Death of His Uncle

Malcolm Warren Mysteries #3

by C.H.B. Kitchin

Because Malcolm Warren, quite by accident, has been involved in two murders, his friends consider him an expert in crime. So he is not surprised when a brilliant but failed old schoolmate enlists his aid to find a missing uncle. But he is quite astonished when he discovers that the respectable uncle and nephew have been romancing the same woman.

Genres: Mystery

229 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

C.H.B. (Clifford Henry Benn) Kitchin was born in Yorkshire in 1895. He attended Exeter College, Oxford, and published his first book, a collection of poems, in 1919. His first novel, Streamers Waving, appeared in 1925, and he scored his first success with the mystery novel Death of My Aunt (1929), which has been frequently reprinted and translated into a number of foreign languages.

Kitchin was a man of many interests and talents, being called to the bar in 1924 and later amassing a small fortune in the stock market. He was also, at various times, a farmer and a schoolmaster, and his many talents included playing the piano, chess, and bridge. He was also an avid collector of antiques and objets d'art.

Kitchin was a lifelong friend of L. P. Hartley, with whose works Kitchin’s were often compared, and was also a friend and mentor to Francis King, who later acted as Kitchin’s literary executor. In his introduction to the Valancourt edition of Kitchin’s The Book of Life, King recalls meeting Kitchin after the two wrote fan letters to one another in 1958 that crossed in the mail: King had written in praise of Ten Pollitt Place, while Kitchin’s letter had expressed admiration for the younger novelist’s The Man on the Rock (1957). King wrote, ‘[B]y the time that I met him, his fate was that of many elderly, once famous writers in England. Instead of lead reviews, he now got two or three paragraphs at the bottom of a page. Increasingly critics would apply the dread word “veteran” to him, much to his annoyance.’ This frustration is echoed in his novel Ten Pollitt Place, where Kitchin portrays himself in the character of the aging novelist Justin Bray.

Kitchin, who was gay, lived with his partner Clive Preen, an accountant, from 1930 until Preen’s death in 1944. C.H.B. Kitchin died in 1967.

Reviews

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a reviewer praises a mystery that "transcends" the genre. It sounds condescending, but I do understand what the reviewer is trying to convey. This very talented author seems to have been conflicted about it himself. He had great success with his four mysteries featuring stock broker and amateur detective Malcolm Warren, but he wrote "straight" novels, too, and was disturbed that they achieved critical success, but didn't sell very well.

I identify with him in valuing mysteries because they give such wonderful insight into daily life. My favorite mysteries are those with fascinating characters and a plot that gives me a peek into life in a different time and place. After all, the solution to a mystery frequently lies in some obscure detail of routine life that a snooty novelist wouldn't bother to note. I can reread a good mystery with enjoyment (even knowing whodunnit) because the mystery is secondary to the story and characters.

This is a fine mystery, but it's also a brilliant examination of two very different young men and the paths that their lives have taken since they met at Oxford. Warren was a "plodder" from a boring, middle-class family. Dick Findlay was a brilliant, popular classmate with an intriguing background and a talent for keeping the spotlight directed on himself. And yet it's the slow-and-steady Warren who has achieved success, while the dazzling Findlay lives with an irritating uncle and works at a mundane job. As Dick observes bitterly, it's quite a come-down.

I wonder if Kitchin saw himself in the character of Dick Findlay. He was born into a wealthy family and was widely admired for his charm and his multiple talents and interests. The difference is that he was a shrewd investor and made a fortune in the stock market which financed his hobbies (chess, bridge, and breeding and racing greyhounds.) Was moody, dissatisfied Dick Findlay the man he felt HE would have become if forced to live in poor circumstances?

The contrast between the two young men adds interest to a very good mystery - the disappearance of Findlay's wealthy, unlikable Uncle Hamilton. The story plays out as nicely as any mystery I've ever read and the ending is both surprising and entirely logical.

Three of Kitchin's four mysteries (this one, DEATH OF MY AUNT, and CRIME AT CHRISTMAS) are now available in Kindle. At a buck apiece, you'll never get a better bargain. Enjoy.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Had it not been for my inability to mash potatoes I think it quite possible that I might never have embarked on this third case of mine."

"Malcolm Warren returns! The mild-mannered stockbroker, and 'hero' of Death of My Aunt, is called upon by a brilliant but failed old school chum to investigate the disappearance of a wealthy uncle. The search ranges from the wild Cornish coastline to a garden nursery south of London. And against all odds, it is Malcom's unwilling persistence that finally unravels the skein."
~~back cover

I loved this book! Charmingly written, great characterization, etc. Exceedingly readable. But the best part of all -- there are clues, and the reader can actually draw conclusions and solve at least bits of the mystery on his or her own. Cracking good fun! I can't recommend it highly enough!

[H. Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't go wrong with a classic 'who done it' !

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Warren, a young English stockbroker, is asked by his friend, Dick Findlay, to look into the disappearance of Findlay's uncle.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amateur detective Malcolm Warren seems to have pulled himself together. In this novel, he's less of a fragile creature and does more traditional sleuthing like questioning people and traveling around looking for clues. This is the first one that does not take place at a country home. When he briefly does go to a country house party and takes one of his famous naps, I felt we everything was truly as it should be. The mystery was interesting and while I was able to guess who, I was way off on how. At first I was surprised by Malcolm's flippant attitude toward the war and then I realized this was written during the "Phoney War" period of 1939.

Unfortunately the final book in this series, The Cornish Fox, is very rare and expensive. If you have it, would you consider lending it to me? I promise to treat it very well! (Also, you are sitting on a goldmine!)

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character is unusual for amateur detection: dull and not terribly brilliant (I think most people will have figured out whodunit before the end). However, it does bring one deep into the world of the interwar British mystery. And the plot is very carefully developed.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read On

And on and yet on…wry, witty, loquacious - quite! Ingenious plot & would have made a clever movie circa 1930’s.

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow, weak story. Save yer shillings. I suffered so you needn't.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two murder mysteries in this trilogy were fine, but this one read like a drawn-out short story.

[KBS Krishna · Rating 3 out of 5]

CHB Kitchin is not a typical detective fiction writer. This is the third work of his that I have read, and this is the third novel in the Malcolm Warren series. Kitchin is often criticised, and this is the case with this novel. In fact, even the introduction to this edition by HRF Keating is, not as is usually the case with introductions an eulogy but, an apology.
The reason is, as I stated earlier, that it is a Golden Age Mystery with a difference.
The novel starts with the usual classic fiction trope of the amateur detective's forgotten friend calling him up for help as his uncle has disappeared. But here the difference is that our protagonist is not into detection. Even though he had been part of two mysteries prior to this, he does not rate his abilities.
This, I find, refreshingly different.
However, this aspect leads to the narrator (who is the detective-protagonist) adopting a reflective tone and the whole novel moving at a pace antithetical to regular detective fiction. Kitchin suggests a reason for this in the novel when the narrator reflects about why he likes detective fiction: for its recording of mundane activities, which is interrupted by a sensational event. Indeed, he goes so far as to imply that future sociologists (Perhaps it would be better to say Cultural Materialists) would use such humdrum descriptions in detective fiction to understand society of a certain age and space.
The critique of detective fiction by Kitchin does not stop with this. He has the narrator pontificate on the process of detection, analyse the epiphanic moment, and even question the concept of clues. Hence, when towards the end of the novel, the narrator figures out the mystery, there is no woah moment. It might seem anticlimactic; but it is in keeping with the tone of the novel.
I liked the novel for its contemplative tone, round characters, and analysis of myriad middle-class lifestyles in Britain between the wars.
For those expecting a thriller, or even a proper whodunit in the style of the Queens of Golden Age Detection, it is bound to disappoint. But Kitchin's work deserves a niche readership who are into memoirs of a sensational kind.
Highly recommended for such readers.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

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