Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2015. Book Formats: Kindle Edition. File size: 857 KB. Number of pages: 299. ASIN: B015RR31HE. ISBN: 9786071631619. Foreword by Martín Solares.
Description: Antología policíaca unfolds between enigmas, murders and characters whose habits match the exact profiles of a suspect. With approaches to the English school represented by Chesterton and Agatha Christie, Rafael Bernal’s detective fiction is full of suspense, irony and intelligent humour that, together, provide a constant rhythm. This book brings together the best of the Mexican writer’s detective work: “El extraño caso de Aloysius Hands”, “De muerte natural”, “El heroico don Serafín” (1946), “Un muerto en la tumba” (1946), “La muerte poética” (1947), “La muerte madrugadora” (1948) y “La declaración” (1965).
From the Foreword: In this book the reader will find the necessary clues to investigate the origin of that fascinating mystery that constitutes the work of Rafael Bernal: a writer capable of creating impeccable detective stories and one of the few who managed to create an absolutely original literary form and thereby renew Mexican literature. Almost fifty years after his death, the influence of his work continues to grow at a viral rate among his thousands of readers. Also, finally, it begins to be translated into other languages and regains the place it deserves. That the Fondo de Cultura Económica recovers in a single volume its first detective stories, generally impossible to locate, is worth celebrating. (Martín Solares)
Rafael Bernal (Mexico City, 28 June 1915 – Bern, Switzerland, 17 September 1972) was a Mexican diplomat, writer, publicist, historian and screenwriter, known above all for his 1969 novel The Mongolian Conspiracy considered a cult work in the genre. Great-grandson of the historian Joaquín García Icazbalceta, Rafael Bernal was born in the Santa María la Ribera neighbourhood of Mexico City. His older brother was the anthropologist and archaeologist Ignacio Bernal and García Pimentel, both uncles of the political scientist Mónica Aspe Bernal. Rafael Bernal studied at Colegio Francés de San Borja and the Institute of Sciences and Letters in Mexico City, and later attended high school at Loyola College in Montreal, Canada. Subsequently he entered the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In 1972, shortly before his death, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Freiburg. He was a truly tireless traveller: he toured the United States, Europe and Canada (1930-38), as well as Central America, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela. In 1961 he continued his pilgrimage but as a diplomat; He was stationed in Honduras, Peru, the Philippines, Japan and Switzerland, where he died of lung cancer. He also worked as a radio and television journalist, collaborated in numerous print media and ventured into cinema as a producer and making some adaptations. In addition to detective novels, Bernal wrote stories, poetry, theatre, and history; he also did some translations.
Rafael Bernal’s detective fiction: Un muerto en la tumba (1946); Tres novelas policíacas [A collection of three short stories: “El extraño caso de Aloysius Hands”, “De muerte natural”, and “El heroico don Serafín”] (1946); El complot mongol (1969) [English translation: The Mongolian Conspiracy]; and Antología Policíaca (2015) [A selection of short stories including: “El extraño caso de Aloysius Hands”, “De muerte natural”, El heroico Don Serafín”, “Un muerto en la tumba”, “La muerte poética”, “La muerte madrugadora”, y “La declaración”].
“El extraño caso de Aloysius Hands” was first published in Tres novelas policíacas, Editorial Jus, México, 1946. No previous publication is known. The story revolves around a serial killer who had show up in La Mesa (Arizona). The Government in Washington, due to the impotence of the local police, ordered to find out who was responsible for so many deaths. The rumour was it was a Japanese plot to depopulate the United States. The first victim was Sanders, the banker, the richest man in town, a hateful, miserly and stuttering old man. His death only benefited the Animal Protection Society, his sole heir. The second murder was of Mrs Oliver, a poor widow with a son who apparently was studying at the state university, but who never came to visit her. The third case fell on the wife of a machinery dealer Fidelius G. Smith, who left behind two young children and a husband. It was rumoured that she was not as respectable as she would have liked. Suspicions immediately fell on her husband, although due to the way in which the crime was carried out, it seemed impossible that he would have it done. The first murder took place on 9 January, the second on 9 February and the third on 9 March. All in the same manner, poisoned by arsenic, which led to the assumption that the same hand was behind them all. When the story begins it had been 20 days since Ruppert L Brown, the FBI’s best specialist, had arrived in La Mesa and the fateful date of April 9 was approaching. That day, Raymond Bay, a local rancher, collapses dead in front of the post office poisoned as well with arsenic. In no case was it known how the poison had been supplied. Failing to make any progress, Ruppert L. Brown is about to resign when he receives the help of the post office keeper, Mr. Aloysius Hands. The story is indebted to Quincey’s On Murder: Considered as One of the Fine Arts.
“De muerte natural” was first published in Tres novelas policíacas, Editorial Jus, México, 1946. No previous publication is known. In this story, the providential intervention of don Teódulo Batanes helps to discover that the victim was actually murder instead of dying a natural death as it was erroneously diagnosed initially.
“El haroico don Serafín” was published for the first time in Tres novelas policiacas, Editorial Jus, Mexico, 1946. No previous publication is known. This short story portrays corruption within the university. It revolves around the mysterious murder of the rector of the university Don Leoncio de la Gándara y García de Echegoisti, as hated by the students as despised by the professors. His ignorance was only matched to his audacity, neither had any limits. He reached his position thanks to his ease of speech and his political contacts. The main suspect turned out to be the most brilliant and revolutionary of the students. The end of the story has some unexpected twists. Its denouement is quite crude and unpredictable.
“Un muerto en la tumba” was first published in Editorial Jus, México, 1946. The story opens as the chronicle of the discovery of tomb 7b in Monte Albán, an ancient Zapotec archaeological site near Oaxaca, offering us an ironic portrait of the attendees invited to witness the discovery. Two laborers armed with levers were attempting to overturn the immense stone slab that closed the entrance under the orders of Professor don Evaristo Martínez, head of the group of archaeologists exploring that area. Behind him, his second, don Teódulo Batanes, was sweating in his battered black suit. After the two archaeologists, a group of politicians surrounded the State Governor, the guest of honour at the opening ceremony. No one cared about the opening of the tomb, or what might be inside, despite the fact that Professor Martínez assured that it was undoubtedly the richest tomb in the entire area. But the Governor, knowing that it is always useful in politics to feign interest in culture, wanted to be present; and every good politician knows that one must always be where the Governor is. During the wait that seemed endless, only the Governor’s wife missed Elpidio and Mr. Robles among those present. More than an hour later, the two workers were able to remove the stone, exposing the black hole that served as the entrance to tomb 7b and raising a large cloud of dust. When the dust finally cleared, one of the laborers entered through the newly opened hole and came out almost immediately with a completely deformed face, claiming that there was a dead man inside. After the initial jokes, don Teódulo and coronel Jirau entered the tomb, understanding that something strange was happening. There, in the background, was the corpse of the Senator of the Republic, don Elpidio Vázquez, with a flint knife stuck in his chest. Faced with the great confusion created, don Teódulo Batanes materialized at the entrance to the tomb to everyone’s surprise, saying to the exasperation of those present: “The problem or question that is worth of study is finding or figuring out where did the victim and the perpetrator broke in, and how the second of this characters, the hitherto anonymous or unknown murderer, escaped or made his way out. This is the first problem that arises or comes between us and the resolution of this unfortunate matter or business”. [My free translation]. The most likely culprit soon emerges, the writer Antonio Ronda who was about to take his latest novel to his editor and, unfortunately for him, the crime that just occurred was exactly the same as the one he described in his novel. To make things worse, don Elpidio had expropriated him a ranch, his sole patrimony, claiming that the government needed it. But when the government finally did not use it, don Elpidio gave it to his brother Margarito Vazquez, and Ronda swore publicly to take revenge on Don Elpidio. At this stage it should be added that the novella unfolds in two different settings: tomb 7b of Monte Albán and the Governor’s house in the city of Oaxaca, where the victim is veiled and the witnesses are questioned until an unexpected character appears. Margarito Vázquez the victim’s brother, a criminal whose only objectives is to avenge his brother’s death. Margarito and his gang immediately take control of the situation, but it is finally don Teódulo who manages to unmask the real murderer. In fact, Teódulo had known who the culprit was for quite some time but had chosen to remain silent until finding enough evidence to support it.
“La muerte poética” originally published in Revists Selecciones Policíacas y de Misterio, number 5, 1947. The fourth floral games of the university ended abruptly with the sudden death of the poet laureate, shot while he was reciting his poem entitled Invitation to Death. A bullet had entered his back. No one knew where the bullet came from or who fired it. Among those present, don Teódulo Batanes manages to unravel the mystery of this murder.
“La muerte madrugadora” originally published in Revistas Selecciones Policíacas y de Misterio, number 17, 1948. This short story revolves around a confession that a little man of indefinite age and thick near-sighted glasses heard from Enrique Lagos during an occasional encounter in a park near dusk. The little man called Teódulo Batanes was dedicated to the task of sucking a thumb, and heard from Lagos that three days ago, on April 22, he murdered his uncle Don Eulalio Robleda y Lagos in the entrance hall of his house. Don Teófulo takes him to the nearest police station, but instead of handing him over to the police he says with all aplomb that he knows who murdered Don Eulalio.
“La declaración” (possibly written around 1965 with no previous publication known), for my taste the best short story in this anthology, takes place in Japan. A man called Ernest P. Chapman is having and recording an informal conversation with Miss Carla Goodberg, in the presence of a Japanese policeman called Oe Takanawa. The organization he works for is interested in knowing in depth all the details of Rodney Stuart death, a US State Department employee. Chapman identifies himself as an FBI agent. The date is 15 August 1965 and Miss Goodberg, warned of her rights, consents to answer his questions. On 20 June, Rodney Stuart, for whom she worked as a secretary and translator, shot himself in the head and died instantly. She heard the shot and immediately notified the US embassy in Tokyo. The Japanese police considered Mr Stuart’s death as a suicide and let her return to the United States, but she preferred to remain in Japan and follow her studies at Yedo University. However, Mr Chapman needs to further inquire into some points he still considers are not sufficiently clarified.
Besides “La declaración”, both “Un muerto en la tumba” together with “El extraño caso de Aloysius Hands” are great short stories, almost novellas in length, in my view. The rest are probably too short and can be considered as sketches of further works. Certainly it is a pity that Rafael Bernal wasn’t more lavish in writing detective stories. His characters are highly interesting, the setting is magnificent, and his stories are in debt with the best writers of the so-called Golden Age of Detective fiction. I find of interest to highlight that, as expressly stated in “La declaración”, the ultimate aim of Bernal’s sleuths, either professional or amateur, isn’t to find out if a crime has been committed, not even to know who was the murderer. The utmost issue is to discover why the victim was murdered.
Fondo de Cultura Económica publicity page
(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets)
A Crime is Afoot 