Death of My Aunt

Malcolm Warren Mysteries #1

by C.H.B. Kitchin

Tricked into delivering a fatal dose of poison to his wealthy aunt, Malcolm Warren, a conservative stockbroker, must solve the mystery of her murder before he becomes the prime suspect

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Murder Mystery, Crime, Classics

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

C.H.B. (Clifford Henry Benn) Kitchin was born in Yorkshire in 1895. He attended Exeter College, Oxford, and published his first book, a collection of poems, in 1919. His first novel, Streamers Waving, appeared in 1925, and he scored his first success with the mystery novel Death of My Aunt (1929), which has been frequently reprinted and translated into a number of foreign languages.

Kitchin was a man of many interests and talents, being called to the bar in 1924 and later amassing a small fortune in the stock market. He was also, at various times, a farmer and a schoolmaster, and his many talents included playing the piano, chess, and bridge. He was also an avid collector of antiques and objets d'art.

Kitchin was a lifelong friend of L. P. Hartley, with whose works Kitchin’s were often compared, and was also a friend and mentor to Francis King, who later acted as Kitchin’s literary executor. In his introduction to the Valancourt edition of Kitchin’s The Book of Life, King recalls meeting Kitchin after the two wrote fan letters to one another in 1958 that crossed in the mail: King had written in praise of Ten Pollitt Place, while Kitchin’s letter had expressed admiration for the younger novelist’s The Man on the Rock (1957). King wrote, ‘[B]y the time that I met him, his fate was that of many elderly, once famous writers in England. Instead of lead reviews, he now got two or three paragraphs at the bottom of a page. Increasingly critics would apply the dread word “veteran” to him, much to his annoyance.’ This frustration is echoed in his novel Ten Pollitt Place, where Kitchin portrays himself in the character of the aging novelist Justin Bray.

Kitchin, who was gay, lived with his partner Clive Preen, an accountant, from 1930 until Preen’s death in 1944. C.H.B. Kitchin died in 1967.

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This book is not to be confused with The Murder of My Aunt which I read a couple of weeks ago.)

This golden age mystery often appears on "the best of" lists but I'm not sure it belongs there. It was fairly interesting and I certainly didn't guess the murderer, although I thought I did. Told in the first person by a young man, Malcolm, who is visiting his wealthy aunt for the weekend but is not looking forward to it. She is rather eccentric and her second marriage to a man named Hannibal is not very successful as she "married beneath class", according to her family.

It doesn't take long for the aunt to be murdered by poison and Malcolm and Hannibal are immediate suspects since they were the only ones in the house at the time of her death.....or were they? To add to the police suspicions, there is the aunt's fortune which benefits both of them.

People come and people go and that's about the extent of it. The revelation of the murderer is rather weak and is not exactly what you expect. It happens in the last couple of pages and is appears that the author put names in a hat and picked one out to be the killer.

It is not a total waste but certainly isn't one of my favorites.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly disappointing, but not so much that I won't read the next one in the series.

Overall, there's nothing negative to say about the plotting or writing quality, which are fine. I did have trouble at times recalling who was who as many of the minor characters, distant relatives of the protagonist, don't appear directly in the story: members of the aunt's first husband's family long after she was widowed and re-married, etc. Also, others appear far later, closer to the denouement. Still, it was enough to have Malcolm and his uncle, the widower, as the primary "onstage" characters. I did appreciate that the police were friendly and respectful towards Malcolm, rather than the usual "Mind your own business!" hostility.

As for the denouement, another reviewer classified it as Deus ex Machina, which made sense, though I'd settle for "neatly wrapped up" in a way few, if any, readers could guess. The story text ends abruptly, without anything definitive leaving a series of appendices as an explanatory epilogue.

Finally, as the book was written in 1930, Kitchin could hardly present an up-front gay protagonist as one does today. So, it's of note that no mention is made of any girlfriends for Malcolm, past or present. Later, he mentions that he doesn't get along with his uncle and cousin, where I suspect his "lack of girlfriends" may be an issue. Moreover, he gets along very well with his sensitive, artistic aunt (that cousin's mother).

Anyway... I'm looking forward to reading Crime at Christmas later this year.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Whenever something has to be done in a hurry, my immediate impulse is to sit down and smoke a cigarette.”

Sensible man – if not perhaps quite as active and astute as your average 1920s sleuth. But Malcolm Warren is strictly amateur – a stockbroker, comfortably earning £2 per week (plus commission) – who, faced with the death of his aunt, draws up a table of suspects since he “remembered enjoying a similar table in a book by Lynn Brock, and saw no reason why I should not adopt the method. After all, most people (superior or plain), when confronted with a case of murder, have little but their knowledge of detective stories to guide them.”

Almost metafiction – but unfortunately Death of My Aunt is not quite so sophisticated, even though it was originally published by Leonard & Virginia Woolf’s Hogarth Press. C.H.B. Kitchin does have a nice way with words, however. I like the description of the fated aunt – “Nothing was more galling to her than that one should mention an hotel in which she had not stayed, a play which she had not seen, a piece of music which she had not heard. Like many rich people, she acted as if her wealth gave her not only infinite power but infinite wisdom.” I also liked the description of her solid house, the inside of which “suggested the Boer War.” It’s just a pity Kitchin wasted so much time on the story – the least interesting part of the novel. I would much rather have read more about the narrator's wardrobe:

“’Which suit shall I put out?’
‘The oat-coloured one. Plus fours.’
‘And shirt?’
‘Oh, the mauve.’”

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stockbroker must defend himself after unintentionally delivering a fatal dose of poison to his domineering, wealthy aunt.

I thought this was going to be pretty light and humorous, but it went fairly dark emotionally, with the main character going through a perfectly reasonable amount of doubt, anguish, and shock after the death of someone close to him. A good, solid read for a traditional puzzle mystery, but not quite a page-turner. If you manage to get your hands on this, save it for a day when you're up for something short but challenging.

Recommended for traditional mystery lovers.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing little classic crime story that I dug off my dusty shelves, with a clever story, interesting characters and a fun ending. It did ramble a bit though and could've been a good 30 pages less.

[Shabbeer Hassan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather weak plotline, with inconsistent characterization and a "meh" sort of protagonist.

My Rating - 2/5

[Jan C · Rating 3 out of 5]

There aren't too many mysteries where I say at the end of them "Say what?" Because it seems to come from left field. But the author does have several appendices to explain himself. (If I was reading this in a paperback I probably would have noticed them)

Every time I picked this one up I kept saying how I really wasn't liking this book. And, for the most part, this was true. At least, until Malcolm had a midnight chat with Uncle Hannibal. Then it got intriguing.

Malcolm is a stockbroker and has been invited for the weekend by his wealthy aunt. The author goes into great detail about the sleeping arrangements.

Is Aunt Catherine ill? Old? Or just eccentric? I'm not sure we ever got an answer to these questions.

An aunt sends her a tonic which they both seem to dote on. But why is it being kept in a dresser in the room Malcolm is sleeping in? Why not in her own room?

Well, it would be hard for anyone to doctor it in her own room. And we would have a lot fewer suspects. So someone poisons her by doctoring the tonic. Malcolm? Uncle Hannibal? One of the servants? Or a third unnamed party?

Despite not especially liking this book most of the way through, I was intrigued by it.

And totally missed the killer.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The protection racket.

This book was published in 1930 and was the author's break-through book. Kitchin wrote poetry and straight novels, but (to his dismay) his four mysteries were his most popular works. It's ironic to talk about Kitchin's "straight" novels, since he was openly gay and some of his straight novels have gay themes. Do we need new words?

Kitchin was a highly-literate writer and his mysteries are fascinating. He inherited wealth and made himself even richer by stock market investments. Perhaps that's why he made his amateur detective a stock broker instead of a lawyer, although he himself practiced law briefly. Maybe law bored him or maybe he was simply honoring the field that made him the most money.

Malcolm Warren isn't what comes to mind when you think of amateur detectives. He's quiet, introspective, and completely lacking in physical skills. He comes to his Aunt Catherine's house hoping to be allowed to invest some of her money and collect the commissions for doing so. Whatever that formidable lady's intentions, she dies before she can give the orders. The shy, uncertain youngster is horrified to discover that his aunt has been murdered and he's smack in the middle of it.

The extended family is large and all of them desperately want Aunt Catherine's money. She was a wealthy widow, but shocked her relatives by remarrying. And her second husband isn't even in their class, but an automobile mechanic. Aunt Catherine was initially infatuated by handsome, macho Hannibal Cartwright, but her ardor seems to have cooled. Is she getting ready to discard him completely?

The unimaginative local police inspector seems disinclined to look further than the dead woman's husband and that suits all her relatives except Malcolm Warren. He rather likes Uncle Hannibal and objects to his over-bearing relatives ganging up on the outsider. Besides, there are some pieces of the puzzle that just don't fit. Can the amateur outwit the professional? Is intelligence more powerful than experience?

This is a conventional mystery, but also a character study of a likable, rather unusual young man. Malcolm Warren is an outsider himself, as his creator would always have been because of his sexual orientation. His sense of fairness won't let him stand by as an innocent man is being railroaded, even if he gains by the death. As much as he revere money, he knows that Aunt Catherine was a vain, selfish woman who treated her second husband badly and who cruelly controlled her relatives by giving or withholding money.

I like several things about this book, starting with Kitchin's excellent writing. The characters aren't deep, but then neither are most real people. Warren and his relatives and even Uncle Hannibal are products of the rigid social system of pre-WWII England. The middle class firmly believes that they're superior to the working class by virtue of birth and education. Males are superior to females, except in the case of a wealthy woman like Aunt Catherine. Even she acknowledges male superiority - willing more money to male relatives than to females and putting the females' portions into trusts.

Kitchin's attention to detail gives credibility to his stories and I love his wry humor. Malcolm may be intimidated by his relatives, but his descriptions of them are hilarious and biting. Except for gentle, artistic Aunt Anne, whom he feels the need to protect. He's not the only one who wants to protect her and Anne is doing some protecting of her own.

The natural impulse of people to protect those dear to them throws a monkey wrench into the investigation of every fictional murder I've ever read about. Who wants to say anything that will incriminate a spouse, lover, child, or sibling? Poor Inspector Glaize isn't brilliant, but we must sympathize with the fact that no one tells him everything they know. As Agatha Christie said, a mystery writer MUST bear with some inconsistencies or give up writing mysteries altogether. That would be shame.

If you like old mysteries, you should become acquainted with Kitchin. He only wrote four and only two of them are available on Kindle. "The Death of My Uncle" is my favorite, but I like this one, too, and it's fun to watch Malcolm Warren being introduced to murder. He's a unique amateur detective and one of my favorites.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 25, Malcolm Warren is already a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, eccentric, old-fashioned stockbroker. The most excitement in his life has come with the ups and downs of the stock market. But he's always been the favorite of his very rich and extremely autocratic Aunt Catherine and he gets along with old girl. They've always understood each other, so when she summons him for a visit he goes. She wants advice on her investments and Malcolm is the only one she trusts to do the right thing. Little does he imagine the excitement in store for him.

During his stay with Aunt Catherine, he is tricked into handing her a fatal dose of poison. Malcolm must turn amateur detective to prevent himself from being hauled away as suspect number one. He also has a fondness for Aunt Catherine's young husband--a man none of the rest of the family likes and whom they would love to see put away as auntie's killer. So, Malcolm wants to save two people from the gallows and see the proper villain charged with the crime. But who is it? Our hero shares a list of those who might have an interest in Catherine's death--most of whom would benefit most if either Malcolm or Uncle Hannibal were charged with the crime. There are a whole slew of family members--from Malcolm's own mother and another sister and brother to various nieces and nephews to Aunt Catherine to a couple of solicitors with an interest in the doings.

Malcolm, in the true spirit of a detail-minded businessman, also provides the reader with timelines for the substitution of the poison and in-depth cases against various suspects. He even makes a case against Uncle Hannibal and sets up a test to allow Hannibal to prove his innocence. Will he be sorry he let his uncle off the hook?

H.R.F. Keating thought this one was good enough to make his Crime & Mystery: The 100 Best Books list. Steve over on Mystery*File thought it dated, but still a lot of fun to read. Though he does say that he doubts that today's readers will find much of interest. He's right. While did appreciate Malcolm's run-down of timelines and motives and whatnot and the plotting is fairly decent, there just isn't a lot to get hold of in these characters. Malcolm isn't world's most engaging protagonist and none of the other characters are at interesting or sympathetic. Not even poor Uncle Hannibal. Part of the problem is that Kitchin doesn't spend a great deal of effort on characterization. A decent mystery--interesting enough for those of us who enjoy vintage mysteries and who want to check out the books on Keating's list. But not one that you need to go out of your way to track down. [Am I damning with faint praise? I suppose so...] ★★ and 3/4.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Jazz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Safely back in my comfort zone of Golden Age mysteries, I sat back and let myself enjoy this one. Though the author is long gone, he was new to me.

The biggest drawback was not the plot, which was certainly competent, but the dry-as-dust characters, especially the protagonist. Malcolm Warren is old for his 25 years and hardly exciting as a detective. But he solves the murder of his aunt (no thanks to his charts) and shows compassion for the survivors. And best of all, it fooled me.

Kitchin’s “Death of His Uncle” is waiting on my Kindle.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging murder mystery with perfectly logical conclusion. Very well written.

[Jonathan Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining romp!

[Pascale · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another time-wasting murder mystery with an arbitrary conclusion tacked to a wooden and tedious plot. Why This book was a hit when it came out in the 1920s, and has been reprinted a number of times since, is beyond me. Malcolm Warren is a mediocre stock-broker who finds himself in his rich aunt's bedroom on the day she poisons herself accidentally with some adulterated tonic against the deleterious effects of menopause. Malcolm investigates to clear himself as well as the deceased's second husband, a working-class fellow who is detested by all of the rich lady's needy relatives. After a suitable number of pages and red herrings have been laboriously produced, the author pulls a culprit out of his hat and Hannibal is your guiltless uncle.

[Beirut27 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had great expectations but apart from the light humour which I enjoyed I found that book lengthly and slightly boring. It is not as if the subject matter is particularly tricky : I have read two brilliant books dealing with it so I suppose a decent writer should be able to do the same. So I skipped through it.
Two stars for the rather poignant relationship between the nephew/ward and his aunt/tutor ; unfortunatley Kitchin only scratched its surface.
Won't read any other book by Kitchin if I can avoid it.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had expected more of this well-regarded mystery. I found every single character unpleasant, including the narrator, and there were too many lists. The story of a tyrannical old woman who dies poisoned, and the stereotypical strife between the clever amateur and the unimaginative policeman, seemed trite to me. The fact that I read it on Kindle may have contributed to my lack of enthusiasm.

[H. Daley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this classic whodunit.

[Kathy KS · Rating 2 out of 5]

I discovered Kitchin's name in a list of authors from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Since I've read all of the usual suspects on these lists, I'm checking out some who are lesser known (at least today).

The tone of this mystery definitely is familiar to those who have read other works from this era. Most of the "action" occurs in a large house in rural England, complete with the neighboring village. Not your usual house party mystery, but our MC is the nephew invited (commanded?) to visit on the weekend.

The mystery itself is fairly interesting, with plenty of red herrings thrown in. However, I felt the action rather drug and I wasn't sure if I actually liked the MC, let alone the other characters. If readers are expecting an police inspector to solve this case and be actively followed, this isn't for you. Our MC is very much an amateur at detection and admits most of his insights and techniques come from detective novels he has read (I kind of like that).

But, if you've finished all of Sayers, Allingham, Christie, Marsh, Tey, and others I've missed, this might scratch an itch.

I read an edition from Internet Archive.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept hearing that this book was "fun", "witty", "an entertaining romp", "light humour" etc. I found it slow, exasperating, and the ending poorly patched together as if the author had written himself into a corner he couldn't get out of, or simply lost interest. Worse still, there was a strong smell of The Mysterious Affair at Styles about it from the beginning. Christie's book had been published several years before.
Some reviewers found the characters "real", "relatable" and "realistic." I found them wooden, two dimensional and boring. I suppose I've read too many of the best Golden Age writers to be impressed by this poor example of the craft.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun mystery novel with a psychologically realistic and relatable narrator/hero. He's smart but timid and anxious and tends to crack up, and he's very kind. He's a young London stockbroker and it's hardly a spoiler to say that his rich, domineering aunt is murdered. This book was published in 1929, and my brother pointed out that all the stocks the narrator recommends were about to plummet--particularly Swedish Match, which was mired in fraud and scandal. I wonder if the stock market crash will be addressed in the next book in the series, Crime at Christmas. Could the crime be securities fraud?

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death of My Aunt has been sitting on my TBR shelf for about a year, and since I'm picking books for my Mystery Bookclub class, this seemed like the right time to read it.

This is my first time reading anything by Kitchin, and apparently he generally focused on more "highbrow" novels than mysteries. While the mystery itself was interesting, I didn't find myself particularly attached to or impressed by any of the characters. For me, it's a solid middle of the road sort of classic mystery, one that is an enjoyable read but doesn't stand out among its fellows.

[Nicholas Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable if middling crime who-dunnit. I rather liked the laconic protagonist's bumbling attempts to solve the crime himself. A convoluted poisoned bottle switching denouement which left me a little confused and not overly concerned with unravelling at the end. Some good hints at the ever present class consciousness in English society which has a pivotal role in Kitchin's characterisations and murder motivations.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The protagonist/narrator is one of the least heroic would-be detectives I think I’ve ever seen, but for the most part nobody comes off all that well. I’d give this a B+ on the writing and handling of the characters, B- on the mystery – it’s laid out well but the resolution was a bit too deus ex machina for me.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this on a Guardian list of top 10 Golden Age Detective Novels. It was a winner. Good mystery, enjoyable read. Quick, light read.

[Mysteryfan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty dated, but it is sort of fun to see what life was like then. Not at all a gripping read, but a pleasant way to pass an hour or so.

[Mgb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have figured out who the murderer was. Good fun.

[Regine]

Has charm.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Leisurely Read

The pace made for a nice read with plenty of suspects, clues & questions. Mystery remained until the final chapters.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty and enjoyable . I’d read his , “ Death at Christmas “ , years ago and didn’t realize that he’d written four titles featuring the same “sleuth “.
I really would love to find the one entitled, “The Cornish Fox” , but it’s proving pretty impossible..

[Angela Hopps · Rating 5 out of 5]

A page turning classic

An intriguing murder mystery. Beautifully written and very easy to read. A real page turner that let's you slip back in time to an elegant age.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very witty, though the Murder mystery is not very compelling.