When a tipple helps catch a killer
MAIGRET GOES TO SCHOOL by Georges Simenon (Penguin Classics £7.99) CAN you imagine a day when an on-duty French policeman would ask for a breakfast of oysters washed down with white wine?
But 70 years ago, a fortified snifter first thing in the morning was reckoned to be just the thing to keep the gendarmes on their toes.
It certainly does wonders for Inspector Maigret when he descends on a fishing village to investigate the violent death of an elderly harridan. The timid schoolmaster, a newcomer, stands accused. Maigret has other ideas, but he is obstructed at every turn by a tight community.
The plot is almost incidental to a story that relies on character studies. And what a bunch they are, from the alcoholic deputy mayor to the doctor who treats life and death as a joke to the foultempered butcher.
They all have a tale to tell and, together, they make for compulsive reading. HERRING IN THE SMOKE by L.C. Tyler (Allison & Busby £19.99) MEET the Laurel and Hardy of the crime world. Ethelred Tressider, a much-put-upon pulp novelist, is partnered by his agent, chocolate-gobbling Elsie Thirkettle, who specialises in crushing put-downs mostly at her client’s expense.
Their latest misadventure has Ethelred researching the biography of a famous writer (missing, presumed dead). After the celebrity puts in an appearance at his own memorial service, someone makes sure his resurrection is shortlived by striking him down with a blunt instrument.
To add to the complications, there is reason to believe the dead man was an imposter. Spurred on by Elsie, the hapless Ethelred launches a murder investigation that has a list of suspects as long as her arm.
The solution, which ignores one of the basic rules of classic crime, is a bit of a cheat, but with a plot that relies on jokey dialogue, this hardly matters.
For a farcical take on crime, L.C. Tyler is hard to beat. DEATH MAKES A PROPHET by John Bude (British Library £8.99) JOHN BUDE takes a leisurely approach to plot construction. We are more than halfway through this book before a killer strikes and the indomitable Inspector Meredith is called in.
But the long build-up is full of interest, as we meet the charlatans who are competing for the largesse of an obscure religious cult.
When two of their number die from a dose of prussic acid, Meredith has to determine whether an apparent suicide pact is in fact a clever camouflage for murder.
Scattering clues like bird seed, Bude’s plot of gullibility and greed moves to a satisfying finale. The villain is not hard to spot, but his modus operandi will keep you guessing.