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Sergeant Beef #3
Case with 4 Clowns
First published 50 years ago, now in paperback. Regarded by critics as of Leo Bruce's most baffling mysteries. A murder is yet to be committedthat much is certainbut who will be the victim? Who will be the murderer? It's Sgt. Beef's job to discover these facts, if he can, in time to prevent the deed from being done?
- GenresMystery
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 20, 2022
I love Sgt. Beef mysteries. But this one, sadly, was a bit of a disappointment. The premise is excellent. An old gypsy-lady predicts that a murder is going to happen within a month at a circus. So Beef and his chronicler Townsend travel with the circus to investigate the would-be-murder. And we arrive at page 285 or so and still no murder has happened yet although in the mind of Townsend there are lots of possible motives, victims, and murderers.
Normally I do not like references to detectives in mystery novels. But in this case it is part of the fun and the best part is when the love interest of Townsend reads one of his previous books and comes to the sound conclusion that the guy is only pretending to be interested in her to enliven the plot. And she promptly ends the relationship.
I would have loved to see Beef solving a non-crime.
Normally I do not like references to detectives in mystery novels. But in this case it is part of the fun and the best part is when the love interest of Townsend reads one of his previous books and comes to the sound conclusion that the guy is only pretending to be interested in her to enliven the plot. And she promptly ends the relationship.
I would have loved to see Beef solving a non-crime.
March 28, 2020
I absolutely loved reading the book. It was like that Breughal painting of the fall of Icarus with the murder being a dot right at the end. The beauty of it was in the following of the circus and the description of the scenes and characters. It would have been nice to have had a bit more Beef though.
August 15, 2024
When you were a kid, did you want to run away and join the circus?
I suspect the Englishman who wrote mysteries under the name Leo Bruce did. One of the books he published under his real name (Rupert Croft-Cooke) was a hefty tome on the history of circuses. Perhaps the glamour of life under the Big Top compared favorably with his stodgy, middle-class family. Perhaps he'd already sensed that he was "different" and would always be an outsider, like the circus folks who move restlessly from town to town, remaining strangers wherever they go.
The premise is a gutsy one. Former Police Sergeant Beef and writer Lionel Townsend who creates books from his cases are at low ebb. After two startling successes in which the crusty, rough diamond Beef solves murders that stump both famous private detectives and Scotland Yard's Inspector Stute, Beef has set up as a P.I. To everyone's amazement (except his own) he's hired for a case ("Case With No Conclusion".) He solves that murder, too, but can't publicly tell what he knows, so his stock with the public has sunk dramatically.
It looks like the end of the series, but Beef has other ideas. If no one offers him a case, he'll go looking for one. A letter from his nephew claims that a gypsy fortune-teller has predicted a murder at the circus where they both work. Townsend laughs at the idea, but Beef reminds him that it's the unusual that sells books. Surely readers will be fascinated by exotic circus performers. And what mystery fan could resist the suspense of knowing that a murder is coming, but not when the axe will fall or who's neck will be under it?
So off go the enthusiastic Sergeant Beef and his reluctant scribe Townsend to join (in a very loose sense) Jacobi's Circus. It's a small circus and plays only villages, moving every night to another venue. The owner is a smooth, tough businessman, rather like a successful mob boss created by an American writer who avoids cliches. Jackson is a hard man to read, but he has no objection to Beef and Townsend hanging around. Does he suspect that trouble is brewing?
Margot the Fortune-teller is a real gypsy, but she has a grudge against Jackson. Has she seen a murder in the future or is it just wishful thinking? Her twin daughters are both stunning beauties and skilled trick riders. Two French brothers who perform a high-wire act are the stars of the show, a fact which is resented by some of the other artists.
Townsend is baffled by the strange life of the circus and the smoldering undercurrents between the performers, but Beef is quickly accepted by them. After a lifetime as a policeman, he's not shocked by anything. He soon realizes that the circus is a perfect breeding ground for festering resentments that might end in murder.
Any group of people together 24/7 get on each others' nerves. There's jealousy over billing and old love affairs may not be completely forgotten. What better place to commit a murder than a circus, where danger is the main attraction? Elephants and lions can turn deadly. Equipment can be sabotaged. A death could easily be passed off as a tragic accident. Would-be murderers dream of committing the perfect crime and a circus has all the ingredients.
The premise is original and the author makes excellent use of the exotic setting and characters. Yet, to me, it seems to drag on and on. OK, I'm not interested in circuses or circus life, but it's also the longest book in this series at well over 300 pages. Obviously, the writer loved the subject and yielded to the temptation to put in everything he found fascinating about it. Great if you're as taken with circuses as he is, but boring otherwise.
I'm not sorry I read it and I wouldn't discourage anyone else from reading it. Beef is at his bulldog best and the contrast between him and the prissy Townsend is as amusing as ever. Unlike the typical Great Detective and his adoring second banana, these two get along like two cats in a sack. But Beef needs Townsend to publicize his successes and Townsend needs material for his books. They're joined at the hip, but they don't have to be happy about it and they aren't.
It's full of humor and the characters are well-drawn. I was astonished to read narrator Townsend describing one male artist as "in the true sense of the word, gay." I thought "gay" as a euphemism for homosexual started in the 1960's, but it dates back to the 1930's in show business circles. The relationship of the two brothers is an odd one, stemming from a tragic childhood.
In the end, Townsend is wrong about the identity of the murderer, while Beef's sturdy common sense and decades of police experience cut through the underbrush and hit on the one person who really does have a motive for murder. That's what makes this series so exceptional and I'm happy to have discovered it. Just don't let this one be your first, unless you're a circus freak yourself. In which case, enjoy!
I suspect the Englishman who wrote mysteries under the name Leo Bruce did. One of the books he published under his real name (Rupert Croft-Cooke) was a hefty tome on the history of circuses. Perhaps the glamour of life under the Big Top compared favorably with his stodgy, middle-class family. Perhaps he'd already sensed that he was "different" and would always be an outsider, like the circus folks who move restlessly from town to town, remaining strangers wherever they go.
The premise is a gutsy one. Former Police Sergeant Beef and writer Lionel Townsend who creates books from his cases are at low ebb. After two startling successes in which the crusty, rough diamond Beef solves murders that stump both famous private detectives and Scotland Yard's Inspector Stute, Beef has set up as a P.I. To everyone's amazement (except his own) he's hired for a case ("Case With No Conclusion".) He solves that murder, too, but can't publicly tell what he knows, so his stock with the public has sunk dramatically.
It looks like the end of the series, but Beef has other ideas. If no one offers him a case, he'll go looking for one. A letter from his nephew claims that a gypsy fortune-teller has predicted a murder at the circus where they both work. Townsend laughs at the idea, but Beef reminds him that it's the unusual that sells books. Surely readers will be fascinated by exotic circus performers. And what mystery fan could resist the suspense of knowing that a murder is coming, but not when the axe will fall or who's neck will be under it?
So off go the enthusiastic Sergeant Beef and his reluctant scribe Townsend to join (in a very loose sense) Jacobi's Circus. It's a small circus and plays only villages, moving every night to another venue. The owner is a smooth, tough businessman, rather like a successful mob boss created by an American writer who avoids cliches. Jackson is a hard man to read, but he has no objection to Beef and Townsend hanging around. Does he suspect that trouble is brewing?
Margot the Fortune-teller is a real gypsy, but she has a grudge against Jackson. Has she seen a murder in the future or is it just wishful thinking? Her twin daughters are both stunning beauties and skilled trick riders. Two French brothers who perform a high-wire act are the stars of the show, a fact which is resented by some of the other artists.
Townsend is baffled by the strange life of the circus and the smoldering undercurrents between the performers, but Beef is quickly accepted by them. After a lifetime as a policeman, he's not shocked by anything. He soon realizes that the circus is a perfect breeding ground for festering resentments that might end in murder.
Any group of people together 24/7 get on each others' nerves. There's jealousy over billing and old love affairs may not be completely forgotten. What better place to commit a murder than a circus, where danger is the main attraction? Elephants and lions can turn deadly. Equipment can be sabotaged. A death could easily be passed off as a tragic accident. Would-be murderers dream of committing the perfect crime and a circus has all the ingredients.
The premise is original and the author makes excellent use of the exotic setting and characters. Yet, to me, it seems to drag on and on. OK, I'm not interested in circuses or circus life, but it's also the longest book in this series at well over 300 pages. Obviously, the writer loved the subject and yielded to the temptation to put in everything he found fascinating about it. Great if you're as taken with circuses as he is, but boring otherwise.
I'm not sorry I read it and I wouldn't discourage anyone else from reading it. Beef is at his bulldog best and the contrast between him and the prissy Townsend is as amusing as ever. Unlike the typical Great Detective and his adoring second banana, these two get along like two cats in a sack. But Beef needs Townsend to publicize his successes and Townsend needs material for his books. They're joined at the hip, but they don't have to be happy about it and they aren't.
It's full of humor and the characters are well-drawn. I was astonished to read narrator Townsend describing one male artist as "in the true sense of the word, gay." I thought "gay" as a euphemism for homosexual started in the 1960's, but it dates back to the 1930's in show business circles. The relationship of the two brothers is an odd one, stemming from a tragic childhood.
In the end, Townsend is wrong about the identity of the murderer, while Beef's sturdy common sense and decades of police experience cut through the underbrush and hit on the one person who really does have a motive for murder. That's what makes this series so exceptional and I'm happy to have discovered it. Just don't let this one be your first, unless you're a circus freak yourself. In which case, enjoy!
December 17, 2018
This book, from the late 1930s, follows Sergeant Beef, man of the people and no-nonsense detective, and his chronicler, Townsend, as they join a traveling circus for a few weeks. Their purpose is to prevent the murder foretold by Gypsy Margot, from happening. So they mix and mingle with the circus folk and their hangers-on. Or rather : Beef does, whereas his middle-class sidekick Townsend tends to be either confused or condescending. The circus has attracted a motley crew of artists and tent hands : two French brother with an unusual degree of closeness, a wire-artist with an interest in Russia, an amorous lion tamer and his well-educated assistant, an an ill-assorted trio of clowns.
As seems to be the recurring theme for these books, Townsend faithfully records all the incidents and conversations, but totally misses their point. He can't refrain from patronizing Beef, but of course the latter always figures out the mystery by a combination of common sense, insight in psychology, and dogged snooping.
As seems to be the recurring theme for these books, Townsend faithfully records all the incidents and conversations, but totally misses their point. He can't refrain from patronizing Beef, but of course the latter always figures out the mystery by a combination of common sense, insight in psychology, and dogged snooping.
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January 21, 2022THIS IS THE FOURTH BOOK IN THE SERGEANT BEEF SERIES. This book comes after Case with No Conclusion. This is clear to anyone who has read both novels since the general outcome of Case with No Conclusion is talked about in this book. Case with 4 Clowns was a disappointment to me after I so enjoyed the first three Sergeant Beef novels. The book mostly contains background information about how a circus operates and the life stories of the people who work at this particular circus. I didn't find the mystery to be compelling. There is the humor from narrator Townsend, Beef's sidekick. The book is worth reading for those who want to read all of the Sergeant Beef novels. Others should skip it unless they love the circus.
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December 12, 2025Not finished. I lost interest early on. Sargeant Beef isn't with the police anymore and is now a private detective. How can it be the Sgt Beef series if he isn't a Sgt?
December 16, 2018
For my full review click the link below:
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https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
August 12, 2016
I heard about this book on the "Classic Mysteries" podcast and thought it sounded fun.
Sergeant Beef was rather spectacularly thought wrong in his last case, resulting in his dismissal from the police force. Local cops still make fun of him, especially when he hangs out his shingle as a private investigator.
Beef's latest case comes in the form of a letter from his nephew, Albert, who is working with a traveling circus. It seems that the fortune teller has warned Albert that there is to be a murder before the end of the season. This is as good a reason as an for Beef to ride along with the circus, taking along his friend and chronicler, the narrator of this story, Townsend.
While Townsend is mainly concerned with trying to find out who the murderer and victim are, Beef seems to be more involved with trying to figure out circus life. He is bluff and hearty, trying to make friends and influence people.
This is an interesting story where Beef knows who the murderer is, even before it happens (yes, there is a body, but not until the end of the book.) Supposedly the sergeant is slow, both physically and mentally and the narrator decides that he will try to solve the mystery while Beef insinuates himself into the tight-knit relationships of the circus, relationships that are mainly fraught with high drama.
Sergeant Beef was rather spectacularly thought wrong in his last case, resulting in his dismissal from the police force. Local cops still make fun of him, especially when he hangs out his shingle as a private investigator.
Beef's latest case comes in the form of a letter from his nephew, Albert, who is working with a traveling circus. It seems that the fortune teller has warned Albert that there is to be a murder before the end of the season. This is as good a reason as an for Beef to ride along with the circus, taking along his friend and chronicler, the narrator of this story, Townsend.
While Townsend is mainly concerned with trying to find out who the murderer and victim are, Beef seems to be more involved with trying to figure out circus life. He is bluff and hearty, trying to make friends and influence people.
This is an interesting story where Beef knows who the murderer is, even before it happens (yes, there is a body, but not until the end of the book.) Supposedly the sergeant is slow, both physically and mentally and the narrator decides that he will try to solve the mystery while Beef insinuates himself into the tight-knit relationships of the circus, relationships that are mainly fraught with high drama.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews