This collection has an intiguing premise. Five writers from the Detection Club (plus Russell Thorndike) wrote six stories of the “perfect murder”, and then Superintendent George Cornish, who had recently retired from the C.I.D., was tasked with explaining how the police would have caught all these clever criminals and outwitted the best detective writers in Britain. I enjoyed his commentaries – they surprised me with how speculative they were. He doesn’t stop at the facts given in the stories; he re-imagines them, and sometimes even re-writes events to reach a “conviction”! Of course, an ex-policeman probably doesn’t want to give the seal of perfection to any crime. His obvious bias may be frustrating for those who wanted him to be a just arbiter of truth. I saw him more as the case for the prosecution – with the stories themselves being the case for the defence. It was up to me to determine how things might have panned out. That aside, his writing was often thorough and thought-provoking, and it tied the collection together.
Margery Allingham – It Didn’t Work Out
Ex-music hall performer Polly takes drastic steps to rid her best friend Louie of her “vice” – Louie’s husband Frank.
It’s certainly an attention-grabbing opening, as Polly claims that Margery Allingham is her own pseudonym. This story initially seemed like the kind of slow-build, grim “crime” story I wouldn’t like, but it was told so well – and with such distinctive narration – that I was gradually won over, and by the time it reached the very effective ending I was fully wrapped up in the fates of Polly and Louie (and Frank).
It seemed like Ex-Supt. Cornish was also won over, having to remind himself, “That it was only a story, anyway.” I found that quite endearing of him. Less endearing were the lengths he went to to “prove” that the killer here would be caught.
Ronald Knox – The Fallen Idol
Enrique Gamba, “The Inspirer” of the totalitarian Magnolian Commonwealth, is killed shortly after an important radio broadcast.
Knox’s satiric description of the regime is probably the best thing about this, with plenty of lines still (sadly) relevant today, although thanks to this, it takes far too long to get to the actual murder. After the murder, when the country’s chief of police starts to investigate, the story becomes very dry and talky as he discusses the facts. Then we’re presented with a frankly dubious word-association clue, and then the story ends. Without revealing the solution!
Supt. Cornish does his best to deduce it for us, and does pretty well all things considered. Knox must have decided that the only true way to test if the police are good enough to solve a perfect murder is to set a challenge. Unfortunately that does make for a frustrating reading experience.
Anthony Berkeley – The Policeman Only Taps Once
Fresh off the boat from America, conman Eddie Tuffun marries the older woman Myrtle for her money. But things don’t quite go according to plan…
As you can probably tell from the title, Berkeley is parodying hard-boiled crime fiction. With full gangster-style dialect (which I found quite painful to read, but I appreciate the commitment to the bit). Once again, it takes a little too long to get to the murder. But the comedy from the misfortunes of thoroughly unsympathetic Eddie is funny, and the ending is very satisfying.
Cornish gets a bit into the weeds here with his speculations, though I don’t think he’s entirely wrong in disputing the perfection of this murder.
Russell Thorndike – The Strange Death of Major Scallion
The unsavory Major Scallion has hounded and blackmailed the narrator for years, but when Scallion tracks him down on his honeymoon, he can endure no more.
I did enjoy Thorndike’s opening, where he gives a callout to both Supt. Cornish and also his own story that he’s self-plagiarizing. This narrator definitely leans into the more unstable side of things, which could have been enjoyable. But the melodramatic writing style grated on me. The moment of casual racism might be another example of the narrator’s “charms”, but I could have done without it. All the characters were very one-note – in the case of the narrator’s wife, she seemed more like an automaton, with no character or agency of her own. Rather than taking “perfect” to mean “undetectable”, Thorndike seems to have interpreted it as “horrifying”. All in all I think I can tell why Thorndike is now the least known of these writers…
Dorothy L. Sayers – Blood Sacrifice
Thanks to its producer Garrick Drury, Bitter Laurels is a sell-out play – in both senses of the word. Playwright John Scales feels like he’s alienated his friends and ruined his chance at being taken seriously as a writer. When a terrible accident puts Drury’s life in danger, what choice will Scales make?
I’m a big fan of Sayers’ short story writing and this one was no exception. It’s certainly leaning even more towards exploring the thoughts and feelings of the main character. I found it interesting that so few of the writers went for the meticulously planned perfect murder, the kind I’d expect from the phrase, and indeed this story suggests that only chance and opportunity can create a truly perfect murder. Sayers’ depiction of character and atmosphere is so good here and I felt totally immersed in the world of this London theatre after hours, and in the headspace of this nervy young playwright.
It also prompts some of Cornish’s most interesting writing. Instead of trying to dispute the perfection of the murder, he disputes whether it is murder at all – the kind of flipped logic you might see in a mystery story.
Freeman Wills Crofts – The Parcel
Faced with ever-increasing demands from his blackmailer, Stewart Haslar devises the perfect plan to protect his comfortable married life.
Yes – that does sound very similar to Russel Thorndike’s story. Since he’s in the last slot it unfairly makes Crofts’ story seem a bit cliched. But Crofts is sensible where Thorndike is sensationalist, and I think he comes out of the comparison on top. The story is also slightly reminiscent of parts of The 12:30 From Croydon, which does harm its claims to be a perfect murder, because I remember how “perfect” the killer’s plan was in that book.
Cornish struggles to prove the solvability of this one, but he’s looking in the wrong place. The murder scheme is brutal and straightforward. It’s the secretive nature of the victim that provides all the security, and Crofts can easily slip that by the reader as fait accompli. The (slightly concerning) amount of detail Crofts has to offer about the murder method does not actually make the murder any more perfect.
The most recent version of the collection also includes a short essay from Agatha Christie pleading for the suspects in a poisoning case to be given some privacy. This probably adds more value for the publishers in allowing them to put “Agatha Christie” in big letters on the front cover than it does for the readers. It is interesting seeing what moved Christie to actually write an essay for the newspapers – themes of innocents having their lives affected by speculation, which can also be found in her fiction writing.
Other opinions:
Beneath the Stains of Time
crossexaminingcrime
The Passing Tramp