Josephine BellBesprekingen

‘’It was quite dark now, but lights twinkled everywhere, making bright oath across the black water. And far away on all sides, a red and orange glow covered the sky, shining steadily on the vast labyrinth of London.’’

The San Angelo arrives in the Pool of London and sets a rather peculiar (and exciting for us readers) chain of events in motion. A young boy finds himself in danger and is rescued by a young man who falls in love with a brilliant girl. In the meantime, members of the upper class, corrupted salesmen and striving families complete a puzzle of murders, dark motives and...nightdresses.

Set during the harsh months of November and December, Josephine Bell (Doris Bell Collier) creates a mystery that isn’t just another Crime story but also a poignant and elegant social study within the communities living alongside Father Thames. Families suffering from constant afflictions, cramped inside suffocating rooms, girls who trust the wrong men, corrupted members of a strange society. Fast-paced and developed through a series of mysterious events, this mystery has all the proper ingredients of a good old British Crime novel. A fascinating heroine, a gallant, honest young man, agonising policemen, rich and spoiled young women, unreliable suitors. June and Harry are wonderful characters, but the real protagonist of London and the many forms of its gritty, secretive underbelly.

Beautiful Introduction by Martin Edwards, as always.

I want a BBC/ITV series dedicated to the amazing British Library Crime Classics squad and I want it now!

‘’The side streets are empty except for the piles of rubbish left by the stalls and swept into heaps against the curb. The main road is empty too. A few dirty papers blow backwards and forwards across it, a few people in Sunday clothes walk slowly along the pavement; a few trams clank past bearing visitors to distant families, uncomfortable in stiff collars and unyielding best shoes. The blocks of houses and shops, equally closed and silent, look drearier than ever.’’

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

I'm willing to believe that, as one of her first novels, this is not Josephine Bell's best. I found the plot heavy going, and felt as if I struggled to finish it. There were however some clever plot strands and interesting characters, perhaps a few too many of them. The setting seems to be contemporary with its original publication, and the picture it paints of life in the slums on the London wharves is arresting.

Perhaps someone has a recommendation for my next read?

"It was wartime and Ursula Frinton wanted desperately to join some branch of the women's services -- any branch, so long as she could 'do her bit.' But Ursula, according to her family, had a history of heart trouble. Consequently, the young lady was very nervous about passing the medical.

"So she did the sensible thing. She had a London specialist give her a thorough examination and she went to the medical board with a little billet doux in hand stating, in no uncertain terms, that her heart was perfectly sound and always had been! Ursula figured she could sort that out later.

"But somebody at the medical board was ready for her.

"Poor Ursula."
~~frontispiece

A nice little English mystery -- who dunnit was pretty obvious (although there were some outside suspects) but the how it was done became the primary mystery.

Reviewed in the August 1962 issue of the Socialist Standard:

http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2018/01/crime-in-our-time-1962.html

Josephine Bell was also a physician, so not surprisingly, her novels often feature a strong medical component, not the least of which were two of her doctor-protagonists. She also featured poison and other unusual methods of murder prominently in her plots. Bell and her family were experienced sailors, and the author drew upon this knowledge, too, using many vivid passages in her books that relate to the water and to various nautical details.

Water is certainly at THE PORT OF LONDON MURDERS from 1938, specifically as the title suggests, the port area of London's River Thames. It's a tough neighborhood, but the death of one Mary Holland is still a bit of a shock, even though it appears at first to be a suicide by Lysol poisoning. Tell-tale needle marks on the victim's arm lead Detective Sergeant Chandler to suspect murder tied into a drug ring—which seems even more chillingly apparent when Chandler disappears shortly after he starts to investigate, right before he's due to testify at the inquest. It's up to Inspector Mitchell of Scotland Yard to unravel the layers of deception and addiction that are exploiting rich and poor alike in a way that hasn't changed much in the seventy years since the book was written.

Bell is particularly good with settings, even the squalid ones that pop up in the novel, no doubt witnessed first-hand in her role as a physician who saw people from every walk of life. Her take on the state of medicine in her day was often somewhat bleak.

A little gritty for my taste but good plot

Old Mrs. Mellanby decides her house with its large rambling garden is just too much work for her to keep, so she lists it with a developer who plans to put three new homes in the spot. But when she goes to get planning permission, she suddenly finds herself the target of some mean and nasty gossip. Then her neighbor who had been firmly against the development changes her mind. But before she can tell anyone, she is found dead in her home. Gossips immediately finger Mrs. Mellanby as a murderer. The police rather halfheartedly investigate, and while they at least don't suspect Mrs. Mellanby at all, they don't seem to be getting any closer to figuring out what really did happen.

It's scandal and corruption on the local level, but it's remarkably nasty for all that. Mrs. Mellanby's grandniece moves in and enlists a friend to help investigate. It seems everywhere they look, there is some secret waiting to be uncovered. Who will be the next victim?

I like Bell's books and this one was good. She has a good sense of how villages work and a good feel for the many quirks of human nature. Recommended.

A nice little mystery taking place in an English village during WWII. Lots of insight into daily life during those times, and interesting characters. It was a fun read, not earth-movingly great, but certainly one I will pass on to my mystery loving friends.

Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell (1944 -- although this cover is the 1964 edition reissued by Ballantine), really couldn't be more wartime British. At every twist of the plot something turns around petrol rations, board reviews for military service, false doctor's certificates to avoid conscription, secret German spy rings, and the fact that it is apparently very hard to find lipstick in your favorite shade when the country is at war. Add to that the complicated inheritance rules surrounding British landowners with twin sons, and you have the makings of a rather complicated mystery on your hands.

Josephine Bell was a physician herself, and the medical parts of this mystery make it read like a 1940s CSI. In fact, our amateur-detective hero, David Wintringham (who is featured in many of Bell's books), is actually a doctor who just enjoys solving mysteries. Somehow his top-secret appointment for the war effort qualifies him to start investigating the mysterious death of Ursula Frinton, a young member of the local gentry who may or may not have had heart trouble and who drops dead at the Medical Board after being examined for war service. Her death is actually rather awesome (slight spoiler ahead, but it comes up rather early in the book so it doesn't give away too much): She gets it from a hypodermic needle filled with nicotine and embedded in her lipstick. When she twists the lipstick tube the needle is armed, and when she presses it to her lips, she is injected with the poisonous nicotine.

And then a bunch of other people start dying, and everyone seems to have a motive. Will Dr. Wintringham be able to solve the mystery before the murderer catches up to him? I'll just leave you in suspense on that one.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/03/death-at-medical-board-1944.html ]

Reg and Mavis Holmes are pleased with their elderly lodger, Miss Trubbs but things changed when they came home one day to find the house full of gas and Miss Trubbs unconscious.

Reg and Mavis go on to find out something shocking about Miss Trubbs's past, something she spent time in prison for, but was it a deserved imprisonment?. Rather than turning their back on their former lodger and babysitter, they endeavor to find out the truth behind Miss Trubb's conviction. Their amateur sleuthing uncovers more than they bargained for...

I enjoyed Reg and Mavis's efforts to clear Miss Trubb's name, though I found the police's cooperation a little hard to believe, would they really be so helpful to anyone who decided, off their own bat, that a case needs reopening?