From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Death of an Airman (Inspector Bray, #2)

Christopher St. John Sprigg

Start date: May 1, 2022

Finish date: May 31, 2022

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our May group read.
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What Members Thought

Dec 03, 2017 BrokenTune rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

The two detectives looked at each other, and, after thanking Lady Laura, walked over to the hangars. “An intelligent girl,” said Creighton. “I don’t know why one is surprised when a good-looking woman has brains.

What a fun murder mystery! Death of an Airman had everything I like about Golden Age mysteries: eccentric characters, humour, technical detail that makes it fun to follow the puzzle, red herrings galore, and a solution to the mystery that made it difficult to book down the book before t The two detectives looked at each other, and, after thanking Lady Laura, walked over to the hangars. “An intelligent girl,” said Creighton. “I don’t know why one is surprised when a good-looking woman has brains.

What a fun murder mystery! Death of an Airman had everything I like about Golden Age mysteries: eccentric characters, humour, technical detail that makes it fun to follow the puzzle, red herrings galore, and a solution to the mystery that made it difficult to book down the book before the last page.

My favourite part was when Scotland Yard followed a lead that involved the covert sale of a French newspaper to "special order" customers in Glasgow which ended with the policemen being thrown out of the newsagents... I literally read this, giggled, and hoped that this would be more than a red herring.
A similar turn of plot in Death in the Tunnel had frustrated my reading experience of that book and I was relieved to find out that although there were a lot of similarities between the books, Death of an Airman was taking itself less seriously and, in consequence, was a much more enjoyable read. I laughed on several occasions, but I was also enjoying the hunt for clues and trying to figure out the mystery of how the victim was killed - because that was a real mystery for most of the book.

I wish we had many more works by Sprigg that we could discover, but Sprigg died at the age of 30 after had joined the Spanish Civil War. Had he lived, I wonder whether he would have injected some more of that irreverence and fun that made Death of an Airman such a joy into the rest of the mystery genre. Don't get me wrong, I love the Golden Age mystery reads, but instead of the xenophobia and snobbery that sometimes seems to run through these books, I would have loved to have seen more of Sprigg's tone of voice:

"Any convictions against the woman in your records?”
“Nothing serious. Dangerous driving, of course, and a narrow escape from a manslaughter conviction, but this type of reckless individual may always get involved in that kind of thing. They think it’s their duty to drive about the streets like maniacs. Oh, there’s a fine for assault when she bashed a fellow over the head with her ice-hockey stick for making some uncomplimentary remark about the sportsmanship of women players. It was perhaps excusable.” ...more

32 likes · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2022 Jill rated it really liked it

Shelves: christopher-st-john-sprigg, jill-s-eighth-year-challenge

Dr. Marriot is the bishop of Cootamundra, a large area in Australia. He has been given a plane to be able to go to all parts of his diocese, however he is unable to fly the plane. He comes across to England to take lessons in flying, and joins a club at Baston, where they assure him he wil be able to master the art of flying a plane. The club secretary, a Sally Sackbut. takes him under her wing, so to speak and soon has him in a plane to learn. She introduces him to various members of the club. ...more

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May 04, 2022 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-murder-crime-20th-century

If you read Sprigg's bio on Goodreads, you will find a very interesting man who died way too young.

Certainly I would like to know more about him.

Reading this book, I would have sworn that Sprigg was a pilot. Reading his bio on Wikipedia Under his real name of Christopher Caudwell,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo... I found out that he was knowledgeable about flight and wrote a couple of books about it.

& this book got off to a cracking start when an Australian bishop turns up at the Baston A ...more

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May 12, 2022 Sandy rated it really liked it

Shelves: rread-2022, mystery-classic, mystery-detective-grp

What an enjoyable read! The characters are memorable, the setting unique and interesting, and the humor added with a light touch. I have a couple of quibbles with the plot, but they did not ruin the book for me. I hope more of the author's books get republished. ...more

1 like · Like · see review