It has been three years since I have read anything by this author. Previously I have reviewed: The Mystery at Stowe (1928), The Shop Window Murders (1930) and Good by Stealth (1936), the latter title written under the penname of Henrietta Clandon. Loder was also another pseudonym for John George Haslette Vahey. Aside from writing as Clandon and Loder, Vahey also wrote under the names of John Haslette, Anthony Lang, John Mowbray, Walter Proudfoot and George Varney
Synopsis
‘Inspector Brews, having been summoned to Marsh House to meet the chief editor of The Daily Record, instead finds Hay Smith’s body, still clutching the torn corners of several sheets of paper, near to an open window in newspaper proprietor, Sir James Sitheby’s, study. Following The Essex Murders (1930), his second case sees Brews faced with a motley crew of suspects at Sir James’ country house – including journalists, an editor, a gossip-writer and a novelist, all seemingly with an axe to grind. In a wonderfully intriguing case, red herrings a-plenty suffuse Death of an Editor (1931), with Brews trawling everyone’s alibis, needing a watchful eye and a steady hand to reel in the perpetrator. But which of them is it?’
Overall Thoughts
The opening of this novel, and its writing style generally, was quite different to my previous read by Helen Nielsen. Loder’s mystery begins with dialogue which would not be out of place in a Jeeves and Wooster story:
“Dashed odd house this,” said Heath Baker, as he walked into the big, oak-panelled smoking room at Marsh House, and inspected the boxes of cigars and cigarettes that were displayed on a refectory table to one side. “Sort of cross between a cigar divan and a free-for-all, what?”
Heath Baker (an advertising agent) and Hester Payne (a serial writer for Sir James’ newspaper) further add to the Wodehouse-like milieu, operating as bright young things, conversing in a playfully frictional manner. It is through these two characters that we get an introduction to the various guests staying at Sir James’ country estate, a place he invites people to when he might want them, but not right now: “Personally, I think this must be Sir James’s refrigerator […] Pops is in here till he wants us, knowing we’ll keep […]”.
You might anticipate Heath and Hester falling in love at some point in the book, but very early on, Loder kills that idea stone dead, revealing Hester to be the wife of another guest in the household, a connection which they had hitherto kept secret. I found this to be an early surprise, as to begin with Heath and Hester were set up with a “Will they? Won’t they?” atmosphere. Hester’s marriage is not one you can predict though, as there is no time for any scenes in which clues could be placed indicating she is connected to another person.
There is no hanging around in the beginning of this story, as by chapter two Inspector Brews finds the titular editor dead and the alibis casually mentioned/made in chapter one, become all the more important. I liked Miss Roe Gay’s reaction to hearing the news about the murder and being asked to phone for the police: ‘Miss Roe Gay, who knew how every game should be played, had never played this before, but instinctively knew the ropes.’ Miss Gay is Sir James’ paid hostess, who runs the social side of the country estate, keeping his guests entertained and even the death of an editor cannot make her lose her cool.
Inspector Brews’ initial way of whittling down his suspects list, might raise an eyebrow or two: ‘Brews would not trouble her. He thought her a very handsome woman, an egotist of a common type. Psychoanalysts to the contrary, he did not believe that egotists killed people. Narcissism is a full-time job.’
The second death occurs very promptly and during the night too. Trying to fit this additional demise into the overall picture presents something of a challenge for the police as well as the reader. To start with the death has an air of potential impossibility to it, in terms of motive, as one police officer suggests: “But he must either have gone out to shoot himself, or to get the car, sir. By your reckoning, he did neither.”
I felt more sympathetic towards the policing side of the characters, as the suspect guests, even those wrongfully under suspicion, aren’t particularly likeable. Hester becomes a more irritating character, trying to make sure anyone else is suspected of the crimes, rather than her husband. This is not an unreasonable feeling on her part, but her way of going about it is unpleasant. I don’t feel we get to know the suspects all that well and as a reader I did not enjoy spending time with them.
One part of the plot sees the Foreign Office dispatching an officer to support/oversee Inspector Brews. On the one hand I can see why this element was incorporated (for spoiler-based reasons, which I can’t say), but on the other hand the operative doesn’t really have much point. It felt like we had an excess of investigators.
However, the biggest weakness of this book is that the plot becomes increasingly slow. Chapters are padded out, which only offer minimal progress for the case and there is a lot of theorising conversations. The narrative expands beyond the country house setting, to various parts of Southern England, as the suspects disperse. But I felt this only exacerbated the pacing issues and it weakened the characterisation further. The final third is especially long winded. The capture of the guilty party is somewhat underwhelming as a consequence and the 20ish-page explanation of the case from Inspector Brews to his superiors is deadly dull.
So, all in all, I think I much preferred the other books that I have read by Loder and would recommend first time readers start there.
Rating: 3/5