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The Six Queer Things
Desperate to escape living with her miserly uncle, Marjorie Easton eagerly accepts a job offer from the strange Michael Crispin despite knowing nothing of the employment except that it is well-paid and includes some kind of research. Much to her surprise, the “research” involves séances and requires Marjorie to develop her own psychic gifts to assist in communing with the dead. Soon she begins to suffer from terrible nightmares and seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but the real terror begins when Crispin dies under mysterious circumstances during one of the séances. Who is responsible? And what is the significance of the “six queer things” the police discover among his belongings after his death?
A Golden Age mystery with echoes of the occult, The Six Queer Things (1937) was Christopher St. John Sprigg’s seventh and final novel, published after his death in the Spanish Civil War. This first-ever reprint of his scarcest novel features a reproduction of the original jacket art.
“A rip-roaring tale of mediums, psychic research and the powers of darkness.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[A] hair-raising excursion into the occult, with trimmings of insanity, racketeering in souls, palpitating action, and efficient British-type sleuthing.” - Saturday Review
“Mystery and horror, laid on with a trowel.” - New York Times
A Golden Age mystery with echoes of the occult, The Six Queer Things (1937) was Christopher St. John Sprigg’s seventh and final novel, published after his death in the Spanish Civil War. This first-ever reprint of his scarcest novel features a reproduction of the original jacket art.
“A rip-roaring tale of mediums, psychic research and the powers of darkness.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[A] hair-raising excursion into the occult, with trimmings of insanity, racketeering in souls, palpitating action, and efficient British-type sleuthing.” - Saturday Review
“Mystery and horror, laid on with a trowel.” - New York Times
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1937
2 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Christopher St. John Sprigg
17 books12 followersChristopher St. John Sprigg aka Christopher Caudwell was a British Marxist writer, thinker and poet.
He was born into a Roman Catholic family, resident at 53 Montserrat Road, Putney. He was educated at the Benedictine Ealing Priory School, but left school at the age of 15 after his father, Stanhope Sprigg, lost his job as literary editor of the Daily Express. Caudwell moved with his father to Bradford and began work as a reporter for the Yorkshire Observer. He made his way to Marxism and set about rethinking everything in light of it, from poetry to philosophy to physics, later joining the Communist Party of Great Britain in Poplar, London.
In December 1936 he drove an ambulance to Spain and joined the International Brigades there, training as a machine-gunner at Albacete before becoming a machine-gun instructor and group political delegate. He edited a wall newspaper.
He was killed in action on 12 February 1937, the first day of the Battle of the Jarama Valley. His brother, Theodore, had attempted to have Caudwell recalled by the Communist Party of Great Britain by showing its General Secretary, Harry Pollitt, the proofs of Caudwell's book Illusion and Reality. Caudwell's Marxist works were published posthumously. The first was Illusion and Reality (1937), an analysis of poetry.
Caudwell published widely, writing criticism, poetry, short stories and novels. Much of his work was published posthumously.
He was born into a Roman Catholic family, resident at 53 Montserrat Road, Putney. He was educated at the Benedictine Ealing Priory School, but left school at the age of 15 after his father, Stanhope Sprigg, lost his job as literary editor of the Daily Express. Caudwell moved with his father to Bradford and began work as a reporter for the Yorkshire Observer. He made his way to Marxism and set about rethinking everything in light of it, from poetry to philosophy to physics, later joining the Communist Party of Great Britain in Poplar, London.
In December 1936 he drove an ambulance to Spain and joined the International Brigades there, training as a machine-gunner at Albacete before becoming a machine-gun instructor and group political delegate. He edited a wall newspaper.
He was killed in action on 12 February 1937, the first day of the Battle of the Jarama Valley. His brother, Theodore, had attempted to have Caudwell recalled by the Communist Party of Great Britain by showing its General Secretary, Harry Pollitt, the proofs of Caudwell's book Illusion and Reality. Caudwell's Marxist works were published posthumously. The first was Illusion and Reality (1937), an analysis of poetry.
Caudwell published widely, writing criticism, poetry, short stories and novels. Much of his work was published posthumously.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 21, 2018
A riveting popcorn read from the 1930s. The plot thickens with every chapter and keeps you guessing all the way to the end.
February 22, 2018
Those five stars represent my sheer delight over this book. It has one of the most bizarre plots ever, is seriously unputdownable, and is just plain fun.
The word sinister doesn't even begin to approach what happens in this book. Originally published in 1937, The Six Queer Things is definitely not your average Golden Age mystery novel; in fact, I can honestly say that I've never read anything quite like it. It is not only sinister, but it is also one of the most claustrophobic novels I've read from this period, and the author keeps you guessing right up until the last four pages before ending it on a most cruel note. Before getting to that point, however, this story takes some unexpected and bizarre twists and turns, and the answer to who can be trusted here changes on a regular basis. The only times I put this book down once I started was for sleep and a session at the gym, and I had to make myself do both. The best way to describe it is that it's like reading an ongoing nightmare from which there is little chance of escape.
The New York Times review blurb quoted on the back of my book says that it is "Mystery and horror, laid on with a trowel," and that's about right. It is filled with nice Victorian Gothic flourishes as well as contemporary policing, but at the heart of this story lies a most sinister plot with a villain who, even when "the whole web of horror...had been brought to light," still remains the unknown and mysterious "spider who had spun it all" from the beginning.
Hats off to Valancourt yet again for finding and publishing something quite out of the ordinary. When I say that this book is unputdownable, I'm not kidding. This book has it all -- a bit of the occult, a claustrophobic atmosphere that doesn't let up, and a strange mystery at the heart of it all that will keep you turning pages because once things take that turn toward the strange nightmarish story it becomes, you will absolutely want to find out what kind of mind it is that could dream up such sheer evil.
Don't blow it off because it's from the 1930s -- trust me -- no matter how many mystery novels you've read from that time, you haven't read anything quite like this one.
http://www.crimesegments.com/2018/02/...
The word sinister doesn't even begin to approach what happens in this book. Originally published in 1937, The Six Queer Things is definitely not your average Golden Age mystery novel; in fact, I can honestly say that I've never read anything quite like it. It is not only sinister, but it is also one of the most claustrophobic novels I've read from this period, and the author keeps you guessing right up until the last four pages before ending it on a most cruel note. Before getting to that point, however, this story takes some unexpected and bizarre twists and turns, and the answer to who can be trusted here changes on a regular basis. The only times I put this book down once I started was for sleep and a session at the gym, and I had to make myself do both. The best way to describe it is that it's like reading an ongoing nightmare from which there is little chance of escape.
The New York Times review blurb quoted on the back of my book says that it is "Mystery and horror, laid on with a trowel," and that's about right. It is filled with nice Victorian Gothic flourishes as well as contemporary policing, but at the heart of this story lies a most sinister plot with a villain who, even when "the whole web of horror...had been brought to light," still remains the unknown and mysterious "spider who had spun it all" from the beginning.
Hats off to Valancourt yet again for finding and publishing something quite out of the ordinary. When I say that this book is unputdownable, I'm not kidding. This book has it all -- a bit of the occult, a claustrophobic atmosphere that doesn't let up, and a strange mystery at the heart of it all that will keep you turning pages because once things take that turn toward the strange nightmarish story it becomes, you will absolutely want to find out what kind of mind it is that could dream up such sheer evil.
Don't blow it off because it's from the 1930s -- trust me -- no matter how many mystery novels you've read from that time, you haven't read anything quite like this one.
http://www.crimesegments.com/2018/02/...
November 22, 2020
C. St John Sprigg’s eccentric, 1937 crime novel centres on Marjorie Easton, the kind of fragile, tortured heroine commonly found in nineteenth-century gothic literature. Young, impressionable Marjorie wants to dodge a dreary future in thrall to her penny-pinching uncle, so she takes a lucrative job as live-in assistant to Michael Crispin. Crispin’s a shadowy figure who makes a living contacting the spirit world for bereaved clients. But instead of gaining her freedom, Marjorie’s ordeals at Crispin’s house bring her close to madness. Her only hope of escape is psychiatrist Dr Wood, who’s researching Crispin for a study into the paranormal, but then murder and mayhem intervene.
Sprigg’s book starts out as psychological suspense, albeit interrupted by scenes that seem more suited to occult horror, then at its midpoint a key player’s murdered and Sprigg abruptly shifts gears segueing into a more traditional detective story. The change’s heralded by the arrival of Detective-Inspector Morgan who also provides some welcome light relief. Inspector Morgan’s tasked with investigating the death, stolid, unimaginative, stubbornly persistent, he prefers facts over airy speculation but he’s stumped by the “six, queer things” he discovers in the victim’s home.
It took me a while to commit to this, it’s full of well-crafted sentences, memorable passages and striking observations but the tone’s uneven and the pacing in the opening chapters needs serious attention. After I’d settled in for the long haul, I still had some reservations, the depiction of a pivotal character made me very uncomfortable. Nor did it help that I figured out some of the plot twists in advance - I was nowhere near as puzzled by the ‘six queer things’ as Morgan. But this improved so dramatically in the second half it became hard to put down, even when it briefly faltered, I was fascinated by it as social history and for what it revealed about 1930’s cultural attitudes.
Woven into Sprigg’s narrative are elements taken from then-prevailing theories about mental health, psychiatry and gender identity - at one stage Dr Wood’s clearly parroting sexologist Havelock Ellis’s, now discredited, ideas about individuals who’d rejected conventional gender boundaries. I was intrigued too by Sprigg’s portrayal of the machinations of Britain’s spiritualism industry: widespread after WW1, by the early 1930s there were over 2,000 spiritualist societies with large followings. It’s obvious Sprigg wasn’t happy about this phenomenon - he seems to have modelled Crispin on a real-life ‘’medium’ notorious fraudster Helen Duncan or Hellish Nell, aka the Blitz witch. Sprigg’s descriptions of Crispin communing with the spirits instantly recalled images of Duncan in action: the thirties were her heyday, she raked in the cash travelling across the country staging seances for adoring fans. Overall, despite its flaws including a slightly melodramatic finale, The Six Queer Things turned out to be curiously compelling, like a Victorian sensation novel transplanted to a 1930’s setting.
Very hard to rate this one started as a 2/3 then morphed into a 4/5.
Sprigg’s book starts out as psychological suspense, albeit interrupted by scenes that seem more suited to occult horror, then at its midpoint a key player’s murdered and Sprigg abruptly shifts gears segueing into a more traditional detective story. The change’s heralded by the arrival of Detective-Inspector Morgan who also provides some welcome light relief. Inspector Morgan’s tasked with investigating the death, stolid, unimaginative, stubbornly persistent, he prefers facts over airy speculation but he’s stumped by the “six, queer things” he discovers in the victim’s home.
It took me a while to commit to this, it’s full of well-crafted sentences, memorable passages and striking observations but the tone’s uneven and the pacing in the opening chapters needs serious attention. After I’d settled in for the long haul, I still had some reservations, the depiction of a pivotal character made me very uncomfortable. Nor did it help that I figured out some of the plot twists in advance - I was nowhere near as puzzled by the ‘six queer things’ as Morgan. But this improved so dramatically in the second half it became hard to put down, even when it briefly faltered, I was fascinated by it as social history and for what it revealed about 1930’s cultural attitudes.
Woven into Sprigg’s narrative are elements taken from then-prevailing theories about mental health, psychiatry and gender identity - at one stage Dr Wood’s clearly parroting sexologist Havelock Ellis’s, now discredited, ideas about individuals who’d rejected conventional gender boundaries. I was intrigued too by Sprigg’s portrayal of the machinations of Britain’s spiritualism industry: widespread after WW1, by the early 1930s there were over 2,000 spiritualist societies with large followings. It’s obvious Sprigg wasn’t happy about this phenomenon - he seems to have modelled Crispin on a real-life ‘’medium’ notorious fraudster Helen Duncan or Hellish Nell, aka the Blitz witch. Sprigg’s descriptions of Crispin communing with the spirits instantly recalled images of Duncan in action: the thirties were her heyday, she raked in the cash travelling across the country staging seances for adoring fans. Overall, despite its flaws including a slightly melodramatic finale, The Six Queer Things turned out to be curiously compelling, like a Victorian sensation novel transplanted to a 1930’s setting.
Very hard to rate this one started as a 2/3 then morphed into a 4/5.
March 29, 2018
SIX QUEER THINGS, by Christopher St. John Sprigg was originally published in 1937--after his death--and re-released by Valancourt Books in 2018. I found this to be a complex blend of a mystery, thriller, police procedural, and unrelenting suspense combined with occult overtones. Due to the fact that it was written prior to 1937, much of the observations and comments regarding medical/psychological practices and the roles of women in society, come off as somewhat "comical" in today's world.
". . . she rushed out of the room, and experienced the limited satisfaction to be obtained from slamming a door really hard."
Aside from that, the use of language and the originality of the characters really made this book stand out among others.
". . . Eccentricity and the abnormal are the characteristics of all pioneers of thought . . . "
Sprigg's last novel is quite sinister in its implications. Combining detective work, mental illnesses, murder and disappearances, we have a mystery where just about every character seems suspect at some point.
". . . you mustn't suppose these things are as simple as they seem . . . "
The prose is very evocative at times, capable of taking the reader and placing them mentally right into the story. We become almost detectives ourselves as the clues slowly begin to accumulate and connect.
". . . . As for 'normal' people, there are no such persons to my knowledge. If I were to find one, he or she would be so unique that he would be more abnormal than the abnormal . . ."
A thrilling, intricate tale with memorable characters, that I loved reading and piecing together the clues to as I went along.
Recommended!
". . . she rushed out of the room, and experienced the limited satisfaction to be obtained from slamming a door really hard."
Aside from that, the use of language and the originality of the characters really made this book stand out among others.
". . . Eccentricity and the abnormal are the characteristics of all pioneers of thought . . . "
Sprigg's last novel is quite sinister in its implications. Combining detective work, mental illnesses, murder and disappearances, we have a mystery where just about every character seems suspect at some point.
". . . you mustn't suppose these things are as simple as they seem . . . "
The prose is very evocative at times, capable of taking the reader and placing them mentally right into the story. We become almost detectives ourselves as the clues slowly begin to accumulate and connect.
". . . . As for 'normal' people, there are no such persons to my knowledge. If I were to find one, he or she would be so unique that he would be more abnormal than the abnormal . . ."
A thrilling, intricate tale with memorable characters, that I loved reading and piecing together the clues to as I went along.
Recommended!
March 13, 2018
This mystery was a joy to read. The story unfolded a little at a time and the plot became more and more curious. Yes, it actually had a fun and complicated plot and plenty of interesting and shady characters. Thank you, Valancourt Books, for re-publishing this hidden gem from the 1930's.
March 25, 2022
Despite being re-issued by Valancourt, there is only a hint of the supernatural about Sprigg's novel, originally published in 1937.
But that's of little concern, as there is plenty else going on. Instead of what might be expected, this is a thriller of fake spiritualists, seemingly impossible poisonings, super-criminals, and even transvestism.
Marjorie Eaton, a humble typist, starts a new job as assistant to the medium Michael Crispin and his sister, Bella; under their influence, she soon learns that she too has psychic powers. But at what cost? She withdraws from the outside world, she breaks off her engagement, and she is tormented by the gothic horrors of his residence.
I have to confess though, it was the author's own story that really caught my attention.
Sprigg, a convert to Marxism, (pseudonym of poet Christopher Caudwell, 1907-37) became an ardent Communist in 1934, and died at the age of only 29 fighting in the Spanish Civil War. The Socialist Monthly Review reported he was “killed by fascists in the valley of Jarama… He died at a machine gun post, guarding the retreat of his comrades in the British Battalion of the International Brigade.”
It was posthumously published, The Boston Transcript found it “all rather unpleasant … It is commended only to those with robust constitutions who can stomach pretty strong stuff.”
But that's of little concern, as there is plenty else going on. Instead of what might be expected, this is a thriller of fake spiritualists, seemingly impossible poisonings, super-criminals, and even transvestism.
Marjorie Eaton, a humble typist, starts a new job as assistant to the medium Michael Crispin and his sister, Bella; under their influence, she soon learns that she too has psychic powers. But at what cost? She withdraws from the outside world, she breaks off her engagement, and she is tormented by the gothic horrors of his residence.
I have to confess though, it was the author's own story that really caught my attention.
Sprigg, a convert to Marxism, (pseudonym of poet Christopher Caudwell, 1907-37) became an ardent Communist in 1934, and died at the age of only 29 fighting in the Spanish Civil War. The Socialist Monthly Review reported he was “killed by fascists in the valley of Jarama… He died at a machine gun post, guarding the retreat of his comrades in the British Battalion of the International Brigade.”
It was posthumously published, The Boston Transcript found it “all rather unpleasant … It is commended only to those with robust constitutions who can stomach pretty strong stuff.”
Killed while fighting with the International Brigade in Spain, Mr. Sprigg’s loss was singularly futile and deplorable on the evidence of this book alone. … What good this clever young man’s premature death can have done himself or anybody else, it is difficult to see. As it is The Six Queer Things is a remarkably strong argument for stopping ardent youths with more brains than experience from flinging themselves into the abyss.from The Truth
April 22, 2020
La giovane Marjorie, stanca della vita che fa a casa dello zio taccagno, decide di accettare un nuovo impiego che le viene proposto dai Crispin, fratello e sorella, sconosciuti incontrati in un caffè.
Del nuovo lavoro non sa nulla, ma la paga è ottima, e dovrà trasferirsi a casa dei suoi misteriosi datori di lavoro, senza più dover condividere il tetto con il detestabile zio.
All'inizio tutto sembra eccitante e affascinante, ma presto verrà messa in pericolo non solo la sua relazione con il fidanzato, ma soprattutto la sua sanità mentale...
“Sei oggetti misteriosi” è un bel giallo degli anni '30, dai toni inquietanti e cupi. Un po' gotico, con questa protagonista innocente e ingenua che si ritrova in pericolo, nel mezzo di eventi inspiegabili, e un po' thriller psicologico. Ci sono sedute spiritiche, manicomi, intrighi diabolici, e una perenne atmosfera sinistra, di pericolo costante, in cui si arriva a non fidarsi più di nessuno. E oltre all'ingenua protagonista, abbiamo un fidanzato pronto a tutto per salvarla, un investigatore intelligente e dai modi spicci, un super-cattivo misterioso di cui gli altri cattivi hanno paura...
È stata insomma una lettura divertente, scorrevole e appassionante, quanto di meglio io possa chiedere a un giallo.
L'autore morì nemmeno trentenne, nella guerra civile spagnola, e molti dei suoi libri furono pubblicati postumi.
Del nuovo lavoro non sa nulla, ma la paga è ottima, e dovrà trasferirsi a casa dei suoi misteriosi datori di lavoro, senza più dover condividere il tetto con il detestabile zio.
All'inizio tutto sembra eccitante e affascinante, ma presto verrà messa in pericolo non solo la sua relazione con il fidanzato, ma soprattutto la sua sanità mentale...
“Sei oggetti misteriosi” è un bel giallo degli anni '30, dai toni inquietanti e cupi. Un po' gotico, con questa protagonista innocente e ingenua che si ritrova in pericolo, nel mezzo di eventi inspiegabili, e un po' thriller psicologico. Ci sono sedute spiritiche, manicomi, intrighi diabolici, e una perenne atmosfera sinistra, di pericolo costante, in cui si arriva a non fidarsi più di nessuno. E oltre all'ingenua protagonista, abbiamo un fidanzato pronto a tutto per salvarla, un investigatore intelligente e dai modi spicci, un super-cattivo misterioso di cui gli altri cattivi hanno paura...
È stata insomma una lettura divertente, scorrevole e appassionante, quanto di meglio io possa chiedere a un giallo.
L'autore morì nemmeno trentenne, nella guerra civile spagnola, e molti dei suoi libri furono pubblicati postumi.
July 4, 2022
Intricato giallo inglese ambientato (e scritto) nel periodo tra le due grandi guerre.
Ammantato di elementi di spiritismo, molto in voga all'epoca, ma anche di psicoanalisi, altro argomento di grande interesse.
Un mix tra In the mood for love e La donna in bianco, ma senza il senso dell'umorismo delle due opere citate.
Si lascia leggere, però mamma quanto è didascalico e spiegone!
Ammantato di elementi di spiritismo, molto in voga all'epoca, ma anche di psicoanalisi, altro argomento di grande interesse.
Un mix tra In the mood for love e La donna in bianco, ma senza il senso dell'umorismo delle due opere citate.
Si lascia leggere, però mamma quanto è didascalico e spiegone!
June 27, 2025
A cute and complex little mystery — I think fairly far ahead of its time (published first in 1937). It might easily have been written today.
May 22, 2024
Marjorie Easton has grown weary of her uncle's miserly ways. Yes, he took her in when her parents died. But he begrudges every penny spent on food and is incredibly unpleasant to boot. So, when he complains about how little she makes at her current job (and how little her contribution to the household), she determines to get a better job and get out. So, when the opportunity to do "research" for Michael Crispin and his sister comes up--a position that includes room and board--she eagerly accepts. Ted, her young man, is suspicious of the position which will pay five guineas a week--more than he makes. Marjorie insists that it will be perfectly respectable.
She is a bit surprised to find that the "research" involves seances. But she soon gets used to taking notes at the sessions and is utterly convinced of Crispin's powers when her mother speaks to her and tells things that no one else could possibly know. Before she knows it, Crispin reveals that she--Marjorie--has mediumistic qualities and begins to train her. But as her powers as a medium grow, her demeanor changes and her vitality seems to drain. Ted is worried begins a campaign to get Marjorie out of the clutches of the people he believes to be charlatans...or worse. Then...during the first seance that Ted attends, Crispin is killed, Marjorie disappears, and Ted is accused of murder. Inspector Morgan shows up with a full complement of common sense and begins to unravel the mystery of the "six queer things" found in a locked drawer. Items that he's sure will "reveal all."
So...one doesn't really expect to find Victorian Gothic, Wilkie Collins Woman in White vibes echoing so strongly in a Golden Age mystery. Lots of atmosphere. Lots of evil relative, woman in danger stuff. Lots of eager young hero rushing in where angels fear to tread (to not much effect, actually). I wasn't terribly impressed with Inspector Morgan or the queer clues. The best part of the whole book was the opening scenes and the establishment of the characters involved. But the mystery left a lot to be desired and I must confess to skimming my way through in order to finish. I'll probably put this away and give it another try at another time. But right now... ★★ and 1/2 stars (and I'm not sure about the half).
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
She is a bit surprised to find that the "research" involves seances. But she soon gets used to taking notes at the sessions and is utterly convinced of Crispin's powers when her mother speaks to her and tells things that no one else could possibly know. Before she knows it, Crispin reveals that she--Marjorie--has mediumistic qualities and begins to train her. But as her powers as a medium grow, her demeanor changes and her vitality seems to drain. Ted is worried begins a campaign to get Marjorie out of the clutches of the people he believes to be charlatans...or worse. Then...during the first seance that Ted attends, Crispin is killed, Marjorie disappears, and Ted is accused of murder. Inspector Morgan shows up with a full complement of common sense and begins to unravel the mystery of the "six queer things" found in a locked drawer. Items that he's sure will "reveal all."
So...one doesn't really expect to find Victorian Gothic, Wilkie Collins Woman in White vibes echoing so strongly in a Golden Age mystery. Lots of atmosphere. Lots of evil relative, woman in danger stuff. Lots of eager young hero rushing in where angels fear to tread (to not much effect, actually). I wasn't terribly impressed with Inspector Morgan or the queer clues. The best part of the whole book was the opening scenes and the establishment of the characters involved. But the mystery left a lot to be desired and I must confess to skimming my way through in order to finish. I'll probably put this away and give it another try at another time. But right now... ★★ and 1/2 stars (and I'm not sure about the half).
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
October 25, 2023
Really enjoyed this. The book involves many subjects, besides romance, spiritualism, psychology,and mystery, there are touches of the occult and a look at asylums of the time.
Marjorie Eastern, a typist, is looking for a new job, to enable her to leave an overbearing uncle and to marry her young man. She meets someone in a cafe and is offered a job with a huge amount of money, compared to what she is earning typing. Unknown to her the people offering the job, are connected to spiritualism, which she isn't really acquainted with but that does not put her off. Unfortunately, she has taken on more than she bargained for, and so we follow her through the situations she finds herself in.
The title refers to items left in a locked drawer, after a house as been abandoned, and it is these that help the police to find a murderer. The explanation of these certainly enlighten me as to how various conjuring tricks are performed.
A compelling read for me and really couldn't wait to get back to it.
Marjorie Eastern, a typist, is looking for a new job, to enable her to leave an overbearing uncle and to marry her young man. She meets someone in a cafe and is offered a job with a huge amount of money, compared to what she is earning typing. Unknown to her the people offering the job, are connected to spiritualism, which she isn't really acquainted with but that does not put her off. Unfortunately, she has taken on more than she bargained for, and so we follow her through the situations she finds herself in.
The title refers to items left in a locked drawer, after a house as been abandoned, and it is these that help the police to find a murderer. The explanation of these certainly enlighten me as to how various conjuring tricks are performed.
A compelling read for me and really couldn't wait to get back to it.
July 26, 2020
The last crime novel written by Sprigg before he got killed in Spain and this is pretty nasty stuff, with little of the leavening humour that made "Death Of An Airman" easier to swallow. Once again, bourgeois society is corrupt and oppressive, and now it's the mind-doctors of the new psychiatric profession who are in on a racket that also takes in a fraudulent spiritualist, who turns out, after being murdered, to have been a "man-woman" transvestite all along. How much of this is informed by Sprigg-as-Caudwell's negative appraisal of Freud (in "Studies In A Dying Culture") is unclear, but there are traces of his own positive amateur Marxist theorising about how subjectivity & objectivity get muddled under capitalism. Makes as much sense as any academic cultural theorising, and as much credibility as an interpreter of Marx, despite what gatekeepers like Terry Eagleton might say.
May 10, 2021
The six queer things refers to six peculiar items found in a desk drawer of a murdered psychic medium. The story begins with an orphaned young woman in the care of a creepy uncle. Seemingly by chance, she meets a couple, brother and sister, who encourage her to seek employment with them. Doing what? Well, that's all rather vague, but the pay is enticing and what's better, they want her to live on the premises. What luck! Financial freedom and an escape from the awful uncle! When her first day on the job comes along, she finds that her duties are to be secretary for a psychic medium, documenting the events of seances as part of a study. She sits in on sessions and is amazed at how accurate the psychic is, especially when her own mother is channeled with specific messages for her. But soon she has trouble sleeping and worse, blackouts. She grows anxious and moody. What's going on?
I had hoped there would be more of a supernatural element, but this well-plotted story moves along quickly and has some interesting twists. I'm a sucker for a psychic medium/seance-based story. This was the kind of book that grabbed me, pushing aside those pesky tasks like cooking dinner. Enjoyed it much.
I had hoped there would be more of a supernatural element, but this well-plotted story moves along quickly and has some interesting twists. I'm a sucker for a psychic medium/seance-based story. This was the kind of book that grabbed me, pushing aside those pesky tasks like cooking dinner. Enjoyed it much.
November 16, 2019
Un giallo che all'inizio pare strizzare l'occhio al sovrannaturale e all'occulto (temi che adoro in questo genere), ma che poi vira sul thriller psicologico e d'avventura. I sei oggetti misteriosi del titolo, che sembravano promettere belle sorprese nelle pagine a seguire, si rivelano degli strumenti sì necessari per il piano generale, ma non fondamentali a capire l'intrigo e la loro funzione viene svelata poco alla volta nel corso della trama, senza particolari "coups de theatre". La fine è abbastanza prevedibile ed il trucco dell'avvelenamento impossibile è molto deludente. Per cui 3 stelle.
April 21, 2018
Somewhat bonkers but lots of fun. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com
April 22, 2019
Insane asylums, evil uncles, séances, murders every other chapter. In short: fun.
July 25, 2019
A queer book. It is more queer than the six queer things in the book which I think could have been left out. It contributes nothing to the story. That’s why this book loses a star. There are enough queer things happening to keep the reader interested. I think the book could rather be titled “The Director”. The book has an interesting mix of spiritualism, psychology, mental disturbances and criminality. There are lots of surprises so that you cannot predict what’s going to happen next. Some really caught me off guard. And there is the damsel in distress which reminds me of the style of Edgar Wallace. But this author, in my opinion, is better than most of the books of Wallace.
January 24, 2023
A terrific murder mystery that wouldn't be out of place in Agatha Christie's back catologue. Marjorie Eaton gets a job working for clairvoyant Michael Crispin but finds herself verging on a nervous breakdown and allienting herself from her fiance Ted. When Crispin is murdered Ted appears to be the prime suspect. This is a real page turner as Marjorie's life becomes a Kafkaesque nightmare. A real page turner that works perfectly into the cozy murder mystery genre.
September 6, 2018
This just didn't grab me. It is interesting, but I couldn't help feeling nervous with "the reveal" and the way it was discussed: weird, odd, etc.
May 30, 2020
An entertaining read. Truly bonkers.
December 18, 2024
bro what? women, am i rite? baby's first social satire/commentary !
September 29, 2019
Con Sei Oggetti Misteriosi siamo più nel territorio del thriller psicologico che non in quello di un classico giallo ad enigma.
La psiche di giovane donna viene messa a dura prova dopo aver accettato l'incarico di segretaria di un misterioso individuo, un medium, che la coinvolgerà in sedute spiritiche ed altre "amenità" del mestiere, fino a quando la stessa Marjorie comincerà a dubitare della propria sanità mentale...
Se da un lato è piuttosto lampante quale macchinazione si celi dietro agli eventi che coinvolgono la protagonista, dall'altro il "doppio gioco" di molti personaggi rende più fitto il mistero, e la scoperta del vero burattinaio che dietro le quinte ha mosso i fili della vicenda, è sicuramente una sorpresa.
Consigliato.
La psiche di giovane donna viene messa a dura prova dopo aver accettato l'incarico di segretaria di un misterioso individuo, un medium, che la coinvolgerà in sedute spiritiche ed altre "amenità" del mestiere, fino a quando la stessa Marjorie comincerà a dubitare della propria sanità mentale...
Se da un lato è piuttosto lampante quale macchinazione si celi dietro agli eventi che coinvolgono la protagonista, dall'altro il "doppio gioco" di molti personaggi rende più fitto il mistero, e la scoperta del vero burattinaio che dietro le quinte ha mosso i fili della vicenda, è sicuramente una sorpresa.
Consigliato.
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