Reputation for a Song

by Edward Grierson

Rupert Anderson, eighteen, is charged with the murder of his father, and a family secret is revealed

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Crime, Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[Mary Beth]

What an intriguing little book! It was a cover buy at the thrift because -- Penguin Crime paperback -- and I'm happy to report that Grierson did not disappoint. This kept me entertained throughout a very long trip to the ER (don't worry, I'll still be kickin' for quite some time) to such a degree that I was a little miffed at being interrupted, er, allowed to go home a mere thirty pages from the resolution (which I'm having *feelings* about). Character-driven in the extreme, their profiles are fascinating and thorough and evoke visceral reactions. Do I have long, claw-like nails? No, I do not. Do I still want to claw a few characters' eyes out like a mid-century femme fatale? Yes, I do. While this story is more domestic horror than hardboiled gumshoe (I can only imagine what Inspector Carr would have to say about being called a gumshoe), it rests nicely alongside Stout and Hammett, not to mention the rest of my thrifted green Penguins waiting to be read.

[David Evans]

A gripping account of the build up to murder, its investigation and subsequent trial. A quiet provincial English town, a county solicitor and his wife and three grown up children live an uneasy existence. Father and eldest daughter are happily and quietly unambitious to the vexation of the narcissistic mother and her gormless 17 year old son - the personification of evil behind a facade of respectability. We are privy to the detailed dynamics of the family’s interactions and the awful results of thwarted ambition, jealousy, fecklessness and contempt. Add to the mix a tarty barmaid, a rich successful cousin to compare unfavourably with one’s lot and the future health of the innocent victim starts to hang by a thread.
The courtroom drama is terrifically tense but we can rest assured that the sensible police, lawyers and jury will see justice done. Won’t we?

[Kate]

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

[Nancy]

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting section where authors list 5 picks for best in class for some specific genre. In July, Richard Cohen, who wrote How to Write like Tolstoy: A Journey into the Minds of Our Greatest Writers, presented his 5 favorite British crime novels. Through that article I discovered Freeman Crofts, reading several of his mysteries in the past month. I'm still waiting for the recommended book ( The Cask) to be returned to the library so have not read Cohen's favorite. Some of the other books Crofts wrote have been good summer reads so I have high hopes for this book. It surprised me that there are no reviews yet for a book written in 1952 (and republished in 1987).

Well, this one was a disappointment. I could not find a character to identify with and skipped to the end to see how it turned out. It does have an interesting structure of starting and ending with a murder trial with the middle telling the story of what really happened. Perhaps that is what drew Richard Cohen to recommend it.

[James Rooney]

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It was recommended as a fresh and surprising take on crime fiction, but be warned that it is rather disturbing in its heavy implied sexuality and on the outcome. I'm afraid above all that it is only too reflective of human society and human decisions.

[Marg]

A terrific British crime novel. Recommended by Richard Cohen as one of his Five Bests in the Wall Street Journal. An excellent dissection of the trial of an accused murderer. Fascinating.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: a murder trial, with a break in the middle to tell what really happened.