6 October 2022.
ISBN: 978-1-91-547515-2 (PB)
Originally published in 1931
The story is set in the inter-war period and opens at Marsh House, which is owned by Sir James Sitheby, a wealthy press baron. Sir James uses his country estate as a ‘holding pen’ for people he might want to talk to but whom he cannot be bothered to mix with until he has a reason to do so because he thinks he might find them useful. Sir James employs a respectable and intelligent woman as a professional hostess to ensure that his guests are comfortable and entertained, which is an unusual practice in a private house. One wing of the house and a walled off part of the garden is Sir James’ private domain, not open to the run of the mill visitors unless they are invited there. The only exception to this rule is Hay Smith, Sir James’ chief editor of the Daily Record, who has been with the newspaper magnate since the beginning of his meteoritic rise to wealth and power. When the story opens, Sir James is not in residence at Marsh House, but Hay Smith is known to be working in the private part of the house and not mixing with the other guests.
The guests at Marsh House are Heath Baker, a young advertising man; Hester Payne, who writes serial stories; Edward Sape, who has recently resigned as editor of the Evening Record; Mrs Tremanter, a gossip writer for the Record; Monsieur Damont, a French journalist; and Herr Dunesberg, who insists he comes from Alsace, not Germany, although because of a campaign by Sir James’ newspapers he had been interned during the recent Great War.
Although Hay Smith is mentioned from the beginning of the story, the reader never encounters him alive. Early in the book, Inspector Brews of the local police arrives at Marsh House asking to speak to Hay Smith, who had phoned asking for an urgent visit from the local Superintendent of police. The Superintendent is unwell and so Brews has come in his place but when the butler takes Brews to the study, where Hay Smith had been working, the editor is found dead. Hay Smith has received a catastrophic head injury by an expanding bullet, known as a dum dum.
The investigation of the murder is complex, with no obvious motive for killing a man whom it is universally agreed was honest and honourable. It is soon evident to Brews that the killer has attempted to plant false clues about the weapon used and where it was fired from. As Brews probes deeper, it becomes apparent that many of the guests are concealing secrets, some of these may be personal and irrelevant to the murder, but other guests are concealing things which are relevant to the solution of the case. It is Inspector Brews’ army experience that helps him to discover where the fatal shot was fired from and his instinct for deception that allows him to uncover those who are trying to hoodwink him, including Sir James, who may not have been quite such an absent host as he wishes everyone to believe.
The Death of an Editor has just been republished; it was originally published in
1931. It is the second book in the series featuring Inspector Brews. This is a
book which relies heavily on the international politics of the time and is also
a fascinating preview of the way press barons were intent on shaping the news
as well as reporting it, and, as one of Brews’ colleagues’ comments, there is:
‘a tendency amongst newspapers to forget the purveying of news and attempt the
purveying of politics.’ The Death of an Editor has an interesting plot
and some engaging central characters plus sympathetic minor characters,
especially some of the unfortunate guests who find themselves suspected of
murder. An interesting book which should be enjoyed by readers interested in
Golden Age crime fiction.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron
Vernon Loder (1881-1938) was a pseudonym for John George Hazlette Vahey, born in Belfast. He was a versatile and prolific author of detective fiction in the genre's Golden Age in the 1920s and 1930s. Although his work has remained largely out of print since the end of the golden age, he is now enjoying a resurgence of popularity. He also wrote also wrote as Henrietta Clandon, John Haslette, Anthony Lang, John Mowbray, Walter Proudfoot and George Varney.
Carol Westron is a successful author and a Creative Writing teacher. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times. Her first book The Terminal Velocity of Cats was published in 2013. Since then, she has since written 6 further mysteries. Carol recently gave an interview to Mystery People. To read the interview click on the link below.
https://promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/carol-westron.html www.carolwestron.com
http://carolwestron.blogspot.co.uk/
To read a review of Carol
latest book click on the title
The Curse of the Concrete Griffin
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