Love and death in the wild West Country
CLASSIC CRIME
THE CORNISH COAST MURDER
THE British Library has more books than any of us could read in a thousand lifetimes.
But it is not the first name to spring to mind as a publisher of fiction, least of all crime fiction. Until now. Someone i n that august institution has had the bright i dea of doing what other publishers have been slow to do: to restore the lustre to longlost literary gems.
The Cornish Coast Murder is one of the prize revivals. First published in the Thirties, the book is not so much a whodunit as a howdunit.
The squire of a small fishing village is struck down by a volley of shots fired through his study window.
The obvious suspects are the victim’s ward and her lover whose affair is known to have met with his violent disapproval.
But there is no way in which one or both could have been in the right place at the right time. And why were so many bullets expended?
While Inspector Bigswell puzzles over circumstantial evidence, the Rev Dodd, a fan of Agatha Christie, seeks a logical explanation that clears the young couple of suspicion.
Apart from the mystery of who did what, when and how, the appeal of the story is in the faithful portrayal of Cornwall before the onset of mass tourism.
And while reading of the hunt for clues along the cliff paths, we enjoy an intoxicating breath of sea air.
NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS
by Georges Simenon
(Penguin % £6.99) IF WE didn’t already know, the reissue of the Maigret mysteries at monthly intervals is proof Simenon is habit-forming.
Appearing in order of their original publication, the first six are back in print with Night At The Crossroads as the latest.
Written in the early Thirties when Simenon was getting into his literary stride, the story is of a Belgian diamond merchant whose body is found in a car on the outskirts of Paris.
Maigret’s investigation takes him to a small market town straddling a road busy with traffic bound for the capital.
It soon emerges that the leading citizens of this rural outpost — from the overly sociable garage owner and a pompous insurance agent, to a Danish aristocrat and his sister who is not as grand as she pretends to be — share a secret that connects to the murder.
As Maigret delves deeper he finds the trucks stopping off at the crossroads are picking up more than a full tank of petrol.
A conspiracy to shift drugs and diamonds begins to unravel, along with the lives of the prime suspects.
As all this is in the early stage of Maigret’s career, he is still the young, tough cop, outwardly placid, but ready to trade punches and gunshots.
But the framework for his cerebral years is beginning to take shape with faithful Sgt Lucas appearing in his first major role and imperturbable Madame Maigret making her debut.
One of the fascinations of this imaginative publishing venture is to follow the progression to maturity of one of the best-loved characters in modern fiction. There are 69 Simenon classics to follow. Start collecting.
THE MAN IN THE QUEUE
by Josephine Tey (Arrow £7.99 % £7.49) WHEN Josephine Tey’s first detective novel landed on a publisher’s desk in 1929, a whoop of joy must have been heard around the office.
The Man In The Queue is as fresh and original as ever, 85 years on.
Never one to tie herself to genre conventions, Tey builds on character and circumstances to create an enthralling catand-mouse hunt: the cat being the intelligent, but fallible, Inspector Alan Grant; the mouse a suspect in a West End killing.
Starting in London’s murkier byways, the chase ends in the Scottish Highlands where, as Grant closes in on his quarry, he begins to see the weaknesses in what he had thought was a watertight case.
Clever detection and a policeman’s sharp instinct lead to a surprising pay-off.