Mon 5 Jul 2010
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: HARRIETTE CAMPBELL – Crime in Crystal.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Crime Fiction IV , Reviews[12] Comments
William F. Deeck
HARRIETTE R. CAMPBELL – Crime in Crystal. Harper & Brothers, hardcover, 1946. No UK edition.
As Simon Brade sits in the study of the Rev. Christopher Tyrell Dawes preparing to ask him about his new client, Lady Vanessa Lorrister, a seemingly crazed man rushes in and confesses to having strangled Lady Vanessa.
The vicar doesn’t believe him, but it turns out that Lady Vanessa was definitely strangled. That didn’t kill her, however. Someone had come along a bit later and beaten her to death with a poker.
The vicar contends that Lady Vanessa was loved by all — in more ways than one, it turns out. But her husband, a possible future prime minister, didn’t care for her, nor did his secretary who had ambitions for him. It is also possible that Lady Vanessa was the head of a black market in clothing during the war and was prepared to tell all, thus jeopardizing others.
If it weren’t for his income from detecting allowing him to purchase precious jade and porcelain, Brade wouldn’t detect at all. Furthermore, he is at a loss without his fellow sleuth, Inspector Ivy of Scotland Yard.
Ivy determines the facts. Brade then “sees” connections, working with his “bricks.” As Ivy explains it:
“Well, he jiggles them about and studies them and goes to sleep over them, and somehow or other — the Lord only knows how, begging your pardon, sir — he gets the right answer.”
Brade, at least in this novel, isn’t all that interesting. The other characters, however, particularly the Reverend Dawes, who accompanies Brade in his sleuthing, make up for his blandness.
Bio-Bibliography: [Taken from the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin.]
CAMPBELL, HARRIETTE R(ussell). 1883-1950. Born in New York, the daughter of the state’s attorney-general; married a Scotsman and settled in London. SB = Simon Brade.
The String Glove Mystery (n.) Knopf 1936 [SB]
The Porcelain Fish Mystery (n.) Knopf 1937 [SB]

The Moor Fires Mystery (n.) Harper 1939 [SB]
Three Names for Murder (n.) Harper 1940 [SB]
Murder Set to Music (n.) Harper 1941 [SB]
Magic Makes Murder (n.) Harper 1943 [SB]

Crime in Crystal (n.) Harper 1946 [SB]
Three Lost Ladies (n.) Heinemann-UK 1949
July 5th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Not an author I’ve heard of before, and with a list of titles as long as this one — and with a major publisher to boot — you’d think I would have. Or at least I do. Think so, that is.
Even though Simon Brede may be as bland as Bill says he was, and I have no reason to doubt him, I do like the titles. So much so that I couldn’t resist. I found a copy of MAGIC MAKES MURDER for not a whole lot of money, and it should be in my mailbox soon.
— Steve
July 5th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Some intriguing titles there, and the hero certainly has a unique method of determining the solution. Like you this is one I never heard of before, which isn’t always an indication of whether the books are any good. Keep us posted when you get around to reading it.
Interesting to see that John Dickson Carr wasn’t the only mystery transplant to England prior to Martha Grimes and Elizabeth George.
July 5th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Alice Campbell (no relation) was another transplant, though she lived some of the time in France.
I tried a couple Harriette Campbells, did not get into them, but she had her admirers in England.
July 5th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Curt and David
Alice Campbell I’ve heard of, although I’ve never read any of her books. I believe I have two or three.
As for Harriette, I can’t quite tell from Bill D’s review whether I could get into them myself, but besides the titles, Simon Brede’s ultra “logical” approach to solving mysteries certainly makes me want to know more.
Of her eight books, I find it strange, given that she moved to England and that her books take place there, that three of her eight books were never published there. Of course her last one, the non-Brede book, was published in the UK and never here.
Small mysteries like this I’m sure we’ll never know the answers to.
— Steve
July 5th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Getting back to Alice Campbell, we have yet another transplant to England. Say Al Hubin in CFIV:
CAMPBELL, ALICE (Ormond) (1887-1976?); Born in Georgia; moved to England before beginning to write crime fiction.
Nineteen mysteries in all, published between 1928 and 1950, all set in England, most but not all reprinted in the US. Series characters include:
Inspector Headcorn, 5 books
Geoffrey MacAdam & Catherine West, 2 books
Tommy Rostetter, 4 books
Colin Ladbrook, 3 books
Alison Young, 2 books
Plus some standalones (and some overlapping of characters in books, sometimes three of them in one).
I don’t suppose any of this is relevant, but I found it interesting.
July 6th, 2010 at 1:27 am
There was a Boris Karloff film made from one of her books, Juggernaut. She was really more a thriller writer, but she got accepted into the Detection Club (Alice Campbell).
July 6th, 2010 at 3:52 am
I’ve read JUGGERNAUT and it isn’t bad for what it is. You can find it on-line for free if you want to look at it before considering buying or just read it without spending anything.
Of course the most famous writers to move to England and go native are Henry James and Stephen Crane. And didn’t someone determine E. B. Quinn who wrote ONE MAN’s MUDDLE was born in the states? Wasn’t Gerald Kersh an American?
At least one of Carrol John Daly’s last books was only published in England, and I think one of Harry Stephen Keeler’s may only have been published in Spain.
Of course a fair number of British born writers came West either for Hollywood or just a bigger market. I assume Edgar Wallace would have eventually gone home, but Leslie Charteris became a citizen, Wyndham Martin seems to have been born in England, and both John Creasey and Georges Simenon lived in Arizona briefly. BLACK MASK alumus Charles G. Booth was a Brit too, as was Talbot Mundy who ironically wrote the radio adventures of JACK ARMSTRONG THE ALL AMERICAN BOY. Evelyn Waugh, Eric Knight, Richard Llewellyn, and Aldous Huxley all fell to the allure of Hollywood and wrote about it.
But it seems to have been much rarer for American writers to travel to England and make a go as writers there. Probably that pesky language problem.
July 6th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
I think the first three Harriette Campbells made the biggest impression.
October 10th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Some other titles by Harriette Russell Campbell are:
* Is it Enough? Harper, 1913
* The Little Great Lady; Harper 1925
* Patsy’s brother; 1926
* The mystery of Saint’s Island; Harper, 1927
* Red coats and blue: a story of a British girl in the American revolution; Harper, 1930.
* The piper’s lad; Harper 1931
* A royal Cinderella: royal flush; Humphrey 1934
November 30th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
[…] list of her mysteries here and another short mention of her can be found in the comments following this post here on this blog. […]
March 12th, 2022 at 5:16 am
In Harriette Campbell’s excellent crime stories, the main character is Simon Brade. Not Simon Brede.
March 12th, 2022 at 12:15 pm
Right you are. I’ll fix that right now.