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A Little Confection of a Book

Revisado: 03-26-25

Those aren’t my words. They come from an online review by Rohan Amanda Maitzen, a self-professed “Reader, Professor, Critic”. It’s just one of several reviews I found online that, to my surprise, echoed my own mixed reactions to Cakes and Ale.

Funny? Yes. Satirical? No doubt. Quotable? Undoubtedly. But does it hang together? Does it even have a plot? The openly sensuous nature of our somewhat cardboard-cutout demi-heroine makes it easy for Wikipedia to enthuse about her “frankness, honesty, and sexual freedom [that] make her a target of conservative opprobrium”. Yet until the very end we aren’t given the tragic detail in her life that may have made her more understandable. And even then, in the words of Professor Maitzen, “I’m not convinced”.

On the other hand, as a reader and writer myself I found Maugham’s dissection of the life literary addictively appealing. Our first-person narrator’s meditations on reputation, beauty, genius, and other matters may be only skin-deep, but they are engaging. And maybe that’s the point of the book: a sort of nihilistic denial of the reality of beauty, genius, monogamy, in the devastated between-the-world-wars world in which these characters, none of them heroic or even very likeable, reside.

Whatever the merits of the book, James Saxon’s narration is impeccable. He is a delight to listen to.

Note: if you do decide to listen, watch out for an egregious editorial error. The end of Chapter 7 somehow gets repeated at the end of Chapter 15. Chapter 7 should end with the words, “because she was fond of me”.

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A Ripping Historical Yarn

Revisado: 03-24-25

A dramatic – sometimes melodramatic – story that also delivers thoughtful, insightful observations on human nature. Not a surprise, seeing as our narrator is a product of an 18th Century English (or Scottish?) university. A peaceful man, he finds himself caught up in a struggle between two brothers for the possession of the family estate. Highly recommended for those who like their swashbuckling stories to be rooted in our human reality. And, as always, David Rintoul renders it all to perfection.

One note: don’t be misled by the “About this listen” blurb on the sight. The “Wild West of America” referred to is colonial upstate New York, as this story is set in the latter half of the 18th, not the 19th Century.

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Far from the Polish of Classic British Detection

Revisado: 02-21-25

After a solid year or so of delving ever deeper into the British Crime Classics, I noticed that several of the Black Mask series was available to we lucky members. After the comfortable (not "cozy") Country House Weekend atmosphere of the likes of E. C. Bentley, A. A. Milne, Ngaio Marsh, and Julian Symons, these hardboiled Americans were like a bucket of cold water in the face.

It was an invigorating experience. Not that I don’t enjoy a country house weekend, especially when there happens to be a corpse or two in the library. But a change of pace – no, a change of everything: attitude, vocabulary, class – is necessary once in a while if one hopes to keep the pores open and the outlook fresh. And these four gems, each read by someone who knows their craft, all repay inspection.

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Collins Learned a lot from His Mentor

Revisado: 02-13-25

Like Dickens at his best, this is the perfect balance between heartthrob pathos and gentle, good-natured comedy. Like Dickens, Collins creates and populates a world that lives in your earbuds. Sometimes – as when Mr. Blythe exhibits his latest paintings – it’s a world you wouldn’t mind living in yourself.

True, the central plot turn might strike some listeners as predictable. Given everything that precedes that turn, I consider it inevitable. No, this one isn’t as deeply engaging as Collins’ four great novels. But this charming story repays your attention handsomely and is interesting as a milestone on the way to those four great stories. As always, Nicholas Boulton is simply superb at the mic.

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Ian Fleming Was One Heck of a Writer

Revisado: 02-03-25

Just as Martin Edwards (and many others) suggest that the best of Classic English Detective Stories have a right to be considered as serious literature, with all that implies (artistic merit, a serious purpose), I’d like to suggest the same for the best thrillers. That includes most of the Bond canon, especially Thunderball.

No, I’m not going to write a Masters’ Thesis here. I don’t have the time. But take a listen for yourself. Lines like, “It was a room-shaped room, with furniture-shaped furniture” will leap out at you. As will believable, three-dimensional characters inhabiting an unbelievable plot that, because Fleming worked it out so intricately (and created characters that are completely believable) is…believable. And Jason Isaacs just makes it all better.

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A Somewhat More Eclectic Edwards Collection

Revisado: 01-25-25

I don’t know if that’s due to the provenance of these stories, all Scottish in some way, shape or form, however tenuous, or from the authors themselves. Let’s just say that many are not in the mold of the classic Golden Age Detective tradition, which is fine, of course. But after listening to three other Martin Edwards collections, all more or less conforming to that mold, I found it a little disconcerting. Here’s what you’ll find on tap:

Markheim, by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Field Bazaar by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Edinburg Mystery, by Baroness Orczy
The Honor of Israel Gow, by G. K. Chesterton
A Medical Crime, by J. Storer Clouston
Footsteps, by Anthony Wynn
The White Line, by John Ferguson
The Body of Sir Henry, by Augustus Muir
Madame Ville-d’Aubier, by Josephine Tey
The Man on Ben Nagave (sp?), by H. H. Bashford
Before Insulin, by J. J. Connington
The Case of the Frugal Cake, by Margo Bennet
Thursday’s Child, by Cyril Hare
The Alibi Man, by Bill Knox
The Fisherman, by Michael Innes
The Running of the Deer, by P. M. Hubbard
Hand in Glove, by Jenny Melville

As with all the Edwards collections, this is a chance to find works by well-known (Doyle, Stevenson, Chesterton, Tey, Orczy) lesser known (Hare, Wynn, Ines) and unknown authors – at least, unknown to me. Compiling this list has reminded me of how much I enjoyed many of these tales. It will certainly bear a second listening.

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Usually, I love Ngaio Marsh...

Revisado: 01-04-25

But for some reason this one falls flat. Don't want to give things away (after all, I might be wrong and you'll love this one) but it seemed very complex, very long, and ended with a surprise motive that was nowhere (as far as I can see) hinted at. Nevertheless, John Telfer turned in his usual polished perfection at the mic.

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Another Treasure Trove from Mr. Edwards

Revisado: 01-04-25

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, these collections offer work you’ve never heard from authors you know, and an introduction to the work of authors you don’t know. Either way, you win. Here’s what’s on tap, from the clever to the humorous to the downright chilling.

“A Lesson in Crime” by George Douglas Howard and Margaret Cole
“Trent and the Ministering Angel” by E. C. Bentley
“A Slice of Bad Luck” by Nicholas Blake (aka Cecil Day Lewis)
“The Strange Case of the Megatherium Thefts” by S. C. Roberts
“Malice Domestic” by Phillip McDonald
“A Savage Game” by A. A. Milne
“The Clue in the Book” by Julian Symons
“The Manuscript” by Gladys Mitchell
“A Man and His Mother-in-Law” by Roy Vickers (5 chapters)
“Grey’s Ghost” by Michael Innes
“Dear Mr. Editor” by Christiana Brand
“Murder in Advance” by Margery Bremner
“A Question of Character” by Victor Canning
“Book of Honor” by John Creasy
“We Know You’re Busy Writing…” by Edmund Crispin (3 chapters)
“Chapter and Verse” by Ngaoi Marsh

The majority of these are terrific, with but two real duds (for me): “Book of Honor” just lays there. And, cunningly conceived and well-written, Julan Symonds' “The Clue in the Book” no doubt puzzled his British audience, but any American can see the solution almost from the get-go. Throughout, the performances are superb.

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A Satisfying Holiday Smorgasbord

Revisado: 12-31-24

Since everyone, from the editors at Audible to the reviewers, coyly refuse to list the stories and authors presented here, I’ll do so:

“A Christmas Tragedy” by Baroness Orczy
“By the Sword” by Selwyn Jepson
“The Christmas Card Crime” by Donald Stewart
“The Motive” by Ronald Knox
“Blind Man’s Hood” by Carter Dickson (aka John Dickson Carr)
“Paul Temple’s White Christmas” by Francis Durbridge
“Sister Bessie or Your Old Leach” by Cyril Hare
“A Bit of Wire-Pulling” by E. C. R. Lorac
“Pattern of Revenge” by John Bude
“Crime at Lark Cottage” by John Bingham
“Twixt the Lip and the Lip” by Julian Symons

The best thing about these collections is the range of authors. You’re either finding new work by authors you know or finding new authors whose work you’ve never heard before. On the strength of the last story, I’ve made definite plans to dig deeper into Julian Symonds’ work. Two of the three stories I’ve heard before as individual recordings (“Aunt Bessie”, “Blind Man’s Hood”) I enjoyed all over again; unfortunately, the third, "Pattern of Revenge" is not up to John Bude's usual high standard of storytelling.

True, the categories in which these collections are organized (Christmas, Bibliophiles, Water) can be less that strict (Julian Symonds’ contribution could just as easily fitted into Murder by the Book). But that is a mere quibble. Even the less satisfying offerings are interesting, and the best ones (“By the Sword”, “Christmas Card Crime”, “The Motive”, “Blind Man’s Hood”, “Sister Bessie”, “Crime at White Cottage”, and “Twixt the Cup and the Lip”) are terrific.

As always with the British Crime Classics, the performances and production are peerless.

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Join the Club!

Revisado: 12-17-24

These fourteen short, well-crafted, well read, stories are simply a treasure. Whether, as the blurb says, some people have been right to speculate that the authors -- a CID man and a police historian -- based these yarns on true crimes, is almost beside the point. They sound authentic, an effect heightened by Rupert Farley's masterful performance.

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