If you only read one story…

…read The Little House. Much as I have a soft spot for The Quiet Lady, this is the memorable one, and the one that gets reprinted the most. Bailey writing about cruelty is when he’s most effective. Children in danger seem like playing on the heartstrings, but there’s a cynicism in the story’s worldview that gives it a bit more bite.

The Missing Husband

The titular husband is Julian Brase. First, he goes missing. Then, his wife scarpers. Then, his body is found. The case seems simple, but Reggie isn’t convinced.

“In an orchard where the apple-blossom rose out of a flood of bluebells a hammock was slung.
In the hammock lay a creature the same size all the way along, like a worm, a worm wearing grey tweed and fair hair.
To this scene of peace entered with sprightly grace, like an actor-manager to his love scene, the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department, the Hon. Sidney Lomas.”

Few Golden Age writers would dare to compare their detective to a worm in the opening paragraph, and fewer still would compare the appearance of his main police contact to a love scene, but Bailey does it here. Off to a good start in my opinion. Sadly, Reggie spends most of this story waiting around and not doing anything, though there are some interesting forensic clues, one of which might have been new to readers at the time. But as a story this felt pretty flat.

The Cat Burglar

Despite it being outside his area of expertise, Reggie gets involved in a burglary case. He thinks the obvious suspect is innocent, to the annoyance of the police’s burglary expert.
This one does a better job of laying clues and surprises (though Reggie does plenty of off-page investigation management). It also has some of the darker tone that I remembered from the other stories. It felt like a properly rounded tale – one of the better ones in the collection.

The Lion Party

Reggie is invited to a party of the notable and notorious, and finds himself on the spot for a jewel theft.
The previous story was also about jewel theft, but this one has a totally different tone – light and witty rather than dark and gritty.
To my surprise, Bailey is good at satirical social humour, as well as the more usual sour irony. Reggie’s discomfort at the party is very endearing. It’s fun at the start, but gets increasingly hard to follow, and aside from Reggie all the characters are awful (which is probably the point).

The Violet Farm

Sidney Lomas complains to Reggie about his cousin, who has decided to live with some friends in a crumbling country cottage on the outskirts of a remote town. Reggie investigates, and not a moment too soon as one of the friends is attacked, and the chief suspects are the remaining friends. The description of the cottage and of the friends – who at this point barely seem to be friends anymore – is detailed and often funny. This story blends the investigation into the assault with a search for treasure. I’m not such a fan of those, though the resolution to this one is nicely ironic. It’s livened up by the presence of Camber, an enthusiastic but inept police captain who adds to Bailey’s roster of incompetent cops.

The Quiet Lady

Reggie is staying in the country with Dr Birtwistle when Edward Wissenden is poisoned. All the evidence points towards his cousin, Lily Dean. But Reggie unpicks how appearances can be deceptive.
There’s some excellent clueing here, and Reggie even does some proper scientific detection. I really liked the combination of melancholic, naive Dr Birtwistle with Reggie, who here is even more enigmatic and ironic than usual, as well as being highly active. The Chief Constable is even more odious than usual and gets a satisfying comeuppance. We’re also starting to get hints of Bailey’s interest in cruel psychology. Though the ending to the story seems a bit of a deus ex machina, and the solution may be one some find hard to believe, overall this is one of my favourites in the collection.

The Little House

From the disappearance of a child’s kitten, Reggie unravels a cruel plot.
This story is a great example of the seemingly inconsequential incident leading to a more serious crime. It’s particularly effective here as Bailey shamelessly stacks up sympathy by having Reggie’s usual police colleague treat the kitten story with scorn and mockery. So watching as more of the policemen become convinced of the seriousness of the situation is satisfying. The story could become mawkish due to the child-in-danger aspect, but the conduct of the police helps offset that.

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This collection really does seem like a slice of the best of what the Reggie Fortune stories have to offer. Reggie is a surprisingly flexible character, able to appear in frivolous, comic stories like The Lion Party, and dark ones like The Little House, while still remaining obviously himself. His enigmatic and elliptical statements should annoy me but somehow don’t, and his irony (usually directed at the police) is entertaining.
Certain elements recur throughout the stories. Bailey is hugely interested in the failings of the police, and presents a full selection of incompetence and lack of empathy. This comes in many forms, so it never gets too repetitive. The main investigator may be an antagonist in one tale, working alongside Reggie except pursuing the wrong lines, or a genuine assistant with some failings. Even Lomas, whom Reggie is ostensibly friends with, gets harsh treatment in some stories. Some policemen may be perceptive and helpful, but never the ones in charge.
The true constant in all the stories is that there is always an obvious suspect, and Reggie must save them from unjust suspicion, which often amounts to persecution. The failings of the police are not merely for comedy or to show off how clever the detective is, they cause real harm to innocent people.
They may be stylistically out of step now, and unusually dark for the era they were written in, but that just means Bailey’s writing has a flavour that can’t be found anywhere else. The writing may take some getting used to, but these are very accomplished examples of short crime fiction.

Other opinions:

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