Beware of the Trains

Gervase Fen #9

by Edmund Crispin

How acute are your powers of perception? Do they begin to match those of Gervase Fen, Oxford don and sleuth supreme?

First published in 1953, Beware of the Trains is a collection of sixteen short mysteries. Fen must link a missing train conductor to the murder of a thief, decipher cryptograms to solve the death of a cipher expert and puzzle out a locked-room mystery on Boxing Day.

Erudite and complex, these Gervase Fen cases are classic crime at its plot, atmosphere and anecdote, bound together by Edmund Crispin's inimitable wit and charm.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Crime, Fiction, Detective, Golden Age Mystery, Anthologies

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

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

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

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

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories with Gervase Fen, who is much easier to take in small doses.

[James Hold · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am now convinced THE MOVING TOYSHOP was a fluke. It was a fast-paced, almost slapstick adventure with a large cast that never got cluttered and were easy to differentiate. I then tried BURIED FOR PLEASURE and gave up one-third thru because nothing was happening other than a ton of pointless talk. Which brings me to BEWARE OF THE TRAINS. It's not completely bad, probably because it isn't a novel. It's 16 short stories. By restricting himself to short stories Crispin had to do away with the clutter that otherwise bogs down his work. What he kept, unfortunately, was all the talk.

The stories, if you examine them, don't stand up. They're told in that quick, breezy manner where you're expected to accept whatever the author says and not go back and verify it. (Erle Stanley Gardner relied on this trick also.) Take for instance this sentence from the opening title story: And since, as I've demonstrated, ____ was unquestionably in the motorman's cabin... There's only one problem: nowhere in the story did Fen ever demonstrate it. I went back and reread it twice and can't find where he did it. But if you just go along and take the author's word for it, well, then I suppose you have a clever story.

The next one is no better. Fen spends his time explaining the how and why of a crime only to have someone else call up with evidence that contradicts what Fen has been saying. Fen's response (paraphrasing) is to the effect, "Well, I guess we'll never know." Sorry Crispin but I don't accept that. You wasted my time telling a story that has no resolution. So FU.

Gervase Fen here is reduced to an sedentary Sherlock Holmes. There's none of the literary comments from TOYSHOP. All he does is sit or stand around while others tell their tale then pounces on an answer. I suppose I was fortunate to read TOYSHOP first, since it was a real gem (despite the revelation making no sense). I have 3 more Fen novels lying around but I doubt I'll bother with them. If I do I'll destroy whatever good feelings I had toward Crispin at all, and I'd like to hang onto the memory of at least one good book.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not just trains to watch out for. Actually, mostly individuals with murderous agendas of their own. This was such a great concept, mystery stories one can play along with, the ones where the reader is given all the information to crime solve on their own or read along and see how the professionals do it. Gervase Fen, the intrepid protagonist, author’s very own Sherlock, actually isn’t a professional detective, but an English and literature college professor. Nevertheless he possesses a brain prone to analysis and deduction and solving crimes comes naturally to him, even the cases that stump the detectives. All but the last two stories in this collection feature Fen. And the stories are entertaining and fun and not at all tediously dated, despite their advance years. The narratives are light and quite funny and clever at times. I wish I’d enjoyed them more, but alas my severely sleep deprived brain did not rise up to the challenges of detecting (although was able to puzzle out some things here and there and uncover a bunch of clues) and the quaintness of the golden age mysteries became monotonous after a while. I’m convinced a more alert state of mind and the right mood are needed to appreciate this and many old fashioned mystery fans would relish this collection. Thanks Netgalley.

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK UNTIL YOU HAVE LOOKED INSIDE!!!

This was given to me as a Christmas present - the 'Bloomsbury Reader' edition with the cover as shown.

I want to read this book. I'd LOVE to give it five stars .....

BUT

I CAN'T READ THE SODDING PRINT!!

It's the smallest font I have EVER seen in a book. And yes, I am 'of an age' and my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be but dammit - this is just pathetic.

Bloomsbury NON-Reader is more appropriate.

And this isn't a cheap mass-produced paperback -even though it looks like it. (The paper looks like its been hanging around on a bookshelf for years - that slightly dirty cream colour.) This book costs £8.99, which is a hell of a lot for what is a badly produced and (to me) unreadable book.

Not a happy bunny.

And for comparison, I was also given (paperback, price £7.99) which is clearly printed and easy on the eye with a decent font and white paper!

[Leyla Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a set of short stories buy Edmund Crispin and they do not fail to satisfy, in fact I love reading them, they just go so much further then a full length mystery, and believe me when you read an Edmund Crispin mystery you just don't want it to end. This book just keeps on giving, the characters, the puzzles and the era just a joy to read.

[Judy Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edmund Crispin wrote unusual short stories. They were unusual for me because of their brevity. The mysteries in this collection, first published in 1953, are of the anecdote variety, meaning they are told from the viewpoint of someone who knew the circumstances surrounding the crime to someone else with little or no knowledge of it. Crispin didn't go into a lot of detail in these sixteen short stories so if you want atmosphere from descriptions of locations or the site of the murder you will be disappointed. Instead you will find the circumstances given for a crime which most often has not yet been solved or proved by the authorities. Gervase Fen, a Professor of English Language and Literature in the University of Oxford, is most often discussing the case with Detective Inspector Humbleby of Scotland Yard, but this is not always the case in this collection. Fen has always been one of my favorite fictional crime solvers because he is written in such a sparse, clean way without many personal attachments to take focus away from the case.

This is a short collection of stories from the standpoint of page count, but the temptation was there for me to treat this book with the bon-bon effect: if one is good, then surely another one can't hurt me. I probably would have read the whole book at one sitting if I had been allowed to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for the digital galley of this collection.

[Ralph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably these short stories featuring Oxford don and amateur sleuth Gervase Fen will not be every mystery fan's cuppa, perhaps not even those who have enjoyed Fen's exploits in Crispin's many novels. Fen is clever in all the stories, but few make an actual satisfactory read in the sense of justice served or victims saved/avenged. At best, the police are pointed in the right direction; at worse, the villain gets away with it and we're left with nothing but Fen's cleverness. Pleasing to read for the author's writing style, but not up to Gen's novel-length exploits.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the shorts, he even comments on how fictional crime differs from real crime and then has Fen go on to solve a "real" fictional crime. :) As usual, filled with fantastic descriptions of places and persons.

[Jeffrey Marks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Crispin's best work. The stories were extremely short which did not allow much of Fen's personality to shine, which to me is one of the best aspects of the books.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

These fourteen tales, all featuring Professor Gervase Fen as the protagonist, feature gentle, erudite mysteries with shocking bursts of violence and bleakness. Occasionally the tales go for rather improbable and fantastic solutions. But in general the tales are readable.
Unfortunately, the book has production-values worse than pirated stuff available at Daryaganj. If it’s a specimen of Bloomsbury production, then I would prefer to stay away from such stuff forever.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: who burglarised the train and where is the conductor? Enter Professor Fen, sometime super-sleuth, with sixteen short classics.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edmund Crispin and Gervase Fen, what a team! If between the writer and the detective they don't produce the most fascinating (largely locked room) crimes I don't know who does.

The foreword of this collection of short stories states "the reader is given all the clues needed to enable him to anticipate the solution by the exercise of his logic and common sense," however either the intervening 60 years has caused general knowledge to be lost to the populous or I have no real logic or common sense as most of the mysteries seemed to require a prior knowledge of things that were beyond me.

The style of outlining the mystery was conversational and in this I was reminded of a book of mysteries I bought as a 10 year old, Two-Minute Mysteries, a collection of mysteries for children that didn't provide enough information to enable you to actually solve the puzzle. In both cases it was enjoyable to puzzle through it before accepting that the detective was a genius and moving on to the next one in the hope that this time I'll solve it first. For my limited knowledge of this style of mystery, I do not know whether this is a genre staple or just a happy coincidence.

Gervase Fen, that great and eloquent wit from The Moving Toyshop among others, was not really required for these stories as at no point did he ever really get to run around spouting catchphrases and showing off whilst being altogether zany, his history goes before him and allows the softening of the readers incredulity at the improbable nature of the method of deduction but that is all.

[Sten Maulsby]

I don't know how to rate this book. Uneven. The last story, Deadlock, the one that is not a Gervase Fen story, is beautiful. One of the best Crispin stories I've read. It's a full, fulfilling, satisfying story with characters you begin to know and understand and feel for. Beautiful is not a word I normally think of in relation to Crispin. That's not a criticism. Beauty is not what you're looking for when you read Crispin. The Fen stories are witty, urbane, clever, well-crafted mysteries with (usually) enough light humor to carry you on. (Holy Disorders, not so good; fell apart in the end). These Fen short stories, though the mysteries are fully formed, feel like fragments of Fen stories. Good plotting, the usual wit, but no weight. Pleasant. Enjoyable. Just don't expect too much and you'll find them a pleasant pastime. But DO seek this book for the last story. It's very satisfying and a side of Crispin we don't usually see.

[Les Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book of short stories; containing a forward and Fourteen Gervase Fen stories, plus two others *

Forward
Beware of the Trains
Humbleby Agonistes
The Drowning of Edgar Foley
'Lacrimae Rerum'
Within the Gates
Abhorred Shears
The Little Room
Express Delivery
A Pot of Paint
The Quick Brown Fox
Black for a Funeral
The Name on the Window
The Golden Mean
Otherwhere
The Evidence for the Crown*
Deadlock*

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flew through this book of lovely little tiny murder mysteries. Each one interesting narratively as well as interesting historically. I most enjoyed the final story which differs from the previous substantially but seems more poignant and sad.

Read on almost entirely on trains, a perfect setting for Beware of the Trains.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tricky whodunit short stories. Even with the same detective, there is no real plot or character development. More suitable for telling in a pub than engaging a knowledgeable reader.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad that I read these short stories but more for the sake of completing the Fen series. The stories were fine but I think Crispin does better in the full length books.

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

The begging stories where thrilling and well written and left a sence of adventure, however the last few stories dragged.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became a fan of Crispin several years ago when one his books was recommended to me as I browsed in Half Price Books. The Gervase Fen series, dating back to the 1950s, is still entertaining and challenging for mystery buffs. Most are full-length novels, but this one consists of 16 short mysteries. I prefer to keep a book of good short stories on deck at all times to break the commitment to lengthy reads. Furthermore, short stories are a different type of reading and with their own requirements.

The title story is a "locked room" mystery, although in this case it is a locked-down railway station, including the train upon which the main character

finds himself. "Beware of the Trains" is an entry in an anthology of locked-room mysteries from Otto Penzler, and the stories first appeared individually in London news publications years ago.

Most of the stories feature "super sleuth" Oxford professor Gervase Fen, and follow his analytic means of solving crimes. "Deadlock," the final story, is not a Gervase Fen mystery, and is quite different from Crispin's other work.

This collection includes the following titles:
*Beware of the Trains
*Humbleby Agonistes
*The Drowning of Edgar Foley
*"Lacrimae Rerum"
*Within the Gates
*Abhorred Shears
*The Little Room
*Express Delivery
*A Pot of Paint
*The Quick Brown Fox
* Black For A Funeral
*The Name on the Window
*The Golden Mean
*Otherwhere
*The Evidence for the Crown
*Deadlock

I appreciate knowing the titles in a collection when I am purchasing a book as they often repeat in other anthologies, and I get a few befuddled moments trying to figure out why a new book seems so familiar.

I recommend that mystery fans make an effort to locate and enjoy such old chestnuts as the Crispin books. Edmund Crispin's real name was Bruce Montgomery.

[Randy Money · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable on it's own terms, this collection contains 16 stories, 14 of which involve Gervase Fen, Crispin's amateur detective and Oxford Professor of English Language and Literature. These are truly short -- none over 12 pages, I think -- fair-play mystery stories in which the clues are laid out and the only obstacle is recognizing what is a clue and what is misdirection. I think the best of them is the title story, but if you enjoy this type of puzzle story all of them will entertain.

This is probably not the best introduction to Fen and Crispin, though. For that I'd start with The Moving Toyshop, which is generally considered the best of the novels and gives a good feel for the quirky, sometimes antic humor Fen and Crispin usually deliver. If you like that, then move on to the other novels and the short stories.

The last two stories do not feature Fen or his friend, Inspector Humbleby. The first, "The Evidence for the Crown" is as wryly amusing as any of the Fen stories, and the last, "Deadlock," is a thoughtful, melancholy exercise in small community crime set a few years before WWII. I'm surprised I hasn't seen it anthologized.

[Larry Shackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago, I read all 9 of Crispin's "Gervase Fen" mysteries, and a book of short stories called "Fen Country." Imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered that there was a SECOND book of stories, "Beware of the Trains."

The stories are brief, tinged with humor, and especially satisfactory to old-fashioned readers who believe that mystery stories should provide you with a clue so you can solve it yourself. In that respect, the majority of these stories remind me of the "mystery" books I bought as a young person, where you had to keep your eye open for the phrase that revealed the clue. Some rely on the Holmes premise that when you've eliminated all the options except one, it MUST be correct, even though on the surface it seems implausible.

Two stories are not in the Fen canon: one solved by an Inspector Copperfield, and a longer story ("Deadlock") involving a murder in a coastal town. Many of the solutions involve a surprise to the reader, but none that are not completely logical. Most of the stories are 10-12 pages in length; just right for reading before bedtime! This is a great find for lovers of traditional British mysteries.

[elstaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounds up to four stars for me. I'll definitely be on the lookout for other books by this author, but not necessarily as forever keepers. Despite what the intro said about "fair play to the reader," I don't know that most of the solutions to the mysteries would have been deductible from the information given. Perhaps the intervening 70 years between the collection's publication and now have caused some of the obfuscation, but I think the biggest problem is that a lot of the details on which the plots hinge are things that with other authors it could be assumed were merely the result of bad editing. So maybe it's that I've read too many poorly-edited books recently. But of course, there are some other ways this book is very much of its time, and particularly of its time and written by a male author.

Pull quote/note
"None of which is very vivid, I'm afraid—but then, healthy, attractive young women aren't very vivid, except in the flesh." (86)

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beware the Trains is a collection of short stories written by Edmund Crispin, (mostly) featuring Oxford don and amateur criminologist Gervase Fen, each of which feature clever puzzles and "impossible" murders. While trains do not feature prominently in any of the stories (only one of the 16 tales) the stories were charming, with clues strewn about to give the reader a fair chance in attempting to solve the mystery before the story's end. I enjoyed the banter and comfortable friendship (of a kind) between Fen and Inspector Humbleby, who is among the few police detectives with whom Fen interacts; their relationship is akin to the Poirot / Japp dynamic. As these short stories tell snippets of their lives and adventures, I'd be interested in reading more of Crispin's books.

[Bill Lancaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short stories in ‘Beware of Trains’ by Edmund Crispin mostly feature Gervase Fen, the Oxford don and amateur detective. If you know of Fen from the full-length novels (‘The Moving Toyshop”, ‘Holy Disorders’ and several others), you won’t recognize him here.

In the novels, Fen is an irascible, slightly annoying, yet brilliant and articulate solver of crimes. In these stories, his personality takes a back seat. Instead, we have relatively complex plot lines (many of the stories are of the “locked room” category) that read quickly but bear little of Gervase Fen’s outgoing personality. But that’s okay. The stories are still fascinating to read.

[Melissa Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

With few exceptions, Gervaise Fen is an oddly unexceptional personality. He has none of the quirks of a Poirot or a Wimsey. His personality doesn’t obtrude. The mysteries in “Beware of the Trains” are cerebral. We have all the facts; if we are too stupid or oblivious not to solve the mystery at the same rate as Fen, well, that only says something about us!

I’m a big fan of Golden Age mysteries, and “Beware of the Train” is not a disappointment.

[Suzie Grogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well just having finished watching the BBC series Ludwig, l came to this book in the right mood for puzzle solving and it didn’t disappoint. I enjoy Edmund Crispin’s novels but they are occasionally too slapstick for me. Here, in short story form, there is none of that. He is generally fair with the reader, it is possible from clues to solve some of the murderous problems and overall it was a short read much enjoyed.

[Christophe Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only so-so, which is less than what I expected from Crispin. Most stories are simply too short for Crispin's wit to come through. However, I did quite enjoy "Beware of the Trains" and "Lacrimae Rerum" for the plotting, "Deadlock" for its tenderness and melancholy, and "Otherwere" for its dry sarcastic humor.

[Virginia Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

16 classic British mystery stories featuring Gervase Fen, Oxford professor and expert at solving baffling crimes a la Sherlock Holmes. Although now dated, these stories still intrigue for their plotting and sense of fair play. You have all the information, are you as good as Gervase Fen in solving the mystery?

[Umer Abbas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having heard so much praise for 'the moving toyshop" I was sorely disappointed when I read it and would consider it a pure farce than a detective/mystery story. This collection of short stories have restored my faith in Crispin. Most are well done , hinging on careful reading of the text as the clues are there. Overall a great read.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories in classic Crispin style, most of them featuring Gervase Fen. I’d previously read the excellent stories, “Beware of the Trains” and “The Quick Brown Fox.” I also particularly enjoyed “Black for a Funeral” and “Otherwhere”, which were both very good puzzles, and “Evidence for the Crown,” with its clever twist.