1942 mystery, first in the series centred on Francis Pettigrew, a
not-terribly-successful barrister. The anonymous letters arriving for
the High Court Judge while he's out on circuit are obviously the work
of a lunatic; the poisoned box of chocolates is less easily dismissed.
That said, though, the actual murder doesn't happen until nearly
the end of the book – though there are plenty of near misses – and
it's unfortunate that the narrative largely lacks sympathetic
characters. Everyone, Pettigrew most certainly not excepted, is
portrayed as quite remarkably stupid the instant they step outside
their areas of expertise (if any).
On the other hand, the detail of the business of a circuit judge is
well-observed and rather fascinating (Hare, or rather Alfred Alexander
Gordon Clark, worked as a judge's marshal at about this time). It's
not hurt by being set during the Phoney War, so the normal routines
are disrupted by the advent of rationing and the arrival of
unreasonable numbers of Canadian soldiers.
But the fact remained, odious and inescapable. There were no
trumpeters. War with all its horrors was let loose upon the earth
and His Majesty's Judge must in consequence creep into his car with
no more ceremony than an ambassador or an archbishop. Chamberlain
had flown to Godesberg and Munich and pleaded for them, but in vain.
Hitler would have none of them. The trumpeters must go.
To be sure of the solution to the mystery takes knowledge of quite a
fine legal point, in a way that reminded me of Unnatural Death
though the detail is quite different. On the other hand, picking the
right murderer by other means isn't much of a challenge.
"For sixpence you can get at any bookshop in the city a local
handbook with a complete plan of the building, showing all the
principal rooms, including, of course, the Judge's lodgings. That's
because this is an Ancient Monument. All I can say is, Ancient
Monuments are all very well in their proper places, which is
museums, but they have no call to put Judges in them and expect the
police to guard them. If you'll excuse my saying so, my lord."
The book drags a little, but I at least found the period detail quite
well able to compensate for the unpleasantness of the people.
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