From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper

Donald Henderson,

Martin Edwards (Introduction)

Start date: September 14, 2018

Finish date: October 8, 2018

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: A chance to try a different author, whose classic mystery has recently been reprinted.
[close] A chance to try a different author, whose classic mystery has recently been reprinted.

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What Members Thought

Sep 06, 2018 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: re-reads

This wartime mystery is an extremely unusual read. Mr Bowling is bored of the war, bored of life and he was extremely bored of his wife, before he took the opportunity of killing her during an Air Raid. Having benefited from his wife’s death, he seems unable to stop killing people (men only, he has decided that killing women is not really acceptable). Those that annoy, or infuriate, him, find themselves in sudden danger, while the opportunity to kill them seemingly happens without much difficult This wartime mystery is an extremely unusual read. Mr Bowling is bored of the war, bored of life and he was extremely bored of his wife, before he took the opportunity of killing her during an Air Raid. Having benefited from his wife’s death, he seems unable to stop killing people (men only, he has decided that killing women is not really acceptable). Those that annoy, or infuriate, him, find themselves in sudden danger, while the opportunity to kill them seemingly happens without much difficulty. The title of the book concerns Mr Bowling’s procuring newspapers, searching the pages desperately looking for his exploits to appear in print and expecting arrest at any moment, but finding that he seems to be getting away with murder…

Unlike many of the Golden Age mysteries of this period, this is a much darker crime novel, with a compelling anti-hero. There is much about Mr Bowling’s background, at school and in his marriage, which suggests motives for his later actions. However, the real joy of this book is the dry, dark humour and the constant infuriation of the main character. Mr Bowling’s sudden realisation that he is going to kill someone, and his almost desperate desire to be caught, contrasts with the bizarre happenings, which mean that he seems destined never to be suspected. However, of course, there is a twist to the tale and, suddenly, Mr Bowling is not nearly so keen to be caught as he was previously.

This is a deliciously dark read. Mr Bowling is endlessly questioning his life and musing on how dreary everything is. He rushes from one place to another, always restless and frantic, while you cannot help but sympathise at his annoyance with the characters he comes across. The bore who wants to endlessly discuss the war on the stairs of his boarding house, the young woman who won’t take no for an answer, the acquaintance who insists he come to stay for a weekend in the country. Mr Bowling both wants to be left alone and yet to join in with the gaiety of London life and, like others, not to be alone.

Author Donald Henderson had no real success until the sensation of, "Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper" brought him success and led to the re-issue of “A Voice Like Velvet,” also set in wartime London. This novel reminded me a little of Patrick Hamilton and it saddened me that the author died in 1947, only leaving such a small body of successful work, when he was, obviously, so talented. I look forward to reading his second novel and am so pleased these books have been re-issued after such a long time out of print. Hopefully, some more of his, lesser known work, might yet appear, if "Mr Bowling," regains the success it deserves to be. ...more

46 likes · Like · see review

Sep 13, 2018 Judy rated it liked it · review of another edition

This wartime book could hardly be further away from the typical Golden Age mystery. Instead of a country house, here we're amid cramped flats in London just after the Blitz, in an era of rationing and privations.

It's also an inverted mystery, where events are seen through the eyes of the murderer, Mr Bowling. He has become a serial killer almost by accident, after taking the opportunity to murder his wife when his home was bombed. He now wants to get caught, and studies the newspapers each day i ...more

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May 27, 2018 Maine Colonial rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, mystery, british, dark

What an unusual crime novel. If you want to classify it, I suppose you’d say it’s noir and an “inverted mystery,” one in which you know whodunnit from the start. It’s no spoiler to say the culprit is Mr. Bowling, who describes himself as not good-looking and not popular. We start right out with his saying that he took the opportunity to kill his wife during a Blitz raid that hit their home, but he’ll never kill another woman. So Mr. Bowling does have scruples of a sort, but he doesn’t hesitate t ...more

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Oct 21, 2018 Tracey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 27, 2018 Doris rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, z-2018-challenge, z-2018-new

Ewwwww. A nasty little man turns serial killer in wartime London in an attempt to commit suicide by judicial process. (view spoiler) ...more

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Aug 19, 2018 Jill rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: donald-henderson

Mr Bowling is a very depressed person. I'm not sure if I was supposed to like him , or feel sorry for him, I did neither. He made me think of the kind of person who boards a plane with a bomb. He doesn't like life, and he doesn't care who he takes with him! He seemed to me to be the stereo-type public schoolboy ...more

1 like · Like · see review