The Long Divorce

Gervase Fen #8

by Edmund Crispin

Gervase Fen is summoned by a friend to a pretty village whose inhabitants are thrown into distress by a spate of anonymous poison-pen letters.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, British Literature

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Edmund Crispin was the pseudonym of (Robert) Bruce Montgomery (1921-1978). His first crime novel and musical composition were both accepted for publication while he was still an undergraduate at Oxford. After a brief spell of teaching, he became a full-time writer and composer (particularly of film music. He wrote the music for six of the Carry On films. But he was also well known for his concert and church music). He also edited science fiction anthologies, and became a regular crime fiction reviewer for The Sunday Times. His friends included Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis and Agatha Christie.

He had always been a heavy drinker and, unfortunately, there was a long gap in his writing during a time when he was suffering from alcohol problems. Otherwise he enjoyed a quiet life (enlivened by music, reading, church-going and bridge) in Totnes, a quiet corner of Devon, where he resisted all attempts to develop or exploit the district, visiting London as little as possible. He moved to a new house he had built at Week, a hamlet near Dartington, in 1964, then, late in life, married his secretary Ann in 1976, just two years before he died from alcohol related problems. His music was composed using his real name, Bruce Montgomery.

source: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/philipg/...

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go with me like good angels to my end,
And as the long divorce of steel falls on me,
Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice,
And lift my soul to heaven. (Shakespeare: Henry VIII 2.1.92-95)

These lines, spoken by Buckingham just before his execution, provide Edmund Crispin with the title for one of the best of the Gervase Fen mysteries.

Fen comes to the village of Cotten Abbas in the guise of Mr Datchery to investigate a series of anonymous letters. (Datchery is a mysterious character in Dickens’ Edwin Drood.) Over the course of a weekend there is murder, suicide and attempted suicide.

There is an interesting cast of characters from which to choose suspects, culprits and victims. A brooding Detective Inspector, two doctors, a blunt mill owner and his teenage daughter, a publican, a butcher/lay preacher, an intellectual Swiss schoolmaster, a self educated constable and a lady with a double barrelled name, as well as the Chief Constable and his demented cat, which plays a crucial part, are all precisely depicted. Crispin’s portraits of women are particularly good especially Dr Helen Downing and Penelope Rolt.

The clues are all there, placed fairly, and, towards the end, there is a classic gathering of all those involved, during which Fen expounds the solutions to the various crimes .

This is a beautifully written and very readable tale with nice touches of humour. It is far less whimsical than some of the earlier novels and Fen is not nearly as irritating as usual.It is Crispin at his very peak of good form.

And the quotation? A "steel" plays a crucial part in the story. In the play "long divorce of steel" refers to Buckingham's execution and foreshadows Henry VIII's divorce from Katherine of Aragon.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gervase Fen books vary in presentation/focus. This one from 1951 presents a seemingly bucolic English village image where everything is not quite peaceful. To describe would risk spoiling, but I will say the plot does involve anonymous letters...reminiscent of Agatha Christie.
It was on the slow side with subdued amusement rather than witty.


Library Loan

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cat Lavender…

A mysterious stranger arrives in the small village of Cotton Abbas. Putting up at the local inn, Mr Datchery shows an unusual interest in the local gossip, and as it turns out, there’s plenty of gossip to be interested in! The villagers have been receiving poison pen letters, some merely obscene in content, but others making specific accusations. Already the inn-keeper’s wife has been informed that her husband has been carrying on with the barmaid, leading to much marital strife (and jocularity among the pub regulars). The local police have so far been unable to identify the letter-writer, though they have a small shortlist of people known to have grudges against the villagers. Soon the matter will become deadly serious, when one letter provokes elderly Beatrice Keats-Madderly, rich and ultra-respectable, to take her own life…

This is my third Gervase Fen novel and it’s just as brilliant as the others. It’s always hard to know what exactly constitutes a spoiler, but anyone who’s read any of the books will immediately realise that the mysterious Mr Datchery is in fact Gervase Fen, academic and amateur ‘tec. He has been summoned by his friend Colonel Babbington, the Chief Constable of the county and himself a resident of the village. While the local Inspector, Edward Casby, (another villager), is a good detective, he’s got nowhere with this investigation and Babbington hopes Fen’s unusually sensitive instincts will help him sniff out the poison pen. So Fen wanders around the village, chatting to various residents, while Casby continues to concentrate on trying to find some forensic evidence to point him in the right direction.

There’s a whole cast of village characters, all excellently drawn. Young Penelope Rolt has a ‘pash’ for a local Swiss schoolmaster with pretensions to be a psychologist and, as is the way with teenagers, this infatuation seems like the most important thing in the world to her. More important, even, than the fact that her father is at loggerheads with the whole village because he has built a mill that the snobby element feel spoils the beauty of the place. The village has two doctors and not enough patients to keep them both in profitable business so, since the patients prefer a traditional male doctor, George Sims is doing very nicely while Helen Downing is struggling and getting into debt. There’s the local butcher who doubles as the pastor of his own self-created sect, where he preaches to a small but devout congregation but is rather looked down on by those who prefer the traditional churches. The inn-keeper, Mogridge, provides a kind of comic turn, as well as being a great source of gossip. Then there are the police – Colonel Babbington, the reserved Inspector Casby and the lovely Constable Burns who, taking tips from the many ‘tecs in mystery novels, has educated himself on all sorts of subjects he feels may help him to get on in his profession, from forensics to Egyptology!

Last but not least is the cat Lavender, belonging to Colonel Babbington. The cat Lavender is not the brightest cat in the world and in his constant pursuit of invisible Martians has a tendency to destroy the Colonel’s ornaments. But the cat Lavender will play a crucial role (and will remain unharmed, animal lovers). Every time Crispin mentions the cat, he uses the phrase “the cat Lavender”, never just “the cat” or “Lavender”. For a while, I thought this was going to drive me mad but gradually the humour of it got to me and it acted as a kind of sign-post to the fact that the cat Lavender was an important character in his own right.

Crispin is such a great writer – he is a complete master of pushing the reader’s attention wherever he wants it to go, and thus misdirection is easy to him. He also writes with so much humour. Despite the underlying seriousness of the plot, this is very much light entertainment, complete with a romantic triangle between Helen and two men, either of whom might possibly be the bad guy. It creates a lot of suspense, especially since Helen is a very sympathetic character and so we hope nothing bad happens to her. And while Fen’s instincts are almost too good to be true, they remain within credibility, just about, and his sympathetic understanding for people in trouble gives the books a lot of warmth.

I feel this is about as close to perfect as the mystery novel gets, and I’ve felt that about the other two I’ve read too, so I think it’s safe to say Crispin has become one of my top favourites. Unfortunately he wasn’t hugely prolific – he had another successful career as a composer under his real name, Bruce Montgomery – so I only have another six of these to look forward to. He can’t possibly maintain this high standard with them all, can he? I can’t wait to find out!

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Collins Crime Club.

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[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nasty anonymous letters are being sent, one of them causes a woman to take her own life, a young man is murdered, a 16-year-old girl rebels against her father, and a cat is behaving oddly. Clearly, this calls for the intervention of an Oxford professor of English. It calls for Gervase Fen. All books by Edmund Crispin (aka Bruce Montgomery) do.
Where is he?
You may figure out the answer to this question sooner than I did. You look like you're pretty quick on the uptake. Even I had my suspicions before the answer was definitively revealed.
I had no clue as to who the responsible parties were until the reveal. I only knew that it couldn't be the obvious suspect. Obvious suspects are never the true culprits in British crime novels.
Reading Gervase Fen stories is like eating candy. There's no nutritional value, but they go down quickly, they tickle the taste buds and you always want more.
I'm the only person I know who reads them, though, and they are hard to find. I ordered "The Long Divorce" three times via interlibrary loan before I got it, and even then it took much longer than usual. It took me almost no time to plow through it -- finished about 24 hours after I started it.
These quirky little mysteries are my favorite of the genre, and I'd place "The Long Divorce" near the top of the heap. I don't know why they aren't more popular. I think they'd be the perfect stories for the BBC to adopt into a mystery series, and once PBS got hold of it, the people who watch British mysteries on PBS -- you know who you are -- would demand the books, and they'd be easy to find.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this entertaining story of anonymous letters and murder Gervase Fen is undercover in the village of Cotton Abbas asking questions and generally finding his way into everything which is going on. In his inimitable fashion he soon uncovers all the villagers' secrets, the author of the letters and the murderer.

This is a light hearted story with plenty of amusing incidents and some marvellous characters including the cat, Lavender, who chases Martians and destroys everything in his way. Though the book s part of a series it can be read as a standalone novel

[Abigail Bok · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this mystery, “Edmund Crispin” finally gets the balance right. His sleuth, Gervase Fen, is still quirky but at the same time serious about the gravity of the crimes he faces. The writing has brio without excessive showing off, and the story doesn’t go on too long. The characters mostly feel like real people with real emotions. The mystery is complex enough without veering into the improbable. And there’s an eccentric animal who doesn’t have to die for things to come out all right in the end (a feature of the previous few books that thoroughly harshed my mellow).

The story begins with a Mr. Datchery making his way on foot to the village of Cotten Abbas. Fans of Dickens will immediately suspect the name, and fans of Gervase Fen will immediately recognize the physical description and willful nature of the soi-disant Datchery. So why is Fen going to an obscure village under an assumed name? Not a lot of mystery there, it’s very soon clear he is trying to maintain a low profile (good luck with that) while pursuing clues. Someone has been writing poison-pen letters, and possibly in response to one of them, a woman has committed suicide.

An oddity of this story, however, is that little of it is told from Fen’s point of view. It wanders about the village acquainting us with a variety of inhabitants and unfolding the story mostly from their points of view. I really liked the organic feeling this approach imparted; so many mystery stories have to stretch plausibility to the snapping point in order to give the sleuth access to the necessary evidence, but this way the reader has access to nearly everything that is happening. I found many of the characters likable as well, and came to care about what they were going through. They may be largely British “types” but they are portrayed with sympathy and humanity.

A feature of Crispin’s later novels is a climactic scene of drama and danger, and this one is gut-wrenching. That is followed as usual by a longish scene in which Fen’s solution to the crimes is revealed, but this one isn’t as interminable as some have been and it had its share of dramatic moments as well. In short—I loved the prose, enjoyed the puzzle, the setting held my interest, and couldn’t ask for more of a mystery.

[Ardella Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Edmund Crispin's mysteries, and I am thrilled to see that most or all of them are back in print. These are British mysteries with Oxford don Gervase Fen as the detective. They're funny--Crispin has a great sense of humor--and quirky in kind of postmodern way. For example, Crispin might have a real person stroll by as the characters take note: "There goes C. S. Lewis," remarks Gervase Fen as he glances out the window of the Eagle and Child (Bird and Baby, where the Inklings used to meet) in Oxford. Or, Crispin will refer to another characters in somebody else's mystery novels as living in his fictional world: Gervase sometimes refers to Dr. Gideon Fell, who is John Dickson Carr's fictional detective (modeled on the real-life G. K. Chesterton).

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I really liked 'The Moving Toyshop' for the playful way with the story and characters, 'The Long Divorce' has far less engaging characters and story. I can still clearly recall many parts of 'the Moving Toyshop' and can hardly recall much of 'The Long Divorce'.

The writing is fine for a mystery. The setting is well defined, especially the rural areas. The characters are also illustrated well but with less spark than in 'The Moving Toyshop.

There is a significant and needless plot device used, it seems, because there is little engaging in this book. I'd say, that is what hurts this book. The writer was so busy setting up to reveal the plot device that certain characters and situations got washed out.

Bottom Line: I recommend this book. Checking 5 of 10 points.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have just re-read this after many years and was thoroughly justified in picking it up again. I just love this man's style of writing. Such wonderful prose with wit and humour. A bit like a slightly more high-brow Colin Watson, my other favourite writer. Fen is a great character.

If you want to read enjoyable British crime stories written in the most exquisite English then Edmund Crispin is your man.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery novel is set in the UK in 1950. It is old fashioned, not because of that setting, but because there's no real violence, no car chases, no foul language, but just a puzzle of a mystery.

It turns out I've become habituated to the action hero type of modern mystery (which usually isn't much of a mystery at all) and I didn't realize how much I miss the puzzle mystery genre until reading this fine book.

This book is also a reminder that there was a time when folks used a very broad vocabulary in general speech; today it seems that most popular fiction is written to an 8th grade level. A friend pointed out that children were expected to follow what seems today to be complex language, such as this from Peter Rabbit: "...who flew to him in great excitement and implored him to exert himself." He also pointed out that today, children's books are more apt to be about Walter the farting dog. All of which is a roundabout way of saying that is it refreshing to read a novel that occasionally demands an open dictionary (or at least a dictionary app).

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit dubious about this going in, because I fairly recently reread another Crispin and found it irritating and not quite able to decide on whether it was being meta about the genre, humourous, or a serious puzzle mystery (in the context of having read around the same time some other Silver Age British mysteries which had similar issues). But I thought this one was a whole lot better, not to mention the period details such as Fen pretending to be a Mass Observer, and the whole blood grouping element (though I'm not entirely convinced forensic blood analysis at the time was quite that capable of what is claimed for it). Also, right from the off it is scathing about the stereotype of the poison-pen letter-writer and has sympathetic portrait of woman doctor in small village.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good mystery - ignore the blurb on the back of the book, as it is completely misleading! Although I managed to work out parts of the solution, I couldn't see how it all went together. Crispin also threw in a suspenseful side plot towards the end which kept me from being able to ponder on the clues.

Fen is incognito for the majority of the book, although for readers familiar with him it was easy to spot who he was on first appearance. Visiting the village of Cotten Abbas to investigate a spate of nasty anonymous letters, he is confronted with a suicide and then a murder within days of his arrival. Are these all linked, or has someone taken advantage of the situation to commit a murder (or two)?

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deliciously humorous village life and a sympathetic treatment of female characters. I was grateful that Crispin exposed Fen's incognito immediately to readers, because his deprecatory humor is a lot of the fun.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. I have no idea what the title is about, though.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short and enjoyable British mystery involving anonymous letters and a couple of murders. No divorce (the title refers to a line in Shakespeare's Henry VIII).

[Sharla · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title seems to have nothing to do with the book and some events strain suspension of disbelief but I enjoyed the heck out of this book. For me it's been the best of the series so far.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I last read an Edmund Crispin, I said I would probably not read another, but over a rainy weekend, I found myself bored with the non-fiction book I am supposed to be reading and longing for a cozy British mystery. This title was in an omnibus edition I had brought home (fortuitously) from my volunteer job, and I picked the middle of the three titles in the book to read. It was delightful! Not so much Fen holding forth and a cast of sympathetic characters to care about. Crispin's books are all about 150 pages and can be read quickly, really, and this one--including Lavender the cat--saved my weekend.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whole lot of excitement there.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with The Long Divorce isn’t the style (which is readable) or the setting (a perfect English country town--the classic “closed community” needed for a mystery) or the pacing (everything moves towards the solution). The problem is that this is another one of those mysteries where there are about seven suspects and one of them turns out to be the murderer.

Why is that a problem? Because after you’ve read about twenty of these, by any writer, only the most clever solutions are satisfying. Think of the best Agatha Christie puzzles: The A.B.C. Murders, Curtain, Murder on the Orient Express, and (the best of them all) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. All of these are great because their solutions play with the reader’s expectations not only of the characters but of the whole formula. Her less-successful ones are so because the solution is simply the answer to a complex equation. Such is the case here: the solution made me say, “Fine” instead of, “Holy cow--that’s really good.”
In a book like this, the minute after the solution is revealed, it’s almost forgotten. (That part of the solution hinges upon the fact that the victim received a letter addressed with purple ink and the detective's knowing someone who happened to use the same color is an example of shameful cheating.)

While I’m at it: when I become dictator, I will make a rule about what can be revealed on back covers and dust jackets. On this one (Penguin Crime paper ed., 1984) the back cover reveals something that occurs fifty pages into the book and then another that happens twenty pages later. I’m glad I didn’t read it until after I finished the book.

If anyone out there can recommend mysteries with truly shocking solutions, I’m all ears. Otherwise, I can play Clue with my kids.

[Virginia B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for a little more than this mystery story delivered. It had a few pretty good characters, some effective twists, some funny parts, but a not very believable end and a very long wrap-up, a peeve of mine. A dim-witted cat plays a part. This was #8 in a series; if I ran across another, I would probably read it.

[^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cat, named Lavender dreams of chasing Martians (well, it IS 1951). Mrs Babington lies ill with influenza (in June). The reader learns that Constable Burns is self-taught on (amongst other esoteric subjects) forensic chemistry, Egyptology, religious heresy, and the identification of perfumes. Meanwhile, Mr Datchery, as a Mass Observer, is studying aspects of rural life. Crispin cooks the perfect English village mystery murder. I really simply cannot understand why no writer has produced a screenplay to bring this wonderful detective novel to the television screen; especially now that Midsomer Murders has emphatically grown too long in the tooth.

Edmund Crispin (Bruce Montgomery) is right there at the top of the pantheon of writers of classic detective fiction. Unmissable (as are all of his books).

[Telitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sat on my bookshelf forever without me touching it because I thought it was about a long divorce (boring!) However, there was nothing about any divorce in it and it turned out to be a cute mystery/romance. After reading it I searched for a clue to the title, and on the title page it says "The long divorce of steel" from Henry VIII, Act 2, scene 1, which is where someone gets killed... so the title is a bit abstract, but the book is worth reading.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Gervase Fen mystery, although this time he's theoretically undercover - or at least going by an alias - as he investigates a series of poison pen letters + murder in a picturesque village. It took me a while for me to get into it and for the characters to grow on me, but it/they did eventually. And really, "a while" is a relative term, since the books read so quickly once they get going. And yes, as twisty as I've come to expect, although not quite as ha ha ha. Really enjoyable, though.

[Angie Boyter · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was such a delight to come upon this wonderful classic British mystery from 1950 and remember why they were so popular. The sleuth was too clever for us mere mortals---this was not a book where the clues were likely to be unraveled by the reader (although SOME people might do so. If so, then they have REALLY convoluted minds!), but Fen made it all seem logical.
Enjoyable characters and no graphic nastiness. Thoroughly entertaining.
PS BUT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE TITLE???? CAN ANYONE HELP???

[Car · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just recently discovered the Gervase Fen series and I adore it. It's a perfect example of Golden Age detective fiction and reminds me a lot of my beloved Christie. The novel is short so many of the supporting characters aren't as fleshed out as I'd like but the mystery is intriguing and I enjoyed the novelty of the author's final solution.

[Jane Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Edmund Crispin - he writes so well but his main character - Fen - is quite sarky and feisty which is great, although he can be stern and angry when he wants. This book romps along happily with great descriptions of the exciting scenes with a love interest as well for good measure. I first read most of the Fen books a long time ago so it's good to come back to them now.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1950s mystery was lent to me by a serious mystery reading family. It was very well written with great descriptions and vocabulary. The ending seems inevitable until it turns out it isn't at all. Very much enjoyed it.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fen spends much of his time incognito, but if you pay close attention to what he's doing you'll be directed as to who is doing what! Probably the most well-flushed out writing of various characters of all his books.

As usual well done, though I do miss Fen's antics which fill other books.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gervase Fen mysteries are always enjoyable. This one was peopled with excellent characters and while the plot which included poisoned pen letters seemed trite, the way in which it was handled was original and in the end quite entertaining.

[A]

Nice setting - again - for this Fen book. I remember long walks in the English countryside- most evocative. the near suicide at bridge over a scenic river. It's all about poison pen letters and the local watering hole and an attractive gal coming out of her shell.