The Oleander Press,
2023.
ISBN: 978-1-91-5475-27-5 (PB)
This novel, originally published in 1937, was the last from the prolific JS Fletcher (1863-1935), but that does not tell the whole story as he left it ‘not quite finished’ (according to the original publisher’s blurb). It was completed by the famous ‘Torquemada’, the pseudonym of Edward Powys Mathers (1892-1939), a poet and translator who is best remembered as the setter of fiendishly difficult crosswords. He is credited with being the first person to use cryptic clues for a whole puzzle and set them for the Observer from 1926 until his death.
The Mill House Murder features Fletcher’s best-known detective Roger Camberwell who is called to Yorkshire by a letter from James Martenroyde, a mill owner, shortly to be married to a much younger woman. Shortly after Camberwell’s arrival, Martenroyde is found murdered near his house and mill. Initially one of his nephews, Sugden, and Sugden’s mother (Hannah, the widow of Martenroyde’s brother) come under suspicion as there are suggestions that during his period as Martenroyde’s agent in London Sugden has been less than scrupulous in his financial dealings and there is a threat that these are about to be exposed. Neither of these suspects is particularly likeable, with Hannah in particular prone to outbursts of temper. One is provoked by the discovery that Martenroyde’s will is not to her satisfaction, the main grievance being that her sons will not gain possession of the business until they have demonstrated to the appointed trustees (one a local solicitor and the other a family friend) that they are capable of running it well. Hannah’s mood is not improved when she finds that Martenroyde’s intended bride is well provided for, as she had never approved of her brother-in-law’s marriage plans. Hannah is not high in the esteem of the locals, and her reputation is not enhanced when a second body is discovered.
A good deal of the detection concerns the movements of people and where they were at a particular time, as one might expect. The recognition of people in the dark of the night is also a feature, and there are some very atmospheric sections. There are also one or two peculiarities, such as why nobody is allowed into Hannah’s house. In the main it’s true to say that the characters are not as memorable as those in some Golden Age stories, with the exception of one or two walk-on parts, and there are stereotypes such as Martenroyde being a bluff Yorkshire man who is proud of being ‘self-made’.
A talking point, particularly for historians of the genre, is where does Fletcher end and Torquemada take over? The action certainly livens up towards the end, but that is no surprise and no clue. There is no apparent join. I’ve seen elsewhere the belief that Fletcher plotted the whole story, and that Torquemada completed the last quarter of the novel from Fletcher’s plans, as well as writing much of the second inquest.
Whoever
wrote what, this is a very enjoyable and well-plotted story. The twist at the
end raises it above the ordinary level, and there is also the
Fletcher/Torquemada connection/conundrum to give it added interest.
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Reviewer: David Whittle
Joseph
Smith Fletcher (1863-1935)
was a British journalist and writer. He wrote about 200 books on a wide variety
of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction. He was one of the leading writers of
detective fiction in the "Golden Age".
David Whittle is firstly a musician (he is
an organist and was Director of Music at Leicester Grammar School for over 30
years) but has always enjoyed crime fiction. This led him to write a biography
of the composer Bruce Montgomery who is better known to lovers of crime fiction
as Edmund Crispin, about whom he gives talks now and then. He is currently
convenor of the Midlands Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association.
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