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Inspector Harry Charlton #7
Ipotesi per un delitto
316 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1947
21 people want to read
About the author
Clifford Witting
37 books15 followersClifford 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.'
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.'
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 5, 2019
In this thrilling tale, Inspector Charlton has to not only discover a murderer but determine some family genealogy in order to ensure fair play to all.
It all begins when his Lulverton police headquarters receives a telephone call from a seemingly deranged Sir Victor Warringham who is at his nearby country estate Elmsdale. He says that he has been attacked and almost strangled by what appeared to have been a ghost. The report is taken with scepticism but even so, mainly because of Sir Victor's standing in the community, Charlton goes to investigate. But he is met by so many obstructions from a most unhelpful housekeeper and Sir Victor's bad-tempered son-in-law that he is unable to get into the house.
Charlton is told that Sir Victor is unwell and his doctor has been called to attend to him and that once he has been seen to it might then be possible for him to see him. Sir Victor's solicitor has also been called to transact some unknown business.
From then on the whole episode and its aftermath is full of intrigue involving family history and the question of inheritance in the, then unlikely, event of Sir Victor's death. Charlton does not know what to believe and he is not helped by the lies and deceit that he is told from everyone involved.
The tension mounts but little by little Charlton and his right hand men Sergeant Martin, and later Sergeant Bradfield, begin to uncover some unwholesome truths, helped by 10-year-old Jack Campbell, whose parentage is unclear. In the meantime Sir Victor meets with a mortal accident and the housekeeper is unexpectedly murdered.
As is to be expected, all this adds complications to Charlton's investigations, which get more complicated when a person from the past arrives at the house with a series of convoluted stories. But Charlton perseveres and, in an absolutely unexpected and exciting ending, 'Let X Be The Murderer' lives up to its title.
It all begins when his Lulverton police headquarters receives a telephone call from a seemingly deranged Sir Victor Warringham who is at his nearby country estate Elmsdale. He says that he has been attacked and almost strangled by what appeared to have been a ghost. The report is taken with scepticism but even so, mainly because of Sir Victor's standing in the community, Charlton goes to investigate. But he is met by so many obstructions from a most unhelpful housekeeper and Sir Victor's bad-tempered son-in-law that he is unable to get into the house.
Charlton is told that Sir Victor is unwell and his doctor has been called to attend to him and that once he has been seen to it might then be possible for him to see him. Sir Victor's solicitor has also been called to transact some unknown business.
From then on the whole episode and its aftermath is full of intrigue involving family history and the question of inheritance in the, then unlikely, event of Sir Victor's death. Charlton does not know what to believe and he is not helped by the lies and deceit that he is told from everyone involved.
The tension mounts but little by little Charlton and his right hand men Sergeant Martin, and later Sergeant Bradfield, begin to uncover some unwholesome truths, helped by 10-year-old Jack Campbell, whose parentage is unclear. In the meantime Sir Victor meets with a mortal accident and the housekeeper is unexpectedly murdered.
As is to be expected, all this adds complications to Charlton's investigations, which get more complicated when a person from the past arrives at the house with a series of convoluted stories. But Charlton perseveres and, in an absolutely unexpected and exciting ending, 'Let X Be The Murderer' lives up to its title.
February 24, 2020
Tipicissimo giallo anglosassone, ambientato nella tipicissima campagna anglosassone. Lettura distensiva, poco impegnativa, consigliata dopo letture intense.
August 15, 2023
“UNLIKE the carefree amateur sleuth, who can arrive at his objective via any expeditious short cut that may present itself, the professional investigator is forced to go the long way round. There are solid reasons for this. When the amateur has unmasked his villain to the wonderment of his friends and the mortification of the blockheaded police, his job is over; but it is only at that point that Scotland Yard’s real work begins. It is one thing to know who did the crime at the Old Mill; it is quite another thing to prove it at the Old Bailey.”
This pointed reminder to the reader perhaps comes from the author’s awareness that this is not the crispest of his novels featuring the investigations of Inspector Charlton, here assisted by Detective Sergeant Martin and the soon-to -be-promoted Peter Bradfield. There is too much repetition of information and a lot of extraneous descriptive material as well as some caricaturing of characters: the doddering and bibulous doctor, the greasy son-in-law and his grasping and raffish second wife were way overdone.
The plot had potential which was abandoned in favour of an obvious and melodramatic outcome. Ostensibly a country house mystery, this had yet another “sins of the past” scenario of a type which must seem very alien to younger readers. A couple of well - handled divorces or annulments would have prevented the mess from which the deaths emanated . This would have been possible even in the Britain of the 1930s/40s: after all, there was no shortage of money.
There are some flashes of humour but overall I was not enthralled. Not Witting at his best, and not one to which I shall return quickly.
3.5 stars.
This pointed reminder to the reader perhaps comes from the author’s awareness that this is not the crispest of his novels featuring the investigations of Inspector Charlton, here assisted by Detective Sergeant Martin and the soon-to -be-promoted Peter Bradfield. There is too much repetition of information and a lot of extraneous descriptive material as well as some caricaturing of characters: the doddering and bibulous doctor, the greasy son-in-law and his grasping and raffish second wife were way overdone.
The plot had potential which was abandoned in favour of an obvious and melodramatic outcome. Ostensibly a country house mystery, this had yet another “sins of the past” scenario of a type which must seem very alien to younger readers. A couple of well - handled divorces or annulments would have prevented the mess from which the deaths emanated . This would have been possible even in the Britain of the 1930s/40s: after all, there was no shortage of money.
There are some flashes of humour but overall I was not enthralled. Not Witting at his best, and not one to which I shall return quickly.
3.5 stars.
October 23, 2017
Ottima indagine condotta coi metodi più classici dall'ispettore Charlton. L'autore conduce con abilità il lettore a sospettare le persone giuste per poi cambiare le carte in tavola all'ultimo momento.
June 27, 2023
B:
Witting's attempt at a country house mystery, typically well written, with the identity of the victim completely unexpected.The finale is a tad dissatisfying and overall the novel suffers from a lack of Witting's trademark first-person perspective, but solid nonetheless.
Witting's attempt at a country house mystery, typically well written, with the identity of the victim completely unexpected.The finale is a tad dissatisfying and overall the novel suffers from a lack of Witting's trademark first-person perspective, but solid nonetheless.
November 12, 2023
For my full review click on the link below:https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews