Published 2017, this edition 2019 by Black Thorn
183 pages
ISBM 978-1-78689-486-1
Genre: British village of Fethering, Golden Age crime story, author and writing, amateur detectives Jude and Carole, funny, cozy, place of library in society, pub, fake stories, truth distorted.
Grade: 5/5 stars
Will I read more by this writer: absolutely
One of the reasons that I like to read crime novels is that as a rule the good guys find the guilty person, and justice happens for the innocent victim, restoring order.
In this book there is a victim who absolutely deserved to be murdered.
The victim was a complete idiot of a writer who his whole life believed and behaved as if every woman he saw, was his to sexually assault in whatever way he wanted. My first reaction was, why would anyone want to find out, who had done it; whoever did it, should have a big medal; but I am a woman.
Unfortunately, the police do not think like that and when it became apparent that it was murder and murder by somebody who must have known the idiot, they have to investigate. Jude, who had been close with his first wife, Megan, 15-20 years ago and had been a victim of perpetual assaults by the idiot and she was the last person to have seen him, she was of course the first on the list of suspects, more so when Megan told the police that her husband’s affair with Jude was the reason her marriage broke up. This was not true, completely fake, but with she says - she says, the police cannot ask the murdered idiot. So, Jude is a suspect.
As somebody who likes to read, bookshops and libraries are close to my heart, in the book there are quite a few talks about the place of libraries in the modern society; the importance is less today than it was 20 years ago, funding running out and with that professionalism, and the possibility to be an autodidact as one of the characters in this book.
In the book you get a lesson in the Golden Age crime literature; today it is called cozy crime stories. Do famous writers write crime novels under synonyms because they considered it inferior literature, it is just a way to earn money until you write your literary masterpiece? Modern authors like Louise Penny and Susan Hill have some really well written crime novels with an English level above average; English is my second language but I am allowed to have an opinion on that.
The same prejudice goes for romance novels as inferior literature, which is the kind of novel, the idiot in the book wrote.
There is an absolutely ridiculous and hilarious description of an American pseudo-intellectual professor Vanessa Perks, expert on Golden Age crime novels; she teaches at a nearby university. She is single minded, and obsessed by herself. In Golden Age mystery fiction, there are five and only five reasons for murder: cover-up, revenge, insanity, money and sex crimes which can be mnemonic:” CRIMS” (p114). Her ‘thing’ is that all real crime has been taken out of Golden Age crime novels. Her type is not unknown in academia.
In a small village everybody knows everybody and their affairs; so, people in the village know Jude although she does not. I have not read other books in this series, but I understand there is general recognition that Jude and her neighbor, Carole are the local amateur sleuths having detected together in the past.
It was nice to have two women as the heroes of the book, Jude single by choice with various temporary, successive male friends and Carole divorced less single by choice, but she has relationship of sorts with Ted the pub owner, which appears to be an on-off thing. So being of mature age brings human insights that young people disregard as irrelevant. The book states they are post-menopausal that is mentioned as a fact, which I might say is quite a negative but medical way of saying they are mature, there are so many others ways that could have come out.
Another thing this novel takes up is how easy lies get believed and truth distorted, how one small detail that was overlooked, or not reported, can affect the outcome of any case. Very relevant in today’s world. What the book does not say, is how to determine, what to believe as truth and the opposite; but perhaps it is between the lines, research, use your library! knowing truth from lies is the foundation of a well-functioning democracy.
Of course, our heroes Jude and Carole find the truth and show the police how it is done; I did suspect the right suspect from chapter 3. But that is what Golden Age crime do for you, put out clues for you to interpret among a lot of pieces in the puzzle.
This book both entertained me and taught me about the Golden Age mystery period, a period I enjoy very much: Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and would also mention Amanda Cross; all strong women writers showing that women are better than men at entertaining.
I read the book during a visit to The Lake District, UK and enjoyed it so much that I wanted more books by this author, but did not find any several bookshops in the area:
This is from Ampleside
This is from Grasmere
I also tried in Kendal both WH Smith and Waterstone by then my battery in the camera had run out, none of these four bookshops carried anything by Simon Brett.
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