From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Calamity in Kent

John Rowland,

Martin Edwards (Introduction)

Start date: June 1, 2021

Finish date: June 30, 2021

Discussion: Group reads

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What Members Thought

Mar 24, 2021 Anissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021, british-fiction-uk-ireland, mystery-suspense-crime, british-library-crime-classics, summer-warm-getaway-mysteries

I very much enjoyed this one. Considering that I harboured a strong dislike for narrator Jimmy London for more than a third of the way through, I'm fairly amazed at where I wound up in the end. It's a funny thing to dislike a narrator but be very interested in the murder mystery at hand. It's a pretty interesting setup with a body found by a cliff railway lift operator while the lift has been locked from the outside and there are two sets of accounted-for keys.

Jimmy London was offputting and too I very much enjoyed this one. Considering that I harboured a strong dislike for narrator Jimmy London for more than a third of the way through, I'm fairly amazed at where I wound up in the end. It's a funny thing to dislike a narrator but be very interested in the murder mystery at hand. It's a pretty interesting setup with a body found by a cliff railway lift operator while the lift has been locked from the outside and there are two sets of accounted-for keys.

Jimmy London was offputting and too often mentioned his chance to get back into the headlines and how amazing a reporter he is. His approach and "handling" of many struck me as a bit unsavoury as he quite blatantly was only thinking of his story and vainglory. I almost tossed the book when he pilfered a notebook off a deceased & didn't tell the police the information he'd gleaned from it or hand it over (thus hindering their investigation). When the police finally enter the frame, I thought some of this would get better. In a different way, it got worse.

Inspector Shelley (of Scotland Yard) knows London from a prior case and happens to be staying in town so is of course in charge of the case. The local Sargeant Beech is mentioned but so much missing from the story I, for a time, thought him a suspect.

Shelley tells London to check out the Charrington Hotel (as the dead man, Tilsley, was staying there) but the police hadn't yet gone. Shelley's rationale was that some who'd not talk to police would talk to journo was somewhat reasonable but giving London first crack was ridiculous! London chat's with the proprietress who also happened to have been engaged to Tilsley and she's very obliging (in fact said that she'd help anyone bring the murderers to justice) and London needs no finesse in asking to see Tilsley's room. So much for difficult witnesses. So of course, London sloppily goes through all Tilsley's effects before the police. London mentions upon finding warning letters in TIlsley's effects that he hasn't enough experience in such matters to know how heavily weighted they may be as clues into his death.... WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY LONDON SHOULDN"T HAVE FIRST CRACK AT THE CLUES!!!!! It's just incredible that this was framed as just fine & normal! And just to drive home the insanity, London travels to Tilseys primary residence, finagles his way in, finds pertinent information and still doesn't immediately share it with Shelley.

The case gets deeper and more clues are presented along with a couple of innocents who may make for useful patsies. Lucky for them, London takes a liking to them and decides to do all he can to exonerate their involvement in the larger scheme & murders (yes, another body turns up). This was pretty much where I stopped disliking London. I appreciated that he displayed some care about the people this murder case was affecting to some extent. He also experienced a perilous moment before the very end (though as he's narrator, the reader knows he survived it to tell the tale). So in the end, the murder(s) is solved, the wider racket sussed and broken and London has helped a young couple out.

I learnt that while I love an amateur sleuth, I'm not of fan of them getting the nod from the police in carrying out an actual investigation. This wasn't ultimately a locked room mystery (as is mentioned in the Introduction by Martin Edwards) but I didn't find it a hindrance to enjoyment. It was my first read of Rowland and I do have the other book of his that's featured in the British Library Crime Classics reissue, so I'll definitely read another by him.

Recommended. ...more

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May 19, 2021 Susan rated it it was ok · review of another edition

British Library Crime Classics are a mixed bag, but I think this was one of the dullest I have read so far. Jimmy London, a newspaper reporter, is convalescing at the seaside town of Broadgate, when he sees a man staggering around. Scenting a story, he offers his help, only to discover the man is the lift operator to the cliffside railway and there is a body in the lift he locked up the previous evening.

London is an unbearable character. He excuses all his behaviour by his desire to get back in ...more

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Mar 12, 2016 Damaskcat rated it really liked it

Jimmy London narrates this interesting mystery. He is convalescing at a small seaside town in Kent and planning how to get back into newspaper reporting when he meets a man who has found a dead body. Jimmy immediately sees a way of kick starting his career by acting as special correspondent and giving one of the daily papers an exclusive inside story. He is fortunate that a friend of his, Inspector Shelley from Scotland Yard is on the spot and takes charge of the investigation.

Jimmy's actions ar ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2021 Susan in NC rated it it was ok

Boring, really failed to keep my interest- I kept having to make myself listen to the audiobook, got halfway through, and decided to just jump to the last chapter.

Two main issues for me - suspending disbelief that Scotland Yard Inspector Shelley would so casually go behind the local constabulary to have Jimmy London, reporter, collaborate on the case, and Jimmy’s very casual relationship with journalistic ethics! I don’t know how things are in England, I know there are paparazzi, but I studied j Boring, really failed to keep my interest- I kept having to make myself listen to the audiobook, got halfway through, and decided to just jump to the last chapter.

Two main issues for me - suspending disbelief that Scotland Yard Inspector Shelley would so casually go behind the local constabulary to have Jimmy London, reporter, collaborate on the case, and Jimmy’s very casual relationship with journalistic ethics! I don’t know how things are in England, I know there are paparazzi, but I studied journalism in college, and could hear my professors spinning in their graves! I just couldn’t let go and involve myself in the mystery- it seemed pretty obvious, and when I jumped ahead to the last chapter, and Shelley explained it to Jimmy, it was pretty straightforward. No spoilers, but it went along with one of the primary “rules”a mystery buff would recognize when there’s been a murder.

So, basic premise is Jimmy London, reporter, is recuperating from an unnamed illness at seaside town. On a morning walk, he comes to the lift down to the beach - the attendant has just unlocked it to find a murdered man inside. He is upset, Jimmy sees at once a chance for a “scoop” to get back on the front page of some rag - very tacky, but that’s his living to be made! So, he sends the lift attendant off to the police, and promptly starts searching the pockets of the victim, crime scene be damned! Along comes inspector Shelley of Scotland Yard, conveniently visiting, and he promptly asks Jimmy to collaborate on the investigation- definitely a twist, the Yard detective is usually worried about pushing in on somebody’s local patch...

Perhaps it was the audiobook narrator, but every time Shelley addressed the reporter, “Well, Jimmy,” it sounded like some creepy Boy’s Guide to the Black Market or something. I’ve never read this author, maybe he always sounds like that, he’s apparently his series detective. I might try another book by the author sometime, but I’m not in a hurry, too many other books... ...more

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Jun 06, 2021 Kelly Furniss rated it liked it

A simplistic golden age locked room mystery trying to solve the case of murders that take part in a cliffside lift. The characterisation was interesting, I could visualise them and the Kent coast setting.
I felt the ending came rather abruptly after the story exhibiting a dark edge which could have been expanded on further. Engaging but quite predictable.

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May 19, 2021 Tracey rated it really liked it

Shelves: british-library-crime-classics

Enjoyable read, though essentially quite a daft plot. Why would a Scotland yard inspector take a convalescing reporter into his confidence? And the ending was pretty abrupt and awful too.

Yet, how I wish I could be in a guest house on the Kent coast right now. And Jimmy was quite a fun character. For that 3.5 stars rounded up

2 likes · Like · see review

May 22, 2021 Jill rated it really liked it

I liked this book even though it seemed pretty implausible. The locked room element didn't really payoff, as it was a public place, and we were told about the keys and the ease in which they could be obtained. Also the fact that an inspector from Scotland Yard would take into his confidence a newspaper man seemed ridiculous, however for the reader this was a good way of unfolding the story, as it is through Jack London's eyes we were kept up to date with all the facts. The ending was a bit abrup ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 08, 2020 Andréa rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss, digital, arc, mystery-thriller-crime, classics, british-isles

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

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May 30, 2021 Sandy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-grp, mystery-classic, rread-2021

An odd premise with the Scotland Yard detective deciding he can't be bothered and handing the investigation over to a journalist. Our 'hero' breaks most journalist and investigator rules, but then he is looking for the scoop to get him back in the business so anything goes. (I actually liked him better than that introduction implies.) The setting of the book was fun: a seaside tourist town with a lift down to the shore. I thought the ending was quite abrupt. ...more

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