Tue 30 Nov 2010
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: ALICE CAMPBELL – They Hunted a Fox.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Characters , Reviews[3] Comments
William F. Deeck
ALICE CAMPBELL – They Hunted a Fox. Scribner, US, hardcover, 1940. Originally published in the UK: Collins Crime Club, hc, 1940.
Tom Boldre, owner of Chenrys, an estate in deep financial trouble, has no interest other than horses and, in season, fox hunting. On one hunt, Boldre falls from his horse and suffers a concussion. Two weeks later he falls again and breaks a thigh, which, it seems, causes a heart attack and death.
When Boldre’s tenant who had helped him on his first fall is shot and killed shortly after Boldre dies, Scotland Yard, in the form of Inspector Headcorn, is called in. Headcorn is a dogged investigator, always seeming to be on the spot when something turns up. He discovers that Boldre died in a most unusual and unnatural way.
Despite the attempts by all concerned to conceal evidence and mislead Headcorn, putting themselves and others in jeopardy since the murderer is, if I may put it this way, foxy, the killer is unmasked. Above average in plot and writing.
Bibliographic Data: Alice Campbell, 1887-1976?, was the author of 19 mystery and detective novels between 1928 and 1950. Inspector Headcorn was in five of them:
Death Framed in Silver. Collins 1937 [Colin Ladbroke also appears]
They Hunted a Fox. Collins 1940 [Alison Young & Colin Ladbroke also appear]
No Murder of Mine. Collins 1941
The Cockroach Sings. Collins 1946
The Bloodstained Toy. Collins 1948 [Tommy Rostetter also appears]
I can’t tell you anything more about Campbell’s other series characters. Alison Young and Colin Ladbroke appear together in one book without Headcorn, while Tommy Rostetter is also the star of three solo adventures. The twosome of Geoffrey MacAdam and Catherine West appear in two others, including No Light Came On, 1942, but neither with Headcorn.
There is very little additional information about Alice Campbell on the Internet. There is a list of her mysteries here, and another short mention of her can be found earlier on this blog in the comments following this post.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
There is a small, somber joy in organized fandom, at least to the extent that it usually makes itself aware when the artists in fields inspiring the fanatacism have passed. Not always, and certainly CF fandom was arising by the mid-’70s…but the question mark strikes me as sad.
December 4th, 2010 at 3:17 am
Sad, indeed. I’m sure her work as a mystery writer had been long forgotten before 1976, and doubly so now. She certainly hasn’t been the only mystery writer who’s died unknown, though. Far from it.
Here’s an example, and it’s recent. Mystery writer Harold Q. Masur died in September 2005, and no one knew abut it until the following January, some three or four months later.
He had moved to Florida from his longtime home in Manhattan, and away from his friends, no one there apparently knew enough about him to make his death known.
He was 96, the creator of lawyer-sleuth Scott Jordan and a past president of the Mystery Writers of America. A few years ago Gary Lovisi allowed me to post an interview he did with him on the main M*F website:
https://mysteryfile.com/Masur/Interview.html
In the case of Alice Campbell, her name is far too common for Al Hubin to be sure that he’s found the death date of the right one, hence the question mark. He’s usually right, but when you don’t know for sure, you don’t know.
September 18th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Our bookstore just acquired numerous hardback novels from an estate, all dated to the early 1900s and including now obscure mystery and western authors. I just finished reading “Veiled Murder,” (Random House) and was searching online for more information on the author Alice Campbell. Hugh Morray, King’s Counsellor, is the main character in “Veiled Murder.” I hope we have more of her books. I am interested in information about Ms. Campbell if it becomes available.