Next week sees the publication of a attractively presented new edition of Edmund Crispin's Frequent Hearses. The publishers are HarperCollins, who have now acquired the rights to Crispin's detective stories and are including an introduction by Val McDermid. It's the same intro in each book, I believe, but as you would expect, Val offers plenty of insight and her essay is a worthwhile bonus. As far as I know, Crispin's novels have seldom if ever been out of print in this country and I'm hopeful that the new editions will attract a new generation of readers who like their mysteries to be well-written and amusing.
This particular book also bears, on the front cover, an encomium from me: 'Stylish, witty and entertaining in the finest traditions of the Golden Age'. As is often the case with book endorsements nowadays, this comment of mine wasn't made specifically in relation to that specific book, but not to worry - it's a fair description of an enjoyable story featuring the likeable Gervase Fen. I read it quickly on holiday last week and it made for ideal summertime reading, as did The Long Divorce, which is quite excellent. I'll cover that one here before long.
The story is set in the film world, of which Crispin had an insider's view, since he was a prolific composer of movie soundtracks. His satiric view of the excesses of the movie business is one of the particular pleasures of the book. He was a light-hearted writer, but there is a touch of darkness about the plot, which begins with the inexplicable suicide of a young actress named Gloria Scott.
For much of the book, I thought that her name was a clue of some kind, linked to the Sherlock Holmes story about a ship called the Gloria Scott. This proved not to be the case, although I'm sure Crispin must have chosen her name deliberately. This isn't such a strong story as The Long Divorce, partly because the murderer is such a thinly characterised individual, and Fen flits in and out of the story in a slightly unsatisfactory way. There is, however, ample compensation in a very pleasing riff on the 'murderer's confession' at the end of the novel. If you're looking for humorous mystery-making, Crispin is your man.
I’m looking forward to reading the three volume hardcover editions, each containing thred Gervase Fen novels being released next Thursday 17th August. These are being released under the Collins Crime Club imprint. Following on in September, again under the Collins Crime Club imprint is a hardcover of the short stories of Edmund Crispin.
ReplyDeleteDavid Blyth
Thanks, David. A good publishing venture!
ReplyDeleteI’m a big Crispin fan. Frequent Hearses isn’t one of his best books (I think The Long Divorce is his best); as you indicate, the murderer isn’t satisfactorily fleshed out, and the book isn’t as consistently funny as other Crispins, such as Swan Song and Buried for Treasure. But there’s plenty of humour, and if the solution isn’t startling, it’s fair; Fen’s recap convinced me I should have figured it out logically. There are some excellent characters, such as Judith Flecker and Nicholas Crane. And as you say, there’s a “pleasing riff on the 'murderer's confession' .” I’ve read so many of them—The Crooked Hinge, Why Didn’t They ask Evans—but Crispin provides a twist that caught me off guard.
ReplyDeleteAlways great to hear from you, Arthur. I was thinking about you the other day when talking to someone about Anthony Berkeley. You've summed this book up really well and that confession trick also caught me off guard - good to be fooled in such a neat way!
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