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Calamity in Kent
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June 2021 - Calamity in Kent - SPOILER Thread
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I thought the ending of Jimmy getting bashed on the head, and when he woke the mystery solved, had something of the Scooby-Doo about 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.
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I thought the ending was extraordinarily trite. An actor! Bah, humbug.
I found the book reasonably enjoyable and would read another if "forced" but will not seek out others. It might be nice to see the Scotland Yard inspector in action.
Tracey wrote: "I thought the ending of Jimmy getting bashed on the head, and when he woke the mystery solved, had something of the Scooby-Doo about it."Yes! The killer had only to blame “you darned meddling kids” and shake his fist as he’s lead off to jail to complete the picture!
Sandy wrote: "I'm not sure if this was originally considered a locked room mystery but doubt it qualifies as the murderer possessed the key. And no one investigating cared how it was done.I thought the ending ..."
That’s what I thought, I’d try another with just Inspector Shelley, see how he does on his own - the whole gathering facts with the reporter in exchange for stories was ethically dicey for me - for both the inspector and reporter! I majored in journalism, and the standards my professors dinned into our heads would never allow for such a self-serving collaboration, especially with a murder. I saw this was #20 in the series, maybe a book set earlier in Shelley’s career, without the annoying reporter, might have been more realistic. I’m not in a hurry to find out, but would give it a try.
You cannot hope to bribe or twist,thank God! the British journalist.
But, seeing what the man will do
unbribed, there's no occasion to.
Rosina wrote: "You cannot hope to bribe or twist,thank God! the British journalist.
But, seeing what the man will do
unbribed, there's no occasion to."
Lol, perfect! I take it this was from pre-paparazzi, Murdoch media times?
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I had the impression that Jimmy had helped Shelley in at least one previous book, possibly more, so perhaps he is by way of being an established sidekick, like Nigel Bathgate, also a journalist, in the early Alleyn books. I did find it a bit odd though that he is sent to one or two places where it would actually be much easier for police to get in!
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I loved the Scooby Doo comparison too! Made me laugh out loud - I'd forgotten Scooby Doo, such an addictive show!
If I were running a drugs ring (which I'm not ...) I would not have casual user customers calling at my secret headquarters where the smuggled goods are received and packaged for distribution to the network of spark-plug, bullion and haberdashery retailers. I know drugs are valuable, but is it really worth setting up a factory making empty spark plugs, just to send a couple of sniffs via a middleman? I now add 'unconvinced by the villainy' to 'disliking the main narrator' and 'disappointed with the police'.
I note that Shelley and Jimmy were both 'baffled' by the locked-room element. "How a body could be found in a locked lift, the locks clearly not having been in any way tampered with, seemed to me to be such a nightmare problem that any rational solution appeared absolutely impossible." It doesn't seem to have occurred to him that 'The chap who had charge of the keys used them to lock and unlock the padlock' is a eminently rational solution. In defiance of Sherlock Holmes' dictum, they seem to have ignored the probable, just so that they could label it 'impossible'.
And I don't think any of the deaths warrant the description 'Calamity' ...
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It really isn't a detective story at all. Ideally, we should see the detective (police or Poirot) gradually eliminating the 'obvious' answer, leaving a puzzle. In this book we don't see any investigation of the obvious solution to the locked-door mystery. Or indeed any police investigation at all. At least with Nigel Bathhurst we do see the investigation from Alleyn's point of view.The two sets of keys - who had access and did those people have an unbreakable alibi? Did anyone have an opportunity to make a duplicate key? Did the police even question Bender, a man whose alibis for the murders must have been compromised by needing to appear as one of his alternative identities from time to time? Did they take his fingerprints (for elimination if nothing else)? Did they do any investigating at all?
I am beginning to think that three stars was overly generous.
Maybe not a mystery for the detective but this was a mystery for Jimmy. I also think we know a lot more about drugs now than were known 50 years ago when this was written.
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I did enjoy the writing style, the characters and the seaside setting, and I think those are the things I will remember. I've picked up the other British Library mystery by John Rowland, Murder in the Museum, from the library and am looking forward to reading that one soon. It seems to be only in paperback and not on Kindle.
I liked it Judy and I also have Murder in the Museum, so will be interested to see if Inspector Shelley plays a different roll in that one by doing more of the investigation himself
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Just finished. I’m interested to note from the posts above that various people, Rosina especially, saw even more plot holes than I did! I did enjoy it on a surface level—the tone reminded me a bit of a Nero Wolfe story—but the mystery was pretty unsatisfactory. The locked lift was no mystery at all, and the drugs plot was pretty silly. I think I would have liked it better had the beautiful Maya Johnson proved to be the mastermind. There were too many elements it seemed to me, and they didn’t hang together well.The thing that bothered me the most was the overexplaining—more so than in the first John Bude novel we read, the one set in Cheltenham. And the ending was horrendously rushed and left out the biggest fact: okay, Aloysius Bender was the murderer (I had already figured that out), but he’s described as the SECOND in command of the drug ring. It was never mentioned who the leader was, the man in the shadows. My assumption is that it was the wealthy man Margerison was staying with, Mr. Montrose. But why not say so?
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Oh yes, I remember thinking this too at times - Jimmy's voice slightly reminded me of Archie at times, although less dry and witty, and the set-up of him going out and doing the leg work while Shelley stays in the office...
I agree it would have been fun if Maya had been the villain of the piece, but I had a feeling the young lovers were safely out of it all!
I never suspected the young lovers either. The whole story was very cozy-mystery in its sensibilities, with characters talking about honor and trust and honesty with straight faces, so making them villains would have been too dark and twisted. But I enjoy spinning alternative stories in my head as I go along, and that one offered the most possibilities. Plus the narrator seemed so ingenuous that I really wanted him to be wrong about more of his assumptions.
I quite enjoyed this, even the ending! I liked Jimmy and his enthusiasm, the Kent seaside town setting and the dodgy pub, and the ingenious (well, slightly ridiculous) drugs smuggling system. I agree we didn’t see Shelley’s investigations, but I took it that he was always in fact one step ahead and was sending Jimmy round to confirm things (knowing he wanted to get copy for his paper).
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Good to hear you enjoyed it, Pamela. I like that idea about Shelley always being one step ahead!
I've just finished another book by Rowland, Murder in the Museum, where we see more of Shelley leading an investigation and becoming obsessed by it! He does have an amateur helper in that but he doesn't get as much of a look-in as Jimmy does. I thought the plot was pretty weak in that one though, although I do like the author's writing style.
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https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
This blogger preferred the book to Murder in the Museum, which I did too.
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That's a great point - I hadn't quite thought of it like this, but I think that's why I also found myself half-wanting one of the young lovers to be guilty.
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On the plus side, I liked Jimmy (in spite of his faults), the inspector, the setting, the writing. I enjoyed reading the book.
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Finished it today, and though I liked the book so far, the ending was really disappointing, also the "locked-room" mystery. I also guessed that Bender was in it, as he was found hurt, which didn´t fit with the other murders. On the whole I liked the writing and the figures.
Having read it I can completely understand the divided opinions in the non-spoiler thread. I was absolutely enjoying myself in Kent and London and liked Jimmy’s research. Especially when he decoded the secret notebooks.But then…. 3 chapters of observing a door and sneaking through a hallway? The story and the dashing reported came to a standstill! I hoped Maya would be the mastermind (why else did we have to get to know her so well?) or indeed Shelley or someone else on the force? Or the hotel employees. Why didn’t she react to her fiancé’s name and pretended to have to check in the register? What did she do there if anything at all.
But nope, a deus ex machine and a very weak and very fast ending. We just spend several chapters skulking about with no results and the rather boring ending is presented in half a chapter.
So… I’m very disappointed but suspect that in a couple of days I will just remember the enjoyable parts.
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I think your suspicion of only remembering the good parts will prove correct as I can't recall any of your 'but then...' situations!
Its amazing that Jimmy was relied upon to be such a good judge of character, but yet he never seemed to even consider Bender as a suspect, despite being the most obvious one. And I'm sorry, but if you're a big drug kingpin, 1. you are not going to be spending your day running tourists up and down a lift. You'd have the lift operator as one of your stooges so you could use the lift at night for your drug running, 2. even allowing for #1, there is no way you would murder your business associates at your place of work, and leave the gates locked, making yourself more of a suspect than you would have already been.In fairness to the police, they did seem to know which side of the bread was buttered, but it didn't make any sense that they would have sent Jimmy in to the drug den at the end, particularly if they sent in a plainclothes officer to follow him! Just cut out the amateur and put the undercover agent in.
But despite these gapping holes in the plotting, it was enjoyable reading, and since I never read to solve the mystery, the fact that it was obvious doesn't spoil the fun for me.
I enjoyed this one. I read to escape and am content to be swept along by the author. I noticed several of plot holes mentioned above but was still engaged in Jimmy's investigation. I listened to an audiobook and liked the narrator's portrayal of Jimmy. He seemed earnest and likeable to me. However, like Tara mentioned, it was ironic that Jimmy, who several times declared he was good at reading people or judging character, never suspected Bender.
Reading the Detectives
Books mentioned in this topic
Murder in the Museum (other topics)Murder in the Museum (other topics)
Murder in the Museum (other topics)
Calamity in Kent (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
John Rowland (other topics)John Rowland (other topics)
Rowland's series character was Inspector Shelley and the books ran from 1935 to 1950. Calamity in Kent is second from last in the long-running series and was published in 1950 and republished as part of the British Library Crime Classics imprint, with the usual excellent cover artwork.
In the peaceful seaside town of Broadgate, an impossible crime occurs. The operator of the cliff railway locks the empty carriage one evening; when he returns to work next morning, a dead body is locked inside - a man who has been stabbed in the back.
Jimmy London, a newspaper reporter, is first on the scene. He is quick on the trail for clues - and agrees to pool his knowledge with Inspector Shelley of Scotland Yard, who is holidaying in the area. Mistrustful of the plodding local policeman, Inspector Beech, the two men launch their own investigation into the most baffling locked-room mystery - a case that could reignite Jimmy's flagging career, but one that exposes him to great danger.
Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.