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Martin Cotterell #1
Docken Dead
Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
77 people want to read
About the author
John Trench
10 books2 followersJohn Chenevix Trench, an advertising copywriter, author and amateur archaeologist, wrote several THB titles on history and archaeology. He was also a novelist who wrote four mystery/detective novels with series character, Martin Cotterell, an archaeologist-detective..
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 23, 2019
A scene on a train:
The clerkly man [filling out a crossword puzzle] nudged the young woman. "What can this be?" he said. "Confusion might result in the angler's hooking old army headgear. Four letters."
The young woman roused herself reluctantly from her book.
"What?" she said.
"Chub," said the soldier, unexpectedly. Everyone looked at him, and he blushed scarlet.
The man repeated the clue. The young woman shook her head impatiently and returned to Sartre.
"Pike," said Cotterell.
The clerkly man blinked at him, pencil poised.
"Anagram of képi," Cotterell explained.
That might seem like an inconsequential conversation, but it holds part of the secret to the mystery. Cotterell, the main character, later says:
And a headline about a burglary and the chance mention of the word "chub" made me think of safes and strong-rooms.
What does "chub" have to do with safes and strong-rooms? Google holds the answer: Chubb is a company that manufactures safes.
And Google comes through on any number of other references in this book as well, but some of these are still unclear to me. For example:
A police officer asks, "Your name and address, please."
Cotterell's irritation overflowed in a spurt of irresponsibility.
"Siegfried Armbuster," he said. "Twelve, Edwin and Morcar Parade, East Wivenhoe." The policeman didn't look the sort who would read Beachcomber.
"Small t in Armbuster," Cotterell's prompted him.
Google does say that there is a long-standing British humor (humour?) column called "Beachcomber," and that might be the reference. But what is the relevance of the particular name and address?
But luckily for Martin Cotterell, charming war hero, he knows everything. He is an archeologist by profession, but he casually quotes and makes jokes about Yeats, Dickens, T. S. Eliot, and G. K. Chesterton, corrects references to King Alfred, cracks a code, and, of course, solves the case.
Oh, yes - the case. A soldier, Major Docken, is found near a firing range shot in the back. This is first thought to be an accident. Later that same day, though, an experimental anti-tank gun is stolen from the same military base. Cotterell's friend John Little is present at both crimes, and consequently is included in the long list of possible suspects. Cotterell is determined to help him. (Surprisingly, there are no John Little/Robin Hood jokes.) Cotterell makes a fine detective, but his archeological knowledge also plays an important part in the story.
I first heard of John Trench in the book review column by Anthony Boucher in the March, 1958 issue of EQMM. In a list of the best mysteries of 1957, Boucher led off with:
The year's finest [detective story] came from a writer who has grown in stature with each book:
WHAT ROUGH BEAST, by John Trench
Docken Dead is the first of three books by John Trench featuring Martin Cotterell. The second in the series is Dishonoured Bones (1954); the third and last is the one Boucher praised so highly, What Rough Beast (1957). I have not read either of these.*
This first volume, at least, shares the air of erudite whimsy that brightens the mysteries of Michael Innes and Edmund Crispin, but it does not approach the level of the work of those authors. It is fun to read and recognize some quotes by other writers, but Trench somewhat overdoes this. The least bookish characters refer to Dickens or quote Tennyson; a local rustic wants to discuss Kafka. Part of what makes this rather annoying is that I know that for every reference that I recognize (or can successfully look up), I am probably missing three or four others. Did Trench really believe that many readers would know that the line "I am the Iris from the higher stage, that undertake hath the message" was a quote from the Fourteenth Century poet John Gower?
And the book simply does not work well as a mystery. The theft of the anti-tank gun is just pointless and silly. The behavior of the criminals is most unlikely. Decisions Cotterell makes about the punishment of malefactors seem peculiar and unsatisfactory.
And one mystery is left totally unanswered. Was the green man real - and did he have anything to do with the rest of the book?
It may well be that Anthony Boucher was right and that Trench's later books are better. Docken Dead is pleasant but no more than that.
--------------------------------
*10/23/19
I have now read and reviewed What Rough Beast. It is definitely a better book than Docken Dead.
The clerkly man [filling out a crossword puzzle] nudged the young woman. "What can this be?" he said. "Confusion might result in the angler's hooking old army headgear. Four letters."
The young woman roused herself reluctantly from her book.
"What?" she said.
"Chub," said the soldier, unexpectedly. Everyone looked at him, and he blushed scarlet.
The man repeated the clue. The young woman shook her head impatiently and returned to Sartre.
"Pike," said Cotterell.
The clerkly man blinked at him, pencil poised.
"Anagram of képi," Cotterell explained.
That might seem like an inconsequential conversation, but it holds part of the secret to the mystery. Cotterell, the main character, later says:
And a headline about a burglary and the chance mention of the word "chub" made me think of safes and strong-rooms.
What does "chub" have to do with safes and strong-rooms? Google holds the answer: Chubb is a company that manufactures safes.
And Google comes through on any number of other references in this book as well, but some of these are still unclear to me. For example:
A police officer asks, "Your name and address, please."
Cotterell's irritation overflowed in a spurt of irresponsibility.
"Siegfried Armbuster," he said. "Twelve, Edwin and Morcar Parade, East Wivenhoe." The policeman didn't look the sort who would read Beachcomber.
"Small t in Armbuster," Cotterell's prompted him.
Google does say that there is a long-standing British humor (humour?) column called "Beachcomber," and that might be the reference. But what is the relevance of the particular name and address?
But luckily for Martin Cotterell, charming war hero, he knows everything. He is an archeologist by profession, but he casually quotes and makes jokes about Yeats, Dickens, T. S. Eliot, and G. K. Chesterton, corrects references to King Alfred, cracks a code, and, of course, solves the case.
Oh, yes - the case. A soldier, Major Docken, is found near a firing range shot in the back. This is first thought to be an accident. Later that same day, though, an experimental anti-tank gun is stolen from the same military base. Cotterell's friend John Little is present at both crimes, and consequently is included in the long list of possible suspects. Cotterell is determined to help him. (Surprisingly, there are no John Little/Robin Hood jokes.) Cotterell makes a fine detective, but his archeological knowledge also plays an important part in the story.
I first heard of John Trench in the book review column by Anthony Boucher in the March, 1958 issue of EQMM. In a list of the best mysteries of 1957, Boucher led off with:
The year's finest [detective story] came from a writer who has grown in stature with each book:
WHAT ROUGH BEAST, by John Trench
Docken Dead is the first of three books by John Trench featuring Martin Cotterell. The second in the series is Dishonoured Bones (1954); the third and last is the one Boucher praised so highly, What Rough Beast (1957). I have not read either of these.*
This first volume, at least, shares the air of erudite whimsy that brightens the mysteries of Michael Innes and Edmund Crispin, but it does not approach the level of the work of those authors. It is fun to read and recognize some quotes by other writers, but Trench somewhat overdoes this. The least bookish characters refer to Dickens or quote Tennyson; a local rustic wants to discuss Kafka. Part of what makes this rather annoying is that I know that for every reference that I recognize (or can successfully look up), I am probably missing three or four others. Did Trench really believe that many readers would know that the line "I am the Iris from the higher stage, that undertake hath the message" was a quote from the Fourteenth Century poet John Gower?
And the book simply does not work well as a mystery. The theft of the anti-tank gun is just pointless and silly. The behavior of the criminals is most unlikely. Decisions Cotterell makes about the punishment of malefactors seem peculiar and unsatisfactory.
And one mystery is left totally unanswered. Was the green man real - and did he have anything to do with the rest of the book?
It may well be that Anthony Boucher was right and that Trench's later books are better. Docken Dead is pleasant but no more than that.
--------------------------------
*10/23/19
I have now read and reviewed What Rough Beast. It is definitely a better book than Docken Dead.
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