Reading the Detectives discussion

July/August 2019 sees us continuing our reading of Nicholas Blake's Nigel Strangeways series. Published in 1953, this is the tenth book.

Someone is sending poison pen letters in the small village of Prior's Umborne, and they have already driven one of the inhabitants to suicide.

Private detective Nigel Strangeways is commissioned to find the source of the letters by arrogant financier Sir Archibald Blick, whose two sons live in the village.

Please do not post spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

As it's the weekend, just opening up this thread. Who is reading this book?

I have only just started, and have just looked up the Latin phrase on the first page - "Facilis ascensus Averno". It means "The ascent to hell is easy" - but the usual phrase is "descensus" , descent rather than ascent!

I am nearly finished. This is the first book, in the series, that I haven't read before, which makes it more interesting to me.

I only started this morning but have already finished Part One - finding it a compelling read. I'm enjoying this more than the previous entry in the series.

Yes, me too. There is something quite compelling about poison pen letters too - we saw them in Miss Marple, but that was a while ago.

I started last night and not far in. Thanks for the translation!

I've finished this one now - I found it a compelling read, but had a few problems with the plot which I'll talk about later in the spoiler thread. Found it hard to decide between 3 and 4 stars, but I rounded up because I do enjoy his writing style so much.

Me too, Judy. I also rounded up, but think 3.5 is fair, as a rating.

Interesting that there is so much poetry quoted again - the title and, I think, all the chapter headings taken from Maud by Alfred Tennyson, which is also constantly referred to. I like Tennyson and have read this long poem, but don't remember it in detail now.

I finished last night and haven't rated / reviewed it yet, but expect to go low as I never felt involved with the characters nor the plot(s). More of a struggle than most Strangeways.

Not one of the best. I haven't read beyond this, but will be interested to see if the books pick up again.

I had been rereading the Nigel Strangeways series in sequence, and before noticing the group’s selection of The Dreadful Hollow this month my last title read was the masterful The Beast Must Die. I prefer the earlier books to the later ones – I think most do – but remembered little of Hollow (first read around 2002 or so).

As Susan mentioned, the premise of an outbreak of poison pen letters upon a small village or a closed community is compelling: there’s the question of who is sending them and the intriguing psychology involved of malicious gossip by an anonymous person to hurt or shame others, or to stir up trouble in general.

I’m nearly finished with the book, but along the way I was reminded just how seriously and studiously Nicholas Blake (pen name of poet Cecil Day-Lewis) took his responsibility to the mystery puzzle genre. It is reported in biographies that Day-Lewis took to detective fiction as a way to earn additional income, yet he carefully crafts alibis, plants clues in actions, objects, and dialogue, and works to provide an intricate fair play puzzle. In particular, I admire that he acknowledges that the reader is both smart and actively playing the clue-collecting and crime-solving game. This is evident both in his literary allusions – see Judy’s observation about the Latin that opens the book, “Facilis ascensus Averno”, which is a devilish clue in itself – and in the way that Strangeways’ deductions are often formed in the moment, right alongside a reader’s own ongoing hypotheses.

While the pacing is a little staid, esp. when compared to earlier entries like The Beast Must Die or The Smiler with the Knife, Blake still assembles an interesting cast of characters and puts them through their paces as suspects in a murder investigation. I shall reserve comments about Celandine Chantmerle’s series of unfortunate events for the spoiler thread…

Jason wrote: ...."

Excellent and insightful thoughts Jason! I feel similarly. I too thought "Will Blake be able to top 'The Beast Must Die'?" And I think 'The Smiler With the Knife' was close. Dreadful Hollow was an interesting study in the negative traits of humans.

Yes, there has definitely been a high period so far. I will be interested to see whether Blake can reach those heights again.

Great comments, Jason - that's interesting that most people prefer the earlier Strangeways books. I've only read the ones we have done as a group, and also liked the earlier ones best so far - I agree with you and ShanDizzy that The Beast Must Die and The Smiler With the Knife were both great.

I have read one non-Strangeways crime novel by Blake from the late 1950s, A Penknife in My Heart, which I thought was excellent - not really a mystery though.

My favourite, so far, is Malice in Wonderland.

Hello everyone,

Judy, it’s been a while since I read A Penknife in My Heart, and the most vivid memory I have of it is Blake’s disclaimer at the beginning explaining that this book and a certain celebrated Patricia Highsmith novel may have come out around the same time, but the similarities to their plotlines are purely coincidental! I feel a little bad for him, because it must be one of an author’s biggest fears to spend months on a novel and then realize a similar story has been released at the same time to even greater acclaim.

I say that most people prefer the earlier Blake titles to the later ones because Day-Lewis tended to let his later stories get wrapped up in concepts of psychology and radical sexual or social politics. Doubtless that was how the genre was trending too, as puzzle plots from the ‘30s and ‘40s gave way to character analysis and brooding suspense in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The Dreadful Hollow is a near-perfect example of Blake straddling these two worlds, with one foot in the detective fiction camp and the other very interested in exploring psychological aberrations like deviant behavior, religious mania, and psychosomatic illness.

Blake also has a tendency in his final Strangeways books to diagnose women in a rather misogynist way, claiming that some are frigid and others burning up with barely contained nymphomania. The men fare only a little better, as primitive brutes or impotent spectators. (I’m thinking of titles like 1961’s The Worm of Death; I talk about it in my review at https://www.jasonhalf.com/blog/book-r... ) The books are still worth reading, but the Freudian psychoanalysis is turned up significantly as the series goes on…

Oh dear! Not particularly to my taste.

I recently got a second hand copy of his biography C Day-Lewis: A Life

Looking forward to reading it and finding out more about his life.

Susan wrote: "I recently got a second hand copy of his biography;

Looking forward to reading it and finding out more about his life."

I bet that will be very interesting, Susan! Thanks for bringing the biography to my attention. I shall have to try it at some point too....

Thanks for the info about A Penknife in the Heart, Jason - in terms of its style, I remember thinking it was very intense and compelling. A book I'd like to reread some time. Thanks also for the background about the way that the later Strangeways books change - shame about the psychoanalysis being more evident, but I will still read on.

Susan, I will also be very interested to hear what you think of the biography.

Judy wrote: "Thanks for the info about A Penknife in the Heart, Jason - in terms of its style, I remember thinking it was very intense and compelling. A book I'd like to reread some time."

I should revisit Penknife too, although I'm always torn between rereading books that I still remember and using that time to read and experience a completely new title!

Do, certainly, read on with the Nigel Strangeways books. I found it intriguing that Blake seemed to be shifting what he was interested in as the years went on, and that defining mood and character motivation became more dominant writing goals, in my opinion. I'm sure I will revisit all of the Strangeways titles again eventually, even the later ones. Cheers!

I have just started this today, I have high hopes from the first 3 chapters. This series is one of my favourite discoveries from this group.

I hope you enjoy it, Pamela!

Pamela wrote: "I have just started this today, I have high hopes from the first 3 chapters."

I look forward to hearing what you think of the book, Pamela! Happy reading ---

I'm so glad, Pamela. I love the series too and look forward to continuing. I have also been delighted to have, finally, got to grips with Albert Campion, via this group.

Thanks very much for providing the Buddy Read and discussion for this book! For those interested, I added to my thoughts here and posted a review on my blog. No major spoilers, and I give a shout-out to the group! You can find it at
https://www.jasonhalf.com/blog . Best wishes --

I enjoyed your review, Jason, thank you for posting and for giving us a mention!

Thanks, Judy. Looking forward to future reads and discussions. I appreciate all the fun conversations!