Elsewhen

by Anthony Boucher

Genres: Fiction

Unknown Binding

About the author

William Anthony Parker White, better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher, was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dramas. Between 1942 and 1947, he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to "Anthony Boucher", White also employed the pseudonym "H. H. Holmes", which was the pseudonym of a late-19th-century American serial killer; Boucher would also write light verse and sign it " Herman W. Mudgett" (the murderer's real name).
In a 1981 poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel Nine Times Nine was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time.

Reviews

[Mohamed]

The thing I like most about this book is not the writing, it is not the scene or sentence construction, and it is not the climax or ending. What I like foremost about this work is the "alibi".

In this case Boucher pioneers a new fictional (physical form?) of alibi aside from Space (I was somewhere else so I cannot be a suspect) to time (I was there but not at the time the crime took place). This, to my limited knowledge, is a remarkable piece of novelty.

And to make it possible in the fictional realm, the inventor-turned-criminal Harrison Patrigde, invents a time machine and uses it to generate an infallible alibi to depose of a relative who is the heir of a rich very old relative so that Harrison and his sister end up being the direct heirs and inherit the large sum of money.

Another piece of interest in this story is the description of Patridge exponentially growing ego after realizing that he will go unpunished. He and others start observing this stratospheric ego jump and perhaps by consequence, he starts falling into foolish mistakes and underestimating detective Fergus O'Breen as a foe unworthy of treating seriously. He begins directly obscenely harassing a young woman he loves. This aggrandizement of ego that happens to the criminal is something Agatha Christie used time and again in her Poirot and Battle novels.

Another grand fallacy was that Patridge realizes that he could have made much more money from using the machine in legal activities instead of turning to crime. For example, he can go back in time and bet on the right horses and make money. This trick was used by Stephen King in 11/22/63. It suggests (a fact we see in everyday life) that intelligence and wisdom do not always go hand in hand.

Overall, it is a novel concept of "time travel" as an alibi tool in detective fiction.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrison Partridge invents a time machine, and decides to use it to travel backwards to prevent a marriage of the women he loves from marrying his rival, and also to kill his rich aging uncle, who seems to live forever . thus preventing him and his sister from getting their inheritance. These impossible crimes must be solved and proven by Fergus O'Breen, before Harrison Partridge can be convicted. A good mixture of crime and science fiction from 1946 when first published.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short from 1946, post-Wells time machine. There really isn't a mystery: Boucher plays his hand outright. I prefer to figure things out myself.