Corpse at the Carnival

Chief Inspector Littlejohn #29

by George Bellairs

The old man on the empty promenade died, without a complaint, a convulsion, or a single sound.
It is holiday time in Douglas and the town is alive with the local carnival. Whirling noises, swirling figures, a brass band and bagpipes – a procession makes its way down the promenade. Packed side to side, cheering and clapping, buzzing and humming, the crowd cling together in a tight knot. Slowly, they make their way towards the pier. The crowd thins and the promenade empties.
At the centre, a man is found dead.
Littlejohn was supposed to be visiting a friend in Douglas but is quickly caught up in the investigation. The victim posed an interesting mystery: in a small seaside town that runs on gossip, nobody seemed to know who he was or where he lived. The waitress who identified him knew him only as ‘Uncle Fred’.
Who would want to murder an anonymous man? It soon becomes clear that there is more to Uncle Fred than initially appears. As Littlejohn is pulled into the mystery, the layers of Uncle Fred’s secretive life begin to unravel and the Superintendent finds himself racing to prevent a second murder…

Genres: Mystery, Crime

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

AKA Hilary Landon
George Bellairs is the nom de plume of Harold Blundell, a crime writer and bank manager born in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire, who settled in the Isle of Man on retirement. He wrote more than 50 books, most featuring the series' detective Inspector Littlejohn. He also wrote four novels under the alternative pseudonym Hilary Landon.

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scotland Yard Superintendent Thomas Littlejohn heads to the Isle of Man for a break from a police conference in Ireland. But death doesn’t take a holiday, and he spends much of it investigating the death of an apparently harmless old man known to most merely as Uncle Fred.

Needless to say, there’s more to the affable Fred Snook than meets the eye. But what readers will appreciate the most is that there’s considerably more to Superintendent Littlejohn than meets the eye. Unlike other cozy authors, George Bellairs imbues his detective with humility and humor; as in real cases, Littlejohn will scamper down a rabbit trail, only to veer back and eventually capture his quarry.

For readers new to the series, there’s no need to read these books in order. In fact, I’m mostly reading them out of order and simply devouring them. Highly recommended.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncle Fred who was he?
The title is a joke because this a Carnival of silly suspects a Littlejohn once again on The Isle of Man he just loved dropping Littlejohn in bus man's holiday.
I read lot of Bellairs books this over 60 years ago but it's classic crime that easy, funny and has pulling your hair out trying to guess who is the murder. As this unfolds you will have good laugh something we need this year. Looking back at August 1958. Eat your ice cream with The Archdeacon and Littlejohn in the 1950s

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel, starring the newly-promoted Superintendent Littlejohn, has a wonderfully descriptive opening chapter which contains the first of two deaths , that of Uncle Fred, during the Carnival in Douglas, Isle of Man. The rest of the book is full of detail about the island at the height of the holiday season in the late 1950’s.

We are in a world, not of luxury hotels, but of down-market boarding houses like Sea Vista, packed to the attics with holidaymakers.

The Superintendent, tired after yet another International Police Conference, this time in Dublin, and undoubtedly hoping for a peaceful holiday with Archdeacon Kinrade, is called upon by Inspector Knell to give unofficial help with the murder investigation.

There is a large cast of neatly depicted characters. “Uncle Fred” turns out to be much more complex than his appearance suggested. Mr and Mrs Trimble, the boarding house owners are retired theatricals and among their lodgers are an unmarried couple, newly-weds, teddy boys, a moneylender’s widow, a hypochondriac teacher and an ex-bookie with wife and three children. Uncle Fred’s estranged wife. daughter and son-in-law are also sharply outlined.

As usual, Littlejohn, Knell and the Archdeacon have to travel the island- this time as far as the Calf of Man- interviewing, and ferreting out secrets.There are plenty of clues, many of them misleading, although I do not think it was too difficult to pinpoint the most likely of the suspects and the motive.

This 1958 roman policier has Bellairs on the top of his form. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended. This may well become one of my favourites in the series. Tom Littlejohn is, indeed, “a pleasure to watch”.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

1958 publication- Another Isle of Man murder mystery. Superintendent Littlejohn was looking forward to a vacation, planning a visit to his friend Kinrade, the Archdeacon after attending a police conference in Dublin where he felt somewhat out of sorts - feeling his age with all the "old faces now gone... A lot of young men Littlejohn had never seen before had taken their places. They'd all treated him with respect, almost reverence, but he couldn't help feeling that they regarded him as a venerable old buffer all the same...They had asked him to lecture on his methods. It had shocked them to discover that he hadn't any."
A man called Uncle Fred was being murdered as Littlejohn's plane flew overhead. He and the Archdeacon are called on to help solve the murder. The cast of characters is carved for the comedic stage. There is a great deal of melodrama and silliness. Despite the number of suspects Littlejohn eventually solves the mystery allowing him time to enjoy a holiday with his friend.

[Christine PNW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Creepy Carnivals, HB 2020.

I really liked this golden age mystery, which I got for free from the Kindle Unlimited library.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read again after quite a few years and my original review as below still stands.

Good old George Bellairs !! You can always rely on him for a good whodunnit. If one can get over the idea that whenever or wherever Supt. Littlejohn goes on holiday or has a break, there is always a murder or two and the local police always co-opt him in to help. This one is set, like quite a few of his others, on The Isle of Man. Very good topographical detail which makes me want to go there for my holidays. An elderly man is found dead at the local carnival. It seems no-one knows where he came from and was known by locals as Uncle Fred. Although poorly dressed, it seems that he is well educated and has known better times. The plot is well constructed with plenty of clues and a few red herrings. I really enjoyed it and sat up very late to finish it.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another relaxing vacation - Superintendent Littlejohn style.

Superintendent Littlejohn is in need of a quiet, restful mini-vacation and wife Letty suggests he stop on the Isle of Man to visit his old friend Archdeacon Kinrade. The Scotland Yard detective has been to a police conference and experienced the fate of all who don't take early retirement. His contemporaries are gone. The younger men treat him with reverence, making him feel like a dinosaur.

He suspects new trends in law enforcement have passed him by. When the young men eagerly ask him to describe his methods, he admits sheepishly that he doesn't have any. Of course, he DOES have a method, but it's just old-style investigation - talking to people, sizing them up, trying to figure out who's lying and why, then putting the pieces together to solve the puzzle. Combined with decades of experience, his way works, but there's nothing dramatic about it.

Of course, he reaches the Isle to find a man has been murdered. There's a local carnival and the crowds and noise add to the difficulty of investigating the death. No one knows where anyone was, but the many locals who knew the dead man are shocked by his death and can't imagine who would murder such an inoffensive person.

Littlejohn's usual sidekick Sergeant Cromwell is busy in London, but local Inspector Knell is a friend and admirer and the two men work well together. The corpse is identified as Fred Smoot, an elderly, impoverished man who lives in a boarding house on the Isle. He's modest and friendly and encourages everyone to call him "Uncle Fred."

But snow on the roof is no guarantee there aren't hot embers in the fire place. Uncle Fred had an eye for a pretty face and a shapely body. Did a jealous husband or boyfriend kill him or was it a lover's quarrel with a woman?

Slowly, since that's the way things are done on the Isle, Littlejohn and Knell get to know the people at the boarding house. The owners and servants are there year 'round, but most of the boarders are there for short vacations or (at least) leave for the winter. Winters on the Isle are cold and windy and not to everyone's taste.

The people at the boarding house have varied backgrounds, but they have one thing in common. All have something to hide. Littlejohn isn't looking for straying husbands or light-fingered maids, but he must know what relates to the murder and what doesn't. As always, he has to gather background information on everyone involved. Old sins cast long shadows and the murderer and the victim frequently have a relationship that led to the crime.

Eventually, relatives emerge and the detectives learn about "Fred Smoot's" unexpected former life. His wife and daughter and son-in-law are narrow-minded snobs, far different from friendly, modest Uncle Fred. But if he'd gotten along with his family, he probably wouldn't have left them, right?

Bellairs never skimped on bodies and several murders result from Uncle Fred's death. There's money involved and greed is a common human emotion. So is jealousy. On the flip side, there's affection and respect. Uncle Fred left behind a life that many people would envy, but which failed to satisfy him. He found a quieter, simpler life on the Isle and loved it. Then his past caught up with him and he was murdered.

I've enjoyed most of the books in this series and the ones set on the Isle of Man are some of my favorites. The English banker who wrote mysteries as "George Bellairs" vacationed on the Isle for many years and retired there eventually. His love of the land and the traditional culture shines through and makes these books special.

[Scilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector Littlejohn is back on the Isle of Man, now as a Superintendent, and as usual, doing a great job of detecting. I like his style, and the descriptions are well done. Littlejohn is flying over Douglas just at the time that Uncle Fred dies there. He's ready for a vacation with the Archdeacon, but shortly after dinner,Inspector Knell of the Manx C.I.D. arrives to ask for help on the murder of Uncle Fred. It appears that Uncle Fred may have been knifed before he walked to the Promenade, but he was alive at the railing before the crowd came by with the parade, and lying on the ground dead after. They begin questioning people in the nearby stores, and then at the boarding house where he had lived and was listed as Fred Snook. They get the photograph taken just before he died, and send it out to newspapers to find out who he was. Soon, a haughty woman arrives saying Fred was her husband Fred Boycott who had left her several years before. He had been quite rich, and the the estranged daughter also arrived with her husband, who immediately appeared to take over. Later they find out he had lived with a woman in Leicester, who he had left before she bore their daughter. Fred appeared to have been a man who liked women and that may have been the cause of his death. Meanwhile, they found he loved to go out in the country and was good friends with the man who had rowed him out to the offshore island Calf of Man. After telling the folks in the boarding house not leave, three of them did leave and the Superintendent and Archdeacon had to search for them. Gradually more and more facts appear, and in his quiet way, Littlejohn figures out what happened, but the killer is now also dead!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent episode in the career of Inspector/Superintendent Littlejohn. Bellairs weaves his magic and, once again, you're with Littlejohn and the Archdeacon on the idyllic-sounding Isle of Man at the height of a scorching 1950s summer. You can smell the candy floss and waffles, hear the shrieks of the gulls and the holidaymakers, see the heat rising off the tarmac. Cromwell puts in his now-standard off-stage appearance but the real supporting star this time around is DI Knell.

That last sentence was a lie. The real star is 'the corpse', Uncle Fred. Uncle Fred seems more alive than the majority of the guests and staff in the boarding house, all of whom come under suspicion following his murder. And a real cross-section of working life they represent.

Bellairs really is a bit of a snob, though. Happy holidaymakers, escaping for a fortnight of sun, sand and... stuff, are treated a little disdainfully and described as second-class citizens. A trifle unfair but truthful - I remember 1970s family holidays in Scarborough and Morecambe B&Bs that come very close to Bellairs' description. No murders though. It all adds to the impression of shabby seediness that makes this one of the best Littlejohns I've read so far.

I'm convinced these would make a great period drama TV series, one episode per book. Thirty years ago, Michael Gambon would have a been a great Littlejohn. Maybe Michael Sheen these days with Gambon as the Archdeacon?

I received a review copy of this book from the Bellairs estate.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a fan of George Bellairs. I like, first and foremost, the characters. I understand and empathise with their motivation, fears and desires. Littlejohn is decent, uncomplicated with a mind that grasps detail, following trail after trail until only one is left. I appreciate the world in which companionship and friendship play a key role.

The other strength of Bellairs, evident again in this book, is setting. He evokes the Isle of Mann, it’s landscape, way of life, people and culture. I especially appreciated, in this one, the sense of carnival and holiday, as boats bring holiday makers to the island and disgorge them into hotels and boarding houses for revelry - as well as those who want solitude outside the towns. This is particularly poignant as I read this in self-isolation on account of the Covid19 Corona virus pandemic. As such carnival atmosphere pursuits have contributed to the spread of the virus it is sobering to reflect on their longstanding draw to workers and families released from routine for a couple of weeks of ‘freedom’.

It is an atmosphere exploited cleverly by Bellairs in constructing a murder scenario. And, in our time, by a virus.

I found the plot well constructed and entirely plausible because Bellairs took the trouble to make me believe in the players and identify with their concerns.

[JJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector Littlejohn is now Superintendent Littlejohn. He is a man that people feel at ease with, handy for a policeman, and horses like him too.
Bellairs sets the story on the Isle of Man and it is as much about the island, the Manx people and the local myths as it is about the death of an elderly man, who while watching a carnival, gets caught up in the crowd and as they pass on he is left lying on the pavement, dead.
The weather is warm and sunny and Bellairs description of the island shows he must have had a real love of the island.
Littlejohn would ideally like to be on holiday but the local police Inspector would really like his help and the friend he is staying with,Archdeacon Kinrade, likes to do a bit of sleuthing himself.
It turns out the dead man, known as Uncle Fred, has a very colourful past which slowly unravels as the story goes on. He was a long term resident at the Sea Vista hotel (?) a rather rundown boarding house in Douglas. It is owned and run by the Trimbles who care little for the business but did like Uncle Fred.
The story moves at a leisurely pace but you get a real feel for the island and the various characters. I do enjoy the Inspector Littlejohn books, a sort of golden age of crime writing book, and will look forward to my next one.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Littlejohn has a holiday and investigates a murder on Isle of Mann

Book 15 of the Inspector Littlejohn mysteries . I am presuming the story takes place in the 1950s due to the description of dress and fashion.

Littlejohn is supposed to be on holiday. Unfortunately he feels obligated to help his policeman friend in investigating a murder. His policeman friend is efficient in.most police matters, but seems at a loss here.

In between admiring the Isle of Man and trying to relax, Littlejohn, Kell and his Archbishop friend travel through the island asking questions, conversing with the locals and sending off evidence.
The culture, language and geography descriptions are incredible. This reader want to visit.

This plot is methodical in a good way . Nothing is rushed on the Isle anyway, so nether is solving a murder. Littlrjohn is a fascinating man who is a pure gentleman . He is intelligent, kind, patient and has a sense of humor despite the seriousness of the situation.

[Lynnelle D. Bolton · Rating 2 out of 5]

uIAll my life, I've seen some crazy mixed up goings on in some British stories, movies, plays, but this. one beats all. At least until now, I could tell I was in one before I got to the end. d

I will never read another by this author. Author never reaches a conclusion. If life is like this on the isle of Man, okay. But. don't expect anyone to read more than one event; unless he/she is looking for off character participants for a work of she/he's own. Possibly good for research. I love the Brits.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. A solid mystery with flashes of humor. There are plenty of surprising twists, starting with the murder victim, an older man of limited means living out his life quietly by the sea. Appearances are deceiving in this book and keep you guessing as layers are revealed and more suspects come to life.

One of the great things in the Littlejohn series are the descriptions of the Isle of Man and the characters who live here. All types of weather and people from high to low are depicted. Obviously, Bellairs loves this area and conveys it in his writings.

[Lilly Hi Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Tale

Uncle Fred killed in the middle of a holiday celebration on the Isle of Man brings Inspector Littlejohn back to work to identify the killer. It turns out Uncle Fred had had an interesting life with many lady friends. In this mystery we learn more about him and why he'd left home to disappear on the beautiful and peaceful island paradise. It's fun to read from beginning to end.

[Chavi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't help but feel that whatever the author thinks about Unc Fred as a character applies far better to Mr Trimble.

Apart from the Trimbles, all the other characters seemed really vague and not strong enough to suspect. Susie was an annoyance who was never really in the suspect list, so as a mystery, it just fell apart with no one to doubt. It was always between the Trimbles.

Ps- didn't really like Unc Fred. Nor does he have my sympathies. He seemed an entirely characterless man.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older man, known as Fred, is found stabbed in the back in the middle of a carnival in Douglas. Inspector Littlejohn is visiting his friend, the Archdeacon of the Isle of Man, and is asked by his friend to help with the investigation. Can they unravel the mystery?

Well-written mystery. I enjoy these classic mysteries.

[Suzie Grogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful Bellairs, whose descriptions of the Isle of Man makes one long to visit and who once again weaves a plot acted out by colourful and interesting characters. Littlejohn is a wonderful detective, by turns clever and languid, longing for his holiday. He has to clear up a murder case first...

[Teddi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite book in the series. Another one that takes place on the isle of Man. I read somewhere that the author loved the place and I think that is probably why the books set there contain a lot more scenic descriptions. I tend to skip them over to get on with the story and there is no loss without them.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good 'ole who dunnit

Refreshing to read although an older mystery book it fixed me with a good read and some funny times with Littlejohn's humor and insightful and measured time he took in solving the murder. Would recommend.

[Anne Turnley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who dun it?

Littleton of Scotland yard tries to vacation on the Isle of Man but, a murder foils his plans. Uncle Fred is a mystery which slowly unravels through his interviews. The solution to who killed Uncle Fred is in finding out who he was.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Littlejohn is a treasure!

Enjoy the roundabout calm way Littlejohn solves crime. With persistence he marches on, asking questions, talking kindly to people, listening and finally putting all the clues together to solve the puzzle. More Littlejohn stories, please!

[merrilyn nowlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read from George Bellairs

Great to see more books by George Bellairs. The setting and description of an idyllic place ..mystery right to the end . Anyone who enjoys detective stories with good characters and setting in times gone by will enjoy books by this author

[Allison Henle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fair mystery, with the clues presented exactly as the detective learns them. I love the little hint of romance that crept in at the end! A happy ending for one of the few characters who conducted herself with honor.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Littlejohn mystery. Beautiful writing, evoking the atmosphere of the Isle of Mann.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great plot set in the Isle of Man. Makes me want to visit that intriguing spot, in spite of the murder.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual British mystery. I enjoyed the descriptions of people and places on the isle of mann.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging detective, tiresome plodding plot.

[Judie Dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

Good story line and characters . Kept.me interested all to the end.Lot's of twists and turns

a little hard to keep track of all the different characters.

[s.roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read

This is the fourth George Bellairs novel I have read and they are all excellent and intriguing whodunit books I would recommend them all