Sat 10 May 2014
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: ANDREW SOUTAR – Night of Horror.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[5] Comments
William F. Deeck
ANDREW SOUTAR – Night of Horror. Hutchinson, UK, hardcover, 1934; paperback, Crime Book Society #8, no date. No US edition.
One evening Charles Barton comes to Phineas Spinnett, private detective, to ask him to locate Barton’s sister, bride of Lord Dargot. Barton’s tale is a strange one, and Spinnett concludes his would-be client is insane. This is the first of Spinnett’s errors, some of which he admits to as the novel progresses.
Barton dies of poison outside Spinnett’s home. Lord Dargot visits Spinnett, and Spinnett himself nearly dies of poison. He would have died if he had not been aware of that little-known antidote to apparently any poison — lots of whiskey.
Since the author makes clear quickly that Lord Dargot is a homicidal maniac, with emphasis on the latter characteristic, the novel is a thriller rather than a detective story. And thrill it does, if you are capable of putting yourself in the Thirties’ frame of mind and are willing to accept astounding coincidences, telepathy between two Irish lovers, a trip by one of the Irish lovers to rescue the other in what seemed to me an astonishingly short time, and a preposterous plot of which much is left unexplained.
Despite his investigative shortcomings, Spinnett possesses a good many other lacks, if such a thing is possible. However, he and his servant, the lugubrious ex-jailbird Timson, are engaging and amusing characters, and Soutar’s writing style transcends a plot of thud and blunder.
It’s a shame that only one of Soutar’s books has been published in the U.S. If any of the others of an apparent two score or so of his novels were as enjoyable, readers in this country missed out on a great deal of mindless fun.
The Phineas Spinnet series —
The Hanging Sword! Hutchinson 1933
Night of Horror. Hutchinson 1934
Eight Three Five. Hutchinson 1935
Facing East. Hutchinson 1936
The Museum Mystery. Hutchinson 1936
The Black Spot Mystery. Hutchinson 1938
One Page Missing. Hutchinson 1938
Silent Accuser. Hutchinson 1938
Chain Murder. Hutchinson 1939
A Stranger Came to Dinner. Hutchinson 1939
The Strange Case of Sir Merton Quest. Hutchinson 1940
The Wolves and the Lamb. Hutchinson 1940
Motive for the Crime. Hutchinson 1941
Study in Suspense. Hutchinson 1941
May 10th, 2014 at 6:29 pm
It should be noted that this list of Spinnet novels is only a fraction of Soutar’s crime fiction output, which, including short story collections, adds up to some three score books, not two.
From Bill’s review, the Spinnet sub-series sounds indeed like a collection to put together, albeit, from a quick search on the Internet, an expensive one.
May 11th, 2014 at 4:27 am
I’m sure I’d enjoy this one.
May 11th, 2014 at 11:35 am
Very hard to find any of his books other than KHARDUNI, the only one published in the US. I’ve managed to acquire a small pile of Soutar’s crime novels but so far only read one: Facing East. Something Bill does not mention is that Spinnet has an immense ego; I found that to be a big turn off. Sometimes it’s an oddly endearing trait but Soutar makes Spinnet out to be quite an ass, at least in the book I read. Soutar did, however, create one ingenious method of murdering someone in Facing East. For that I give him credit. He seems to have been fascinated with ghosts and haunted houses and I am wondering if Carr might have been an influence. The other books I bought (none with Spinnet) are titled The Phantom in the House and Public Ghost Number One.
In addition to his crime fiction Soutar wrote a slew of mainstream novels with romantic themes, some of them adapted for the movies.
May 12th, 2014 at 6:05 pm
Just from the review I have to wonder if Soutar wasn’t sending up Margery Allingham and Albert Campion (Campion debuted in 1930 in Mystery Mile)in part. If not, it seems at very least a curious coincidence right down to Spinnet’s man Timson.
If the Spinnet series appeared first in 1933 there is ample time for Soutar to have read Allingham. If it isn’t a deliberate send up of Campion, it is almost certainly a coincidental one. Granted if there is any sendup involved it could easily be aimed at Sayers and Lord Peter, but it sounds more like Campion.
Granted heroes with valet’s in the Bunter/Lugg tradition were pretty standard, but this does sound very Campion like and Allingham in 1933 was only just changing over from a more thriller like form to the classic fair play detective herself.
May 12th, 2014 at 6:26 pm
Congratulations, David. Your comment above was your 2000th to have been posted on this blog, far and away more than anyone else.
And I kind of think there might be something in your theory, as proposed. I’d have to read the book for myself, though, to tell if the similarities you point out are homage, or mere (and inept) imitation.