Lonely Magdalen: A Murder Story (Inspector Poole, #5)

Inspector Poole #6

by Henry Wade

A prostitute is found strangled on Hampstead Heath and Inspector Poole has witnesses and a suspect - but no proof. To unravel the mystery, he must piece together the secrets of the victims life.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Henry Wade was a pen-name of Sir Henry Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet. Other authors on Goodreads are also named Henry Wade.

Reviews

[Emmett Hoops · Rating 4 out of 5]

This undeservedly forgotten mystery is one of the most carefully crafted, well-written, engaging stories to emerge from the classic decade of 1930 to 1940 in Great Britain. I would have given it five stars but for the rather extreme class consciousness betrayed by the author, Henry Wade -- or, as his real name is, Major Sir Henry Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet CVO DSO. At one point, the Inspector Poole (whom we may safely assume has many of the characteristics and viewpoints of the author) claims that the degeneracy of two upper class people is worse than the death of a common woman. Yes, I know, it's a bit of old Britain, like slavery in the U.S., something we can't judge with by the standards of today; yet it does detract from the relationship that the modern reader has with the hero of the book.

Still, a book that is this engrossing should be on your reading list if you are a mystery reader. What modern hero doesn't have defects?

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great mystery and also an original one.

We start at a bar where a news broadcast interrupts the normal programming to announce that the body of a woman has been found strangled in a park. The woman is described with a burn mark on her face. Any information as to the identity or witnesses who may have seen anything etc..

The people in the bar become quiet. The park is not too far from the bar, but that is not why the patrons of the bar have become quiet. A hulking man sitting by himself turns white. At first they all laugh, thinking something is in his beer, but his violent reaction causes them to shy away and they soon forget about him. The bartender and owner of the bar, who happens to be an ex-policeman, suspects more.

The story then embarks on a thorough investigation with Inspector Poole, a young detective, with his superior officer, Inspector Beldam, to obtain the identity of the woman and hopefully trace the whereabouts of the murderer.

The story is unusual in that it starts off as a normal detective story, but interrupts itself to give a background of specific people involved by going twenty years in the past, before returning to the present.

The present is 1939, when Europe was on the brink of war. The middle part goes back to the First World War.

While Poole, Beldam and their men are fastidious, the story is never boring. Wade writes in an engaging way that envokes sympathy for all the players involved, even the victim and perhaps the murderer.

I'm not sure the story ends with both feet on the ground, because it leaves questions. I believe this was the author's intent, but it is not my favorite way to conclude the story because there's not absolute closure.

Still, I rank this up with one of the best mysteries I've read.

[Lisa Brantly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with the writing/dialogue during the police procedural bits (usually my favorite). But the middle section or back story was excellent.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this mystery novel set in 1939 (but with no war background), a middle-aged woman is found dead in a London park. She seems to have been a once beautiful woman of good family, now an alcoholic and prostitute. The problem is not just : who killed her, but also : who was she? The first part of the story ends when Inspector Poole of Scotland Yard, makes a startling identification.

The second part takes us to England just before the First World War. Cricket and debutante balls, dressing for dinner and tea on the lawn - the familiar tropes of Golden Age of mystery fiction. But then comes WWI, and it is during this time that the tragic transformation from rich girl to young bride to down-at-heel actress begins, a transformation that will end 20 years later in a wet corner of Hampstead Heath.

In the third part, Inspector Poole, now armed with an identity and a family history, starts hunting down the dead woman's family members. This involves a lot of shadowing and interrogating hotel porters, garage owners and publicans - this is a police procedural, after all - and it ends with a conviction. And yet... in the very last sentences of the book, Inspector Poole reflects that there could have been one additional suspect.


I liked the book because of the middle part, the return to 1914, when the murder victim's downward slide began. This is done all the time in contemporary crime fiction, but I don't think I've often encountered it in books from the 1940s, or not to this extent. I also liked the careful police work of Inspector Poole and Sergeant Gower. There were a lot of police officers in the book (MEtropolitan and Scotland Yard), but those are the only two that really mattered.

[ARLINE KOELLER · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good murder mystery..keeps reader on edge of seat till the end!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. The first half moved a little slowly, but once we get to the victim's background story, the pace picks up considerably. Fun murder mystery that keeps you guessing.

[DavidA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and it was interesting to read of the 'leg work' that the police had to put in before modern methods were invented. I must seek out more books by this author.

[Neer · Rating 3 out of 5]

MY first Wade (an author I had heard a lot about) turned out to be a most disturbing read with the thought that the wrong man had been sentenced to death for the murder of a prostitute who turned out to be a lady who had fallen on bad times. The best part of the book was the section in the middle which described England just before the first WW with its cricket on the greens, the country-houses, the coming-outs, the landed gentry …all of which was to disappear in the war with its trenches, the deaths, the shocks and the psychological pressure and trauma which made young men and women behave recklessly without a thought for social conventions and ultimately have their lives disrupted.

However, since this part ultimately plays no part in the solution offered at the end (a cop-out? The author provides a most ambiguous ending) it appears to be unnecessary. Philip Mason had written in a book that justice cannot be served in India because Indians are by nature devious but Wade seems to suggest the same for the British over here.

My fave quote: “You’ve got me wrong,” he said. “I am for protection, not aggression….like the bloody British Empire.” (88)

*

First Line: “This is the National Programme.

Source: Borrowed

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a few caveats, "Lonely Magdalen" is not a bad read. Those cautions would include a willingness to overlook the sexism and moral strictures that were normative in the early part of the twentieth-century, the time period in which the book takes place. The plot, however, is interesting and the writing is crisp if not elegant. I was a bit disappointed in the ending but that is likely attributable to my tastes rather than any shortcomings in the plot. Nothing memorable here but an enjoyable easy read.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even after thinking about this book for a few days I don't know how to describe it. In some ways it felt very much like a modern mystery. In other ways it had many of the trappings of a golden age mystery ie dozens of indistinguishable characters. Overall a fun read though!

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Inspector Poole of the Yard investigates the death of woman whose body was found in a London park just before the start of WW2.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way the older books are written. This was very enjoyable. I am going to look for additional reads by this author.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just creeping into the end of the Golden Age era, a far superior tale than most of it's contemporise. The WW1 section drags a little but Wade is well worth checking out.

[Amicus (David Barnett) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting work from the "Golden Age" of detective fiction. I lived in Hampstead for many years and the localities, although set in the fairly distant past were familiar to me.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...