Reading the Detectives discussion
This topic is about
The Three Taps
Group Challenges
>
March 22: The Three Taps - SPOILER Thread
date
newest »
newest »
I had never heard of Knox's 10 Commandments of Crime Fiction so was happy to find them on the Internet. Interesting. I have seen you all reference rules of fair play in crime fiction, and now I know what you were talking about.Knox seems to have been an intriguing person himself-clergyman and author. I appreciated his satirical take on insurance companies. Having been married to a pastor for 52 years, I was glad to see his depiction of the bishop illustrated clergy as human beings and not plaster saints or sanctimonious elitists.
This book had for me the feel of a cozy mystery. The tone was more light-hearted, and the sleuthing husband and wife and their interaction was fun. In true cozy manner, the amateur wife contributed insight at times while the "professionals" dithered around.
ChrisGA wrote: "I had never heard of Knox's 10 Commandments of Crime Fiction so was happy to find them on the Internet. Interesting. I have seen you all reference rules of fair play in crime fiction, and now I kno..."Great summation! And I appreciate your comments about clergy not being plaster saints, so true.
Mod
Just answering a comment from Susan in the non-spoiler thread - Susan was replying to me and put this in spoiler tags so I thought I'd reply here just to be on the safe side. :)
Susan wrote: "Miles and the Inspector placing a money bet on suicide vs. murder, then upping the stakes as the case went on, like it was a horse race, was quite juvenile and unprofessional, I thought."
This made me uneasy too. I do remember seeing bets about who would solve the case first in other books, but this particular murder/suicide bet was a bit too much, I thought.
Judy wrote: "Susan and Chris, it was definitely refreshing to see the bishop as a real person, I agree.Just answering a comment from Susan in the non-spoiler thread - Susan was replying to me and put this in ..."
Agreed, gallows humor is one thing, this just seemed a bit much…
This is the first book I have read by this author, and I did find it entertaining. The mystery is a case of whether the death of a very wealthy man is a murder or suicide. If it is indeed a murder, then who is the murderer? I quite liked Bredon, but I liked his wife more. They have a very good relationship, him supposedly having all the clever ideas, and her being the aid. I say supposedly, as she has some very clever ideas of her own, she is also the one who is able to talk to people more easily than him.
I had to laugh at the thought of Miles crawling around in a thunderstorm looking for his missing playing cards--especially when he was supposed to be on watch.I hadn't thought much of the betting, but it was silly and ghoulish. It seemed nobody much cared about the victim though so maybe it was easier to remain detached from the death when there were no grieving family members.
Mod
Yes, I’m never a fan of elaborate murder methods that require the detective to describe them at length in the end, especially as there is usually no visual representation of what they are describing. In this child-proofing and safety conscious age, I couldn’t even imagine gas taps just hanging out on the wall for anyone to fiddle with!
ChrisGA wrote: "I had to laugh at the thought of Miles crawling around in a thunderstorm looking for his missing playing cards--especially when he was supposed to be on watch.I hadn't thought much of the betting..."
Good point, the bishop was the closest thing to a friend who might be grieving.
I liked this, but I felt too long was spent on Leyland’s theories that then got discounted. I guess they had to do it like that because of the bet, but it did frustrate me as I knew Miles would have the answer.Also the bit about the letter on the ledge didn’t convince me, but it was funny to think of Eames trying to reach it.
Mod
The bet between the two friends / detectives did not bother me at all. It seemed a likely follow-on from their former relationship and more a test of their skills than disrespect to the dead. Dalglish would never have stood for it however.
I thought the victim's plot to test the bishop's honesty was too elaborate to be convincing, but I could imagine the accident with the taps happening very easily. Safety regulations have their place.
When I was small, we had a gas tap in every room and the hall for the lighting. We did not use them as we had electricity. There was one above my bed. One day I climbed up to it and turned the the tap. When my mum came in I asked her if she could hear a hissing noise, she said yes and what was it. When I told her she went mad saying I could have killed everyone. I don't think my parents must have known that the gas was still connected to them. Needless to say they soon had them disconnected.
Pamela, now that you remind me, that ledge business did seem strangely complicated .Sandy, the whole test of the bishop's honesty wasn't very convincing. It had to be against fair play rules to have the whole solution hang on unexpressed suspicion of the integrity of the bishop. It tied everything up, but I was certainly surprised.
Mod
We also had unused gas taps in my parents' house and my brother-in-law broke into one of the lines during a repair project. Such a surprise to find out it was still active.
Mod
Mod
Susan wrote: "I found this quite complicated to follow, but I enjoyed the characters and just allowed the storyline to sweep along without really trying to work it out. I thought the betting on who would get it ..."You’re right, I imagine they’ve seen some things…
I finished this today, and liked Angela´s character, as she seems to be more intelligent than Bredon. This relationship could have been more developed. Liked the character of the Bishop too.The mystery was complicated, and the three different explanations at the end reminded me of the humorous film Murder by Death with several famous detectives meeting up to solve the case in different but always plausible ways.
In my Kindle edition there is a drawing of the taps, but I didn´t fully understand it nonetheless.
Susan in NC wrote: "I’m never a fan of elaborate murder methods that require the detective to describe them at length in the end, especially as there is usually no visual representation of what they are describing. In this child-proofing and safety conscious age, I couldn’t even imagine gas taps just hanging out on the wall for anyone to fiddle with!"You've said exactly what I felt, Susan! I felt the whole thing was just confusing and complicated right from the start with all the insurance stuff, and not even the light-hearted bantering made it work for me. As for the taps... just nope!
Isn't Bredon one of Peter Wimsey's middle names? Is there a connection there?
Mod
I've just found a page about Miles Bredon and Ronald Knox on the "Clerical Detectives" site, which says Bredon is "a surname suggested by a mention of Bredon Hill in the poem Shropshire Lad".
http://detecs.org/bredon.html
You're right that Bredon is also a middle name of Peter Wimsey - I don't know if there is any connection though. An intriguing idea.
Jill wrote: "When I was small, we had a gas tap in every room and the hall for the lighting. We did not use them as we had electricity. There was one above my bed. One day I climbed up to it and turned the the ..."Very scary to think these gas pipes were still connected! There is a National trust property nearby me (Tenement house) that still has working gas lighting. Can certainly see the appeal of electricity!
Am glad there was a diagram of the tap set up in my copy, as the explanations all got a bit convoluted at one point.
I finished this today and enjoyed it overall. It did get a bit bogged down by Leyland and Bredon's various theories at some points and it is quite complicated to follow the final plot which seemed a bit far-fetched. I liked the characters, especially Angela.The way the clergy was depicted also reminded me of Arrest the Bishop? by Winifred Peck who I finally remembered is his sister. They grew up in religious settings, so it makes sense that they are able to present the clergy well.
Mod
Thank you for the reminder that Knox and Peck are siblings.
I just finished the other day. I enjoyed it. I was a preacher's kid so I just thought the bishop was pretty normal. Dead guy was a little childish to want to test the bishop with a practical joke. They're mostly a fairly honest lot.No problem with the bet. They are two old buds essentially betting on who gets to the finish line first.
I liked the wife. Speaking up when she gets the opportunity.
Was he not allowed to play patience at home? I like a good game of solitaire but he seems to be playing it to extremes.
I was confused by the taps - don't think I've ever been any place where there were any. Maybe in a movie or so they have gas lighting but it seemed that it was in the light itself. I think of when they are turning out the lights in "Meet Me in St. Louis". Maybe there was an illustration at the beginning of the kindle book, but I'd forgotten all about it. Very difficult to conceptualize something you have no acquaintance with.
I remembered that Knox and Peck were siblings. And I think there was another brother who was a writer. Maybe a religious writer?
Reading the Detectives
Books mentioned in this topic
Arrest the Bishop? (other topics)The Three Taps (other topics)
The insurance firm investigator, Miles Bredon, must determine whether suicide or murder is the cause of the gas poisoning death in an inn of a man who has recently concluded a complex insurance policy and changed his will.
In a gas-lit inn in the countryside a man lies dead. The police, of course, investigate - and so do Miles Bredon and his wife, in the interests of the Indescribable Insurance Company, with which the deceased man, Mr Mottram, had been heavily insured.
The culprit is the three gas taps in Mr Mottram's room, and Miles hopes to prove that his death is suicide. Miles' old wartime colleague, Police Inspector Leyland, is convinced it's murder. And the conclusion is as ingenious as it is surprising.
Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.