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Reggie Fortune
Black Land, White Land
Reggie Fortune is called in when the bones of a man killed only twelve years earlier are found interred in that stratum of the earth that contains the undisturbed bones of a prehistoric animal dead thousands of years. Set in Dunshire, England, this second novel featuring Fortune was first published in 1937.
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
About the author
H.C. Bailey
145 books18 followersHenry Christopher Bailey (1878 – 1961) was an English author of detective fiction. Bailey wrote mainly short stories featuring a medically-qualified detective called Reggie Fortune. Fortune's mannerisms and speech put him into the same class as Lord Peter Wimsey but the stories are much darker, and often involve murderous obsession, police corruption, financial skulduggery, child abuse and miscarriages of justice. Although Mr Fortune is seen at his best in short stories, he also appears in several novels.
A second series character, Josiah Clunk, is a sanctimonious lawyer who exposes corruption and blackmail in local politics, and who manages to profit from the crimes. He appears in eleven novels published between 1930 and 1950, including The Sullen Sky Mystery (1935), widely regarded as Bailey's magnum opus.
A second series character, Josiah Clunk, is a sanctimonious lawyer who exposes corruption and blackmail in local politics, and who manages to profit from the crimes. He appears in eleven novels published between 1930 and 1950, including The Sullen Sky Mystery (1935), widely regarded as Bailey's magnum opus.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 22, 2012
The title to this novel was very intriguing giving the impression of meaning one thing, but in reality meaning another. It is taken from the saying "Black land, white land, always at strife" . It came from an area of the British Isles where the dark loam rich fertile ground is cheek and jowl next to white chalky dirt fit for nothing but sheep. There has always been fierce competition to own the more productive black land.
This is the second of H. C. Bailey's Mr. Fortune novels and is felt by some to be his best case. I found myself wishing the prose was more black and white. Mr. Fortune speaks in a convoluted confounding fashion that was difficult to understand at times.Sometimes he is given to grandiloquent statements like "Everything meant something and nothing meant anything."
These words express my feelings to a T.
This is the second of H. C. Bailey's Mr. Fortune novels and is felt by some to be his best case. I found myself wishing the prose was more black and white. Mr. Fortune speaks in a convoluted confounding fashion that was difficult to understand at times.Sometimes he is given to grandiloquent statements like "Everything meant something and nothing meant anything."
These words express my feelings to a T.
January 31, 2018
Powerful men and families for all recorded history have fought to take over the rich black land of Durshire and push their enemies onto the poor, chalk barrens. Even now, families are in contention--the once-rich Astons, whose son is in love with Alison Tracy, whose tragedy-cursed father hopes to purchase Aston land. But there are others involved, too, at least one person whose machinations leave no trace but the bodies that have died in suspicious accidents. Mr. Fortune is visiting a friend in the area, but can't avoid an interest in the strange doings around him. Although he's dealt with obstructive police in the past, he's never seen a police force that seemed so incompetent--unless it's corrupt.
August 24, 2024
I read this full-length novel after reading four volumes of Bailey's Mr. Fortune short stories. I'm going to have to say that this novel suffers by comparison, and may reveal some of why H.C. Bailey concentrated on the short story format. I still gave it four stars, because I found it engaging and, at times, page-turning.
The main problem for me is the plotting, which breaks down about 2/3 of the way through the book. Up to that point, there are three major suspects for "whodunnit" and a couple of other possibles. It starts to become increasingly clear from there on who the culprit is, and the only other possible suspect starts behaving more and more erratically only because the author needs him to do so in order to cast doubt on the identity of the real culprit. And that erratic behavior is never explained. Meanwhile, the author has failed to play fair because a critical fact about the culprit is only revealed at the very end. All this dysfunctional plotting is annoying, but was not debilitating to my enjoyment of the book.
The best thing about a longer format for this series character is it gives him a chance to bloom and reveal himself much further than in the stories. Mr. Fortune is a unique series detective in that he is completely devoid of conventional emotional reactions to events or people. Once his attention is engaged on a case, he becomes blandly ruthless at getting to the truth and punishing the criminal (not always through legal means, sometimes he is satisfied if the criminal dies by his own hand or through an accident, or even becomes a murder victim himself) and defending the innocent. Mr. Fortune is absolutely sure of himself, even when he is beset by a confusion of "too many facts." He may sound a bit like Sherlock Holmes, but he has none of Holmes' tics or personality disorders. He is devoted to his own enjoyment of life, and sacrifices it (temporarily) at a moment's notice in the cause of justice. Justice is the only standard of behavior he recognizes. He never blames himself for difficulties, to paraphrase "I didn't make the situation, I did the best I could with it."
This book is not available yet in digital format, this edition (as shown in the thumbnail) was published in trade paperback format by Rue Morgue Publishing in Colorado, who sadly went out of business in 2016 I believe. Now that I have read this novel, I will pass it on so that it stays in circulation and more people have the opportunity to read it. I hope others who have a copy will do the same, at least until a digitized edition is available.
The main problem for me is the plotting, which breaks down about 2/3 of the way through the book. Up to that point, there are three major suspects for "whodunnit" and a couple of other possibles. It starts to become increasingly clear from there on who the culprit is, and the only other possible suspect starts behaving more and more erratically only because the author needs him to do so in order to cast doubt on the identity of the real culprit. And that erratic behavior is never explained. Meanwhile, the author has failed to play fair because a critical fact about the culprit is only revealed at the very end. All this dysfunctional plotting is annoying, but was not debilitating to my enjoyment of the book.
The best thing about a longer format for this series character is it gives him a chance to bloom and reveal himself much further than in the stories. Mr. Fortune is a unique series detective in that he is completely devoid of conventional emotional reactions to events or people. Once his attention is engaged on a case, he becomes blandly ruthless at getting to the truth and punishing the criminal (not always through legal means, sometimes he is satisfied if the criminal dies by his own hand or through an accident, or even becomes a murder victim himself) and defending the innocent. Mr. Fortune is absolutely sure of himself, even when he is beset by a confusion of "too many facts." He may sound a bit like Sherlock Holmes, but he has none of Holmes' tics or personality disorders. He is devoted to his own enjoyment of life, and sacrifices it (temporarily) at a moment's notice in the cause of justice. Justice is the only standard of behavior he recognizes. He never blames himself for difficulties, to paraphrase "I didn't make the situation, I did the best I could with it."
This book is not available yet in digital format, this edition (as shown in the thumbnail) was published in trade paperback format by Rue Morgue Publishing in Colorado, who sadly went out of business in 2016 I believe. Now that I have read this novel, I will pass it on so that it stays in circulation and more people have the opportunity to read it. I hope others who have a copy will do the same, at least until a digitized edition is available.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews