1997 mystery, tenth of Granger's novels of Chief Inspector Alan Markby
and non-detective Meredith Mitchell. The couple are having some time
away in a tiny village. But their neighbour is a retired reporter, and
she's got hold of a loose thread regarding the recent death of the
reclusive grande dame…
Granger has at times fallen into the trap of default conservatism
to which many mystery authors are subject. (And to clarify, I mean an
assumption that the way things are already is the best way, and that
any change is essentially suspect and probably bad.) For example, in a
side plot here the investigating pair stumble across a local
witch-revival, and Mitchell moves instantly into a very strait-laced
posture that "this shouldn't be allowed", never seeming to have an
actual reason for it. (Did a witch frighten her when she was
little?) It's all a bit of a disappointment, really.
Because of this and my sensitivity to it, it's pleasing to see Granger
(who was after all writing the Fran Varady books at the same time as
these, with a homeless heroine) have enough self-awareness to realise
that trusting the village to look after its own may not always be the
right answer. Yes, life is more complex than that, and neither an
absolute right for head of household to do what he wants nor the
State's eyes everywhere is a perfect solution. That may seem like an
obvious thing to say, but in a mystery story I am happy to see that
level of sophistication, especially from an author from whom there's a
risk of anyone who isn't comfortably middle-class being portrayed as a
rude mechanical.
There are several limbs to this mystery, one of them seemingly
vanishingly implausible until a certain revelation is made then
entirely obvious afterwards, which robs it of some of its force when
it's triumphantly explained in the conclusion. One does end up with a
certain feeling of pointlessness and waste once all is made clear, but
that at least is a legitimate thing for a mystery to do.
Of course Markby is off his patch here, which effectively makes this
an amateur investigation: once it's clear that murder has been
committed, the local forces become involved, but I'll be surprised if
any of them turn up in future books. It's a shame, really; Granger
spins off characters who seem as though they could have interesting
stories.
Not in the rut of standard village mystery, and all the better for it.