Margot BennettBesprekingen

I'm going to spoil the ending of this one to some degree. I'll try to say some general things first, so you can tell whether you care about the spoiling.

This is another novel reissued as a British Library Crime Classic—just this past year, 2023. Margot Bennett was the first woman to win the Gold Dagger (though there was at least one woman on the shortlist every previous year). She never wrote another crime novel after this one, mostly turning instead to writing for television. Did she quit on a high?

In some ways, yes. The book is a fairly successful marriage of the classic form of the whodunnit with some then-contemporary psychological content. As in the previous winner, the psychologies of the main characters are foregrounded and examined as putative explanations for their actions—murder is more than base motive. But, unlike with the previous winner, there is a genuine, well-executed mystery at the core of the novel: which among four suspects, all complete shits of varying consistency, murdered the protagonist's friend?

The protagonist is a youngish woman, Nancy, who is a writer for magazines. Her dead friend is Sarah. The four suspects are all terrible, terrible men with whom Nancy, Sarah, or both have romantic pasts or presents. I say "romantic". This feels like a euphemism here, since none of the relationships described are obviously loving, in the sense we should hope to use that word.

The book works, insofar as it does, because the four male suspects are all convincingly bad. One of them is actively trying to frame Nancy for Sarah's death, and going some way to succeeding. She doesn't know which of them it is, and the police are on to her (not without reason—she doesn't always help herself). Meanwhile, all four terrible men take turns at being personally horrible to Nancy, each in their own entirely believable way. So we believe that any of them could be capable of the crime, and we don't know which it is until the last few pages. This engaging, well-wrought plot is written up tightly enough to create tension, with adept use of flashback to fill in the characters. It's all helped along by snappy, funny dialogue; the introduction by Martin Edwards speculates that Bennett identified with Nancy, and she certainly gets all the very best lines.

There are two reasons why I'm not entirely sold on this book. The first is that it is so appallingly, irredeemably squalid. Perhaps this is exactly as it was for young women writers in the 1950s, but oh dear, the grime and the stink and the horrible, horrible men make you itch as you read. And this brings me to the second reason, and the spoiler. After the mystery is solved, after all is settled, after we know which of the shits is a murderer, after we and Nancy know they are all shits: after all that, she falls swooning into the arms of the worst of the shits, the one who has treated her most appallingly, whose only positive quality appears to be his innocence of murder.

Now, there is a question of how seriously this ending should be taken. It's possible that Bennett meant it as a sort of tragic coda—that she sees the obvious problems with the proposition, and sees Nancy as deserving of them, as no better than she ought to be. But I don't think this is so. I think this is meant to be a consummate, cheering resolution. To modern sensibilities, it is certainly not cheering, and really not believable—in fact, close to incomprehensible. It mars what is otherwise a very fine book, worth reading for its plot, its dialogue, and its itchy squalor.½

Roger Maple has gone missing! Maple, claims to be a freelance “financier” but is more of a borrower than a lender. His friend Duncan Stewart is out to find him. One problem is Stewart is a film producer and not a detective.

It seems Maple had tapped a number of people for money as an “investment” just before he left. One of his props is his acquaintance with the King of Ardania, actually the ex-king.

Seems this king has some big plans for his homeland, but just needs a little financial help. This king avoids any and all public appearances. He plays the part of a recluse. A strange behaviour for someone of such a high profile.

Duncan Stewart’s search to find Maple, dead or alive, takes a pathway involving murder, intrigue, subterfuges and a bit of romance. There are also some interesting works of art in high demand, but they are not for sale.

More of a novel than a traditional mystery. An interesting read!

Meh. I didn’t guess the culprit and it was revealed essentially on the last page, which I felt was a bit of a cop-out. Also too many characters; it got confusing.

Experimental detective story which is rather disjointed. You need to do the detection but not many clues. Characters seem interchangeable unlikeable and ultimately unengaging. Not got to the end but can't see it getting any better.

This got off to a quick start, and I was anticipated a fun read.

And whilst it did not completely fell away, it seemed that the number of threads and leads got in the way of a 'clean' story. It reminded me of those B class black and white moody movies of the 40s and 50s, with everyone coming and going,and the audience is concentrating to ensure that their way was not lost, for if it was, it was unlikely to be recaptured!

For some reason The Thin Man came to mind...

Worth a read.

Big Ship

1 December 2022½

Everton used to work for the foreign office but after a liaison with the beautiful, amoral Lucy Bath, wife of a retired judge, he barely survived an attempted murder and was jailed for fraud. Now he is working for an organisation that rates third-rate hotels and has run into Lucy again. When Lucy invites him to her home for drinks, he ignores his misgivings and goes, to be caught up in a murder.

Mostly I was amused by Everton's humorous, sardonic observations, particularly of third-rate hotels, but sometimes the defeatism became too much. However, Everton manages to rise above his cynicism and investigate the crime, revealing the well-meaning, kind-hearted man who had been ruthlessly exploited by the conscienceless Lucy.

There are many plot strands and numerous twists, probably too many. The book was published in 1952, when there was money to be made smuggling criminals out of Europe, and food was still rationed in Britain. I was amused by the emphasis on food, which is common to other books from the same period. E C R Lorac springs to mind.

I quite liked The Widow of Bath and would recommend it as an oddity.½

African researchers visit Britain to find out about the primitive, stone-age natives and perhaps discover a lost golden city.
This 1950s novel is a bit disappointing. The "Africans" all act and sound like stereotypical white Brits, the term "Africa" is used throughout as if to describe a country instead of a vast continent, the whole thing seems like typical western parochialism.
Most of the characters are male; the only female with a speaking part is officious, incompetent, and of course falls in love with the protagonist (sigh). It's not sharp enough to be satire, nor well-imagined enough to be interesting science-fiction.

Despite its reputation, I simply just did not get into this one.

I knew it was a kind of inverted mystery, but i could not get much interest.

A pity

Big Ship

20 Feb 2021

Afrika og England, år 3406
Grame er samlebåndsmekaniker og fra barns ben bedømt og udvalgt til at det er hans lod i livet. Han er utilfreds og klager sin nød til "maskinen", som betjenes med vægtstænger og magnetbånd. Han vil omklassificeres og maskinen går i stykker, da den ikke forstår ham. Han vil gerne noget med kosmisk stråling, men de har et ledigt job indenfor antropologi, som de prakker ham på. En ekspedition til det primitive England for at udforske det. Han får et hurtigt kursus i historie og antropologi. Lidt senere et kursus i geologi. Han tager afsked med sine bofæller og sin mor, der alle giver ham en kold skulder. Ekspeditionen bliver ledet af Valya, en ung kvinde, som er viet til Staten, dvs superdedikeret på opgaven. Hun er også ganske køn og Grame har det højst ambivalent med det. Der er ti deltagere i ekspeditionen, Valya, Roono, Berrn, Kitson, Grame, Hep, Thorp, en pilot og to andre. Selvom de når frem til England og lander sikkert i et område ved en stor flod, så går det galt helt fra starten. De bliver overfaldet af en stor flok vilde hunde og piloten er den første, der dør. De andre kommer væk fra hinanden og flere af dem bliver dræbt af hundene. Valya og Hep er uskadte og får Berrn og Grame samlet op og plejet. Thorp dukker også op igen, men er syg og dør også efter et par dag. Hep, Grame, Valya og Berrn begiver sig mod byen eller i alt fald i den retning, de tror den ligger i. De støder på en gruppe hvide, der er i færd med at tilbede guden Thay. Berrn er blevet mere og mere psykotisk og har fået hænderne bundet for ikke at gøre skade på sig selv eller andre. Han hopper pludseligt frem og bliver dræbt af et spyd, der egentlig blev kastet mod Grame. Det viser sig at flokken taler en variant af samme sprog som ekspeditionsdeltagerne, så Grame griber chancen og påstår at han er Thays sendebud. Flokken tror nok på det til at adlyde Grame for en stund. Han beordrer dem til at lave et ligbål for Berrn og da Berrn er blevet brændt, beordrer ham dem til at sørge for mad og husly til de restende tre deltagere fra ekspeditionen. En mand, Brown, melder sig, men siger at han ikke inviterer fremmede til sit hjem, så han vil modtage Grame og de to andre som adoptivbørn. De følges med ham til et stykke væk, hvor han bor med sin familie i en hule i en skrænt.

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Scottish author Margot Bennett was born in 1912 and worked first first as a copywriter in the UK and Australia and then as a nurse during the Spanish Civil War before turning to writing. Her output in crime fiction was relatively small, yet successful: The Man Who Didn't Fly was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and was runner-up to Charlotte Armstrong's A Dram of Poison for Best Novel at the Edgars in 1956, and she won the Gold Dagger two years later in 1958 with Someone from the Past. She was also chosen to contribute a short story to the second CWA anthology, Choice Of Weapons, edited by Michael Gilbert.

But thereafter, a bit of mystery regarding Bennett herself began. She essentially stopped writing crime fiction, something discussed by Martin Edwards both on his blog and in the foreword he wrote for the Black Dagger Crime Series edition of The Man Who Didn't Fly. Bennett only wrote for television for awhile—including the early 60s UK adaptation of the Maigret novels by Simenon—with the exception of two non-mystery books (one of which had the intriguing title The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Atomic Radiation), before abandoning writing altogether in 1966. She died in 1980 at the age of 68.

In The Man Who Didn't Fly, four men are scheduled to take an ill-fated chartered flight to Dublin that crashes into the Irish Channel. Although the bodies can't be recovered, it becomes evident that only three men were on board the plane, yet all four are reported as missing. Inspector Lewis and Sergeant Young have their work count out for them trying to coax clues out of unreliable witnesses including the Wade family, Charles and his daughters Hester and Prudence.

The lives of the Wades intersected with all four of the missing men: Harry Walters, a desperate poet, who was in love with Hester Wade; Joseph Ferguson, a businessman who wife was more interested in Harry; Morgan Price, a nervous guest of the Wades; and Maurice Reid, something of a family friend. Slowly but surely, Lewis and Young piece together the details of the days leading up to the flight, finally uncovering the name of the missing man. But that just sets up a new problem: what happened to him and why?

Bennett's artful plotting was enough to capture the attention of the producers of NBC's Kraft Television Theater who created an episode in 1958 based on The Man Who Didn't Fly starring then 27-year-old William Shatner, Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith of Lost in Space) and Walter Brooke (guest star in just about all TV series in the 60s, 70s, and 80s). The book was also chosen by Julian Symons as part of his 1958 "100 Best Crime Stories" for the London Sunday Times.

Indeholder "Joseph Payne Brennen: Levitation", "Christine Noble Govan: Miss Winters og vinden", "Mike Marmer: Udsigt fra terrassen", "Raymond M. Banks: William Shaws tyve venner", "Margot Bennet: Intet bad for ægteparret Brown", "Michael Gilbert: Den uindbudne", "Henry Slesar: Farligt spil", "Bruno Fischer: Hunden døde først", "Ellis Peters: Guldpigen", "Robert Arthur: Nødråb", "Miriam Allen de Ford: Overfaldet", "Hal Dresner: Værelse med udsigt", "Frederic Brown: Se Dem ikke tilbage".

"Joseph Payne Brennen: Levitation" handler om en fyr, der driller en hypnotisør på et marked. Hypnotisøren bliver sur og hypnotiserer fyren til at svæve. Desværre dør hypnotisøren af et hjertestop undervejs i nummeret og fyren svæver stille bort.
"Christine Noble Govan: Miss Winters og vinden" handler om pebermøen miss Winters der føler sig plaget af vinden og beslutter sig for at fange den. Hun går op i et højt tårn for at få fat i den, men vinden vinder.
"Mike Marmer: Udsigt fra terrassen" handler om Priscilla Farnham, der bliver forhørt af politiet, fordi hendes mand George Farnham ligger dræbt på terrassen 12 etager under deres hotelværelse. Priscilla og børnene Mark på 9 og Amy på 7 lægger ikke skjul på at George og Priscilla havde skændtes, men de fortæller ikke at det var Mark og Amy, der skubbede George ud over rækværket.
"Raymond M. Banks: William Shaws tyve venner" handler om William Shaw, gift med Grace Shaw og ret rig og med mange, der skylder ham en tjeneste, så en dag dukker butleren Higgins op med en pakke til hver af vennerne og forklarer at det vil være klogt at slippe af med pakken, underforstået at det er en del af liget af Grace. Fortælleren tror dog ikke på det og det er klogt for faktisk har Higgins og Grace i stedet myrdet William, men det slipper de nu ikke godt fra.
"Margot Bennet: Intet bad for ægteparret Brown" handler om et ægtepar, der overtager et lejemål billigt og opdager at badekarret ikke er sluttet ordentligt til. Da de flytter det, opdager de et lig nedenunder, men nu har de jo brugt tid, kræfter og penge på lejligheden, så de køber noget cement og gør arbejdet ordentligt færdigt.
"Michael Gilbert: Den uindbudne" handler om en led morder ved navn oberst Weinleben, der bliver dræbt af en god morder ved navn Calder og dennes ven mr Behrens. Desværre dør den gode hund Rasselas også.
"Henry Slesar: Farligt spil" handler om Fran Holland, der er ludoman. Godt nok om småpenge, men en lille spillegæld får hende til at forvolde en mands død. Men selv skrækken over det, får hende ikke til at holde op med at spille.
"Bruno Fischer: Hunden døde først" handler om Dot Hall, der hævder at blodet i bilen er fra en hund, hun kom til at køre over. Men hendes gamle kæreste Emmett Walker ligger død, hvor hun efterlod "hunden" og blodet i bilen kommer fra ham. Dots mand finder en død hund gravet ned, ca hvor Dot sagde at hun efterlod den. Han finder også drengen, der mangler en hund og han begynder at tænke over at Emmett var sin kone utro, så de bedragne ægtemænd, der vidste at Dot lige havde kørt en hund over? George Cannon begår selvmord, da det viser sig at han er afsløret og Dots mand vil købe en ny hund til drengen, Larry Robins.
"Ellis Peters: Guldpigen" handler om et tilsyneladende meget forelsket par ombord på et skib. Da der udbryder brand ombord, lemper en mand hende over bord tæt ved en redningsbåd, men hun går i stedet til bunds. Hendes kæreste hopper efter, men han drukner også. Det viser sig at hun smuglede guld og havde 15 kilogram guldbarrer i redningsvesten.
"Robert Arthur: Nødråb" handler om de gamle frøkener, søstrene Martha og Louise Halsey, der frygter at deres niece Ellen Halsey Baldwin og hendes mand Roger vil sælge deres hus og tage livet af dem. Det er ikke rigtigt, men inden det bliver opklaret har Martha nået at brænde Ellen og Roger inde i deres hus.
"Miriam Allen de Ford: Overfaldet" handler om John Larsen, der overværer at en mand tvinger en pige Diane Morrison ind i en bil. Men det vil være besværligt for John at forklare hvorfor han ikke var på arbejde den dag osv, så han tier selvom en uskyldig mand, Joseph Kennelly, bliver anklaget, dømt og henrettet for mordet. Til sidst bryder John sammen og gentager "Det var mig, der gjorde det!" hele tiden. Imens kører den virkelige morder rundt og kigger efter nye ofre.
"Hal Dresner: Værelse med udsigt" handler om Jacob Bauman, der er rig, men invalid og lænket til sin seng. Alligevel har han indflydelse på verden. Han er gift men konen er ham utro med deres chauffør., Vic. Hans sygeplejerske, miss Frances Nevins, er superjaloux og kæreste med Vic, så han sender hende op til Vic med en revolver, der skal renses. Sjovt nok på et tidspunkt hvor han er ret sikker på at Vic og mrs Bauman hygger sig i sengen. Han advarer også Frances om at revolveren er ladt. Kort efter kan han høre nogle skud i det fjerne.
"Frederic Brown: Se Dem ikke tilbage" handler om Justin Dean, der er blevet lidt skør og nu slår folk ihjel, nogle gange for at øve sig og andre gange for sjov og desuden hvis hans døde ven, Harley, fortæller ham at han skal gøre det. Fx har Harley lige væddet med Justin om at Justin ikke kan slå læseren af denne fortælling ihjel, når nu han lige har forklaret det hele først. Justin er nu sikker på at det kan han sagtens.

Ganske udmærkede små noveller.