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DuVivien & Birdseye #5
Poison for Teacher
'Her detective novels are hilarious. They are high camp and less about detecting than delighting, with absurd farce and a wonderful turn of phrase . . . Nancy Spain was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal' Sandi Toksvig
A nasty attack of murder has broken out at Radcliff Hall, a Sussex girls' boarding school. Enter, in the unlikely guise of schoolteachers, two unorthodox revue-star Miriam Birdseye and the Russian ballerina, Natasha Nevkorina.
'An either intense or sombre approach to crime is to Miss Spain in her world an inspired craziness rules . . . Her wit, her zest, her outrageousness, and the colloquial stylishness of the writing are quite her own' Elizabeth Bowen
A nasty attack of murder has broken out at Radcliff Hall, a Sussex girls' boarding school. Enter, in the unlikely guise of schoolteachers, two unorthodox revue-star Miriam Birdseye and the Russian ballerina, Natasha Nevkorina.
'An either intense or sombre approach to crime is to Miss Spain in her world an inspired craziness rules . . . Her wit, her zest, her outrageousness, and the colloquial stylishness of the writing are quite her own' Elizabeth Bowen
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
7 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Spain
30 books9 followersNancy Spain was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1917, the great-niece of the legendary Mrs Beeton.
She began her career as a journalist and occasional actor in radio plays. After the Second World War she published a very successful memoir of her time working as a driver and in the press office of the WRNS. She later wrote columns for the Daily Express and She magazine, made many radio and television appearances, and published a series of detective novels.
She and her partner Joan Werner Laurie were killed in a plane crash in 1964.
She began her career as a journalist and occasional actor in radio plays. After the Second World War she published a very successful memoir of her time working as a driver and in the press office of the WRNS. She later wrote columns for the Daily Express and She magazine, made many radio and television appearances, and published a series of detective novels.
She and her partner Joan Werner Laurie were killed in a plane crash in 1964.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
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October 7, 2020I was really looking forward to this but it turned out to be a major disappointment. I’d heard a lot about Poison for Teacher before I finally picked up a copy, originally published in 1949 it’s the best-known crime novel of British author Nancy Spain. Spain was a journalist whose appearances on television and radio made her a household name and a not-so-secret lesbian icon. Over the years Poison for Teacher’s acquired a (minor) cult status as a showcase for the kind of knowing but playful sensibility Sontag made famous with Notes on Camp. It briefly reappeared in the early 90s, as part of Virago’s short-lived ‘Lesbian Landmarks’ series, where it was proclaimed as a canonical lesbian text and it’s set to be reissued by Virago yet again, along with another of Spain’s detective novels.
Spain’s story centres on a series of strange occurrences at the once-tranquil seaside campus of Radcliff Hall School for Girls, modelled on Spain’s alma mater, exclusive boarding-school Roedean. Shaken headmistress Miss Lipscombe calls in actress and amateur sleuth Miriam Birdseye (based on Hermione Gingold) along with her friend/sidekick Russian ballerina Natasha DuVivien. The pair go undercover as teachers but too late to prevent a series of malicious pranks progressing to murder. Spain introduces a large cast of eccentric staff members and disgruntled schoolgirls, whose every feature is exaggerated for maximum effect, she mixes in lightly-coded representations of contemporary lesbian and gay culture alongside some surprisingly frank references to abortion, adultery, under-age affairs and romance between teachers. Spain’s attention to detail provides some mildly-entertaining glimpses of prevailing cultural tastes and social mores, last and of least interest to Spain, it seems, are crime and detection.
But Poison for Teacher also has a more unsavoury reputation grounded in Spain’s ‘awkward’ construction of the Jewish Dr Lariat and biracial maths teacher Miss Lesarum. Alison Hennegan’s introduction, in my vintage Virago edition, frames Spain’s possibly anti-Semitic and racist content as essentially satirical, part of Spain’s overall intention to lampoon all of her characters equally. It seems this becomes evident as the novel progresses, whether that’s the case or not, isn’t something I can comment on, I only made it halfway through this before admitting defeat, and getting that far was extremely hard-going. From my perspective the only interesting aspect of Poison for Teacher is its publishing history and its marginal cultural/socio-historical significance. I didn’t find Spain's depiction of Lesarum or Lariat remotely amusing, and if this leaden, overly-packed narrative passes for satire then satire’s clearly not my thing. As for Spain's prose style, it struck me as akin to the by-product of some curious, ill-fated collision between Wodehouse and Gertrude Stein.
Spain’s story centres on a series of strange occurrences at the once-tranquil seaside campus of Radcliff Hall School for Girls, modelled on Spain’s alma mater, exclusive boarding-school Roedean. Shaken headmistress Miss Lipscombe calls in actress and amateur sleuth Miriam Birdseye (based on Hermione Gingold) along with her friend/sidekick Russian ballerina Natasha DuVivien. The pair go undercover as teachers but too late to prevent a series of malicious pranks progressing to murder. Spain introduces a large cast of eccentric staff members and disgruntled schoolgirls, whose every feature is exaggerated for maximum effect, she mixes in lightly-coded representations of contemporary lesbian and gay culture alongside some surprisingly frank references to abortion, adultery, under-age affairs and romance between teachers. Spain’s attention to detail provides some mildly-entertaining glimpses of prevailing cultural tastes and social mores, last and of least interest to Spain, it seems, are crime and detection.
But Poison for Teacher also has a more unsavoury reputation grounded in Spain’s ‘awkward’ construction of the Jewish Dr Lariat and biracial maths teacher Miss Lesarum. Alison Hennegan’s introduction, in my vintage Virago edition, frames Spain’s possibly anti-Semitic and racist content as essentially satirical, part of Spain’s overall intention to lampoon all of her characters equally. It seems this becomes evident as the novel progresses, whether that’s the case or not, isn’t something I can comment on, I only made it halfway through this before admitting defeat, and getting that far was extremely hard-going. From my perspective the only interesting aspect of Poison for Teacher is its publishing history and its marginal cultural/socio-historical significance. I didn’t find Spain's depiction of Lesarum or Lariat remotely amusing, and if this leaden, overly-packed narrative passes for satire then satire’s clearly not my thing. As for Spain's prose style, it struck me as akin to the by-product of some curious, ill-fated collision between Wodehouse and Gertrude Stein.
September 6, 2017
Very odd, and very enjoyable, though as noted in the introduction suffering from a serious case of 'that's just how people thought back then...' (see my review of Agatha Christie's Come, Tell Me How You Live for my stance on that objectionable opinion).
If the semi-frequent footnotes* are to be believed, this is not the first outing of at least one of our heroines. The setup was frankly ridiculous, but in the vein of absurd comedy that Spain clearly mined heavily, it worked well.
If one believes 20th-century detective novelists of any stripe, the antagonistic artistic type of suspect with wild black hair and improbably enormous beard was in a natural state of abundance throughout the British Isles (see The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Five Red Herrings, for instance), and we are not let down here: co-chief suspect (along with the 'naturally socially inferior' Jewish doctor Lariat) is the improbably bearded other man who's name I have forgotten and the book is not handy, but anyway, you get the idea. The cast of characters are absurd, and act accordingly. Spain is sending up the genre is great queer style, and it is probably a mark of how much the world has changed that I am greatly reminded of the more recent David Suchet Poirot adaptations, with their obvious inferences to the sexuality and living arrangements of their characters.
Alongside the detecting and the sending-up is a slightly surreal, modernist bent that catches the reader by surprise: at one point, during the classic 'she told her what was in the letter' misdirection, the narrator interrupts (as she is wont to do at odd intervals throughout) and tells us that, if we are clever enough, we ought to have worked it out, and therefore she will leave the rest of the page blank for those of us who have done so. Elements of Edmund Crispin abound, and though I have never read any Wodehouse I have read enough quotes to know that "Miss Birch? No, Miss bbirch. Two lower-case 'b's," harks happily back.
The plot lags and the outcome is unimportant, but reading this book for the quirky modernism and the peppy one-liners alone would be well worth it. But there really shouldn't be any question that a person can be a lesbian/comedian AND a racist, should there?
*Death goes on skis or something like that.
If the semi-frequent footnotes* are to be believed, this is not the first outing of at least one of our heroines. The setup was frankly ridiculous, but in the vein of absurd comedy that Spain clearly mined heavily, it worked well.
If one believes 20th-century detective novelists of any stripe, the antagonistic artistic type of suspect with wild black hair and improbably enormous beard was in a natural state of abundance throughout the British Isles (see The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Five Red Herrings, for instance), and we are not let down here: co-chief suspect (along with the 'naturally socially inferior' Jewish doctor Lariat) is the improbably bearded other man who's name I have forgotten and the book is not handy, but anyway, you get the idea. The cast of characters are absurd, and act accordingly. Spain is sending up the genre is great queer style, and it is probably a mark of how much the world has changed that I am greatly reminded of the more recent David Suchet Poirot adaptations, with their obvious inferences to the sexuality and living arrangements of their characters.
Alongside the detecting and the sending-up is a slightly surreal, modernist bent that catches the reader by surprise: at one point, during the classic 'she told her what was in the letter' misdirection, the narrator interrupts (as she is wont to do at odd intervals throughout) and tells us that, if we are clever enough, we ought to have worked it out, and therefore she will leave the rest of the page blank for those of us who have done so. Elements of Edmund Crispin abound, and though I have never read any Wodehouse I have read enough quotes to know that "Miss Birch? No, Miss bbirch. Two lower-case 'b's," harks happily back.
The plot lags and the outcome is unimportant, but reading this book for the quirky modernism and the peppy one-liners alone would be well worth it. But there really shouldn't be any question that a person can be a lesbian/comedian AND a racist, should there?
*Death goes on skis or something like that.
July 16, 2023
Je l'ai lu parce que c'est un lesbian landmark, mais ça feelait surtout comme du mauvais Nancy Mitford ou Georgette Heyer, avec beaucoup d'absurdités, sans la drôlerie, les witty dialogues et la cleverness. Twas very bad indeed.
March 7, 2018
Very lovely and British. I believe that one's enjoyment of it is in direct correlation with one's familiarity with that era's queer in-jokes, boarding-school fetishes and the all the staple detective novels. Alison Hennegan's introduction in the Virago Lesbian Landmarks reprint is highly recommended--it helped me to understand this as more than just a (very) mildly homoerotic British detective satire.
October 24, 2021
I wanted to love this book so badly, and really expected that I would. Overall, I just found it kind of underwhelming, and the reveal was so obvious that I never once considered it.
I loved the setting, and I think the school atmosphere was really unique and interesting. Having our detectives have to put off sleuthing because they have lessons to teach was really funny and I very much enjoyed this atmosphere. I also loved the writing, which was lively and funny and always easy to read.
A big problem I had with it was that bar a few gay stereotypes, this book just didn’t give me the fruit I was promised, which I suppose was more an issue with how the book is marketed rather than the text itself. I picked it up from the queer section, so expected a lot more than a man who’s sassy and a woman who wears trousers.
My guess for the reveal was, if I may say so myself, impeccable, and the book would have been smart to follow my lead. My reveal would’ve led to drama, intrigue and some good gay shit. But instead we’re given a predictable and boring reveal, that doesn’t give us any message or subvert any tropes at all. The reveal also comes earlier than I’m used to. One of the characters says “I think it was …”, and then that’s it. That’s the only lead they follow and it turns out to be true. I spent the last few pages hoping for a final twist that never came, which was really disappointing.
Also racism and anti-Semitism abound. Yikes.
Well-written, great characters, cool setting, but disappointing, underwhelming and predictable. Which makes me sad:(
I loved the setting, and I think the school atmosphere was really unique and interesting. Having our detectives have to put off sleuthing because they have lessons to teach was really funny and I very much enjoyed this atmosphere. I also loved the writing, which was lively and funny and always easy to read.
A big problem I had with it was that bar a few gay stereotypes, this book just didn’t give me the fruit I was promised, which I suppose was more an issue with how the book is marketed rather than the text itself. I picked it up from the queer section, so expected a lot more than a man who’s sassy and a woman who wears trousers.
My guess for the reveal was, if I may say so myself, impeccable, and the book would have been smart to follow my lead. My reveal would’ve led to drama, intrigue and some good gay shit. But instead we’re given a predictable and boring reveal, that doesn’t give us any message or subvert any tropes at all. The reveal also comes earlier than I’m used to. One of the characters says “I think it was …”, and then that’s it. That’s the only lead they follow and it turns out to be true. I spent the last few pages hoping for a final twist that never came, which was really disappointing.
Also racism and anti-Semitism abound. Yikes.
Well-written, great characters, cool setting, but disappointing, underwhelming and predictable. Which makes me sad:(
January 8, 2022
This wasn't quite what I'd expected, as it was even funnier than I'd thought. The murder mystery was just a framework to hang the silliness off. Many jokes could have come from BBC radio shows like Round the Horne, a little bit rude if you read between the lines. I expect I missed many LGBT+ references, although the name of the school was hilarious. I'll have to try a few more, as they seem to be publishing her works gradually.
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July 5, 2021DNF. This just wasn’t for me. I didn’t get on with the writing style nor with the characters and even the crime didn’t interest me. This is so disappointing as I was very excited about this novel but oh well.
January 31, 2025
Miriam Birdseye (the Miriam Birdseye, former actress), has set herself up as a private investigator after a few episodes of mysterious adventures (Poison in the Play; Death Before Wicket; Murder--Bless It; and Death Goes on Skis). Business isn't particularly booming, but then her frequent partner in crime, Natasha DuVivien (ex-ballet dancer), leaves her husband and comes to live and work with her. She's barely arrived when the headmistress of Radcliff Hall School for Girls Miss Janet Lipscoomb arrives seeking detective services.
Someone is playing the most disagreeable tricks on the headmistress and the school. Flowerpots crash down near her when she's walking. Blackboards are wetted so they squeak horribly when written on. A hedgehog is put in her bath. The stairs are greased. Rude pictures drawn. And now, it's taken a more diabolical turn. Someone had frayed the gym ropes just before Miss Lipscoomb was to demonstrate "Flying Angels" to the fourth form girls. So, she wants Birdseye et Cie (Miriam's detective agency) to investigate.
After hearing about how there is bad blood between Miss Lipscoomb and her ex-partner, Miss bbirch, after the latter left and took the elocution and dancing instructors with her, Miriam is sure that Miss bbirch is behind it all. But they need to find proof. So, Miriam and Natasha go undercover as the new elocution and dancing instructors with the hopes of discovering the trickster. What they don't anticipate is that they will soon be looking for a murderer as well. The first victim of the murderer is Miss Theresa Devaloys, the French mistress. She had a nasty, sly sense of humor and her nose in everyone's business...and little notebook with what looks like a list of blackmail victims. She's poisoned during the rehearsal for the school play (in which her character drinks from a fresh bottle) and the finger of suspicion soon falls on Peter Bracewood-Smith, who provided the bottle and whose name figured prominently in the woman's little notebook, as well as on Dr. Lariat, who has access to poisons and who had an affair with her. An affair that he wanted ended and she didn't...Of course, when they discover that Devaloys was behind the nasty tricks at the school then suspicion falls on Miss Lipscoomb as well. How far would she go to protect her school? The police choose their favorite and our detectives choose theirs, but which way will the evidence point?
This works much better as a period piece and study of standard character types than it does as a mystery. The culprit is obvious even though Spain tries very hard to give us red herring alternates. I never seriously considered the other contenders--especially when Sergeant Tomkins latches so firmly onto one of them.What Spain does do well is provide the reader with a solid look at what the reading public of the 1940s considered standard character types (whether they would pass muster today or not) and then lampoons them--she sends them over-the-top and manages to make readers (this one, anyway) believe that she didn't agree with the stereotypes at all. She also creates an atmosphere where sexual attraction of all sorts are represented and no one (well, nearly no one--Johnny DuVivien is a tad uncomfortable at one point) bats an eye.
I hunted this down because it was an academic mystery and I do love those. I found it interesting because of the snapshot we get of the 1940s academic scene as well as the descriptions of the characters and the village where Radcliff Hall is located. But what I'm going to remember from the story is Natasha. She is a fervent little detective in the making and a delightful character all around. If anything makes me look for more Nancy Spain books, it will be Natasha.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
Someone is playing the most disagreeable tricks on the headmistress and the school. Flowerpots crash down near her when she's walking. Blackboards are wetted so they squeak horribly when written on. A hedgehog is put in her bath. The stairs are greased. Rude pictures drawn. And now, it's taken a more diabolical turn. Someone had frayed the gym ropes just before Miss Lipscoomb was to demonstrate "Flying Angels" to the fourth form girls. So, she wants Birdseye et Cie (Miriam's detective agency) to investigate.
After hearing about how there is bad blood between Miss Lipscoomb and her ex-partner, Miss bbirch, after the latter left and took the elocution and dancing instructors with her, Miriam is sure that Miss bbirch is behind it all. But they need to find proof. So, Miriam and Natasha go undercover as the new elocution and dancing instructors with the hopes of discovering the trickster. What they don't anticipate is that they will soon be looking for a murderer as well. The first victim of the murderer is Miss Theresa Devaloys, the French mistress. She had a nasty, sly sense of humor and her nose in everyone's business...and little notebook with what looks like a list of blackmail victims. She's poisoned during the rehearsal for the school play (in which her character drinks from a fresh bottle) and the finger of suspicion soon falls on Peter Bracewood-Smith, who provided the bottle and whose name figured prominently in the woman's little notebook, as well as on Dr. Lariat, who has access to poisons and who had an affair with her. An affair that he wanted ended and she didn't...Of course, when they discover that Devaloys was behind the nasty tricks at the school then suspicion falls on Miss Lipscoomb as well. How far would she go to protect her school? The police choose their favorite and our detectives choose theirs, but which way will the evidence point?
This works much better as a period piece and study of standard character types than it does as a mystery. The culprit is obvious even though Spain tries very hard to give us red herring alternates. I never seriously considered the other contenders--especially when Sergeant Tomkins latches so firmly onto one of them.What Spain does do well is provide the reader with a solid look at what the reading public of the 1940s considered standard character types (whether they would pass muster today or not) and then lampoons them--she sends them over-the-top and manages to make readers (this one, anyway) believe that she didn't agree with the stereotypes at all. She also creates an atmosphere where sexual attraction of all sorts are represented and no one (well, nearly no one--Johnny DuVivien is a tad uncomfortable at one point) bats an eye.
I hunted this down because it was an academic mystery and I do love those. I found it interesting because of the snapshot we get of the 1940s academic scene as well as the descriptions of the characters and the village where Radcliff Hall is located. But what I'm going to remember from the story is Natasha. She is a fervent little detective in the making and a delightful character all around. If anything makes me look for more Nancy Spain books, it will be Natasha.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
March 5, 2023
The first thing to say is that I am always grateful to a book that can agreeable occupy chunks of sleepless, otherwise worry filled nights, and picking up Poison for Teacher was a balm for me. It started wonderfully well - funny, silly, intriguing, quietly normalising female to female romantic love and attraction and with what is now a dollop of period glamour.
It did look to me at the outset a surprisingly long book for a novel of its type... and in the end (or more honestly, considerably before the end) it felt like a book which would have been better at least a third shorter and with the humour more evenly spread. There seemed to be less to wince at than I had anticipated from the interesting introduction by Sandi Toksvig but its certainly 'of its time'. The main obstacle to get over is the utter self-absorption of Miriam and Natasha but they are so endearing that it's not a high one.
It did look to me at the outset a surprisingly long book for a novel of its type... and in the end (or more honestly, considerably before the end) it felt like a book which would have been better at least a third shorter and with the humour more evenly spread. There seemed to be less to wince at than I had anticipated from the interesting introduction by Sandi Toksvig but its certainly 'of its time'. The main obstacle to get over is the utter self-absorption of Miriam and Natasha but they are so endearing that it's not a high one.
October 24, 2022
Having read Sandi Toksvig’s introduction in a bookshop, I expected more from this book than it gave. I knew that the journey was the thing, rather than some exciting denouement, but the journey wasn’t as much fun as Sandi implied. Yes, there are amusing passages and a lot of inferences about character’s sexuality, not least setting the book in Radcliffe Hall, but there isn’t as much of that as I would have liked.
A diverting book and I will read others in the series.
A diverting book and I will read others in the series.
December 11, 2021
Greatly overrated tale of sleuthing at boarding school with cod Russian and over arch failed actress as the detectives. This was probably regarded as very amusing when originally published but is now simply outdated. Perhaps it was seen as daring due to the constant sexual innuendo but... I stopped reading halfway through on the grounds I have a shelf of far better books waiting for me.
January 3, 2022
Pleasantly surprised! I thought this was a new book, I quickly downloaded on audible without reading much about it. Turns out it’s quite an old book but it didn’t feel like that at all. Very funny characters and an interesting story/mystery!
May 17, 2021
A fun cosy mystery with well-written characters and a plot that moves at a steady pace. Well worth a read.
March 31, 2022
For me, dated and not funny. Weirdly overwritten. Very sad, as I was looking forward to this.
February 11, 2023
This is possibly the most boring and confusing book I have ever read
April 30, 2022
DNF. I bought this book purely because I too went to Roedean so knew quite a bit about Nancy Spain and was interested to see how much or little of the school we both went to (albeit some 40 years apart) she included in her book.
I tried, believe me I tried. But by chapter 6 (and several re-reads to try and remember who was who) I lost the will to live. I love satire, but perhaps this is not my kind of satire. Overworked, overworded, and far too full of its own self-importance. In fact I think it was the latter that irritated me the most. It had a slight sense of superiority that I found offensive; a sort of "this is satire that you will only understand if you are as intelligent and wordly wise as I am"
I tried, believe me I tried. But by chapter 6 (and several re-reads to try and remember who was who) I lost the will to live. I love satire, but perhaps this is not my kind of satire. Overworked, overworded, and far too full of its own self-importance. In fact I think it was the latter that irritated me the most. It had a slight sense of superiority that I found offensive; a sort of "this is satire that you will only understand if you are as intelligent and wordly wise as I am"
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews