Notes On: The Echoing Strangers, 1952 (Mrs Bradley #25) by Gladys Mitchell

Esta entrada es bilingüe. Desplazarse hacia abajo para ver la versión en español

Vintage Digital, 2014. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 890 KB. Print Length: 260 pages. ASIN: B00D8X513M. eISBN: 978-1-4481-9036-2. The Echoing Strangers is the twenty fifth entry in Gladys Mitchell’s long-running series featuring psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs Bradley. It was first published in  1952 by Michael Joseph Ltd. London and has been reprinted several times, the later in 2014 by Vintage Press an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Summary: Twin brothers Francis and Derek Caux are orphaned at the age of seven, and soon after separated by their grandfather, Sir Adrian, who all but abandons deaf-and-dumb Francis and takes the handsome Derek under his wing. But now the pair are brought together by a pair of murders and the attentions of the witchlike psychoanalyst-detective, Mrs Bradley. Do the brothers share a guilty conscience?

My Take: On the occasion of my participation in Gladys Mitchell’s Reading Group: The Echoing Strangers hosted by Jason Half, I’ve read it recently. The story begins during the course of a boat ride. Mrs Bradley and her chauffer witnessed an incident that caught their attention. A young man on one of the river banks pushed an lady of certain age into the river waters and left calmly. Although the lady seemed to know how to swim, her clothes prevented her to reach the shore and Mrs Bradley’s chauffeur helps her. She thanked him for his gesture and, whispering that it was something very strange since he’d never done a thing like that before, she quickly entered her bungalow.

The episode could have gone unnoticed had it not been for the fact that Mrs Bradley took an interest in the case and rented a bungalow right next to them. Thus, she found out that the young man in question, Francis Caux, came from a wealthy family. He was living there in the care of Miss Higgs since his family turned him down. He did not appear to have any intellectual disabilities, in fact he was quite intelligent, but could hardly hear or speak properly. It is said that he was a good swimmer. His parents died in a car accident leaving two twin boys. Francis  was in the car with them and managed to escape unharmed, but the crash left him deaf and dumb. His grandfather got rid of him taking over the other son, Derek, making him his sole heir.

Meanwhile, a young teacher named Tom Donagh applies for a job requiring a tutor for a boy, during Mede cricket week. Preferably opening batman and slip fielder and providing last season’s batting average and other details. And. almost without realising it, he finds out he’s been hired.

Mrs Bradley, didn’t know yet she will cross her path with Tom Donagh when, through a clever gimmick, she discovered what was worrying Francis Caux, the body of a man nailed to the hull of a boat moored nearby. The body belonged to a naturalist named Campbell, who rented the bungalow which was later occupied by Mrs Bradley. The police find it difficult to accept that Francis could have discovered the body but that he couldn’t communicate it. However, the medical evidence made it clear that the man was murdered at a time when Francis and Miss Higgs were on holiday. Later we found out that Campbell had been a police informant and a blackmailer. 

What follows may be somewhat difficult to understand for those, like me, who are not familiar with the game of cricket. Suffice it to say that when the day of the match between Mede and Bruke arrives, the game comes to an unexpected end. Witt, Bruke’s captain, is found dead in the dressing rooms, struck down with his own bat. Later on we will find out some similarities between the two victims. At about the same time that the match was taking place, Miss Higgs broke her left leg, had a severe concussion and was admitted to a hospital. Consequently, Mrs. Bradley decided to bring Francis to his grandfather, to be taking care of. The next morning, Francis Caux and his new and involuntary guardian, Mrs Bradley, showed up at Sir Adrian’s house. Derek addressed them to do the honours, and to everyone’s surprise, Francis began to speak: “You are Derry. I am glad to see you. I am Francis. We are twins. There was a dead man underneath the boat. I do not like dead men. Do you like dead men?”

I’ve no doubt that Gladys Mitchell knew pretty well how to grab the reader’s attention, and understood to keep the tension growing through out the story with constant changes between Wetwode, Norfolk and Mede, Hampshire. This enables her to sustain a cleverly conceived and perfectly crafted plot. Beside the story is written with the usual mastery that we can expect from her. It might have some inconsistencies but, in my view, they are only minor flaws that fit well within the Gladys Mitchell’s universe.  All in all, a book I have much enjoyed and that, in my view, it’s well worth reading.

The Echoing Strangers has been reviewed, among others, by Nicholas Fuller at ‘The Grandest Game in the World’, Jason Half at ‘The Stone House’ and Les Blatt at ‘Classic Mysteries’, very favourably. In turn, Moira Redmond at ‘Clothes in Books’ points out the highly unattractiveness of some Gladys Mitchell’s thoughts and refers to an interesting debate, between Daniel Milford-Cottam and John Norris on these issues, in the comments to her review of another Gladys Mitchell’s book, here.

Gladys Mitchell’s Reading Group: The Echoing Strangers Post I, Post II, Post III and Post IV.

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets, LLC. Michael Joseph (UK) 1952)

About the Author: Gladys Mitchell was an English novelist and teacher known primarily as the author of 66 novels featuring psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs Bradley, she also published ten children’s books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard. Her work was largely neglected in the decades since her death. Only a few of her novels were published in the United States and few copies of her books existed on the market. Luckily, recent reissue of her novels has helped spread her work to new generations of fans of classic detective fiction. Along with Gilbert K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Gladys Mitchell was a member of the Detection Club. During the 1930s she was considered one of the “Big Three Detective Crime Writers” together  with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Gladys Mitchell was born in the village of Cowley, near Oxford, on 19 April 1901. She spent her early years in Oxfordshire and Hampshire, but in 1909 her family moved to Middlesex, where she was educated, at the Rothschild School, Brentford, and the Green School, Isleworth. She went on to Goldsmiths’ College and University College, London.  Her first post was in a small Church of England school, St. Paul’s, Brentford. After her success as a writer, she remained in the teaching profession until her first retirement in 1950 when she was working at Brentford Senior Girls’ School. Although she published one book a year since 1929, she found herself bored without the constant stimulation of teaching and, as soon as she had the opportunity, she did not hesitate to accept a position at Matthew Arnold County Secondary School for Girls, where she remained from 1953 until her final retirement in 1961. Thereafter, she moved herself to Corfe Mullen, Dorset, where she continued to write until her death on 27 July 1983. In 1976 Gladys Mitchell was awarded the Silver Dagger Award from the CWA. She never married. In Dorset she was able to pursue two of her main hobbies, the investigation of prehistoric sites and the study of medieval architecture. She was for a long time an enthusiastic student of Freud; and her friend, the novelist Helen Simpson, sparked her interest in witchcraft.

Gladys Mitchell wrote her first novel in 1923. Like the other three that followed, it was rejected and, in desperation, she tried her luck with a crime novel at the height of the so-called Golden Age. The result was Speedy Death, published by Victor Gollancz in 1929. In this novel she introduces to the readers the character of Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, a witty, strange but elegantly competent amateur detective who will feature in sixty-five other novels and several short stories. Her last novel was published posthumously in 1984, when the Golden Age had long since come to an end. Mrs Bradley, later Dame Beatrice, psychoanalyst and writer, awarded honorary degrees from nearly every university in the world, is the epitome of the professional woman of her days. Many of her views, rational and socially progressive, are similar to those of her creator. In her books she often satirizes or inverts the traditional patterns of the genre. Gladys Mitchell was also a member of the Middlesex Education Association, PEN, the Society of Authors, the CWA and, as proof of her abiding interest in sports, the British Olympic Association.

Selected bibliography: The Mystery of a Butcher’s Shop (1929), The Saltmarsh Murders (1932), Death at the Opera (1934), The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935), Dead Men’s Morris (1936), Come Away, Death (1937), St Peter’s Finger (1938), Brazen Tongue (1940), When Last I Died (1941), Sunset Over Soho (1943), The Rising of the Moon (1945) Gladys Mitchell’s only work to date available in Spanish under the title Cuando sale la luna (Fábulas de Albión, 2012), Death and the Maiden (1947), Tom Brown’s Body (1949), Groaning Spinney (1950) APA Murder in the Snow: A Cotswold Christmas Mystery, The Echoing Strangers (1952), and The Twenty-Third Man (1957).

Further reading: Gladys Mitchell at Golden Age of Detection Wiki, The Grandest Game in the World, and The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site.

Penguin Books UK publicity page

Artistic Difference: What makes GLADYS MITCHELL special?

Mary Jean DeMarr on Gladys Mitchell (1989)

Gladys Mitchell Obituary

The Echoing Strangers, de Gladys Mitchell

Sinopsis: Los gemelos Francis y Derek Caux quedan huérfanos a los siete años de edad. Poco después los separa su abuelo, Sir Adrian, quien casi abandona al sordo y mudo Francis y toma bajo su protección al apuesto Derek. Pero ahora un par de asesinatos y el particular interés de la psicoanalista detective señora Bradley con aspecto de bruja, ha vuelto a reunirles. ¿Comparten ambos hermanos una mala conciencia?

Mi opinión: Con motivo de mi participación en el grupo de lectura de Gladys Mitchell: The Echoing Strangers organizado por Jason Half, lo leí recientemente. La historia comienza durante el transcurso de un paseo en bote. Mrs Bradley y su chofer presenciaron un incidente que les llamó la atención. Un joven en una de las orillas del río empujó a una señora de cierta edad a las aguas del río y se fue tranquilamente. Aunque la señora parecía saber nadar, su ropa le impedía llegar a la orilla y el chofer de la señora Bradley la ayuda. Ella le agradeció su gesto y, susurrando que era algo muy extraño ya que él nunca había hecho algo así, entró rápidamente en su bungalow.

El episodio podría haber pasado desapercibido de no haber sido porque Mrs Bradley se interesó por el caso y alquiló un bungalow justo al lado de ellos. Así, se enteró de que el joven en cuestión, Francis Caux, provenía de una familia adinerada. Vivía allí al cuidado de Miss Higgs desde que su familia lo rechazó. No parecía tener ninguna discapacidad intelectual, de hecho, era bastante inteligente, pero apenas podía oír o hablar correctamente. Se dice que era un buen nadador. Sus padres murieron en un accidente automovilístico dejando dos niños gemelos. Francis estaba en el auto con ellos y logró escapar ileso, pero el accidente lo dejó sordo y mudo. Su abuelo se deshizo de él haciéndose cargo del otro hijo, Derek, convirtiéndolo en su único heredero.

Mientras tanto, un joven maestro llamado Tom Donagh solicita un trabajo que requiere un tutor para un niño durante la semana de cricket de Mede. Preferiblemente primer bateador y defensa (split fielder) y proporcionando el promedio de bateo de la temporada pasada y otros detalles. Y. casi sin darse cuenta, se entera de que ha sido contratado.

Mrs Bradley, aún no sabía que se cruzaría en su camino con Tom Donagh cuando, a través de un ingenioso truco, descubrió lo que preocupaba a Francis Caux, el cuerpo de un hombre clavado en el casco de un barco amarrado cerca. El cuerpo pertenecía a un naturalista llamado Campbell, que alquiló el bungalow que más tarde ocupó Mrs Bradley. A la policía le cuesta aceptar que Francis pudiera haber descubierto el cuerpo pero que no pudiera comunicarlo. Sin embargo, la evidencia médica dejó en claro que el hombre fue asesinado en un momento en que Francis y Miss Higgs estaban de vacaciones. Más tarde supimos que Campbell había sido informante de la policía y chantajista.

Lo que sigue puede ser algo difícil de entender para aquellos, como yo, que no están familiarizados con el juego del cricket. Baste decir que cuando llega el día del partido entre Mede y Bruke, el juego llega a un final inesperado. Witt, el capitán de Bruke, es encontrado muerto en los camerinos, derribado con su propio bate. Más adelante descubriremos algunas similitudes entre las dos víctimas. Aproximadamente al mismo tiempo que se desarrollaba el partido, Miss Higgs se rompió la pierna izquierda, sufrió una conmoción cerebral grave y fue ingresada en un hospital. En consecuencia, Mrs Bradley decidió llevar a Francis con su abuelo, para que lo cuidara. A la mañana siguiente, Francis Caux y su nueva e involuntaria tutora, Mrs Bradley, se presentaron en la casa de Sir Adrian. Derek se dirigió a ellos para hacer los honores y, para sorpresa de todos, Francis comenzó a hablar: “Tú eres Derry. Me alegro de verte. Soy Francis. Somos gemelos. Había un hombre muerto debajo del bote. No me gustan los muertos ¿Te gustan los muertos?

No me cabe la menor duda de que Gladys Mitchell sabía muy bien cómo captar la atención del lector y entendía cómo mantener la tensión creciendo a lo largo de la historia con cambios constantes entre Wetwode, Norfolk y Mede, Hampshire. Esto le permite sostener una trama ingeniosamente concebida y perfectamente elaborada. Además la historia está escrita con la maestría habitual que podemos esperar de ella. Puede tener algunas inconsistencias pero, en mi opinión, son solo defectos menores que encajan bien dentro del universo de Gladys Mitchell. En definitiva, un libro que he disfrutado mucho y que, bajo mi punto de vista, merece la pena leer.

Acerca del autor: Gladys Mitchell fue una novelista y profesora inglesa conocida principalmente como la autora de 66 novelas protagonizadas por la psicoanalista y detective aficionada Mrs Bradley. También publicó diez libros para niños con su propio nombre, ficción histórica con el seudónimo de Stephen Hockaby y más libros de ficción policiaca bajo el seudónimo de Malcolm Torrie. También escribió una gran cantidad de relatos, todos publicados originalmente en el Evening Standard. Su trabajo fue olvidado en gran medida en las décadas posteriores a su muerte. Solo unas pocas de sus novelas se publicaron en los Estados Unidos y existían pocas copias de sus libros en el mercado. Afortunadamente, la reciente reedición de sus novelas ha ayudado a difundir su trabajo entre las nuevas generaciones de aficionados a la novela policiaca clásica. Junto con Gilbert K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie y Dorothy L. Sayers, Gladys Mitchell fue miembro del Detection Club. Durante la década de 1930, fue considerada una de las “Tres Grandes Escritoras de Novelas Policíacas” junto con Agatha Christie y Dorothy L. Sayers.

Gladys Mitchell nació en el pueblo de Cowley, cerca de Oxford, el 19 de abril de 1901. Pasó sus primeros años en Oxfordshire y Hampshire, pero en 1909 su familia se mudó a Middlesex, donde se educó en la Escuela Rothschild, Brentford, y la Escuela Verde, Isleworth. Luego asistió al Goldsmiths’ College y al University College de Londres. Su primer trabajo fue en una pequeña escuela de la Iglesia de Inglaterra, St. Paul’s, Brentford. Tras su éxito como escritora, continuó en la docencia hasta su primera jubilación en 1950 cuando trabajaba en Brentford Senior Girls’ School. Aunque publicaba un libro al año desde 1929, se aburría sin el estímulo constante de la enseñanza y, tan pronto como tuvo la oportunidad, no dudó en aceptar un puesto en Matthew Arnold County Secondary School for Girls, donde permaneció. desde 1953 hasta su jubilación definitiva en 1961. A partir de entonces, se mudó a Corfe Mullen, Dorset, donde continuó escribiendo hasta su muerte el 27 de julio de 1983. En 1976, Gladys Mitchell recibió el premio Silver Dagger de la CWA. Ella nunca se casó. En Dorset pudo dedicarse a dos de sus principales aficiones, la investigación de yacimientos prehistóricos y el estudio de la arquitectura medieval. Fue durante mucho tiempo una entusiasta estudiante de Freud; y su amiga, la novelista Helen Simpson, despertó su interés por la brujería.

Gladys Mitchell escribió su primera novela en 1923. Como las otras tres que le siguieron, fue rechazada y, desesperada, probó suerte con una novela policiaca en pleno apogeo de la llamada Edad de Oro. El resultado fue Speedy Death, publicada por Victor Gollancz en 1929. En esta novela, presenta a los lectores el personaje de Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, una detective aficionada ingeniosa, extraña pero elegantemente competente que aparecerá en otras sesenta y cinco novelas y en varios relatos. Su última novela se publicó póstumamente en 1984, cuando la Edad de Oro ya había llegado a su fin. Mrs Bradley, más tarde Dame Beatrice, psicoanalista y escritora, galardonada con títulos honoríficos de casi todas las universidades del mundo, es el epítome de la mujer profesional de su época. Muchos de sus puntos de vista, racionales y socialmente progresistas, son similares a los de su creadora. En sus libros, a menudo satiriza o invierte los patrones tradicionales del género. Gladys Mitchell también fue miembro de la Asociación de Educación de Middlesex, del PEN, de la Sociedad de Autores, de la CWA y, como prueba de su interés constante por el deporte, de la Asociación Olímpica Británica.

Gladys Mitchell (1901–1983) An update 16 April 2023

Gladys Mitchell was an English novelist and teacher from the so-called Golden Age of British detective fiction. Known primarily as the author of 66 novels featuring psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs Bradley, she also published ten children’s books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard.

Although the poet and literary critic Philip Larkin called her “the Great Gladys”, her work was largely neglected in the decades since her death. Only a few of her novels were published in the United States and few copies of her books existed on the market. Luckily, the recent reissue of her novels has helped spread her work to new generations of fans of classic detective fiction.

Along with Gilbert K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Gladys Mitchell was an early member of the Detection Club. During the 1930s she was considered one of the “Big Three Detective Crime Writers” together  with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Gladys Mitchell was born in the village of Cowley, near Oxford, on 19 April 1901. Her full name was Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell, her mother Annie was English and her father James, of Scottish descent, was the sixth child in a large family. His family circumstances forced him to work from an early age, but he was determined that his children, Gladys and her sisters, would have a more complete and better education than he had had.

She spent her early years in Oxfordshire and Hampshire, but in 1909 her family moved to Middlesex, where she was educated, at the Rothschild School, Brentford, and the Green School, Isleworth. She went on to Goldsmiths’ College and University College, London.  Her first post was in a small Church of England school, St. Paul’s, Brentford. After her success as a writer, she remained in the teaching profession until her first retirement in 1950 when she was working at Brentford Senior Girls’ School .

Although she published one book a year since 1929, she found herself bored without the constant stimulation of teaching and, as soon as she had the opportunity, she did not hesitate to accept a position at Matthew Arnold County Secondary School for Girls, where she remained from 1953 until her final retirement in 1961.

Thereafter, she moved herself to Corfe Mullen, Dorset, where she continued to write until her death on 27 July 1983. In 1976 Gladys Mitchell was awarded the Silver Dagger Award from the CWA. She never married.

In Dorset she was able to pursue two of her main hobbies, the investigation of prehistoric sites and the study of medieval architecture. She was for a long time an enthusiastic student of Freud; and her friend, the novelist Helen Simpson, sparked her interest in witchcraft.

Gladys Mitchell wrote her first novel in 1923. Like the other three that followed, it was rejected and, in desperation, she tried her luck with a crime novel at the height of the so-called Golden Age. The result was Speedy Death, published by Victor Gollancz in 1929. In this novel she introduces to the readers the character of Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, a witty, strange but elegantly competent amateur detective who will feature in sixty-five other novels and several short stories. Her last novel was published posthumously in 1984, when the Golden Age had long since come to an end.

Mrs Bradley, later Dame Beatrice, psychoanalyst and writer, awarded honorary degrees from nearly every university in the world, is the epitome of the professional woman of her days. Many of her views, rational and socially progressive, are similar to those of her creator. In her books she often satirizes or inverts the traditional patterns of the genre.

Gladys Mitchell was also a member of the Middlesex Education Association, PEN, the Society of Authors, the CWA and, as proof of her abiding interest in sports, the British Olympic Association.

Selected bibliography: Speedy Death (1929), The Mystery of a Butcher’s Shop (1929), The Saltmarsh Murders (1932), Death at the Opera (1934), The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935), Dead Men’s Morris (1936), Come Away, Death (1937), St Peter’s Finger (1938), Brazen Tongue (1940), When Last I Died (1941), Laurels are Poison (1942), Sunset Over Soho (1943), The Rising of the Moon (1945) Gladys Mitchell’s only work to date available in Spanish under the title Cuando sale la luna (Fábulas de Albión, 2012), Death and the Maiden (1947), Tom Brown’s Body (1949), Groaning Spinney (1950) APA Murder in the Snow: A Cotswold Christmas Mystery, The Echoing Strangers (1952), The Twenty-Third Man (1957), Dance to Your Daddy (1969), A Hearse on May-Day (1972), The Death-Cap Dancers (1981) and The Greenstone Griffins (1983).

Further reading: Gadetection, A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection, The Grandest Game in the World, and The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site.

Talking Of Gladys Mitchell

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC. Michael Joseph (UK), 1952)

I’ve developed a certain taste for Gladys Mitchell long-running series featuring psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs Bradley thanks mainly to Jason Half, the keeper of The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site. And I’m glad to be able to participate in the group reading organised by him of The Echoing Strangers (1952) this April. 

The Echoing Strangers is the twenty fifth entry in the series. The story was first published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd. London in 1952, and has been reprinted several times, the later in 2014 by Vintage Press an imprint of Penguin Random House.You can read here what Jason says about this novel.

Besides I don’t think it’s premature to announce, that soon the Spanish publisher Who will release the translation of When Last I Died (1941) that, if I’m not mistaken, this will be the first time that this title will be made available to Spanish speaking readers. Stay tuned.

About the Author: Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell – or ‘The Great Gladys’ as Philip Larkin called her – was born in 1901, in Cowley in Oxfordshire. She graduated in history from University College London and in 1921 began her long career as a teacher. Her hobbies included architecture and writing poetry. She studied the works of Sigmund Freud and her interest in witchcraft was encouraged by her friend, the detective novelist Helen Simpson. Her first novel, Speedy Death, was published in 1929 and introduced readers to Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, the detective heroine of a further sixty six crime novels. She wrote at least one novel a year throughout her career and was an early member of the Detection Club, alongside Agatha Christie, G.K Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers. In 1961 she retired from teaching and, from her home in Dorset, continued to write, receiving the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger in 1976. Gladys Mitchell died in 1983.

Selected bibliography: Speedy Death (1929), The Mystery of a Butcher’s Shop (1929), The Saltmarsh Murders (1932), Death at the Opera (1934), The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935), Dead Men’s Morris (1936), Come Away, Death (1937), St Peter’s Finger (1938), Brazen Tongue (1940), When Last I Died (1941), Laurels are Poison (1942), Sunset Over Soho (1943), The Rising of the Moon (1945), Here Comes a Chopper (1946), Death and the Maiden (1947), The Dancing Druids (1948), Tom Brown’s Body (1949), Groaning Spinney (1950) APA Murder in the Snow: A Cotswold Christmas Mystery, The Echoing Strangers (1952), Merlin’s Furlong (1953), The Twenty-Third Man (1957), The Croaking Raven (1966), Dance to Your Daddy (1969), Nest of Vipers (1979), The Whispering Knights (1980), Here Lies Gloria Mundy (1982), and The Greenstone Griffins (1983).

My Book Notes: Groaning Spinney, 1950 (Mrs Bradley #23) by Gladys Mitchell

Esta entrada es bilingüe. Desplazarse hacia abajo para ver la versión en español

Thomas & Mercer, 2014. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 3911 KB. Print Length: 272 pages. ASIN:B00H4K59RS. ISBN: 9781477868935. First published in the UK by Michael Joseph Ltd., in 1950. Reprinted several times, the later in 2017 by Vintage Press under the title Murder in the Snow: A Cotswold Christmas Mystery.

Synopsis: Mrs. Bradley has decided to spend Christmas with her nephew Jonathan and his wife Deb at their home in the Cotswolds. Upon settling in, the psychiatrist soon hears the story of a local apparition: the ghost of a country parson, it is said, can sometimes be seen at night slung over the gate leading to a grouping of trees called Groaning Spinney. As neighbours and locals visit Jonathan with seasonal greetings (for he has inherited, with the purchase of the large house, the mantle of village squire), Mrs. Bradley learns that the ghostly vicar has been spotted that evening by two travellers. She also makes the acquaintance of Tiny Fullalove, a man to whom Mrs. Bradley takes an immediate dislike. She fares better with Tiny’s brother Bill, a capable countryman named Will North, and farmhand Ed Brown, who has a knack for befriending and taming wild animals, particularly birds.

After the holiday, various villagers begin to receive anonymous letters carrying accusations and insinuations against themselves and others. The first letters are handwritten, subsequent ones typed. Jonathan points out that their spiteful content usually springs from a kernel of truth; e.g., a note detailing an affair between Tiny and Deb seems to elaborate upon an unwelcome pass Tiny had made previously. In the midst of this, and after a particularly heavy snowfall, the body of Bill Fullalove is found, slumped over the woodland gate in a morbid imitation of the parson’s demise a century before.

As Mrs. Bradley theorizes upon the source of the poison pen letters, she makes the acquaintance of the Inspector assigned to the suspicious death and pesters him into exhuming the recently interred body. Another discovery reveals itself with the winter’s thaw: the body of a woman, housekeeper to the Fullaloves, is found on the hillside, where it was buried for weeks under deep snow. The finding of dog collars and leads stuck into a rabbit hole provides for Mrs. Bradley further proof of her theory, and as she gets into riding dress to accompany her nephew on a fox hunt, she sets a trap that will flush out the guilty party and run it to ground. (Summary taken from The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site, copyright 2021 by Jason Half, published with the express consent of the author).

My Take:  Mrs Bradley is in the Cotswolds for the Christmas holidays. She is visiting her favourite nephew, Jonathan (Jon) Bradley. Less than a year ago, Jon and his wife Deborah (Deb) got lucky. A great estate was put up for sale in the Cotswolds.The Ministry of Education bought two-thirds of the property. Mrs. Bradley’s nephew purchased the remaining third of the land and the original manor house. The day after Mrs Bradley arrived, they all went for a walk through the countryside around the house. Upon reaching a small group of trees, Jonathan showed his aunt the place called Groaning Spinney, where a local ghost is said to appear on full moon nights. A local parson who, according to an ancient legend, was found hanging over the entrance to the grove. Next, they went to visit the Fullalove cousins, Tiny and Bill. Tiny was the local agent and had been helpful in introducing them most of the locals. When they arrived their housekeeper, Mrs. Dalby Whittier, told them that the Fullaloves would be back soon. Once Mrs. Bradley met the Fullaloves, she realised that neither she nor Deborah liked Tiny. However, Tiny and Bill will be joining them for dinner on Christmas Day, and for tea and dinner on Boxing Day. Worse still, they asked the Bradleys to put up a couple of pals of theirs. Two men of Jonathan’s age, an archaeologist and a naturalist respectively, Gregory Mansell and Miles Obury. Mansell and Obury turned out to be nice and sociable persons and the evening at the manor turned out to be very enjoyable. At night, Mansell and Obury went for a walk and joked about the ghost, but when they returned, they said they have seen the ghost. It seemed strange, since the ghost only used to appear in the moonlight, and that night was completely dark. The next day, more people joined them for Christmas dinner and the conversation revolved around the ghost’s legend.

Several people in the area began receiving anonymous letters with false accusations after Boxing day. They all had a small dose of truth to make them pass as true. It was then that Jonathan found Bill Fullalove’s body in Groaning Spinney, similar to how the old parson turned up dead a century ago. The subsequent inquest established that it was an accidental death, but some things did not make any sense. Will North, the gamekeeper, said that on the afternoon of poor Bill Fullalove’s death he went up through Groaning Spinney and noticed that a wooden platform, intended for the naturalist friend of the Fullalove cousins, had more of snow than it should have. However, when he returned, after Bill’s body was taken away, he noticed that the pile of snow on the platform was appreciably larger, even though there had been only a light snowfall.

At the beginning of January, Jonathan, in his capacity of Justice of the Peace and local Squire that confers him the ownership of the manor house, received the visit of several locals. Some had received anonymous letters accusing them of having murdered Bill Fullalove. Other letters stated that that Bill was murdered by Mr Tiny, his own cousin. Some letters went so far as to say that the doctors who examined the body are guilty of having issued a false death certificate. The police even showed up at the manor house to discuss with Jonathan the allegation that there was something fishy in Bill’s death. Someone who might have a say in this regard was the Fullaloves’ housekeeper, Mrs Dalby Whittier. She was last seen leaving the Fullaloves’ bungalow on Christmas Eve to visit relatives in London, but she never made it there. Her relatives did not give any importance to this, they simply thought that she had changed her mind at the last moment. Anyway,  at present no one knows where she might be.

The most surprising thing about the case comes when it is discovered that Mr Bill recently underwent a medical examination in connection with a life insurance policy. The doctor who treated him assured that Mr Bill was in excellent physical conditions and, now that he has died, it comes to light that the beneficiary of the insurance policy  is his beloved wife Amabel Lucinda. This is quite extraordinary, his cousin Mr Tiny claims that Mr Bill was a bachelor and had never been married. It is then when the idea begins to take shape that Amabel Lucinda could very well be Mrs Dalby Whittier and that Mr Bill could have married her in secret. Another detail that should not be overlooked is that all the letters, except the first one addressed to Jonathan which was handwritten, were typed and the typewriter cannot be located. Furthermore, there’s not a single typewriter in the village.

The idea of the exhumation of Bill Fullalove’s body will be discarded for lack of evidence, as well as fear of giving the author of the letters some notoriety. It is suspected that if things are left as they are, those letters will gradually disappear. After all, according to the Chief Constable, Dr Fielding himself and the local police surgeon were clear in their evidence during the inquest. Furthermore, Mr Tiny was the only person that had nothing to do with the death of his cousin. At that time he had busted his knee-cup. Nevertheless, Mrs Bradley disagreed. She believed there was something suspicious in Bill’s death and that there was also something strange about the disappearance of Mrs Dalby Whittier. Anyway, the first step should be to find Bill’s wife, even though the problem could be that, having been a sailor, he could have married abroad.

The thaw brought another surprise. The body of a woman identified as Mrs Dalby Whittier was found in the middle of the farm fields. The following inquest determined she had been poisoned, but without sufficient evidence to show how and by whom the poison was administered. Thanks to Mrs Bradley’s brilliant idea, it was proven that Mrs Whitter had not died where her body was found. And there’s no doubt in Mrs Bradley’s mind that both deaths should not have occurred. In any case, now the Chief Constable is determined to order the exhumation of Bill Fullalove’s body. Furthermore, thanks to the id card and the ration book found in Mrs Wittier’s bag, it was discovered she could have been the author of the first anonymous handwritten letter sent. In any case the calligraphy experts claimed that the address on the ration book and Jonathan’s anonymous letter were written by the same hand, but it has yet to be proven whether it was written by her own will or under duress. The next  news came when farmer Daventry, looking through poor Bill Fullalove’s papers, discovered that he used to have a typewriter, but now there is no one in the bungalow and Mr Tiny stated there had never been one there.

The story took a new turn when a woman appeared posing as Mrs. Bill Fullalove. She was in her early 30s and it’s believed that she would have some difficulty proving her case. Her marriage certificate was dated in 1920, a time at which she would barely had eight years, as we will see later. Meanwhile, Mrs Bradley begun to suspect something was amiss regarding the true identity of the Fullaloves. Oddly enough, Bill’s true name was Clarence and Tiny’s real name was William, which could lead to an attempted fraud by one or both of the cousins. Also, it was difficult to believe how Mr Tiny could have ascertained that Mr Bill was going to go through at the moment he did. And he would have had to time very well the moment when he injured the knee that provided his alibi. A short time later the order came for the exhumation of Bill Fullalove’s remains. However, the autopsy didn’t find any foul play, which confirmed the point of view that the Chief Constable had held throughout all this time.

Mrs Bradley summarises the latest incidents to her nephew Jonathan. She felt that Worry (Will North’s dog) had either been injured or decoyed. She realised that the woman who called herself Mrs Bill Fullalove had tried to retain her in her bungalow for no apparent reason. She knew that she must have heard the shot intended for Ed Brown and she didn’t mention it. The shots from the gun which was tied to the gate at the top of Groaning Spinney were aimed either at Ed or Will, although it seemed likely that Ed was the intended victim. Worry, the dog, hated that gate, he didn’t see a ghost that day but smelled someone he didn’t like. The only person who was above suspicion was Tiny Fullalove. He was still in the hospital unable to walk, after falling off the balcony of Mrs Bradley’s home in London. Besides there was no reason why young Emming would have wanted to murder his mother. So Mrs Bradley thought it would be a good idea to talk to Ed about it and asked him a simple question: ‘How did the dog, Worry, get to Mrs Bill Fullalove?’ ‘He followed Mr Tiny’ Ed replied, ‘any dog –and that one in particular– would follow Mr Tiny anywhere.’ And, at this point, we learn that Ed was hiding in Will North’s cottage to keep up the deception that he was dead while letting the rumour circulate that his body had been examined by the police doctor.

The deception could not be sustained for long, there was the issue of the inquest, but Mrs Bradley hoped it could be delayed until she could be ready with her evidence. To test her theories, she went to see the Chief Constable. But at this point, Mrs Bradley tells the Chief Constable everything the reader already knows, which I find quite redundant, not to call it unnecessary, and it doesn’t add anything new. But back to the dog, on their way home from the Fullaloves’ bungalow, the dog was terrified upon reaching Groaning Spinney. Worry wouldn’t go through the gate until his owner arrived. However, what followed is mere speculation. The next part of the story, as far as the dog is concerned, was the question of his disappearance. But Mrs Bradley’s theory was refuted by her nephew, who told her that anyone could have stolen the gamekeeper’s gun. His cottage was often left empty unattended.

Coming back to Emming’s name, it is said once again that he could be a murderer but, why would he kill his mother if she was his only mean of support? And then the idea arose that Mrs Dalby Whittier and Bill Fullalove could have been husband and wife, in which case the marriage certificate held by whoever claims to be Mrs Bill Fullalove would not be a forgery.  And  Mrs Bradley launched the idea that Emmery is either Mr Bill’s stepson or Mr Tiny’s son, and that the story he told some weeks ago is partially true. Later, Mrs Bradley got to the point why would Will North had become so dangerous to the murderers. And I think  this is the first time that Mrs Bradley had spoken openly about the possibility of more than one murderer. But what is not so clear to me is why that would mean Will North forgot to follow the trail of the snow accumulated on the badger-watching platform. The explanation that he was looking for his dog, seemed pretty weak to me. And once again the issue of the name confusion between the two cousins pops up.

I’d rather stop here to avoid spoilers, in any case the story still has four more chapters but I’m afraid, as far as the investigation goes, that they don’t really add much. In short I can’t understand how Mrs Bradley comes to any conclusion and wonder what I am missing. On the positive side the strength of the story resides mainly in the portraits of the characters and in the description of the environment in which the story takes place.

In short, even if Groaning Spinney has many rewarding passages,  I found the path chosen to tell the story overly complex and tortuous. Occasionally, the story repeats itself unnecessarily and gets too long without adding anything new. However, I did enjoy taking part in the December 2021 Mitchell Reading Group. For more information, visit Jason Half’s blog, Post #1, Post #2, Post #3, and Post #4. The experience allowed me to realise multiple aspects of the book that I would have otherwise overlooked. So I’m very grateful to Jason Half for undertaking this initiative.

Groaning Spinney has been reviewed, among others, by Nick Fuller at The Grandest Game in the World, Jason Half at The Stone House, J F Norris at Pretty Sinister Books, Moira Redmond at Clothes in Books, Curt Evans at The Passing Tramp, TomCat at Beneath the Stains of Time, and Kate Jackson at Cross-Examining Crime.

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets, LLC. Michael Joseph (UK) 1950)

About the Author: Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell – or ‘The Great Gladys’ as Philip Larkin called her – was born in 1901, in Cowley in Oxfordshire. She graduated in history from University College London and in 1921 began her long career as a teacher. Her hobbies included architecture and writing poetry. She studied the works of Sigmund Freud and her interest in witchcraft was encouraged by her friend, the detective novelist Helen Simpson. Her first novel, Speedy Death, was published in 1929 and introduced readers to Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, the detective heroine of a further sixty six crime novels. She wrote at least one novel a year throughout her career and was an early member of the Detection Club, alongside Agatha Christie, G.K Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers. In 1961 she retired from teaching and, from her home in Dorset, continued to write, receiving the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger in 1976. Gladys Mitchell died in 1983.

“It is worth noting that Gladys Mitchell’s books published before 1950 are generally more varied and arguably more successful than her later books. Beginning in the 1950s, narrative style and plotlines level out, producing mysteries that are readable but often not noteworthy. There are some successful later books, but most of the author’s very best can be found in the first two decades of her publishing career.” (Jason Half)

Selected bibliography: Speedy Death (1929), The Mystery of a Butcher’s Shop (1929), The Saltmarsh Murders (1932), Death at the Opera (1934), The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935), Dead Men’s Morris (1936), Come Away, Death (1937), St Peter’s Finger (1938), Brazen Tongue (1940), When Last I Died (1941), Laurels are Poison (1942), Sunset Over Soho (1943), The Rising of the Moon (1945), Here Comes a Chopper (1946), Death and the Maiden (1947), The Dancing Druids (1948), Tom Brown’s Body (1949), Groaning Spinney (1950) APA Murder in the Snow: A Cotswold Christmas Mystery, The Echoing Strangers (1952), Merlin’s Furlong (1953), The Twenty-Third Man (1957), The Croaking Raven (1966), Dance to Your Daddy (1969), Nest of Vipers (1979), The Whispering Knights (1980), Here Lies Gloria Mundy (1982), and The Greenstone Griffins (1983).

The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site

Artistic Difference: What makes GLADYS MITCHELL special?

Mary Jean DeMarr on Gladys Mitchell (1989)

Gladys Mitchell at Golden Age of Detection Wiki

Gladys Mitchell Obituary

Groaning Spinney, de Gladys Mitchell

Sinopsis: La Sra. Bradley ha decidido pasar las Navidades con su sobrino Jonathan y su mujer Deb en su casa de los Cotswolds. Al instalarse, la psiquiatra pronto escucha la historia de una aparición local: el fantasma de un párroco rural, se dice que en ocasiones se le puede ver por la noche colgado sobre la entrada que conduce a un grupo de árboles llamado Groaning Spinney. Mientras los vecinos y los lugareños visitan a Jonathan para feclicitarle (porque ha heredado, junto con la compra de la mansión, la responsabilidad de señor del pueblo), la Sra. Bradley se entera de que el fantasma del vicario ha sido visto esa tarde-noche por dos viajeros. También conoce a Tiny Fullalove, un hombre por el que la señora Bradley siente una antipatía inmediata. A ella le va mejor con el hermano de Tiny, Bill, un competente campesiono llamado Will North, y el peón Ed Brown, que tiene una habilidad especial para hacerse amigo de animales salvajes y domesticarlos, pájaros en particular.

Tras las fiestas, varios vecinos del pueblo comienzan a recibir cartas anónimas con acusaciones e insinuaciones contra ellos mismos y contra otras personas. Las primeras cartas están escritas a mano, las siguientes mecanografiadas. Jonathan señala que su contenido malintencionado generalmente surge de algo cierto, por ejemplo, una nota que detalla una aventura entre Tiny y Deb surgió al parecer de un intento no deseado de sobrepasarse que Tiny había efectuado antes. En medio de esto, y tras una nevada particularmente fuerte, se encuentra el cuerpo de Bill Fullalove, desplomado sobre la entrada del bosque en una morbosa imitación de la muerte del párroco un siglo antes.

Mientras la Sra. Bradley teoriza sobre las cartas anónimas difamatorias, conoce al inspector asignado a investigar la muerte sospechosa y lo persigue sin descanso para que exhume el cuerpo recién enterrado. Otro descubrimiento sale a la luz con el deshielo del invierno, el cuerpo de una mujer, el ama de llaves de los Fullalove, aparece en la ladera, donde estuvo enterrada durante semanas bajo la nieve. El hallazgo de collares y correas de perros metidas dentro de una madriguera de conejos le proporciona a la Sra. Bradley una prueba más de su teoría, y cuando se pone el traje de montar a caballo para acompañar a su sobrino a una cacería de zorros, tiende una trampa que obligará al culpable a salir de su escondrijo e identificarlo. (Mi traducción libre del resumen tomado de The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site, copyright 2021 de Jason Half, publicado con el consentimiento expreso del autor).

Mi opinión: La señora Bradley se encuentra en los Cotswolds para pasar las vacaciones de Navidad. Está visitando a su sobrino favorito, Jonathan (Jon) Bradley. Hace menos de un año, Jon y su esposa Deborah (Deb) tuvieron suerte. Se puso a la venta una gran propiedad en los Cotswolds. El Ministerio de Educación compró dos tercios de la propiedad. El sobrino de la Sra. Bradley compró el tercio restante del terreno y la casa solariega original. Al día siguiente de la llegada de la señora Bradley, todos salieron a caminar por el campo alrededor de la casa. Al llegar a un pequeño grupo de árboles, Jonathan le mostró a su tía el lugar llamado Groaning Spinney, donde se dice que aparece un fantasma local en las noches de luna llena. Un párroco local que, según una antigua leyenda, fue encontrado colgando sobre la entrada del bosquecillo. A continuación, fueron a visitar a los primos Fullalove, Tiny y Bill. Tiny era el agente local y había sido útil presentándoles a la mayoría de la gente del lugar. Cuando llegaron, su ama de llaves, la Sra. Dalby Whittier, les dijo que los Fullalove regresarían pronto. Una vez que la Sra. Bradley conoce a los Fullalove, se dio cuenta de que ni a ella ni a Deborah les caía bien Tiny. Sin embargo, Tiny y Bill se unirán a ellos para cenar el día de Navidad y para el té y la cena el 26 de diciembre. Peor aún, pidieron a los Bradley que alojaran a un par de amigos suyos. Dos hombres de la edad de Jonathan, un arqueólogo y un naturalista respectivamente, Gregory Mansell y Miles Obury. Mansell y Obury resultaron ser personas agradables y sociables y la velada en la casona resultó ser muy agradable. Por la noche, Mansell y Obury salieron a caminar y bromearon sobre el fantasma, pero cuando regresaron dijeron que habían visto al fantasma. Parecía extraño, ya que el fantasma solo solía aparecer a la luz de la luna, y esa noche estaba completamente oscura. Al día siguiente, más personas se unieron a ellos para la cena de Navidad y la conversación giró en torno a la leyenda del fantasma.

Varias personas de la zona comenzaron a recibir cartas anónimas con acusaciones falsas después del día de San Esteban. Todas tenían una pequeña dosis de verdad para hacerlas pasar por verdaderas. Fue entonces cuando Jonathan encontró el cuerpo de Bill Fullalove en Groaning Spinney, de manera similar a como el viejo párroco apareció muerto hace un siglo. La investigación posterior estableció que se trataba de una muerte accidental, pero algunas cosas no tenían ningún sentido. Will North, el guardabosques, dijo que la tarde de la muerte del pobre Bill Fullalove subió por Groaning Spinney y notó que una plataforma de madera, destinada al amigo naturalista de los primos Fullalove, tenía una mayor cantidad de nieve de la que debería tener. Sin embargo, cuando regresó, después de que se llevaran el cuerpo de Bill, notó que el montón de nieve en la plataforma era apreciablemente mayor, a pesar de que no había habido más que una nevada ligera.

A principios de enero, Jonathan, en su condición de Juez de Paz y prinicpal terrateniente de la localidad que le confiere la propiedad de la casa solariega, recibió la visita de varios lugareños. Algunos habían recibido cartas anónimas acusándoles de haber asesinado a Bill Fullalove. Otras cartas señalaron que Bill fue asesinado por Mr. Tiny, su propio primo. Algunas cartas llegaron incluso a decir que los médicos que examinaron el cuerpo son culpables de haber emitido un certificado de defunción falso. Incluso la policía se presentó en la casa solariega para comentar con Jonathan la acusación de que había algo sospechoso en la muerte de Bill. Alguien que podría tener algo que decir en este sentido era el ama de llaves de los Fullalove, la señora Dalby Whittier. Fue vista por última vez saliendo del bungalow de los Fullalove en Nochebuena para visitar a unos parientes en Londres, pero nunca llegó allí. Sus familiares no le dieron importancia a esto, simplemente pensaron que había cambiado de opinión en el último momento. De todos modos, actualmente nadie sabe dónde podría estar.

Lo más sorprendente del caso surge cuando se descubre que el Sr. Bill se sometió recientemente a un examen médico en relación con un seguro de vida. El médico que lo atendió aseguró que el señor Bill se encontraba en excelentes condiciones físicas y, ahora que ha fallecido, sale a la luz que la beneficiaria del seguro era su querida esposa Amabel Lucinda. Esto es bastante extraordinario, su primo, el Sr. Tiny, asegura que el Sr. Bill era soltero y nunca se había casado. Es entonces cuando empieza a tomar forma la idea de que Amabel Lucinda bien podría ser la señora Dalby Whittier y que el señor Bill podría haberse casado con ella en secreto. Otro detalle que no debe pasarse por alto es que todas las cartas, excepto la primera dirigida a Jonathan que era manuscrita, estaban mecanografiadas y no se puede localizar la máquina de escribir. Más aún, no hay una sola máquina de escribir en todo el pueblo.

La idea de la exhumación del cuerpo de Bill Fullalove será descartada por falta de pruebas, así como por temor a dar cierta notoriedad al autor de las cartas. Se sospecha que si las cosas se dejan como están, esas cartas irán desapareciendo poco a poco. Después de todo, según el Jefe de Policía, el propio Dr. Fielding y el cirujano de la policía local fueron claros en sus pruebas durante la investigación. Además, el Sr. Tiny Fullalove fue la única persona que no tuvo nada que ver con la muerte de su primo. En ese momento se había roto la rodilla. Sin embargo, la Sra. Bradley no estuvo de acuerdo. Creía que había algo sospechoso en la muerte de Bill y que también había algo extraño en relación con la desaparición de la señora Dalby Whittier. De todos modos, el primer paso debería ser encontrar a la mujer de Bill, aunque el problema podría ser que, habiendo sido marinero, podría haberse casado en el extranjero.

El deshielo trajo otra sorpresa. El cuerpo de una mujer identificada como la Sra. Dalby Whittier fue encontrado en medio de los campos agrícolas. La siguiente investigación determinó que había sido envenenada, pero sin pruebas suficientes que pudieran demostrar cómo y quién le administró el veneno. Gracias a una brillante idea de la Sra. Bradley, se pudo probar que la Sra. Whitter no había muerto donde se encontró su cuerpo. Y no hay duda en la mente de la Sra. Bradley de que ambas muertes no deberían haber ocurrido. En cualquier caso, ahora el Jefe de Policía está decidido a ordenar la exhumación del cuerpo de Bill Fullalove. Además, gracias a la tarjeta de identificación y al libro de racionamiento que se encontraron en el bolso de la Sra. Wittier, se pudo descubrir que ella podría haber sido la autora de la primera carta anónima manuscrita enviada. En cualquier caso, los expertos en caligrafía afirmaron que la dirección en la libreta de racionamiento y en la carta anónima de Jonathan fueron escritas por la misma mano, pero aún debe probarse si fue escrita por su propia voluntad o bajo coacción. La siguiente noticia llegó cuando el agricultor Daventry, al revisar los papeles del pobre Bill Fullalove, descubrió que solía tener una máquina de escribir, pero ahora no hay una en el bungalow y el Sr. Tiny declaró que nunca había habido una allí.

La historia tomó un nuevo giro cuando apareció una mujer que se hacía pasar por la señora Bill Fullalove. Tenía poco más de 30 años y se cree que tendría algunas dificultades para probar su caso. Su certificado de matrimonio estaba fechado en 1920, época en la que apenas tendría ocho años, como veremos más adelante. Mientras tanto, la Sra. Bradley comenzó a sospechar que algo andaba mal con respecto a la verdadera identidad de los Fullalove. Curiosamente, el verdadero nombre de Bill era Clarence y el verdadero nombre de Tiny era William, lo que podría dar lugar a un intento de fraude por parte de uno o ambos primos. Además, era difícil creer cómo pudo el Sr. Tiny haber averiguado que el Sr. Bill iba a pasar en el momento en que lo hizo. Y habría tenido que cronometrar muy bien el momento en que se lesionó la rodilla que le proporcionó su coartada. Poco tiempo después llegó la orden de exhumación de los restos de Bill Fullalove. Sin embargo, la autopsia no encontró ningún indicio criminal, lo que confirmó el punto de vista que el Jefe de Policía había mantenido durante todo este tiempo.

La señora Bradley le resume los últimos incidentes a su sobrino Jonathan. Sintió que Worry (el perro de Will North) había sido herido o engañado. Se dio cuenta de que la mujer que se hacía llamar la señora de Bill Fullalove había intentado retenerla en su bungalow sin motivo aparente. Sabía que debía haber oído el disparo destinado a Ed Brown y no lo mencionó. Los disparos del arma que estaba atada a la puerta en la parte superior de Groaning Spinney estaban dirigidos a Ed o Will, aunque parecía probable que Ed fuera la víctima prevista. Worry, el perro, odiaba esa puerta, no vio un fantasma ese día pero olió a alguien que no le agradaba. La única persona que estaba por encima de toda sospecha era Tiny Fullalove. Todavía estaba en el hospital sin poder caminar, después de caerse del balcón de la casa de la Sra. Bradley en Londres. Además, no había ninguna razón por la que el joven Emming hubiera querido asesinar a su madre. Entonces la Sra. Bradley pensó que sería una buena idea hablar con Ed al respecto y le hizo una pregunta simple: “¿Cómo llegó el perro, Worry, a la Sra. Bill Fullalove?” “Siguió al Sr. Tiny”. respondió Ed, “cualquier perro – y ese en particular … seguiría al señor Tiny a cualquier parte.” Y, en este punto, nos enteramos de que Ed estaba escondido en la cabaña de Will North para mantener el engaño de que estaba muerto mientras dejaba circular el rumor de que su cuerpo había sido examinado por el médico de la policía.

El engaño no pudo sostenerse por mucho tiempo, estaba el tema de la investigación, pero la Sra. Bradley esperaba que se demorara hasta que pudiera estar lista con sus pruebas. Para probar sus teorías, fue a ver al Jefe de Policía. Pero en este punto, la Sra. Bradley le dice al Jefe de Policía todo lo que el lector ya sabe, lo que me parece bastante redundante, por no llamarlo innecesario, y no agrega nada nuevo. Pero volviendo al perro, de camino a casa desde el bungalow de los Fullalove, el perro estaba aterrorizado al llegar a Groaning Spinney. Worry no atravesaría la puerta hasta que llegara su dueño. Sin embargo lo que sigu es es una mera especulación. La siguiente parte de la historia, en lo que respecta al perro, fue la cuestión de su desaparición. Pero la teoría de la señora Bradley fue refutada por su sobrino, quien le dijo que cualquiera podría haberle robado el arma al guardabosques. Su cabaña a menudo se quedaba vacía sin vigilancia.

Al hablar del nombre de Emming, se dice una vez más que podría ser un asesino, pero, ¿por qué mataría a su madre si ella era su único medio de vida? Y entonces surgió la idea de que la señora Dalby Whittier y Bill Fullalove podrían haber sido marido y mujer, en cuyo caso el certificado de matrimonio en poder de quien dice ser la señora de Bill Fullalove no sería una falsificación. Y la Sra. Bradley lanzó la idea de que Emmery es el hijastro del Sr. Bill o el hijo del Sr. Tiny, y que la historia que contó hace algunas semanas es parcialmente cierta. Más tarde, la señora Bradley llegó al punto de por qué Will North se había vuelto tan peligroso para los asesinos. Y creo que esta es la primera vez que la Sra. Bradley habla abiertamente sobre la posibilidad de más de un asesino. Pero lo que no me queda tan claro es por qué eso significaría que Will North se olvidó de seguir el rastro de la nieve que se acumuló en la plataforma de observación de tejones. La explicación de que estaba buscando a su perro me pareció bastante débil. Y una vez más surge el problema de la confusión de nombres entre los dos primos.

Prefiero detenerme aquí para evitar spoilers, en cualquier caso, la historia todavía tiene cuatro capítulos más, pero me temo que, en lo que respecta a la investigación, realmente no agregan mucho. En resumen, no puedo entender cómo la Sra. Bradley llega a ninguna conclusión y me pregunto qué me estoy perdiendo. En el lado positivo, la fuerza de la historia reside principalmente en los retratos de los personajes y en la descripción del entorno en el que se desarrolla la historia.

En resumen, incluso si Groaning Spinney tiene muchos pasajes gratificantes, encontré que el camino elegido para contar la historia era demasiado complejo y tortuoso. Ocasionalmente, la historia se repite innecesariamente y se vuelve demasiado larga sin agregar nada nuevo. Sin embargo, disfruté haber participado en el Mitchell Reading Group de diciembre de 2021. Para obtener más información, visite el blog de Jason Half, Post #1, Post #2, Post #3, and Post #4. La experiencia me permitió darme cuenta de múltiples aspectos del libro que, de lo contrario, habría pasado por alto. Por tanto agradezco mucho a Jason Half por emprender esta iniciativa.

Acerca del autor: Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell nació en el pueblo de Cowley, Oxford el 19 de abril de 1901 hija de James Mitchell, un horticultor de ascendencia escocesa, y de su mujer Annie. Estudió en Rothschild School, Brentford y The Green School, Isleworth, antes de asistir a Goldsmiths College y el University College de Londres de 1919 a 1921. Durante muchos años, la señorita Mitchell enseñó historia e inglés, natación y juegos. Se retiró de este trabajo en 1950, pero se aburrió tanto sin el estímulo constante y la irritación de la enseñanza que aceptó un puesto en la escuela Matthew Arnold, Staines, donde enseñó inglés e historia, escribió la obra de teatro anual de la escuela y fue entrenadora de carreras de vallas hasta su jubilación en 1961 en Corfe Mullen, Dorset en 1961, donde vivió hasta su muerte el 27 de julio de 1983, a los 82 años. Su primera novela policíaca protagonizada por la señora Bradley se publicó en 1929 y presentó a los lectores a Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, la heroína detective de otras sesenta y seis novelas policiacas. Fue miembro del Detection Club, del P.E.N., de la Sociedad de Educación de Middlesex y de la Asociación Olímpica Británica. La familia de su padre era escocesa y en algunos de sus libros aparece su influencia escocesa. También escribió un cierto número de cuentos para niños y varios libros con los seudónimos de Malcolm Torrie y Stephen Hockaby.

My Book Notes: Sunset Over Soho, 1943 (Mrs Bradley #16) by Gladys Mitchell

Esta entrada es bilingüe. Desplazarse hacia abajo para ver la versión en español

Thomas & Mercer, 2013. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 1737 KB. Print Length: 192 pages. ASIN: B00H4K5CCU. eISBN: 978-1-4778-6885-0. First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd. London in 1943.

Book Summary: It’s the height of the Second World War, and Mrs. Bradley is working overtime as a doctor at a rest shelter for air raid casualties and displaced persons. With all the present mortality around them, the staff hardly needs another dead body, yet they find one in the form of a two-year old corpse, packed into a makeshift coffin and clothed in a now tattered dressing gown. The dead man’s identity and appearance in the shelter are a mystery; the coffin/crate wasn’t noticed in the basement room on the previous day. Mrs. Bradley realizes that the story really begins in the days before the war, and confides her tale to Detective Inspector Pirberry.

David Harben, a young novelist and acquaintance of Mrs. Bradley, spends his summers writing and boating along England’s waterways. One dark night a tap at the porthole window reveals a visitor to David’s tub: a beautiful woman whose first words to David are “I’ve killed him.” The boat is moored on the river near some houses, and upon the woman’s request that David investigate, the writer enters the house and discovers the dead man on the floor. David returns to the boat, hours pass, and when they next visit the house, the body has disappeared. The mysterious woman then leaves David by taking his boat, and when David reclaims it down river, the woman is nowhere to be found. That’s when the attempts on David’s life begin.

While David ponders these events, two Dominican nuns and their collection of five orphaned boys enter his life. Mrs. Bradley takes this extended family into her home, but during another investigation of the dead man’s house, David disappears. The rivers and the sea recur throughout this story, and Mrs. Bradley collects such clues as a secretive sailing flag, a talkative parrot, a water-filled cellar, sinister Spaniards, and stories of naval heroics and alluring water-nymphs, clues which help her make sense of this tangled plot. (Summary taken from The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site, copyright 2021 by Jason Half, published with the express consent of the author).

My Take: I have little else to add to Jason Half’s excellent summary and I thank him for his deference. From my side it would have been almost impossible to make a brief description of the plot being a novel with a non-linear structure. I’m not quite sure it could be considered a detective story, strictly speaking, even though there’s a crime and some kind of investigation around it. In any case, I enjoyed its reading, despite its difficulties. I would personally not recommend it to those who, for the first time,  would like to get acquaintance with a Gladys Mitchell novel. I must admit that, at times, I found myself lost amidst so many adventures and vicissitudes, and that thanks to the fact that I read it in Kindle format, I was able to easily access the meaning of some words that I found somehow difficult to understand. All in all, although I won’t include Sunset Over Soho to be among Mitchell’s best works, it is in my view an experimental novel, modern, stylish and even bold regarding its conception and development. For that it’s worth reading but I don’t think it will suit everyone’s taste.

Sunset Over Soho has been reviewed, among others, by Jason Half at The Stone House, Bill Bibliomane at Books, Reading, and Me: a bibliomane blog, Nick Fuller at The Grandest Game in the World, Moira Redmond at Clothes in Books, and Neil at Reading 1900 – 1950.

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets, LLC. Michael Joseph (UK) 1943)

About the Author: Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell, known as Gladys Mitchell, was born in the village of Cowley, Oxford on 19 April 1901. She was educated at Rothschild School in Brentford, The Green School in Isleworth and at Goldsmiths and University Colleges in London. For many years Miss Mitchell taught History and English, swimming, and games. She retired from this work in 1950 but became so bored without the constant stimulus and irritation of teaching that she accepted a post at the Matthew Arnold School in Staines, where she taught English and history, wrote the annual school play, and coached hurdling  until her retirement in 1961 to Corfe Mullen in Dorset, where she lived until her death on 27 July 1983, aged 82. Her first crime novel featuring Mrs Bradley was published in 1929, and introduced readers to Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, the detective heroine of a further sixty six crime novels. She was a member of the Detection Club, the P.E.N., the Middlesex Education Society, and the British Olympic Association. Her father’s family are Scots, and a Scottish influence has appeared in some of her books. She also wrote a number of children’s books and several books under the pseudonyms Malcolm Torrie and Stephen Hockaby. She was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.

“It is worth noting that Gladys Mitchell’s books published before 1950 are generally more varied and arguably more successful than her later books. Beginning in the 1950s, narrative style and plotlines level out, producing mysteries that are readable but often not noteworthy. There are some successful later books, but most of the author’s very best can be found in the first two decades of her publishing career.” (Jason Half)

Selected bibliography: Speedy Death (1929), The Mystery of a Butcher’s Shop (1929), The Saltmarsh Murders (1932), Death at the Opera (1934), The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935), Dead Men’s Morris (1936), Come Away, Death (1937), St Peter’s Finger (1938), Brazen Tongue (1940), When Last I Died (1941), Laurels Are Poison (1942), Sunset Over Soho (1943), The Rising of the Moon (1945), Death and the Maiden (1947), Tom Brown’s Body (1949), Groaning Spinney (1950), The Echoing Strangers (1952), The Twenty-Third Man (1957), Dance to Your Daddy (1969), and The Greenstone Griffins (1983).

The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site

Gladys Mitchell

Artistic Difference: What makes GLADYS MITCHELL special?

Mary Jean DeMarr on Gladys Mitchell (1989)

Gladys Mitchell at Golden Age of Detection Wiki

Gladys Mitchell Obituary

Binge-reading Gladys Mitchell: game over

Sunset Over Soho, de Gladys Mitchell

Resumen del libro: Estamos en el apogeo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y la Sra. Bradley trabaja horas extras como médico en un refugio que sirve de descanso a las víctimas de los ataques aéreos y a personas desplazadas. Con toda la mortalidad presente a su alrededor, el personal apenas necesita otro fallecido, sin embargo, encuentran uno en forma de cadáver de hace dos años, empaquetado en un ataúd improvisado y vestido con una bata ahora andrajosa. La identidad y la forma de aparecer en el refugio son un misterio; el ataúd o caja no estaba en el sótano el día anterior. La Sra. Bradley se da cuenta de que la historia realmente comienza en los días previos a la guerra y confía su historia al inspector detective Pirberry.

David Harben, un joven novelista, conocido de la señora Bradley, pasa los veranos escribiendo y navegando por las vias navegables de Inglaterra. Una noche oscura, un golpe en el cristal del ojo de buey delata la presencia de un visitante en la chalana de David: una mujer hermosa cuyas primeras palabras a David son “Lo he matado”. El bote está amarrado en el río cerca de algunas casas y, a petición de la mujer de que David investigue, el escritor entra en la casa y descubre al hombre muerto en el suelo. David regresa al bote, pasan las horas y cuando regresa a la casa, el cadaver ha desaparecido. La misteriosa mujer luego deja a David llevándose su bote, y cuando David lo recupera río abajo, la mujer ha desaparecido. En este punto se inician los atentados contra la vida de David.

Mientras David reflexiona sobre estos hechos, dos monjas dominicas y su colección de cinco niños huérfanos entran en su vida. La Sra. Bradley acoge a esta extensa familia en su casa, pero durante otra inspección en la casa del difunto, David desaparece. Los ríos y el mar se repiten a lo largo de esta historia, y la Sra. Bradley recopila pistas como una bandera de navegación secreta, un loro parlanchín, un sótano lleno de agua, españoles siniestros e historias de heroísmos navales y ninfas seductoras, pistas que le ayudan a ella a entender esta trama enmarañada. (Resumen tomado de The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute Site, copyright 2021 de Jason Half, publicado con el consentimiento expreso del autor).

Mi opinión: Tengo poco más que agregar al excelente resumen de Jason Half y le agradezco su deferencia. Por mi parte hubiera sido casi imposible hacer una breve descripción de la trama al tratarse de una novela con una estructura no lineal. No estoy muy seguro de que pueda considerarse una historia de detectives, estrictamente hablando, a pesar de que hay un crimen y algún tipo de investigación en torno a él. En cualquier caso, disfruté de su lectura, a pesar de sus dificultades. Personalmente, no lo recomendaría a quienes, por primera vez, quisieran familiarizarse con una novela de Gladys Mitchell. Debo admitir que, por momentos, me encontré perdido en medio de tantas aventuras y vicisitudes, y que gracias a que lo leí en formato Kindle pude acceder fácilmente al significado de algunas palabras que de alguna manera encontré difíciles de entender. Con todo, aunque no incluiré Sunset Over Soho entre las mejores obras de Mitchell, en mi opinión es una novela experimental, moderna, elegante y hasta atrevida en cuanto a su concepción y desarrollo. Por eso vale la pena leerla pero no creo que sea para todos los gustos.

Acerca del autor: Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell, conocida como Gladys Mitchell, nació en el pueblo de Cowley, Oxford el 19 de abril de 1901. Se educó en la escuela Rothschild de Brentford, The Green School en Isleworth y en el Goldsmiths y el University Colleges de Londres. Durante muchos años, la señorita Mitchell enseñó historia e inglés, natación y juegos. Se retiró de este trabajo en 1950, pero se aburrió tanto sin el estímulo constante y la irritación de la enseñanza que aceptó un puesto en la Escuela Matthew Arnold en Staines, donde enseñó inglés e historia, escribió la obra de teatro anual de la escuela y fue entrenadora de carreras de vallas hasta su jubilación definitiva en 1961 en Corfe Mullen, Dorset, donde vivió hasta su muerte el 27 de julio de 1983, a los 82 años. Su primera novela policíaca protagonizada por la señora Bradley se publicó en 1929 y presentó a los lectores a Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, la heroína detective de otra sesenta y seis novelas policiacas. Fue miembro del Detection Club, del P.E.N., de la Sociedad de Educación de Middlesex y de la Asociación Olímpica Británica. La familia de su padre era escocesa y en algunos de sus libros aparece su influencia escocesa. También escribió un cierto número de cuentos para niños y varios libros con los seudónimos de Malcolm Torrie y Stephen Hockaby. Recibió el premio Silver Dagger de la Crime Writers ‘Association en 1976.

“Vale la pena destacar que los libros de Gladys Mitchell publicados antes de 1950 son generalmente más variados y posiblemente de más éxito que sus libros posteriores. A partir de la década de 1950, el estilo narrativo y las tramas se nivelan, produciendo misterios que son interesantes pero a menudo no son dignos de mención. Tiene algunos libros posteriores de éxito, pero la mayoría de los mejores de esta autora se encuentran en las dos primeras décadas de su  trayectoria profesional”. (Jason Half)