Wed 15 May 2013
A Review by Doug Greene: R. T. CAMPBELL – Bodies in a Bookshop.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[9] Comments
R. T. CAMPBELL (Ruthven Todd) – Bodies in a Bookshop. John Westhouse, UK, hardcover, 1946. Dover, US, softcover, 1984.
For bibliophiles, Bodies in a Bookshop is pure enjoyment. The first chapter is full of love for books, and later chapters have insights into book- and print-selling and collecting. The story is well-structured, often amusing, and fairly clued.
What is most interesting to me, however, is the amateur detective, Professor John Stubbs. He is an imitation of Carr’s Sir Henry Merrivale, with a bit of Dr. Gideon Fell thrown in. Stubbs is called “the old man”; he drinks copious quantities of beer; he resembles “a caricature of G. K. Chesterton trying to look like Buddha”; and, like Fell, he has a “mop of gray hair” which falls over his forehead. When he is concentrating he “frowns at the point of his cigar.” If Stubbs’ appearance combines Merrivale and Fell, his speech and attitude are pure H. M.:
“I got the simple mind I have.”
“The shockin’ cussedness of luck.”
“Oi,” the old man sounded and looked furious, “What d’ye mean by goin’ round arrestin’ people wi’out consultin’ me?”
“Look here,” he roared indignantly, “me, I got the scientific mind… Ye thunderin’ well know ye’re wrong.”
“What do I get? ” He looked round at us with an expression that he was the worst treated man in the world. “Do I get any thanks? No! All they say is that I’ve tried all the possible answers and I’ve found the right one. They say I got luck. I say I got brains. Bah!”
Even the “large and bland” Chief Inspector is a Carrian character. None of this works quite as well as Carr at his best, but I am busily trying to locate more adventures of Professor Stubbs.
The Prof. John Stubbs series —
Unholy Dying. Westhouse, 1945.
Adventure with a Goat. Westhouse, 1946.
Bodies in a Bookshop. Westhouse, 1946.
The Death Cap. Westhouse, 1946.
Death for Madame. Westhouse, 1946.
Swing Low, Swing Death. Westhouse, 1946.
Take Thee a Sharp Knife. Westhouse, 1946.
Only the first and third of these have been published in the US, both in paperback by Dover Books. Campbell also wrote one non-Stubbs mystery: Apollo Wore a Wig (Westhouse, 1946). Other than the two reprinted in the US, Campbell’s detective fiction appears to be nearly impossible to obtain.
May 16th, 2013 at 3:54 am
Seems to be a parcel of very mysterious mysteries, Mr- Campbell’s do .
Maybe one of those wonderful republishers, like Rue Morgue, could be interested in his works.
Those of us mystery-lovers, who don’t collect, but just read, owe those publishers a lot.
Off topic : For the last two weeks, we have had a pair of young kestrels in our garden. Wonderful to be able to watch these birds of prey at such a short distance.
The Doc
May 16th, 2013 at 10:14 am
I asked Doug Greene if he’d been able to find more of Campbell’s work since his review first appeared. Here’s his reply:
“Yes,l eventually I got copies of all the novels — a bit slapdash but very engaging. But I can no longer recall any of the plots. . .”
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but all of Campbell’s mystery fiction, eight books in all, came out in a mere two year period, 1945-46.
May 16th, 2013 at 10:19 am
I didn’t have time to so any research on Campbell last night, but I did this morning. Turns out that Ruthven Todd, the man behind the pen name was a well-known poet. Here’s what mystery writer Martin Edwards had to say about him on his blog, in part:
http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/2011/10/rt-campbell.html
“I’ve been rather intrigued by the work of R.T Campbell ever since, many years ago, I first read about him in Bloody Murder, the superb history of the genre written by Julian Symons. Symons was a friend of Ruthven Todd, a Scots poet who dashed off crime novels under the Campbell name. Todd contributed, if only as a character model, to Symons’ crime debut, The Immaterial Murder Case.
“I’ve been rather intrigued by the work of R.T Campbell ever since, many years ago, I first read about him in Bloody Murder, the superb history of the genre written by Julian Symons. Symons was a friend of Ruthven Todd, a Scots poet who dashed off crime novels under the Campbell name. Todd contributed, if only as a character model, to Symons’ crime debut, The Immaterial Murder Case.
“As Symons said, there was even a lack of certainty about how many of the Campbell books were actually published. Todd himself didn’t seem to know. But now, at last, there is a solution to the mystery. I’m not going to reveal it, because the book which tells the story of Todd’s crime writing is well worth obtaining. Take Thee a Sharp Knife has just been published by Lomax Press in an attractively produced limited edition. I think it’s marvellous that such an obscure book should be granted a new life, in high quality format.As Symons said, there was even a lack of certainty about how many of the Campbell books were actually published. Todd himself didn’t seem to know. But now, at last, there is a solution to the mystery. I’m not going to reveal it, because the book which tells the story of Todd’s crime writing is well worth obtaining. Take Thee a Sharp Knife has just been published by Lomax Press in an attractively produced limited edition. I think it’s marvellous that such an obscure book should be granted a new life, in high quality format.”
May 16th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
Stubbs is a lot of fun. In some ways more Falstaffian than Merrivale. I enjoyed this book as well as his debut (UNHOLY DYING) which had a lot to do with botany and genetics. When I was trying to collect all these books I had much trouble trying to find any copies of #2, 4, or 5 in the series. I gave up after a few years. They are out there now but way too pricey, IMO, for an obscure writer with a small output.
Ruthven Todd is also the creator of Space Cat, hero of a series of juvenile SF adventures.
July 31st, 2013 at 2:14 pm
Fellow fans of Professor Stubbs may be interested to hear that Lomax Press have reprinted Take Thee a Sharp Knife, and will soon be releasing The Death Cap.
July 31st, 2013 at 6:25 pm
Good news!
July 13th, 2020 at 8:48 am
[…] Rulings – Bev @ My Reader’s Block, Steve @ Mystery*File has reprinted Douglas Greene’s review from The Poisoned Pen, Vol. 6, No. 2, Winter […]
August 22nd, 2020 at 3:36 pm
[…] And for a review of Bodies in a Bookshop on this blog by Doug Greene, go here. […]
April 6th, 2021 at 7:19 pm
[…] Editorial Notes: An earlier review of this book by Doug Greene on this blog can be found here. That particular post includes a list of all seven Professor Stubbs mysteries. My own review […]