Mon 5 Mar 2012
William F. Deeck
MARY FITT – Mizmaze. Michael Joseph, UK, hardcover 1959; Penguin Books, UK, paperback, 1961. US edition: British Book Centre, hardcover, 1959.
The foregoing is a description of Mizmaze. Unfortunately, the maze is the best thing about the book.
Inspector Mallet and Dr. Fitzbrown investigate the murder of Augustine Hatley, slain in the center of the maze by a wooden mallet generally employed for driving in croquet hoops; Hatley, his two daughters, former son-in-law, and acquaintances, were playing their Invented game of “Theseus and the Minotaur,” with Hatley fittingly the Minotaur.
Hatley was despised or feared or both by all the characters, only one of whom has any redeeming social value, and not much at that. It is difficult to care about who killed the man. Whoever did or did not do it, if they were all put away or hanged, the world would be a better place.
Strangely, Mallet — the Inspector, not the weapon — turns over all questioning of the suspects to Dr. Fitzbrown and wanders off to work with what little objective evidence there is. Reluctantly and tediously Fitzbrown goes about his task.
One oddity among several is the second corpse. A woman is strangled and thrown off a cliff. When Mallet and Fitzbrown examine the body, however, they do so at the top of the cliff, not where the body had landed. No explanation is vouchsafed by the author for this peculiar behavior of either the police or, possibly, the corpse.
Later on, one of the suspects — unwell, but not mentally, or at least not more so than any of the other characters — comes into a room where he encounters the woman he loves. He is taken from the room, returns a few minutes later, and has no recollection of having seen the Woman. Presumably the author assumes that anyone who has read her book to this point is willing to accept anything just to get it over with.
Recommended only to diehard collectors of maze mysteries, should there be any.
Editorial Comments: Inspector Mallet appeared in 18 novels; Dr. Fitzbrown shared the billing in four of them. In one collection the latter was the solo sleuth in several shorter stories. The earliest of the author’s mysteries appeared in 1936, her last in 1960.
For those who may be interested, my own review of the book includes a complete Bibliography. I found as many flaws in the telling as Bill Deeck seems to, but I also somewhat inexplicably believe I enjoyed it more than he did.
March 5th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
Mazes in mysteries:
The Chinese Maze Murders, by Robert van Gulik
The Thorne Maze, by Karen Harper
Maze in Blue, by Debra H. Goldstein (taking place in Ann Arbor, of course)
Murder in the Maze, by J. J. Connington (reviewed on his blog yesterday by Curt Evans)
The Death Maze, by Ariana Franklin
The Maze (aka Persons Unknown), by Philip MacDonald (reviewed by Bill Deeck here)
And this is all I’ve been able to think of or locate online. There have to be more…?
PS. Believe it or not, I did not read Curt’s review until just now.
March 6th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
There’s the John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson novelette ‘All in a Maze’ aka ‘Ministry of Miracles’ which features perhaps the most well known maze in England, the one at Hampton Court Palace.
March 6th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
I don’t know why I didn’t think of that one, Jamie. Thanks! “All in a Maze” was Sir Henry Merrivale’s final bow. Was it the only time Carr used a maze in one of his stories? You’d think he might have used mazes a lot more often than just the once.
March 7th, 2012 at 11:05 pm
Great list. Also Amendment of Life, by Catherine Aird.
March 8th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
I haven’t read Catherine Aird in a long time. AMENDMENT OF LIFE is from 2003. Excerpting from the Kirkus review:
“Sloan and his rarely helpful underling Detective Constable Crosby, of Calleshire’s County CID (Little Knell, 2001, etc.) is kicked off when Milly Smithers, caregiver to aged Daphne Pedlinge of Aumerle Court, calls to report a body her mistress has seen in the middle of the Aumerle maze, a feature of the estate now open to the paying public and constantly, with the help of a strategic pair of binoculars, under the watchful eye of Miss Pedlinge.”
Another author to get back on track with. Thanks, Bill!