#40 – Five Little Pigs

“Man, you’re nuts! None of their stories are going to agree! Don’t you grasp that elementary fact? No two people remember a thing in the same order anyway. And after all this time! Why, you’ll hear five accounts of five separate murders!”

“That,” said Poirot, “is what I am counting on. It will be very instructive.”

Sixteen years ago Caroline Crale was convicted for the murder of her husband Amyas. Shortly before her death she wrote a letter for her daughter to open when she turned twenty-one in which she swore her innocence. Carla Lemarchant believes her mother and so hires Hercule Poirot to find the truth.

The titular pigs are the five other people present on the day of the murder: Philip (best friend to Amyas) and his brother Meredith, Elsa Greer (Amyas’ mistress and subject of his final painting), Angela (Caroline’s half-sister) and her governess Miss Williams.

After speaking with legal counsel for the defence and the prosecution and the policeman in charge of the case, he interviews each of the five suspects and asks them to write their own accounts of the events leading up to Amyas’ death. And from these separate tales he manages to tell the story of what actually happened all those years ago.

When I first read this as a teenager I can’t remember being that impressed – probably because of the (deliberately) repetitive nature of the narrative  but appreciated it much more when watching the David Suchet adaptation.

This re-read was much more enjoyable – seeing how everyone’s viewpoints build up a picture of Caroline and Amyas – and how Poirot is able to tease out the key truths hidden from most of the observers. As an exercise in psychological detection it is excellent.

Recurring character development

Hercule Poirot

Was abroad at the time of the original case.

Signs of the Times

The year of the murder is deliberately not given but as the Blakes’ sister Diana married someone who had been a temporary officer in the war and as Poirot’s present day investigations sixteen years later make no mention of another war, it is reasonable to date it in the early 1920s.

Two of Amyas Crale’s paintings were in the Tate. The National Gallery of British Art was founded in 1897. In 1932 modern art was added to it and it was renamed the Tate Gallery after Henry Tate of the sugar manufacturers Tate & Lyle. From 2000 it has been known as Tate Britain.

Amyas’ mother gave him his name because she was a fan of Kingsley. Amyas Leigh is a character in Charles Kingsley’s 1855 novel “Westward Ho!”

Caleb Jonathan quotes “Rose white youth, passionate, pale” which is taken from Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.

Angela Warren lectures at the Royal Geographical Society which was founded in 1830 as the Geographical Society of London.

The day before the murder Meredith had read out a passage from the Phaedo, which is by Plato, describing the death of Socrates, who had been condemned to death for corrupting the youth of the city.

Elsa Greer quotes “And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay and follow thee, my lord, throughout the world” which is spoken by Juliet to Romeo in the play by Shakespeare.

Miss Williams’ apartment contains a quarter-length bath, which sounds very small to me. She has a number of artworks on her walls including “Hope” an 1886 work by George Frederic Watts and “Primavera” by Sandro Botticelli (c.1445-1510).

Miss Williams is not impressed that Amyas Crale’s work is in the Tate because “so is one of Mr Epstein’s statues, I believe.” Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) was an American born British sculptor.

Meredith says “Tell that to the marines” when Amyas tells him he has no interest in Elsa Greer. As a Doctor Who fan I am familiar with the phrase which the Doctor uses in “The Day of the Daleks” to alert the Brigadier that all is no well but never really thought about what it meant. The full phrase is “tell it to the marines because the sailors won’t believe you” implying that the marines are gullible and would believe you’re lie. In America it gained a secondary meaning of telling the marines as they would do something about it.

References to previous works

Poirot introduces himself to Meredith Blake with a recommendation Lady Mary Lytton-Gore who appeared in Three-Act Tragedy.

Vintage Mystery Challenge

Fulfils “Who – An artist/photographer”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#40 – Five Little Pigs – WITH SPOILERS

“Man, you’re nuts! None of their stories are going to agree! Don’t you grasp that elementary fact? No two people remember a thing in the same order anyway. And after all this time! Why, you’ll hear five accounts of five separate murders!”

“That,” said Poirot, “is what I am counting on. It will be very instructive.”

Sixteen years ago Caroline Crale was convicted for the murder of her husband Amyas. Shortly before her death she wrote a letter for her daughter to open when she turned twenty-one in which she swore her innocence. Carla Lemarchant believes her mother and so hires Hercule Poirot to find the truth.

The titular pigs are the five other people present on the day of the murder: Philip (best friend to Amyas) and his brother Meredith, Elsa Greer (Amyas’ mistress and subject of his final painting), Angela (Caroline’s half-sister) and her governess Miss Williams.

After speaking with legal counsel for the defence and the prosecution and the policeman in charge of the case, he interviews each of the five suspects and asks them to write their own accounts of the events leading up to Amyas’ death. And from these separate tales he manages to tell the story of what actually happened all those years ago.

When I first read this as a teenager I can’t remember being that impressed – probably because of the (deliberately) repetitive nature of the narrative  but appreciated it much more when watching the David Suchet adaptation.

This re-read was much more enjoyable – seeing how everyone’s viewpoints build up a picture of Caroline and Amyas – and how Poirot is able to tease out the key truths hidden from most of the observers. As an exercise in psychological detection it is excellent.

Recurring character development

Hercule Poirot

Was abroad at the time of the original case.

Signs of the Times

The year of the murder is deliberately not given but as the Blakes’ sister Diana married someone who had been a temporary officer in the war and as Poirot’s present day investigations sixteen years later make no mention of another war, it is reasonable to date it in the early 1920s.

Two of Amyas Crale’s paintings were in the Tate. The National Gallery of British Art was founded in 1897. In 1932 modern art was added to it and it was renamed the Tate Gallery after Henry Tate of the sugar manufacturers Tate & Lyle. From 2000 it has been known as Tate Britain.

Amyas’ mother gave him his name because she was a fan of Kingsley. Amyas Leigh is a character in Charles Kingsley’s 1855 novel “Westward Ho!”

Caleb Jonathan quotes “Rose white youth, passionate, pale” which is taken from Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.

Angela Warren lectures at the Royal Geographical Society which was founded in 1830 as the Geographical Society of London.

The day before the murder Meredith had read out a passage from the Phaedo, which is by Plato, describing the death of Socrates, who had been condemned to death for corrupting the youth of the city.

Elsa Greer quotes “And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay and follow thee, my lord, throughout the world” which is spoken by Juliet to Romeo in the play by Shakespeare.

Miss Williams’ apartment contains a quarter-length bath, which sounds very small to me. She has a number of artworks on her walls including “Hope” an 1886 work by George Frederic Watts and “Primavera” by Sandro Botticelli (c.1445-1510).

Miss Williams is not impressed that Amyas Crale’s work is in the Tate because “so is one of Mr Epstein’s statues, I believe.” Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) was an American born British sculptor.

Meredith says “Tell that to the marines” when Amyas tells him he has no interest in Elsa Greer. As a Doctor Who fan I am familiar with the phrase which the Doctor uses in “The Day of the Daleks” to alert the Brigadier that all is no well but never really thought about what it meant. The full phrase is “tell it to the marines because the sailors won’t believe you” implying that the marines are gullible and would believe you’re lie. In America it gained a secondary meaning of telling the marines as they would do something about it.

References to previous works

Poirot introduces himself to Meredith Blake with a recommendation Lady Mary Lytton-Gore who appeared in Three-Act Tragedy.

Vintage Mystery Challenge

Fulfils “Who – An artist/photographer”.

SPOILERS

Once again it is the least likely person who is the murderer. Whilst we believe Elsa may have tried to kill Caroline we can’t fathom why she would want to kill Amyas.

I love the idea of understanding memories in the light of unrelated later experiences as is the case where Angela realises the significance of Caroline leaving Philip’s bedroom. For me it is always when I realise how words that I’ve read, not always understanding, are actually pronounced e.g. Penelope is not Penna-lope but Pen-ell-oh-pee and a musical segue is not seeg but seg-way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#39 – The Body in the Library

Mrs Bantry’s day begins with the maid announcing hysterically that there is a body in the library. This seems unlikely but when Colonel Bantry goes downstairs he finds it to be true.

It is quickly established that the dead girl is Ruby Keene, a dancer at a local hotel. She had recent become the favourite of a wealthy elderly man who planned to adopt her, which put the rest of his family’s noses out of joint and provides the police with a number of suspects to investigate. Things become even more confused when a second murder occurs.

Miss Marple is motivated to help solve the case in order to remove the shadow of suspicion from the Bantrys. This theme that it is possibly more important to identify a killer to prevent injustice to the innocent than to serve justice on the guilty is a recurring theme through Christie’s work including “The Four Suspects” from  The Thirteen Problems.

She does her best work in deciding which of a group of schoolgirls should be given the third degree, an interrogation which she conducts herself with the same determination and ruthlessness of George Smiley.

Despite a plethora of policeman, it is Miss Marple with a woman’s eye, who is able to solve the case.

In the latest episode of the highly recommended The Men Who Explain Miracles podcast, Dan talked about the experience of reading Hercule Poirot’s Christmas on a train and having to finish it in the station as the need to know what had happened was so strong. I definitely experienced something similar the first time I read this as I can strongly remember finishing reading it whilst waiting at a bus stop on the way to church.

Overall a classic Christie and better than Miss Marple’s debut novel The Murder at the Vicarage which is probably why it was chosen as the first story to be filmed in the excellent Joan Hickson series.

Recurring character development

Miss Marple

Is, or has been, involved with the Sunday School, Brownies, and Guides and is on the committee of the local orphanage.

Signs of the Times

Based on the age of a baby, this is set within two years of The Murder at the Vicarage and that book must therefore be set several years after it was published (see references below), making this likely to be set c.1935.

The Bantrys have a butler, a cook, a chauffeur, and no less than three housemaids.

Mrs Bantry has been reading the fictitious “The Clue of the Broken Match”.

Peter Carmody reads all the detective stories and has the autographs of Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, and H. C. Bailey.

George Bartlett drives a Minoan 14, as do eight other guests of the hotel, it being the popular cheap car of the year.

When Harper is told that a body has been found in a burnt out car he says “Don’t tell me we’re going to have a Rouse case now!” Alfred Rouse was tried and executed in 1931 for the murder of a (still to this day) unknown person who he burned to death in his own car. The case inspired a number of detective stories including J. J. Connington’s The Four Defences.

Miss Marple likens the relationship between Jefferson Conway and Ruby Keene to that of King Cophetua and the Beggar Girl. This was originally a 16th century ballad that told the story of how an African king who had previously had no interest in women fell in love at first sight with the beautiful beggar Penelophon.

Miss Marple feels that the case is of a type that may never be solved like the Brighton trunk murders. Two unrelated murders involving bodies found in trunks occurred in Brighton in 1934. Only one lead to a trial in which the accused was found not guilty though he did confess to his crime just before he died in 1976.

Mark Gaskell refers to Hugo McLean as “Alias William Dobbin” because of his faithful devotion to Adelaide Conway is like that of Captain Dobbin to Amelia Sedley in Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair”.

Mark Gaskell sings “But she is in her grave, and, oh, the difference to me!” This is from William Wordsworth’s 1798 poem “She Dwelt Amon the Untrodden Ways”.

Mention is made of a “Bergner part”. Elisabeth Bergner (1897-1986) was an Austrian-British actress best known for playing the role of Gemma Jones in “Escape Me Never” on both stage and screen.

Miss Marple quotes “to make assurance doubly (actually “double”) sure” which is from Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Sir Henry ends the evening before the denouement by quoting “And so to bed” which is how Samuel Pepys often concluded his diary entries.

References to previous works

Sir Henry Clithering refers to “Death by Drowning” the last of The Thirteen Problems.

Vintage Mystery Challenge

Fulfils “How – Crime involved fire/arson”.

What Else I’ve Been Reading

Rocket to The Morgue by Anthony Boucher – Sisters Ursula and Felicitas (the Jay and Silent Bob of detective fiction) return in this sequel to Nine Times Nine. It is entertaining but not as good as its predecessor. Written under his H. H. Holmes pseudonym he was able to bring himself as Tony Boucher in as one of the witnesses to murder.

 

The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen – an ageing rodeo rider is  shot dead in an arena under the eyes of thousands of spectators and yet no one knows who did it or what happened to the murder weapon. The reveal is surprising but unlikely and I actually came close to finding the murder weapon only I was a little extreme in my ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#39 – The Body in the Library – WITH SPOILERS

Mrs Bantry’s day begins with the maid announcing hysterically that there is a body in the library. This seems unlikely but when Colonel Bantry goes downstairs he finds it to be true.

It is quickly established that the dead girl is Ruby Keene, a dancer at a local hotel. She had recent become the favourite of a wealthy elderly man who planned to adopt her, which put the rest of his family’s noses out of joint and provides the police with a number of suspects to investigate. Things become even more confused when a second murder occurs.

Miss Marple is motivated to help solve the case in order to remove the shadow of suspicion from the Bantrys. This theme that it is possibly more important to identify a killer to prevent injustice to the innocent than to serve justice on the guilty is a recurring theme through Christie’s work including “The Four Suspects” from  The Thirteen Problems.

She does her best work in deciding which of a group of schoolgirls should be given the third degree, an interrogation which she conducts herself with the same determination and ruthlessness of George Smiley.

Despite a plethora of policeman, it is Miss Marple with a woman’s eye, who is able to solve the case.

In the latest episode of the highly recommended The Men Who Explain Miracles podcast, Dan talked about the experience of reading Hercule Poirot’s Christmas on a train and having to finish it in the station as the need to know what had happened was so strong. I definitely experienced something similar the first time I read this as I can strongly remember finishing reading it whilst waiting at a bus stop on the way to church.

Overall a classic Christie and better than Miss Marple’s debut novel The Murder at the Vicarage which is probably why it was chosen as the first story to be filmed in the excellent Joan Hickson series.

Recurring character development

Miss Marple

Is, or has been, involved with the Sunday School, Brownies, and Guides and is on the committee of the local orphanage.

Signs of the Times

Based on the age of a baby, this is set within two years of The Murder at the Vicarage and that book must therefore be set several years after it was published (see references below), making this likely to be set c.1935.

The Bantrys have a butler, a cook, a chauffeur, and no less than three housemaids.

Mrs Bantry has been reading the fictitious “The Clue of the Broken Match”.

Peter Carmody reads all the detective stories and has the autographs of Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, and H. C. Bailey.

George Bartlett drives a Minoan 14, as do eight other guests of the hotel, it being the popular cheap car of the year.

When Harper is told that a body has been found in a burnt out car he says “Don’t tell me we’re going to have a Rouse case now!” Alfred Rouse was tried and executed in 1931 for the murder of a (still to this day) unknown person who he burned to death in his own car. The case inspired a number of detective stories including J. J. Connington’s The Four Defences.

Miss Marple likens the relationship between Jefferson Conway and Ruby Keene to that of King Cophetua and the Beggar Girl. This was originally a 16th century ballad that told the story of how an African king who had previously had no interest in women fell in love at first sight with the beautiful beggar Penelophon.

Miss Marple feels that the case is of a type that may never be solved like the Brighton trunk murders. Two unrelated murders involving bodies found in trunks occurred in Brighton in 1934. Only one lead to a trial in which the accused was found not guilty though he did confess to his crime just before he died in 1976.

Mark Gaskell refers to Hugo McLean as “Alias William Dobbin” because of his faithful devotion to Adelaide Conway is like that of Captain Dobbin to Amelia Sedley in Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair”.

Mark Gaskell sings “But she is in her grave, and, oh, the difference to me!” This is from William Wordsworth’s 1798 poem “She Dwelt Amon the Untrodden Ways”.

Mention is made of a “Bergner part”. Elisabeth Bergner (1897-1986) was an Austrian-British actress best known for playing the role of Gemma Jones in “Escape Me Never” on both stage and screen.

Miss Marple quotes “to make assurance doubly (actually “double”) sure” which is from Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Sir Henry ends the evening before the denouement by quoting “And so to bed” which is how Samuel Pepys often concluded his diary entries.

References to previous works

Sir Henry Clithering refers to “Death by Drowning” the last of The Thirteen Problems.

Vintage Mystery Challenge

Fulfils “How – Crime involved fire/arson”.

SPOILERS

Christie’s genius is in being able to re-package the same ideas in different guises which only becomes apparent in retrospect. Here we have an alibi established by a body being deliberately wrongly identified, with a couple working in tandem; a scenario which is almost exactly the same as one of her earlier novels. Indeed the key line “And all these girls with their make-up and their hair and their nails look so alike” is so reminiscent of observations made in that earlier book.

What Else I’ve Been Reading

Rocket to The Morgue by Anthony Boucher – Sisters Ursula and Felicitas (the Jay and Silent Bob of detective fiction) return in this sequel to Nine Times Nine. It is entertaining but not as good as its predecessor. Written under his H. H. Holmes pseudonym he was able to bring himself as Tony Boucher in as one of the witnesses to murder.

 

The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen – an ageing rodeo rider is  shot dead in an arena under the eyes of thousands of spectators and yet no one knows who did it or what happened to the murder weapon. The reveal is surprising but unlikely and I actually came close to finding the murder weapon only I was a little extreme in my ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace (1930)

As this doesn’t feature Lord Peter Wimsey I hadn’t got hold of a copy of it when I bought the rest of Dorothy L. Sayers’ detective novels and short stories in a new paperback edition two years ago. However it perfectly fits the bill for a very specific Vintage Mystery Challenge item so I decided now was the time for a re-read.

George Harrison, and his younger second wife Margaret, live in the suburbs of London with her live-in companion Agatha Milsom. Their lives are irrevocably changed when a writer and an artist move into the maisonette above them, creating an unfortunate love triangle. Coupled with the fact that George is a keen cook and forager for edible mushrooms it is clear this is not going to end well.

The covering letter to the documents presented gives a strong indication as to who the victim is going to be (most blurbs are explicit about this) and given death does not occur until halfway through, we have a lot of uninteresting set-up.

The solution is clever, but not solvable for the lay reader, and would have worked better as a short-story. It had been proposed by Robert Eustace but Sayers herself was disappointed with what she had done with it.

The appearance of Sir James Lubbock tells us that despite Wimsey’s absence we are still in his universe and in fact we are told that the chemist is working late on the arsenic case; given this book and “Strong Poison” were both published in 1930 the implication is that this is the Harriet Vane case.

An experimental novel, but not one that is very successful -at least it looks good on the shelf.

Vintage Mystery Challenge

“What – Includes letters/diary extracts/similar”

What Else I’ve Been Reading

Close Up on Death by Maureen O’Brien -taking part in a work team-building scavenger hunt I came upon The Last Bookshop (all books £3 or 2 for £5) in the centre of Bristol and picked up this and “The Wallet of Kai-Lung” by Ernest Bramah (a favourite of Wimsey and Vane). The story of how the murder of Liza Drew impacts narrator Millie Hale and those closest to her. Aidan’s review at  Mysteries Ahoy! can be found here.

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer (1935)

When looking for a book featuring an accountant in order to fill the final gap in my plan to complete the Vintage Mystery Challenge an appeal to the GAD Facebook group suggested this title. As it was on my mum’s bookshelf I thought I may as well save my money trying David Dodge or Clark Smith and give it a go.

Georgette Heyer is best-known for a series of Regency Romances but she also turned her hand to detective fiction, writing twelves novels, often featuring the completely characterless Superintendent Hannasyde.

This story opens early one morning with a police constable finding the body of the much disliked Arnold Vereker clad in evening dress with his feet in the village stocks. The prime suspects are his half-siblings, Antonia who has quarrelled violently with him regarding her engagement and Kenneth, a penniless artist who is his heir. Both are happy that Arnold is dead and aren’t afraid to show it.

There is a lot of talking in this book, often about whether people are bluffing and being overly clever: “Of course if I had committed the murder that is exactly what I wouldn’t have done – or would I?” etc.

I knew I might have read this before, but initially was unsure until I had a general sense that I definitely had but still had no memory of who or why. I did solve the case though perhaps there was something in my subconscious that helped me.

This isn’t a bad book but neither is it a good book.

Vintage Mystery Challenge

A prominent character is an accountant so fulfils “Why – A character has a job similar to yours”

What Else I’ve Been Reading

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – a year ago I bought a load of hardback classics for my children to enjoy in the future but for the moment I am working through them. This book gives us everything that we have come to associate with pirates – pieces of eight, parrots, the black spot etc. Long John Silver is one of the most charming villains in fiction and all the more dangerous for it. A brilliant adventure yarn.

 

Operation Pax by Michael Innes – in the John Appleby series but he doesn’t get to do that much. Definitely a thriller rather than a traditional detective story. One for the completist.

 

 

 

 

 

The Invisible Circle by Paul Halter (1996)

Having enjoyed Halter’s short story collection “The Night of the Wolf” I asked JJ for some good starter novels. I think he suggested “The Tiger’s Head” and “Death Invites You” but when I was looking those up on Amazon and ebay I found second-hand copies of this book and “The Seven Wonders of Crime” at very good prices and being a Yorkshireman my decision was obvious.

This stand-alone novel begins various people considering invitations they have received from Gerry Pearson to visit him at his castle situated on a Cornish island where they will witness a “singular experience”. After dinner on the first evening Gerry gives them all an appropriate nickname from the Arthurian legend before revealing a sword stuck fast in a stone and the Holy Grail. He also makes some astonishing predictions before locking himself in a room that is then sealed with the guests’ personal items. Given this is detective fiction and Locked Room International in particular we know what is going to happen next…

The first half is brilliant as the scene is set and the “singular experience” occurs. There is then some good stuff after the murder but this then descends into a lot of running around à la episode three of a four part Doctor Who serialisation. The locked room trick is very well done and appropriate to the story as a whole.

The ending however is rushed, leaving some questions regarding what might have happened unanswered, and the characterisation after the first couple of chapters is as wafer-thin as Mr Creosote’s after dinner mint.

The story is set in 1936, which is important to enable the Invisible Circle to be created, but apart from that there is no real sense of that era.

Having said all that, this was an exciting fast paced read and even if “The Seven Wonders of Crime” is not up to scratch I still enjoyed this more than enough to give the recommended works a go.