Forgotten Book - Someone from the Past

Margot Bennett published Someone from the Past in 1958. It was her sixth crime novel and proved to be her last. It won the CWA Gold Dagger (to use the familiar term for the award for best crime novel of the year) and yet, remarkably, she gave up on the genre after that, apart from writing a few television episodes of crime fiction, notably for Maigret. By 1968, she was finished as a writer, though she was still only in her mid-fifties and lived until 1980.

All those six novels are distinctive. This one is narrated by a young woman called Nancy Graham and I sense that there are elements of self-portraiture (in a heightened sense) in her portrayal. Nancy is rash and often dishonest, but she has redeeming qualities and is an aspiring novelist. She is also, like Bennett, very witty. The phrase-making in this book is delightful.

The premise is simple. Nancy's old chum and former room-mate Sarah Lampson has spent years flitting from man to man. She is about to marry someone rich when someone from her past sends a threatening letter. She confides in Nancy, but before anything can be done, Sarah is murdered. 

Nancy becomes a prime suspect, which rather serves her right given how stupidly she behaves at times, but we know that the real killer is one of four men whom Sarah betrayed: Donald, Michael, Peter, or Laurence. Suspicion shifts around this quartet before Nancy herself uncovers the truth. The mystery is okay, but for me it's the quality of the writing that makes this story stand out from the crowd.

Forgotten Book - Time to Change Hats

Margot Bennett was one of the most interesting British crime writers of the immediate post-war era, and although her career was not a lengthy one, her reputation survived thanks to the advocacy of Julian Symons, who was a fan of her work, and praised it in Bloody Murder. Like many people, I was led to Bennett's work in the 70s and 80s by Symons.

Her books were, however, hard to find. I did eventually catch up with The Man Who Didn't Fly at the start of the 80s, and years later I was commissioned to write an intro to it for the late lamented Black Dagger reprint series. It's a very good book, and I recommend it. I also found, after years of searching, Away Went the Little Fish, her second book, which features the private eye John Davies. But until recently I'd never come across her debut, and Davies' first case.

This is Time to Change Hats, published in 1945, but very definitely set during war-time, with references to the Home Gaurd, and a rural village invaded by evacuees. I'm very pleased with my copy, inscribed by Bennett to her agent, and marked "the first copy". But what about the story?

The first thing to be said about the book is that it's very well-written. Bennett was a class act, and she had a flair for phrase-making. The early pages are excellent. However, I have to say that before long the story begins to drag somewhat. Bennett herself commented that her idea was to mix mystery with comedy, but that the book was too long. It's an honest assessment. There is much to enjoy here, but the story isn't gripping, because the style is too discursive. However, it's an interesting book which shows a writer of talent learning her craft. Not a masterpiece, but certainly more sophisticated than most first crime novels of the period.

Forgotten Book - The Undetective

Bruce Graeme (1900-82) was a Golden Age writer who enjoyed a long and prolific career, yet until recently I'd never read any of his books as far as I can recall. Then Geoff Bradley, editor of CADS, recommended that I take a look at The Undetective (1962), telling me that it was an unusual story that he really enjoyed. Having just read the book, I share Geoff's view, and I suspect it's a good example of an original story that stands above and apart from most of the work of an author who was a talented storyteller, perhaps wrote too much to reach the heights on a regular basis.

Iain Carter is a happily married crime writer who is struggling to make a decent living. His lovely wife Susan (so lovely, in fact, that I became slightly irritated by the repeated references to her perfection) has a likeable brother who happens to be a slightly indiscreet policeman. Iain stumbles on the idea of writing a new series of books which make innovative use of information gleaned from his brother-in-law. But to protect his identity, he goes to very elaborate lengths indeed to create a pseudonym that cannot be traced to him.

His first book under the new pen-name, The Undetective, proves to be a huge success, and Iain finds himself having to take increasingly convoluted measures to protect his secret. The plot complications thicken when a murder occurs, and the mysterious and pseudonymous crime writer becomes a prime suspect.

An especially pleasing bonus of the story is that Graeme adds copious references to the Crime Writers' Association - one scene even takes place at a CWA meeting. Various CWA members of the time,s such as Michael Gilbert, T.C. H. Jacobs and Margot Bennett, earn a mention. He even includes a dig at Julian Symons, who reviews unkindly one of the books Iain continues to publish under his own name. The plot is, admittedly, implausible, but there is a very neat solution, and it all makes for a very good read. This is a Forgotten Book that undoubtedly deserves to be better known.