After a little reading binge over the last few days I managed to finish another one. It's one filled with detective stories. Detectives are one of my favourite genres. I like being led by the hand (or up the garden path) by the author and taken through the circumstances of the case at hand, discovering things as you read on and then try to make sense of the clues. Often I fail in this attempt but it in no way takes the fun away from reading the book.
I like finding out about the different detectives as well. All of them have their own style in investigating a case. Each of them has a personality they take into a case and shows in the way they investigate a case. Most of them have their own set of issues to overcome; Rebus is insubordinate to his bosses and drinks, Scarpetta is constantly trying to figure out her relationship with Benton, Holmes is a loner and a genius yet keeps Watson around for company and never finds happiness in a relationship with any woman. All detectives live in their own worlds and have their own sets of characters around them. In a way the idea of writing a detective novel seems very formulaic - something has happened and someone has to go and find out the who-when-where-why-what, yet each is in its own way unique and worth the read.
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes - Edited by Hugh Greene
First of, when I read the little intro on the author/editor I discovered that the editor of this book is actually the brother of Graham Greene - the guy who wrote the last book I read! The world is a small place at times.
The title of this one intrigued me when I bought it and I wondered if there really were any rivals of Sherlock Holmes out there as the title suggests. From the stories in this one it seems that Conan Doyle has some competition but for me he is still one of the best out there and some authors in this volume need to sit up and take notes. There are 13 stories in this book, some of them by the same author and I will go through them one by one.
The Ripening Rubies - Max Pemberton
In this tale we have someone at a party who is taken aside by the organiser of the party and is told that she is missing some jewels, as are many of her friends. The guy then observes a lady hiding some jewels in her clothes and from that deduces who he should go after.
I did not like this one very much. I never really got a good idea of who the guy was doing the"investigating". He seems to have a profession apart from investigating this jewel crime. He has some friends in the police force and they come to his rescue in the final confrontation but the whole things seems a bit flat to me. I did not get involved with the characters as they are not very developed or interesting.
The Case of Laker, Absconded - Arthur Morrison
A young lad working for a bank disappear and seems to have absconded with a lot of cash. The detective advisor Hewitt is called in to have a look at the circumstances in the case and does a bit of legwork, apparently there is something really important about a umbrella. He finds a bit of an advert from a newspaper and after that is seems to be all plain sailing.
There is a slight distraction when we find out that both the fiancee and mother of the lad Laker seem to be following the police and Hewitt around but they are up to no harm and just want to keep themselves up to date on what is going on in the investigation. In the end it seems that Laker was tricked into going in a building that had been set up as a decoy by the bad guys and they then separated him from his money. Laker had been held captive for several days but they had let a few clues that were enough to get Hewitt hot on their trail.
The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds - Guy Boothby
This one was a new one on me. A "detective" who is more out for himself than out to help his fellow man and/or solve a crime. Simon Carne/Klimo has a nice little set up going. As Simon he is a well know socialite and gets invited to parties and hang out with the rich and famous, nicking their jewelry. As Klimo he is the detective that finds the jewelry that he has nicked off them as Simon Carne. What a nice set up that is.
There is a rich lady that has some jewels that Carne would like and he devises a way to do so. there is a slightly interesting bit where he goes through a whole process of making a jewelry box with a mechanism that drops down the sides of the box and makes it look as if the jewels are gone when they are not but for me it cannot really save the story.
First of Carne/Klimo is not really a detective and he certainly not a rival of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes was never a criminal, he could have been with his brain but he decided to stay on the right side of the law and help people recover what they had lost. Holmes was never out for personal gain just personal satisfaction.
The Affair of the "Avalanche Bicycle and Tyre Co., Ltd" - Arthur Morrison
A story about bicycles which were at one time apparently a big booming business. One company gets Dorrington & Hicks to investigate some vague issue about a patent but the main story is more about how Dorrington then tries to get rich off the booming bicycle business. And we find out that he is not afraid to blackmail and injure people in the process. Dorrington is not really a detective, he does not go around staking out houses and/or tracing clues. he rides the waves of events and uses opportunism to get himself some more money than he was initially to be paid. He almost gets him comeuppance in the end, and I was almost grateful that he did. But he manges to get clear of the law and end up with a nice sum of money in the bank and not a blemish on his reputation. To me he is more of a rogue than a detective to be respected.
The story is too long winded and the characters are not well developed or that interesting. I found myself more amazed that the editor would think this another rival for Conan Doyle's Holmes than actually interested in the story or characters.
The Assyrian Rejuvenator - Clifford Ashdown
Then we have mr Romney Pringle. He just happens to be sitting in a restaurant and picks up a letter someone else drops. it is about a tonic that did not do what it was supposed to do. Pringle ends up getting himself access to the sellers offices and starts sending out orders himself and pocketing the money for it. Hardly any investigation has been done and nowhere do I really get the idea that he is supposed to be an investigator. To me Pringle is an opportunist who sees a way to make some money and is just good at tricking people. I cannot say that I like him or the story that much.
Madame Sara - LT Meade and Robert Eustace
Now we get Dixon Bruce. He meets an old friend who has recently married and his pretty wife and her sister are due a big inheritance if they can only find a long lost brother. Bruce gets involved in the search but to no avail at first. They do run into a mysterious lady who is a beautifier and becomes friend of them all. But..... all is not well. All of a sudden the sister dies and there are fears that the wife of Bruce's friend might be next. The strange thing about this one is that it is not really Bruce doing much of the investigating. It seems to be more the police surgeon Dr Vandeleur who figures out what is going on and who is after who, yet he remains mainly out of the story and on the sideline of events. It's kind of strange as he does seem to know what he is doing and able to get the bad guys but he is hardly involved in the tale. Shame really.
The Submarine Boat - Clifford Ashdown
Here we find mr Pringle again. This time he overhears a conversation about someone potentially selling some submarine plans to "the enemy". He then seems to want to foil this plan but not without trying to get some money out of it himself. The bad guys do turn the tables on him for a while by seeing through his disguises and following him wherever he goes, making it difficult for him to set his own plans in action. Pringle does not end up with the plans, but he does end up with the money and he seems to be perfectly happy with that.
Again, do not care for Pringle, do not get his morals , do not see him as a detective, did not really like the story that much and the set up of it is too similar to the other one in this edition.
The Secret of the Fox Hunter - William Le Queux
Lost of carry on in the diplomatic world, spies galore and some story about a document that is lost and will threaten the peace between two great nations. A lady dies on a hunting trip and no-one really knows why. We don't find out until the end how she was connected to the story and what her role was. Even though it is a bit of a long spun one, in essence the characters are okay and the story is entertaining enough with a little twist at the end. Although it a bit convenient that at the end of the story Le Queux brings in a new character to fill in the gaps and who just happens to be related to one of the main players.
The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway - Baroness Orczy
A woman is told a story about a murder and when you get a little clue from the final moments before the unfortunate lady's death you instantly know who killed her. At least, I figured it out. The whole ting then goes on for another few pages until the people in story are caught up as well and the whole thing is rounded up and he truth is forced out of the unfortunate criminal.
It makes it less interesting to me if I can reason out who did it that early on... and then turn out not to be wrong. There are a fair few characters in the story but none of them really engage you as the story is told to someone and you do not feel that connected to it.
The Moabite Cipher - R Austin Freeman
Arrogant detective Thorndyke deciphers a document and lords it over the other characters involved in finding out what is going on.
Someone is killed and he is the one carrying a document written in code. Thorndyke is then lured out of his house by some story about a person being poisoned. They almost get sidelined but outwit the bad guys and get even. Turns out that the note was about some loot that was hidden somewhere. Not sure what the main event was supposed to be in this tale as there seem to be some distractions on the way to the resolution of the story. So, even though the crimes are solved I did not really get a kick out of it. Thorndyke is a bit too arrogant and the story has a bulk deal on one dimensional characters - arrogant, super clever detective, copper - left in the dark, assistant - left running after the facts, criminals - super dastardly.
The Woman in the Big Hat - Baroness Orczy
Lady Molly does the legwork in this one. She gets involved in the case of a Mr Culloden who is killed having a nice civilised cup of tea with a lady with a big hat. Again, you know who has done it when you get to the description of the murder and then it is just watching the author pull it together. There is a nice little decoy suspect set up but the truth comes out. Lady Molly is not really fleshed out as a character and I was a bit put off by the very.... very dedicated assistant... slightly creepy. It would not surprise me if the next story in the Lady Molly saga is about the assistant murdering someone who dared to contradict Lady Molly.
It's a shame that this second story makes it look like the Baroness' stories are all sort of the same concept. The idea is the same in both stories - a murder takes place, the killer walks away from the scene saying something that in the end betrays them and then someone narrates the story of what happened. I think Conan Doyle's reputation is safe for now.
The Horse of the Invisible - William Hope Hodgson
Carnacki tells a ghostly detective story. I have to say that I know this character already and I like him. Carnacki seems to want to make sense of the mysteries he investigates and tries to not let the supernatural run away with. Whatever he investigates he looks for "normal" physical explanations for strange goings on he encounters but is willing to consider the supernatural as well.
Here we have a curse placed on girls in a family - they are doomed not to make it to their wedding days, not are their intended partners. There is a group of people in a house getting together and trying to work out what is going on with these noise of a horse running around the grounds. Cue electric pentagrams, some sleepless nights, swooning and the obligatory final reveal scene. The mystery ends up being a case of jealous relatives and a possible real haunting. Nice little story and told in a good style by both Carnacki and Hodgson.
The Game Played in the Dark - Ernest Bramah
For a change a blind detective, mr Carrados takes the lead in this one.
A criminal tries to stay one step ahead of the police and there are some rare coins that go missing as well. Then a mysterious lady calls to see Carrados and he ends up leaving with her and lands himself in a bit of trouble. The way he gets out of the sticky situation that arises is the real gem of this story! Carrados shows that his blindness is certainly not a handicap to him and uses it against the bad guys very cleverly. The story has a good pace and the characters are nice and interesting (although we do have the able assistant and the one step behind the detective copper). Actually would not mind reading another one of these.
All in all I think I can say that Conan Doyle does not need to worry about too many of the authors in this volume of collected tales. Some of the detectives portrayed are not even detectives. I find it slightly off putting that some of these guys are just blatently out for personal gain or even downright criminals themselves. I do not understand how Greene sees them as rivals for the skills and finesse of Holmes or how he see the authors as serious competitors of Conan Doyle. Many of the detectives are not well developed, or well rounded, some I don't even like at all. itis true that Conan Doylehad the chance to build up a character by serialising the Holmes stories but I think that evenin his first outing Holmes was a much stronger and multi dimensional character than most of the detectives portrayed in the mojarity of stories here. However, it was nice to read the different stories and meet some different detectives but my money is on Holmes for being remembered by generations to come.
Title: The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Hugh Greene (ed.)
330 pages
Penguin Books
ISBN nr 0 14 00 3311 4
Books to be read: 73
Thursday 30 September 2010
Monday 27 September 2010
Home Comforts
The nights are drawing in, the cold is setting in and this can only mean one thing.... more time to read!!! It seems that the less daylight there is, the more reading I get done. I guess that as long as it is light outside I think I could go out and do things, it's kind of worth doing something active if it is still light. However, as soon as the dark dominates the evening I tend to want to stay indoors, preferably snuggled up with my fleece blanket (affectionately know as Blankie) and a cup of something nice and hot or a glass of something nice and alcoholic. Actually, that's the one thing missing now... a nice warm drink, maybe a nice decaff coffee, maybe even with a nice little shot of Baileys in there? Oooooh yes, the heart is warming at the thought of just that. I'm off to get me a heartwarming drink and cracking on with the detectives.
And.... no books bought!!
And.... no books bought!!
Monday 20 September 2010
Travel Happy
The book I have just finished at times made me feel like packing a bag and just buying a ticket to somewhere and then just travel round wherever I go and see where I go from day to day. to have an adventure and explore the world. Unfortunately I do have a job, laundry to do and plants to water so I decided to just stay put for now.
The fact that the book got finished as soon as it did is kind of short of miraculous as I was "distracted" by some normal and not so normal stuff: there was the mountain of laundry patiently waiting to be done, cooking a nice soup and a lovely casserole with chicken and red wine. The not so regular stuff was my back pain (not normal and not really planned), slight addiction to new Nintendo DS game (I'm a little Ninja fighting my way through foreign lands) and the gift buying frenzy to get my oldest niece a birthday present (now I just have to remember to send it).
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
Travels with my Aunt - Graham Greene
I know GG from my Uni days and I remembered that I liked what books I read of his. I just did not exactly remember why I did. This book has brought it all back to me. GG writes in a lovely, skipping sort of way. He seems to wander happily through his story and brings his characters to life really well. He has a great sense of humour and even though it seems like he is just telling you a little story, there is some deeper human feeling and emotion in what he writes. the main characters have something to learn, go through a learning experience themselves or make you think about what they are going through.
In this one we have the main character Henry Pulling. He is a retired bank manager - he's sort of boring and bland, as is his life, and he does not even know it. He meets his Aunt Augusta for the first time at his mother's funeral and his life is a roller coaster ride of travel and intrigue after that. He not only learns that his mother is not his mother, but his mother's ashes gets replaced by pot by one of his Aunt's friends (the ever popping up where you least expect him, Wordsworth), he meets some of his Aunt's friends through her stories (mr Dambreuse, Mr Visconti, Curran) and befriends a young girl (Tooley) on the Orient Express. He even gets into a slight bit of trouble with the police. Although Henry is so innocent he probably was never in any real danger of being arrested or anything. They are more after his Aunt and her friends and contacts. The only ones to suffer are his beloved dahlia's. Well, they are his beloved ones at the start of the book. When we get to the end of the book he does not seem to have any fascination for them. He is more intoxicated by the smell of oranges.
Aunt Augusta is a lovely character, She is a formidable lady with enough life experience for 3 people. She has lived ad worked all over the world. Although it is never quite clear what she has been up to you can be sure not all of it was completely legal. She tells Henry her life story as they travel around. First they go to Brighton - this is when we learn about one of her loves, Curran. He apparently found a niche market in setting up a church for dogs. We also find out some more about one of Henry's uncles, Jo. He seems to have had the idea that by living somewhere only for a little while would make life seems longer. So he got a big house a lived in each from for a week. However, being ill he never made it to room 52.
The next trip they take is on the Orient Express. Here we learn a bit more about Aunt A through her love affair with mr Dambreuse. This little rascal had two mistresses set up in the same hotel, independent from one another. Only thing was, one time they ended up having lunch together when mr Dambreuse wandered in accompanied by his wife. Neither mistress was really intending to end the affair but as Aunt A stays, the mystery had gone for mr D and that was the end of that. It's also on of the first times she mentions a Mr Visconti and you know from the way she talks about him (and by the fact that you find out little a bit at the time about him throughout the book) that he is/was important in her life and means/t a lot to her. It is also clear the mr Visconti did what he had to do to stay alive in WW2 and cheated each side equally out of what they thought was theirs. We also meet Tooley on the train. She is a young girl traveling around, having some issues with her boyfriend and possibly pregnant. She is neglected by both her father and mother equally and seems quite happy to just sit and talk to Henry. You have no real idea why she is there but all will be revealed later one. There is a bit of police trouble at the hotel and Henry learns the reason why his Aunt's candle weighed almost as much as a ton of bricks.
Once Henry is home things no longer seem the same. He is a bit restless and I think he almost feels lonely without his travel and his travel companion. As it happens, he realises, it is the anniversary of his father's death so Henry and his Aunt set off for Boulogne where his father died. They meet a woman who was with him as he died and learn that dad had some intent of making her heaps a bit more than an acquaintance. unfortunately for him he died before he could put that plan into action. Aunt A does not like the woman at all. Henry and his Aunt part ways in Boulogne. His Aunt goes on to Paris to sort out something or other and Henry goes back to his home... well his house. It no longer really suits him as a home. His horizons seems to have been broadened by the travel and the mundane existence of Southwood does not suit him any longer. He seems restless, has lost interest in his dahlias an even throws away the urn without his mother's ashes... she was not really his mother anyway. I think Henry himself sums it up quite nicely:
"..., I was left with the sad impressions that my aunt might be dead and the most interesting part of my life might be over. I had waited a long time for it to arrive, and it had not lasted very long."
Then, a long time goes by before Henry hears from his Aunt again. when he does she is in South America, Buenos Aires. She has let him know she plans not to return to Europa and to sort her affairs out and then come over himself. Henry meets a guy on board the boat, James O'Toole (Tooley for short) who turns out to be the father of the girl Henry met on the Orient Express. Apart from being her father Mr O'Toole also turns out to be in the CIA. O'Toole ha the strange habit of writing down how much he pisses and when... good thing that that's not a running theme in the novel! One familiar face that turns up again is Wordsworth. He is helping out Aunt A while she gets a house in order for when Mr Visconti arrives. You feel that the guy is going to stand her up and leave her to foot the bill for the place and break her heart but true to his word the illusive mr Visconti does finally make an appearance. Only just though, he has managed to use Aunt A's money to persuade a local police officer that he needs to be a free man. Everyone is suspicious of everyone there in South America and ll the players are out to get something for themselves. mr Visconti buys his freedom, Aunt A buys furniture, Wordsworth wants Aunt to love him again, O'Toole wants a Da Vinci drawing and Henry..... well he just wants to stay with is Aunt and forget all about Southwood. I think he is a bit intoxicated by what life could be like for him if he stays and he ends up being a bookkeeper for mr Visconti. I think Henry knows fully the business he is getting into and yet he does not seem to hesitate. He is happy to leave his old, boring, sedate life behind. He is ready for a new adventure.
The fact that Aunt A turns out to be Henry's mother is really no surprise. The way she tells him about her life and the way they get along implies some deeper connection between them then just Aunt and Nephew meeting for travel. It's a great ending to a great story. Henry is where he belongs and although at the beginning of the book you would have never pictured him there he is exactly where he needs to be, and where he belongs.
Title: Travels with my Aunt
Author: Graham Greene
265 pages
Vintage
ISBN nr 0-09-928258-5
Books read: 1
Books to be read: 74
The fact that the book got finished as soon as it did is kind of short of miraculous as I was "distracted" by some normal and not so normal stuff: there was the mountain of laundry patiently waiting to be done, cooking a nice soup and a lovely casserole with chicken and red wine. The not so regular stuff was my back pain (not normal and not really planned), slight addiction to new Nintendo DS game (I'm a little Ninja fighting my way through foreign lands) and the gift buying frenzy to get my oldest niece a birthday present (now I just have to remember to send it).
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
Travels with my Aunt - Graham Greene
I know GG from my Uni days and I remembered that I liked what books I read of his. I just did not exactly remember why I did. This book has brought it all back to me. GG writes in a lovely, skipping sort of way. He seems to wander happily through his story and brings his characters to life really well. He has a great sense of humour and even though it seems like he is just telling you a little story, there is some deeper human feeling and emotion in what he writes. the main characters have something to learn, go through a learning experience themselves or make you think about what they are going through.
In this one we have the main character Henry Pulling. He is a retired bank manager - he's sort of boring and bland, as is his life, and he does not even know it. He meets his Aunt Augusta for the first time at his mother's funeral and his life is a roller coaster ride of travel and intrigue after that. He not only learns that his mother is not his mother, but his mother's ashes gets replaced by pot by one of his Aunt's friends (the ever popping up where you least expect him, Wordsworth), he meets some of his Aunt's friends through her stories (mr Dambreuse, Mr Visconti, Curran) and befriends a young girl (Tooley) on the Orient Express. He even gets into a slight bit of trouble with the police. Although Henry is so innocent he probably was never in any real danger of being arrested or anything. They are more after his Aunt and her friends and contacts. The only ones to suffer are his beloved dahlia's. Well, they are his beloved ones at the start of the book. When we get to the end of the book he does not seem to have any fascination for them. He is more intoxicated by the smell of oranges.
Aunt Augusta is a lovely character, She is a formidable lady with enough life experience for 3 people. She has lived ad worked all over the world. Although it is never quite clear what she has been up to you can be sure not all of it was completely legal. She tells Henry her life story as they travel around. First they go to Brighton - this is when we learn about one of her loves, Curran. He apparently found a niche market in setting up a church for dogs. We also find out some more about one of Henry's uncles, Jo. He seems to have had the idea that by living somewhere only for a little while would make life seems longer. So he got a big house a lived in each from for a week. However, being ill he never made it to room 52.
The next trip they take is on the Orient Express. Here we learn a bit more about Aunt A through her love affair with mr Dambreuse. This little rascal had two mistresses set up in the same hotel, independent from one another. Only thing was, one time they ended up having lunch together when mr Dambreuse wandered in accompanied by his wife. Neither mistress was really intending to end the affair but as Aunt A stays, the mystery had gone for mr D and that was the end of that. It's also on of the first times she mentions a Mr Visconti and you know from the way she talks about him (and by the fact that you find out little a bit at the time about him throughout the book) that he is/was important in her life and means/t a lot to her. It is also clear the mr Visconti did what he had to do to stay alive in WW2 and cheated each side equally out of what they thought was theirs. We also meet Tooley on the train. She is a young girl traveling around, having some issues with her boyfriend and possibly pregnant. She is neglected by both her father and mother equally and seems quite happy to just sit and talk to Henry. You have no real idea why she is there but all will be revealed later one. There is a bit of police trouble at the hotel and Henry learns the reason why his Aunt's candle weighed almost as much as a ton of bricks.
Once Henry is home things no longer seem the same. He is a bit restless and I think he almost feels lonely without his travel and his travel companion. As it happens, he realises, it is the anniversary of his father's death so Henry and his Aunt set off for Boulogne where his father died. They meet a woman who was with him as he died and learn that dad had some intent of making her heaps a bit more than an acquaintance. unfortunately for him he died before he could put that plan into action. Aunt A does not like the woman at all. Henry and his Aunt part ways in Boulogne. His Aunt goes on to Paris to sort out something or other and Henry goes back to his home... well his house. It no longer really suits him as a home. His horizons seems to have been broadened by the travel and the mundane existence of Southwood does not suit him any longer. He seems restless, has lost interest in his dahlias an even throws away the urn without his mother's ashes... she was not really his mother anyway. I think Henry himself sums it up quite nicely:
"..., I was left with the sad impressions that my aunt might be dead and the most interesting part of my life might be over. I had waited a long time for it to arrive, and it had not lasted very long."
Then, a long time goes by before Henry hears from his Aunt again. when he does she is in South America, Buenos Aires. She has let him know she plans not to return to Europa and to sort her affairs out and then come over himself. Henry meets a guy on board the boat, James O'Toole (Tooley for short) who turns out to be the father of the girl Henry met on the Orient Express. Apart from being her father Mr O'Toole also turns out to be in the CIA. O'Toole ha the strange habit of writing down how much he pisses and when... good thing that that's not a running theme in the novel! One familiar face that turns up again is Wordsworth. He is helping out Aunt A while she gets a house in order for when Mr Visconti arrives. You feel that the guy is going to stand her up and leave her to foot the bill for the place and break her heart but true to his word the illusive mr Visconti does finally make an appearance. Only just though, he has managed to use Aunt A's money to persuade a local police officer that he needs to be a free man. Everyone is suspicious of everyone there in South America and ll the players are out to get something for themselves. mr Visconti buys his freedom, Aunt A buys furniture, Wordsworth wants Aunt to love him again, O'Toole wants a Da Vinci drawing and Henry..... well he just wants to stay with is Aunt and forget all about Southwood. I think he is a bit intoxicated by what life could be like for him if he stays and he ends up being a bookkeeper for mr Visconti. I think Henry knows fully the business he is getting into and yet he does not seem to hesitate. He is happy to leave his old, boring, sedate life behind. He is ready for a new adventure.
The fact that Aunt A turns out to be Henry's mother is really no surprise. The way she tells him about her life and the way they get along implies some deeper connection between them then just Aunt and Nephew meeting for travel. It's a great ending to a great story. Henry is where he belongs and although at the beginning of the book you would have never pictured him there he is exactly where he needs to be, and where he belongs.
Title: Travels with my Aunt
Author: Graham Greene
265 pages
Vintage
ISBN nr 0-09-928258-5
Books read: 1
Books to be read: 74
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Carry on on the Coast
The one good thing to come out of the cold I had is that I actually had some time to read! I spent most of the weekend relaxing on the sofa, drinking cups of tea and finishing off my book. I even started a new one.
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths on the the Yorkshire Coast - Alan Whitworth
I picked this one up on my visit to the wonderful Whitby. I thought that since I was visiting a seaside town it would be appropriate to buy a book about what goes on on the coast. Basically the book gives you a chronological overview of what kind of things have been happening on the various Yorkshire coastal town. There's murder, pirates, smugglers, even respected citizens turn out not to be exactly what they seem. Some examples and tales that stood out for me:
The Martyr of Egton Bridge
This story tells the tale of Father Nicholas Postgate who was Catholic priest during a time when being a Catholic was a dangerous thing to be. Father Postgate often had to perform his church services with one eye on the door and one eye on the congregation. Some old families were still employing Catholic priests to see to their religious needs but Postgate chose a different path for himself. He moved to a small cottage in the middle of moorland. He lived among the poor and did his best to tend to all their needs. Father Postgate also tried to spread the Catholic faith in the North East and became a sort of travelling priest. Anything with a roof on it was used as a church and he had a sort of travel kit that he used to set up in these impromptu locations. In 1678 he is apprehended and had to stand trial a York Assizes. Four months later, at his trial, he was sentenced to death being found guilty of being a Catholic priest. Another four months later his sentence was carried out. He was hung, then his entrails were cut out while he was still alive, and then his body was cut up into four pieces (Hung, drawn and quartered). At this time Father Postgate was about 82 years old!
'Til death us do Part
The story of Reverend Sinclair who was killed by his own servant who was actually his adopted/foster son. It seems that at one time a young babe was washed up on the shore and taken in by the local vicar (the aforementioned Reverend) and his nieces. The young babe was called Adam Alvin and grew up to be a sullen young man. He also ended up bidding for the affections of one of the nieces (Mary) that were living with the vicar. The vicar objected to Adam's attentions to his niece and tried to dissuade them from their alliance but to no avail. Strangely enough the vicar turns up dead a little while later and Adam gets accused of his murder. He did everything to convince people that he was not involved and throw off suspicion. He even married Mary. However it was the other niece Catherine that confesses to what Adam had done and both him and his wife Mary get arrested. Interestingly enough, Adam gets the death penalty and his wife is acquitted.
The Hand of Glory
In the 1800's these seems to have been a strange superstition that when you cut the hand of a hanged felon off the body (bodies were then often left hanging in gibbets in the open air), pickle it with salts and dry it in the oven and use it as a candle holder that it would render people motionless or stop them from waking when you were burgling their house. There are several stories of the hand being used in burglaries by crooks. They had to get the hand into the house, light the candle on the hand and then recite a rhyme. Apparently the rhyme stopped people in the house from waking up and stopped those who did wake up from being able to rouse the others and call for help. You had to put out the candle before you would have any success at rousing other inhabitants of the house that was being robbed.
Doctor Death
This tale proves that sometimes you cannot always trust your doctor to do what is best for you. Dr Pritchard has a surgery in Hunmanby, a wife and four kids. Yet he finds time to flirt with most of his female patients, manages to upset the locals by riding by the church during the service, write a few books and poison a few people.
He does not stop at his poisoning his patients either but ends up killing both his wife and mother in law. the good doctor was hanged for this in 1865 and his was the last public execution in Scotland.
A Poor Little Fisher Lad
This little story tells us of a ship's captain who came to land one day and told a father that his son had been thrown overboard and was dead. However, one of the other sailors on board confesses to what really went on on board. It turns out that the captain abused the poor lad that died day in day out. The young lad was smacked on the head, slapped with a rope with a knot in it, nearly throttled to death time after time and in the end the boy's death must have been almost a relief for him.
The Marske Murder
If you feel like getting your Sherlock Holmes on then this one might be one for you.
Back in 1963 the body of a young woman was found. She had been left on the side of a road somewhere, strangled and died from asphyxiation. There was a suggestion that she had been murdered in one place and then let at the location where she was found. The police managed to trace most of her movements on the day that she died, and even though she had lots of friends and knew lots of people the police were never able to fill in all the blanks. She had been seen leaving a local hotel in the afternoon, seen shopping afterwards and must have gone back to her apartment afterwards as she was found in different clothes than she was seen in. Strangely enough the police encountered "a determined reluctance" when they asked people to help them with their inquiries. Even Scotland Yard got involved but were not able to uncover much more. They never did find out why people were reluctant to come forward and were, consequently never able to solve the case. The case has been left open and classified as unsolved. So, if you feel up to the challenge I'm sure the police will welcome all the help they can get.
The above are just a few of the stories in the book and it is filled with lovely (though sometimes macabre) tales of the goings on is some of the most familiar Northern coastal towns. Some of the stories are a bit lengthy and rattle on a bit. Others are really moving and human and involve the reader in the drama that unfolded in these people's lives. It is a lovely little read and I love learning a bit more about a completely different side of life in the Northern towns and cities from very early on until the recent past. Usually when you pick up a tourist guide for a city they will tell you the nice and glossy bits it's history and people. This book has managed to compile the "less lovely" side of some of the most touristic, well know places and it is possibly as much if not more fun to read as the city guides!
Unfortunately there are some spelling errors in the book but not that many and not too intrusive.
By the way, still no news from my letter to the publisher of the Haunted Taverns book.
Title: Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths on the Yorkshire Coast
Author: Alan Whitworth
185 pages
Wharncliffe Books
ISBN nr 1-903425-01-8
Books to be read: 75
I have now started and Graham Green one.
I've already decided that if we look at how authors write then Dean Koontz runs, Raymond Chandler slowly wanders and Graham Greene skips.
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths on the the Yorkshire Coast - Alan Whitworth
I picked this one up on my visit to the wonderful Whitby. I thought that since I was visiting a seaside town it would be appropriate to buy a book about what goes on on the coast. Basically the book gives you a chronological overview of what kind of things have been happening on the various Yorkshire coastal town. There's murder, pirates, smugglers, even respected citizens turn out not to be exactly what they seem. Some examples and tales that stood out for me:
The Martyr of Egton Bridge
This story tells the tale of Father Nicholas Postgate who was Catholic priest during a time when being a Catholic was a dangerous thing to be. Father Postgate often had to perform his church services with one eye on the door and one eye on the congregation. Some old families were still employing Catholic priests to see to their religious needs but Postgate chose a different path for himself. He moved to a small cottage in the middle of moorland. He lived among the poor and did his best to tend to all their needs. Father Postgate also tried to spread the Catholic faith in the North East and became a sort of travelling priest. Anything with a roof on it was used as a church and he had a sort of travel kit that he used to set up in these impromptu locations. In 1678 he is apprehended and had to stand trial a York Assizes. Four months later, at his trial, he was sentenced to death being found guilty of being a Catholic priest. Another four months later his sentence was carried out. He was hung, then his entrails were cut out while he was still alive, and then his body was cut up into four pieces (Hung, drawn and quartered). At this time Father Postgate was about 82 years old!
'Til death us do Part
The story of Reverend Sinclair who was killed by his own servant who was actually his adopted/foster son. It seems that at one time a young babe was washed up on the shore and taken in by the local vicar (the aforementioned Reverend) and his nieces. The young babe was called Adam Alvin and grew up to be a sullen young man. He also ended up bidding for the affections of one of the nieces (Mary) that were living with the vicar. The vicar objected to Adam's attentions to his niece and tried to dissuade them from their alliance but to no avail. Strangely enough the vicar turns up dead a little while later and Adam gets accused of his murder. He did everything to convince people that he was not involved and throw off suspicion. He even married Mary. However it was the other niece Catherine that confesses to what Adam had done and both him and his wife Mary get arrested. Interestingly enough, Adam gets the death penalty and his wife is acquitted.
The Hand of Glory
In the 1800's these seems to have been a strange superstition that when you cut the hand of a hanged felon off the body (bodies were then often left hanging in gibbets in the open air), pickle it with salts and dry it in the oven and use it as a candle holder that it would render people motionless or stop them from waking when you were burgling their house. There are several stories of the hand being used in burglaries by crooks. They had to get the hand into the house, light the candle on the hand and then recite a rhyme. Apparently the rhyme stopped people in the house from waking up and stopped those who did wake up from being able to rouse the others and call for help. You had to put out the candle before you would have any success at rousing other inhabitants of the house that was being robbed.
Doctor Death
This tale proves that sometimes you cannot always trust your doctor to do what is best for you. Dr Pritchard has a surgery in Hunmanby, a wife and four kids. Yet he finds time to flirt with most of his female patients, manages to upset the locals by riding by the church during the service, write a few books and poison a few people.
He does not stop at his poisoning his patients either but ends up killing both his wife and mother in law. the good doctor was hanged for this in 1865 and his was the last public execution in Scotland.
A Poor Little Fisher Lad
This little story tells us of a ship's captain who came to land one day and told a father that his son had been thrown overboard and was dead. However, one of the other sailors on board confesses to what really went on on board. It turns out that the captain abused the poor lad that died day in day out. The young lad was smacked on the head, slapped with a rope with a knot in it, nearly throttled to death time after time and in the end the boy's death must have been almost a relief for him.
The Marske Murder
If you feel like getting your Sherlock Holmes on then this one might be one for you.
Back in 1963 the body of a young woman was found. She had been left on the side of a road somewhere, strangled and died from asphyxiation. There was a suggestion that she had been murdered in one place and then let at the location where she was found. The police managed to trace most of her movements on the day that she died, and even though she had lots of friends and knew lots of people the police were never able to fill in all the blanks. She had been seen leaving a local hotel in the afternoon, seen shopping afterwards and must have gone back to her apartment afterwards as she was found in different clothes than she was seen in. Strangely enough the police encountered "a determined reluctance" when they asked people to help them with their inquiries. Even Scotland Yard got involved but were not able to uncover much more. They never did find out why people were reluctant to come forward and were, consequently never able to solve the case. The case has been left open and classified as unsolved. So, if you feel up to the challenge I'm sure the police will welcome all the help they can get.
The above are just a few of the stories in the book and it is filled with lovely (though sometimes macabre) tales of the goings on is some of the most familiar Northern coastal towns. Some of the stories are a bit lengthy and rattle on a bit. Others are really moving and human and involve the reader in the drama that unfolded in these people's lives. It is a lovely little read and I love learning a bit more about a completely different side of life in the Northern towns and cities from very early on until the recent past. Usually when you pick up a tourist guide for a city they will tell you the nice and glossy bits it's history and people. This book has managed to compile the "less lovely" side of some of the most touristic, well know places and it is possibly as much if not more fun to read as the city guides!
Unfortunately there are some spelling errors in the book but not that many and not too intrusive.
By the way, still no news from my letter to the publisher of the Haunted Taverns book.
Title: Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths on the Yorkshire Coast
Author: Alan Whitworth
185 pages
Wharncliffe Books
ISBN nr 1-903425-01-8
Books to be read: 75
I have now started and Graham Green one.
I've already decided that if we look at how authors write then Dean Koontz runs, Raymond Chandler slowly wanders and Graham Greene skips.
Monday 6 September 2010
Holiday buys
I am happy to report that even when on holiday I have managed to increase the book count. Only by one but still..... having only gone into about two book shops in all I did not do too badly.
Books bought: 1
Books to be read: 76
I am still reading my present book but still have a way to go. Mainly because I have been kept busy with Mum visiting last week. We had a few nice days in Milton Keynes and a day out to Oxford. Then we went to Chester for a few days. It was a lovely visit to a lovely city. Chester is an old place dating from Roman times and has been rebuilt several times on roughly the same footprint. It has some gorgeous old black and white houses and a big red stone city wall. We wandered around most of it and meandered our way around the rest of the city centre. One nice little surprise was that the city centre was filled with Rhinos.. not real ones but fake ones painted in a variety of ways: one was a Roman legion, one Elvis and one with puzzle pieces on it. Really funny to see and a nice surprise when wandering around the city as they were places randomly in the entire city centre. It was a great place to spend a few days and I hope to go back one day for another visit to explore all the bits I did not get to see this time round.
But now... time for laundry!!
Books bought: 1
Books to be read: 76
I am still reading my present book but still have a way to go. Mainly because I have been kept busy with Mum visiting last week. We had a few nice days in Milton Keynes and a day out to Oxford. Then we went to Chester for a few days. It was a lovely visit to a lovely city. Chester is an old place dating from Roman times and has been rebuilt several times on roughly the same footprint. It has some gorgeous old black and white houses and a big red stone city wall. We wandered around most of it and meandered our way around the rest of the city centre. One nice little surprise was that the city centre was filled with Rhinos.. not real ones but fake ones painted in a variety of ways: one was a Roman legion, one Elvis and one with puzzle pieces on it. Really funny to see and a nice surprise when wandering around the city as they were places randomly in the entire city centre. It was a great place to spend a few days and I hope to go back one day for another visit to explore all the bits I did not get to see this time round.
But now... time for laundry!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)