Subject: Murder

Inspector Harry Charlton #6

by Clifford Witting

Subject-Murder (1945) is a detective novel by Clifford Witting based on his personal experience as a bombardier in an anti-aircraft detachment. Peter Bradfield, the detective constable colleague of series character Inspector Charlton, is the narrator. We follow him from basic training in Wales to his various transfers to other posts eventually landing him in an anti-aircraft detachment between the villages of Etchworth and Sheep, and coincidentally just outside of Lulverton where he and Charlton are based as policemen. The arch villain of the story, Battery Sgt. Major Yule - 'Cruel Yule' to the bombardiers he oversees - is sadistic, manipulative and narcissistic. Throughout the novel he proves to be one of the most odious villains in the entire genre. When we first meet him through the eyes of Johnny Fieldhouse, Yule is seated at a desk in his office taunting a mouse he has trapped under a drinking glass. This brief encounter will put Fieldhouse on Yule's list of marked men for the remainder of the book, and a gruesome murder follows before long. Clues and red herrings are abundant as in any of the best examples of the fair play detective novel. Charlton is allowed to team up with his old colleague Bradfield and together they uncover such intriguing evidence as unusual knots in the rope and dog leash used to tie up the murder victim, a book on torture practices of the Spanish inquisition that has certain passages bracketed, and the double life of a mysterious soldier named Alexander Templeton. Witting once again proves he has the stuff of a high ranking officer of detective novel plotting.

Genres: Mystery

254 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

Clifford Witting (1907-68) was an English writer who was educated at Eltham College, London, between 1916 and 1924.

During World War II he served as a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, 1942-44, and as a Warrant Officer in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 1944-46.

He married Ellen Marjorie Steward in 1934 and they had one daughter. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a clerk in Lloyds bank from 1924 to 1942. He was Honorary Editor of The Old Elthamian magazine, London. from 1947 up to his death.

His first novel 'Murder in Blue' was published in 1937 and his series characters were Sergeant (later Inspector) Peter Bradford and Inspector Harry Charlton. Unusually, he didn’t join The Detection Club until 1958 by which time he had written 12 detective novels.

In their 'A Catalogue of Crime', Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor stated, 'Witting started feebly, improved to a point of high competence, and has since shown a marked capacity for character and situation, with uneven success in keeping up the detective interest.'

On the gadetection website it reports, 'Why is Witting so obscure? His detection is genuinely engrossing, and his style is witty, if occasionally facetious. He could do setting very well—Army life in Subject: Murder. His books have the genuine whodunit pull. He can brilliantly misdirect the reader (Midsummer Murder) or invent a genuinely clever and simple murder method (Dead on Time).

'He experimented with form: the surprise victim (whowillbedunin?) of Measure for Murder, or, weak as it is otherwise is, the riff on the inverted detective story in Michaelmas Goose. In short, he always has something to offer the reader, and found original ideas within the conventions of the formal detective story.

'And yet he’s barely known—no entry in 20th Crime and Mystery Writers, and only a passing reference in the Oxford guide. Only treated in detail in Cooper and Pike, and in Barzun.'

Reviews

[Calum Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

C+:

Uneven, and a bit dull. Witting spends 2/3 of the book establishing relationships and motives when it could have been done in half the time. It feels like he has inside knowledge of this particular field of the army and wants to relay as much as possible, but that doesn't make for an interesting story. The reveal of the killer's motive is also very guessable. Worst of the Charlton series so far.

[Neer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Murder in a British army unit. More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The problems I had with this 1945 entry in the Inspector Charlton series are partly to do with personal taste- I am not fond of novels with a WW2 military setting- and partly to do with the structure and organisation of the book.

Although the reader knows early on that BSM “Cruel” Yule is the “victim”, the murder does not occur until two-thirds of the way in,and so, while the characters are well-developed and motivations seemingly fully explored, the police investigation is curtailed and mostly concerned with alibi-busting. Rather oddly,Charlton’s sidekick,Peter Beresford, looms large in the scene- setting, yet has surprisingly little to do with the investigation. The ending is weak, abrupt and quite unsatisfying.

I spotted the murderer and the motivation, although I kept one other possibility in the frame as I felt his behaviour did not quite add up. Here was another problem for me: no one struck me as being a convincing killer nor did any of the motives appear sufficient . Those who were wronged or harmed by Yule were portrayed as incapable of dealing with his machinations, cruelty, spite and blackmail and as helpless in the face of it all. Yet collectively they knew enough to have him exposed.

Witting does make a number of major points;that evil can be paralysing; that pure intellect and fundamental decency do not always prevail in the face of brute cunning;and that bureaucratic organisations are incapable of dealing with the very good or the very bad.

Despite the odd flash of wit, the tone is darker than in any of the Witting I have so far read. The writing is careful and clear but personal preference will dictate readers’ reactions.While I believe that the author has a lot which is interesting to say on important issues, I was not convinced by this as a novel of detection.

3.5 stars.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...