Wed 5 Mar 2008
TMF Review: A. B. CUNNINGHAM Murder Without Weapons.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Characters , Crime Fiction IV , Reviews[7] Comments
A. B. CUNNINGHAM – Murder Without Weapons.
E. P. Dutton & Co.; hardcover first edition, 1949. No US paperback edition.
The backwoods region of the Deer Lick country is pretty nearly an alien world to me, a city feller for most of my life. (The exact state doesn’t seem to have been mentioned, but presumably it’s somewhere in Appalachia.) Even the title is one that makes more sense to an outdoorsman, seeing as the murder occurs with the death of a young girl going over the edge of a logging chute, a drop of all of fifty feet, frightened by the snuffling sounds of an approaching bear. A nonexistent bear, as it turns out, since dogs are not so easily fooled.
Sheriff Jess Roden is the reluctant detective — reluctant, that is, to claim there’d been murder done if in fact there hadn’t. To the trained, inquisitive mind of the inveterate mystery reader, there’s a surprising lack of questions asked, both by those who find the body and by her family, but in many ways the roles of country folks are as fixed, as categorized, as those of us city people, and things do work out a little more slowly and in their own way.
Roden does do a fine, though irrelevant, piece of detective work to impress an inquiring reporter, but I was disappointed with the ending. All the traipsing around at the top of the cliff where the dirty work was done seems highly unlikely, and at best, it needs a bit more explanation. The killer was fairly obvious, but even now I’m not convinced I know why he did it. [C]
[UPDATE] 03-05-08. This book is one that was published as part of Dutton’s Guilt Edged series of mysteries, and as such it’s included in the online article that Victor Berch, Bill Pronzini and I did on them.
It’s still the only book by Cunningham that I’ve read, but I hope my comments didn’t suggest that such would always be the case. In fact, now that I’m (much) older, I have the feeling that I might enjoy one of Sheriff Jess Roden’s adventures even more than I did back then, in my youthful 30s.
Most of his cases I’m more likely to have in paperback. Many of them were published as Dell mapbacks, others as digest-sized softcovers from Detective Novel Classics and so on. None are particularly collectable — after all Jess Roden is not a detective that anybody brings up in conversation very often today — so unless you want them in Fine or better condition, they should be relatively easy to find.
And oh, one last thing. I didn’t know then, and apparently in the book it was never stated or made clear, but Deer Lick is in Kentucky. Not only that, but it’s a real town, just up the road from Lewisburg. The population today is about 1400.
Which leads me to a question. Is there a smaller town in the US with as many mysteries taking place in the immediately surrounding area as Deer Lick? According to Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin, there were 20 of them, plus one Roden adventure set in Texas, all published by Dutton:
# Murder at the Schoolhouse, 1940.
# The Strange Death of Manny Square, 1941.
# The Bancock Murder Case, 1942.
# Death at “The Bottoms”, 1942.
# The Affair of the Boat Landing, 1943.
# The Great Yant Mystery, 1943.
# The Cane-Patch Mystery, 1944.
# Death Visits the Apple Hole, 1945.
# Murder Before Midnight, 1945.
# Death Rides a Sorrel Horse, 1946.
# One Man Must Die, 1946.
# Death of a Bullionaire, 1947. [Takes place in Texas.]
# Death Haunts the Dark Lane, 1948.
# The Death of a Worldly Woman, 1948.
# Murder Without Weapons, 1949.
# The Hunter Is the Hunted, 1950.
# The Killer Watches the Manhunt, 1950.
# Skeleton in the Closet, 1951.
# Who Killed Pretty Becky Low? 1951
# Strange Return, 1952.
December 27th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Anthony Boucher was very fond of this series. He reviews a number of them in The Anthony Boucher Chronicles.
He said of The Affair at the Boat Landing: “Convincing backwoods people and realistic emotional atmosphere plus Roden’s uniquely effective sleuthing.”
The Great Yant Mystery: “The problem of why anyone would poison a saintly dying woman is one that Sheriff Jess Roden meets with his usual skill, humanity and understanding of his mountain people. Cunningham’s studies in Americana are unique in the mystery field.”
The Cane-Patch Mystery: “Like all Cunninghams this offers memorable writing and fine regional flavor, and in so distinguished a book who’s going to quibble about loose ends of plot?”
Death Visits the Apple Hole: “Shotgun killing of rural lecher goes down as Sheriff Jess Roden’s worst failure; the story behind it culminates in a unique scene between detective and murderer. If you know Cunningham, no more words are needed; if you don’t, this is as good a book as any in which to meet an unclassifiable master.”
And so on, through several other volumes. It was enough to make me seek out Cunningham’s books and having read three of them, including the excellent first novel, Murder at Deer Lick, I have to agree with Boucher. First rate stuff.
March 19th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Hi,
I have been trying to find out more info about A.B. Cunningham as he was the uncle of my late husband Norman Duvall (Dave) Cunningham. Nathan Dana was my late husband’s father. My husband Dave never knew his father, but his mother told him that his uncle was the writer A.B. Cunningham. Do you know where I might find more infor about A.B. Cunningham? I would like my grown daughters to know something about the Cunninghams. Thank you!
March 19th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
When Victor Berch, Bill Pronzini and I were researching A. B. Cunningham, one of the authors who write for Dutton’s line of “Guilt Edge Mysteries” we came up with relatively little about him personally — basically only a list of the books he wrote. Here’s what his entry says:
Death Haunts the Dark Lane 1948
Murder Without Weapons 1949
The Hunter Is the Hunted 1950
The Killer Watches the Manhunt 1950
Skeleton in the Closet 1951
Who Killed Pretty Becky Low? 1951
Strange Return 1952
Albert Benjamin Cunningham was an English professor whose bent for mystery resulted in a long series of detective novels featuring Sheriff Jess Roden of rural Deer Lick, Kentucky. His deductions, it is said, were based on common sense and sharp observation. Beginning with Murder at Deer Link in 1939, all of his books were published by Dutton. Only the ones above were Guilt Edged mysteries. (See also the entry below.)
As “Estil Dale”
The Last Survivor 1952
In taking a break from his Jess Roden series, or making an attempt to go in a new direction, A. B. Cunningham (above) used this pseudonym for this one last mystery novel only.
Perhaps with some other names to work with, more can be found. I’ll ask Victor what he may be able to find now.
March 20th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
A short note from Victor:
Steve:
He is listed in CF IV as A(lbert) B(enjamin) Cunningham, b.1888 in Linden, W. Virginia.
Died in Lubbock Texas Sep. 24, 1962, where he was a teacher.
However, his draft registration for WW I states that he was born June 22, 1886 in Linden, W, Virginia.
On http://www.ancestry.com there is a photo of his gravestone, which verifies that date of birth.
He was the son of Nathan Decatur and Sarah Ann (Shafer) Cunningham. Was married to Della Jean (Gregory) Cunningham.
Also wrote one book under the pseudonym of Estil Dale
Best,
Victor
April 6th, 2011 at 8:58 am
Interesting: our local library catalog says it has three Cunningham novels under the pseudonym of Garth Hale:
The Everlasting Arms
by Garth Hale [Pseud.]. Cunningham, Albert Benjamin, 1888-1962.
Dutton, [c1953].
After The Storm: A Novel
by Garth Hale [Pseud.]. Cunningham, Albert Benjamin.
Dutton, 1949.
Legacy For Our Sons: A Novel
Garth Hale [Pseud.]. Cunningham, Albert Benjamin.
Dutton, 1952.
–Mike B
August 9th, 2017 at 10:53 pm
My father must have known him, in fact I’ll bet Cunningham was his professor. Clearing out Dad’s house, I found a copy of The Strange Death of Manny Square which I remember being told was one of his favorite books, written by a man he knew. My father also became an English professor and taught in Lubbock TX like Cunningham. Small world. My Dad’s notes are written in the margin of this first edition. I shall treasure it.
August 10th, 2017 at 12:35 am
A great story, Melanie. Thanks for sharing it with us.