa [now the Republic of the Congo]. It features the American Consulate in Brazzaville from the titular Body in the person of the American Consul, Warren Mallory, to our narrator Freddy Benson, the American vice-consul; from Jimmy Beach, the American cipher clerk, to Ma'amselle Yvette Armenois, the luscious Gallic secretary who much prefers taking dictation on Freddy's knees to doing so under the eye of the rigid Mallory. Also in the mix are Hilary Judd, a clever and attractive British woman who has worked for the BBC; Phillippa Darrow, professional big game huntress who is missing one large gorilla by the name of Mama Bu-Bu; Larry Brune, the voice of Radio Brazzaville and although American thinks nothing of making the U.S. State Department look like fools; Hilda Weissman, a harrassed German Jewish refugee, & her devoted boyfriend Boris Chor, a hot-headed young zealot; and Dr. Gailbraith, an elderly missionary with an unrepentant heart when it comes to long-simmering grudges.

Warren Mallory was pretty much universally hated and/or despised. He managed to irritate not only his staff, but the British Consul and British subjects in the area as well as the native inhabitants of French Equatorial Africa. Nobody is really dismayed when he winds up poisoned. They're not even really surprised. But they are surprised that his body has been found stuffed in the cage of Phillipa Darrow's beloved gorilla Mama Bu-Bu. If all had gone according the the murderer's plans, the covered cage would have been loaded onto a boat and been far out to sea by the time Mallory's body was discovered. But the best-laid plans so often go awry and Phillipa Darrow comes to Freddy Benson--breathing fire. She's not the least bit upset that she's got a dead Consul on her hands, but she is incensed that someone let her gorilla loose. And what is Freddy going to do about that?! She's not particularly delighted that Freddy seems more interested in his boss's death than her missing primate.

The French authorities are called in--in the person of Commissaire Anatole Mauclerc, the "Maigret of Africa." And the hunt is on...for a murderer, not a gorilla. Meanwhile, Freddy has reported the death to his superiors and their answer is not to elevate him to Consul, but to send Ethelbert Stone, Consul to Luanda, to serve as Acting Consul until the matter is cleared up. An FBI man by the Flannagan is also rushed out from the States to help Mauclerc clear things up. Flannagan is a big help--ill-prepared for the African climate and soon laid out flat by a good ol' blunt object to the head. It begins to look like someone really doesn't want this murder solved. But everyone contributes a clue here and a tidbit there until Larry Brune provides a surprise radio broadcast to help make all things clear.

This is a fun, light-hearted mystery that is very good for an evening's entertainment. Iams is brilliant at dialogue, characterization, and comedy with a light touch. The setting is unusual and so is the crime. The mystery is intriguing and I might have given the book a full four stars, or possibly more, if there had been more fair play in the solution. If there are clues pointing to the particulars of the whys and wherefores, then I completely missed them. But I don't think so. ★★★ and a half.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd really rate this about a three-and-a-half, were it not for cognitive dissonance. This story, set in the French Congo, doesn't so much treat the Africans badly or scornfully; they barely seem to exist in their own country. When the unpleasant American consul in Brazzaville is found murdered, the suspects are the members of the Anglo-American community, especially those associated with Radio Brazzaville. Fred Benson, the vice-consult, tries to do a little investigating, if just to clear an English girl he's attracted to. The solution seems a bit out of left-field, but certainly packs a wallop. Read it if you can enjoy a period piece.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

see review other edition

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read from 1947, set in Brazzaville in September 1945. The humour is nowhere near as much as promised but it is all light and breezy despite the murder. Thoroughly disliked and dislikable American Consul Mallory is found dead stuffed in a gorilla cage. A range of ex-pats and consular officials are suspect as the narrative focuses on callow and naïve but endearing Vice-Consul, Freddy Benson. Veteran French Commissaire Mauclerc investigates as an acting-Consul from Luanda and an over-the-top FBI agent complicate. Characters are individualised, most very sympathetic creations, in this light, occasionally amusing read with a pleasing solution. The setting feels authentic and the quality prose impresses although the French secretary really does betray the 1947 publication date.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: crazy things were happening at a US Consulate in Africa. The Consul was found dead in a gorilla cage.