Sun 23 Jan 2011
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: MILWARD KENNEDY – Poison in the Parish.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[5] Comments
William F. Deeck
MILWARD KENNEDY – Poison in the Parish. Victor Gollancz, UK, hardcover, 1935. No US edition.
After a late death certificate and six months of rumor, the odious Miss Tomlin, who died at the Guest House — “a boarding-house where the inmates pay high for insufficient fare in order to avoid damage to their gentility” — is disinterred.
Since an unusual amount of arsenic is found in the body, the police suspect murder. To get help in their investigations, the Chief Constable asks Francis Anthony to listen to the local gossip and report on his findings.
Idled by a game leg and messed up intestines, Anthony at first is loath to take part. Only the fact that his beloved niece is enamored of Miss Tomlin’s nephew, who, along with his sister, may be a suspect, induces Anthony to accede to the Chief Constable’s wishes. Anthony hopes to prove that Miss Tomlin’s death was either accident or suicide.
In his dedication, the author says to a “friend”: “In your omniscient superiority you have pointed out that in all my books, of which you have read so few, the characters are unpleasant: here is an attempt at something different.”
The characters are quite pleasant, although [one] Miss Figgis is not exemplary. Fair play is lacking, but the astute reader — not that any such bother to peruse my reviews — will note an early oddity and begin building a case against one individual.
Well written and amusing.
Bibliographic notes: Of the sixteen books published by the author (Milward Kennedy Burge, 1894-1968), including one as by Robert Milward Kennedy, this seems to have been the only mystery tackled by Francis Anthony. Two were cases solved by Inspector Cornfold; Sir George Bull was the sleuth of record in another pair.
Kennedy also wrote two books as by Evelyn Elder, one of which, Murder in Black and White, has recently been reprinted in the US by Ramble House.
January 24th, 2011 at 12:19 am
I keep hearing good things about Kennedy. He was, after all, one of the original Detection Club members and I’m surprised that the title above doesn’t really comply with the fair play rules. I’d like to read more of him, but the problem is I only ever find the same damn two titles over and over in my bookshop hunting: Half Mast Murder and Death in a Deck Chair. I don’t think many of his books were published in US editions. And certainly it’s hard to find the UK editions here. Maybe another trip to that monstrous warehouse of a used bookstore in Milwaukee is in order. Meanwhile, the hunt continues…
You didn’t have any astute readers over 20 years ago? (or was that tongue in cheek) We’re more than making up for it now, I hope.
John
January 24th, 2011 at 1:13 am
John
First of all that was Bill Deeck talking about the lack of astuteness in his readership, not I. Tongue in cheek, though? Yes.
Those two titles by Kennedy that you keep finding were published in this country by Doubleday under their Crime Club imprint, and you’re right. They must have sold a ton of them.
I seldom go bookhunting for old mysteries any more — there’s no place to go, frankly — but when I did, those were the ones I found as well.
Only eight of the books he wrote were published in the US, four by Doubleday, and three by a small publisher named H. C. Kinsey, which means they’ll be as hard to find over here as the UK ones. (You’d be able to choose from eight various copies of the three on ABE right now, going for $25 and up.)
I’m surprised too, that Bill found no evidence of fair play in POISON IN THE PARISH. There no copies offered at the moment on ABE.
— Steve
January 24th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Well, so much for calling myself “astute.” Can’t even read the headline and get the correct author of the review. Ai yi yi.
Thanks for the info on Kennedy’s books. I’m trying to avoid spending this year unless I can get a book in person. Want to avoid all the nightmares I went through around Christmas time when I thought four packages were lost. Got three of them and one is still “en route.” I’ve given up on that one. Ordered on Dec 9, shipped on Dec 10 and still not here? Of course, it’s the one that I wanted the most out of all the books. And was the one on which I spent the most money. Bad luck last month. I’d rather do without all that for a while.
January 24th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
I have this book, but I have only seen this one copy in the last decade; so it’s very rare. It’s an entertaining story, clearly influenced by Anthony Berkeley.
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