Devil Take the Blue-tail Fly

by John Franklin Bardin

John Franklin Bardin's most acclaimed work plays a virtuoso performance on music and madness in this unforgettable thriller.

In 1946 New York, Ellen, a world-renowned musician, is suffering from the effects of her latest mental breakdown. Amongst other challenges, a chance meeting with a folk singer from her past causes her psychological well-being to rapidly deteriorate. Over the following terrifying weeks, Ellen finds herself becoming both a criminal and a victim as she attempts to contend with the darkness within.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Horror, Noir, Psychology

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

John Franklin Bardin was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 30, 1916. During his teens, he lost nearly all his immediate family to various ailments. As he approached thirty, he moved to New York City where during his adulthood he was an executive of an advertising agency, published ten novels and taught creative writing as well as advertising at the NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH.

In 1946, Bardin entered a period of intense creativity during which he wrote three crime novels that were relatively unsuccessful at first, one of them not even being published in America until the late 1960s, but which have since become well-regarded cult novels. His best-regarded works, The Deadly Percheron, The Last of Philip Banter and Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly experienced renewed interest in the 1970s when they were discovered by British readers.

Also involved in public relations and journalism, Mr. Bardin resided thereafter in New York City until his death.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 4 out of 5]

(ETA: Here's the cover of my 1967 Macfadden mass-market edition, which isn't listed here)

1948's Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly is a mind/reality-bending tale that's unlike anything else of the era, at least that I've read. It's a combination of noir and psychological horror where the reader is never on solid ground, due to the deteriorating mental condition of the protagonist, a semi-famous, mentally disturbed classical harpsichordist newly free of an insane asylum, whose buried and forgotten past may finally be catching up with her.

It's very dream-like and surreal at times, yet seemingly rooted in reality at others, and while there were a few too many long, hallucinatory passages that can be a little overwhelming, overall this was an intense, tripped-out thriller that's at or near the same level as Bardin's more well-known debut, The Deadly Percheron (though quite different). The closest thing I could compare it to as far as the "feel" of it would be later-period David Lynch films like Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr., and Inland Empire, yet this prefigured those by half a century.

Recommended for fans of noir, psychological horror, or the aforementioned Lynch films.

4.5 Stars

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devil Take the Blue Tail Fly (1948) is an odd, accomplished noir, almost as effective as Bardin’s earlier The Deadly Percheron (1946), but this time Bardin draws his inspiration not from the detective thriller but instead from the brooding “women’s pictures” of the post WW II period.

It begins its journey in the land of The Snake Pit, where our heroine, the gifted harpsichordist Ellen, waits for her husband Basil the conductor to bring her home from the mental hospital, but it soon takes a detour to the neighborhood of Gaslight as Ellen begins a feverish search for her harpsichord key, convinced Basil is hiding it from her. But soon Ellen encounters her old lover, the professional folksinger Jimmy Shad (his signature song is “The Blue Tail Fly”) and Bardin’s novel takes a darker, crazier turn into a funhouse featuring hallucinatory variations on a few feverish Joan Crawford and Bette Davis themes.

The book is not without flaws. For example, like many of the movies and books of the period, its psychologizing seems naive, its Freudianism outmoded. But in spite of all the twists and turns, all the craziness and flaws, the book is held together by two things: Bardin’s honest, deeply sympathetic portrayal of mental illness and his vivid writing about music as a craft and an inspiration.

One of the great sorrows of John Franklin Bardin’s life was that his mother, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, was confined to a mental hospital and remained there until her death. He never forgot her, though, or her continual obsession with “going home,” which he used as an inspiration for both Percheron and Blue Tail Fly. His obvious sympathy with the character of Ellen makes this book more than a mere thriller.

The most important factor that unifies Devil Take the Blue Tail Fly, however, are the continual passages about the challenges and joys of music, for it is music that gives Ellen’s life its shape and meaning:

This was now, here and undeniable, an eternal instant. Irrevocable, irrefutable, it had a strength and a reality that defied oblivion. With it she was unique, just as it was unique; without it she ceased to exist, just as it was nothing. Rthis power to evoke music depended upon her reading of black marks on a ruled page, upon the dexterity of her fingers and her body’s sense of rhythm, upon her knowledge of the way it was, the quality of its sound. But she depended upon it too, for without it she did not know herself. Outside its orbit she was a bundle of sensations, a walking fear, an appetite, a lawless creature. But when this sound esited, she undertood, her life had meaning, order, morality. This was her end, she was its means.

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably JFB's best as it doesn't have a silly Scooby Doo ending. This is stylish, dark, compelling psychological noir. The protagonist is a classical harpsichord player and her world is portrayed very convincingly - the scene in which the phoniness of the hangers-on at her comeback party becomes apparent is especially well done. Strange this wasn't filmed with Gene Tierney or Susan Hayward in the lead, Vincent Price as the husband, Robert Mitchum as Jim and Herbert Marshall as the shrink.

[Jim Collett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazingly "modern" book, considering it was written in 1948. It is difficult to follow but worth staying with until the end. Strange, sad, tragic.

[Alex Sarll]

The other Bardin I've read, The Deadly Percheron, was a ridiculous mess, though I can't deny its initial burst, and in particular the line "He's only a midget pretending to be a leprechaun", has stayed with me. This, while not without its lurid moments, is a much more controlled beast, all the more remarkable given it's apparently a first draft written in six weeks and published without further revision, something I could more readily have believed of the other. Sure, there are things later on which might have worked better if he'd gone back and added some foreshadowing, in particular a resolution which in the intervening decades has become more familiar in a slightly different form. But it still manages to be internally coherent even as it trades in hallucinatory intensity, opening as celebrated harpsichordist Ellen is about to be released after two years in the mental hospital. We suspect early on that she might not be as thoroughly cured as Dr Danzer says, that husband Basil might not in fact be as devoted as all that, but the gradual unspooling of that and everything else still gives an appropriately vertiginous sense of film noir (indeed, I sometimes wondered if images like the keyboard blurring into the bars on the window might not have worked better on screen than the page). And yes, it's hardly the first or the last story in which the crazy protagonist sees through the pomposity, deceit and evasion of the supposedly sane, but Bardin still sometimes hits on the perfect encapsulation of those moments when your buffers are down and you perceive the hideous reality of your surroundings: "the mass of friends and relatives sighed, a great, mingled breath of disapprobation. She opened her eyes and confronted them, the blobs of cloth, the bulges of legs and arms, the bobbing pink balloons that were their faces." And there's an extra poignancy in Ellen's sneaking suspicion that while she can still play, still be acclaimed even, she and a few others will know she's not what she was; this was Bardin's last novel under this name or in this vein.

[Luísa Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uma surpresa mais do que agradável, um verdadeiro thriller psicológico que roça o horror e toca o génio.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellen, a gifted concert harpsichord player, has suffered a mental breakdown following her seduction as a student by a predatory folk-singer. At the start of the novel she has just left the institution in which she spent 3 years.
This is very much in the mould of Patricia Highsmith, who explores themes of mental health and schizophrenia quite frequently. In fact Bardin decides to pursue the mental health aspect rather than the crime angle, and, as fascinating as it is, that won’t be for everyone, especially those seeking more of what they loved about the wonderful The Deadly Percheron .
So, as the novel proceeds, the psychotic Ellen takes refuge from the real world in almost dreamlike sequences of aspects of her life that have affected her so negatively, despite attempts to ‘cure’ her from those around her. Her madness gains particular momentum from reappearances of the folk singer, whether real or imaginary, the reader cannot be sure.
This is a novel that was very much ahead of its time; I can’t imagine it went down very well on publication in 1948, with the expectation being a crime mystery (which is touched on, but not pursued - there are murders). Comparisons to Highsmith are inevitable, but not relevant - it was to be 3 years until her first novel (Strangers On A Train), whose brought that unique blend of the psychological and mystery.

[Maria João Fernandes · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Que o Diabo Leve a Mosca Azul" começa com o último dia de Ellen no hospício onde viveu nos últimos dois anos. Entusiasmada com o seu regresso ao mundo real, rapidamente se apercebe que a mudança não se deu apenas em si, mas em tudo o que a rodeia.

Devo dizer que este livro também precisava de uma grande mudança. Página após página lemos mais do mesmo: viagens que misturam o real com o fantástico, mergulhos em memórias antigas, muitas sombras e nevoeiro.

O texto é demasiado vago e as descrições subtis. A falta de diálogos apenas evidencia o conteúdo, que mal se qualifica como conteúdo. O autor quer contar uma história, mas só sabe fazê-lo mais ou menos bem, perdendo-se em palavras que não nos levam à lado nenhum. É como se andássemos em círculos e de repente nos apercebêssemos que aquele lugar nos era familiar.

Não é que seja preconceituosa em relação às pessoas mentalmente instáveis, mas a personagem principal, com uma personalidade e comportamento tão invulgares, devia ser minimamente interessante. Ou pelo menos, suscitar a minha curiosidade, ao contrário de me provocar bocejos e de me fazer revirar os olhos.

Penso que o facto de não apreciar música clássica não me ajudou a sentir empatia pelo enredo, mas não foi por falta de tentativa. Para compreender a necessidade deste tipo de música, fiz uma comparação com o que a literatura significa para mim mesma. Não resultou pois o problema não está no que nos é contado, mas sim naquilo que fica por dizer.

A confusão mental de Ellen, a personagem principal, foi transposta para a narrativa, tornando um livro com um inicio interessante, num rascunho de uma má ideia inacabada.

[Pertita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando comprei este livro fi-lo quase exclusivamente por causa do nome (só dei uma vista de olhos na sinopse). Vamos ver como me saí!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gostei bastante embora seja um livro triste. Faz-nos pensar a importancia da nossa mente, o que ela nos pode levar a fazer, pensar ou sentir....

[Luis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esperaba algo mas fluido... Pero se me hizo super densa la lectura...uno pierde interés enseguida dando tantas vueltas... A veces extiende mucho cosas innecesarias y se vuelve aburrido. No pude terminar de leerlo...

[Chana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The woman is mad and to make matters worse, shock treatment takes the only thing that matters to her. She belongs in a locked ward for the criminally insane, life sentence.

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slower moving than The Deadlly Percheron and without the many curveballs the plot of Percheron throws. On the other hand, some of the writing is very intense and surreal. Unique even.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: a noir psychological thriller. A famous musician's mind slowly deteriorates.

[Lewis Carnelian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deeply impressionist rather than a narrative, this psychological novel is only loosely a thriller, but does seem rather daring at the time, and not only because of it’s surreal imagery connected with the process of the mind. For one, it is a man writing from the viewpoint of a woman, and it doesn’t seem at all patronizing. Ellen is a complex, rich character (that may be plagued by some archetypical trauma) who first and foremost is an artist, and the plagues of her artistry are done vividly and compassionately. Also, before Elvis, there is here the Jim Shad character, a sign of things to come, in terms of the rush of a populist musical charm that overcomes the petite bourgeois. However, like other novels of Bardin, the end comes swiftly and, to a degree, inconclusively. Still, one can’t help but be attracted to Bardin’s dark psychiatry, and the trio of novels from 1946 to 1948, with this as the final one, are worth their cult status.

[HM Barcenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

«En los márgenes más ignotos y extravagantes del género del terror, pululan autores cuyo inmerecido anonimato y falta de difusión hacen de su descubrimiento todo un goce solitario. De calidad sofisticada e innovadora para su época, el estadounidense John Franklin Bardin es sin duda uno de ellos. Dejando una obra singular que al día de hoy aún sigue cautivando o repeliendo a sus iniciados debido a un estilo refinado que busca de la más difícil y realista consistencia de una pesadilla moderna. «En al salir del infierno», Bardin trastoca nuestras espectivas y tras develar la verdadera historia detrás de éste comienzo tan delirante, su siniestro enfoque va tomando un ritmo salvaje que no deja de acelerar hasta las últimas consecuencias: un final monstruoso y brutal que nos sumerge en el lado más oscuro de las psicopatías».

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé ni cómo empezar la reseña. Me ha gustado cómo el autor entremezclaba la realidad con el mundo interior de la protagonista. Ni siquiera me daba cuenta de en qué momento habíamos abandonado la realidad.

A pesar de esto, hay fragmentos que se hacen lentos, los personajes no me gustaban (excepto la antigua profesora de Ellen) y le faltó emoción.

¿Lo recomendaría? Sí. Depende de lo que estés buscando. Desde luego, no si eres de esos que quiere una historia trepidante que no te dé un respiro. Pero si buscas un thriller psicológico más relajado y pausado, relacionado con la música, entonces este es tu libro.

[Arkakercis · Rating 1 out of 5]

A-B-U-R-R-I-D-O este libro promete ser una de las mejores historias de suspenso sicológico, pero la verdad es que la trama es más bien una historia sobre la depresión y la frustración, dejando de lado el hilo principal que era la locura, de lo que sólo se da un pincelazo al final, en resumen, es como una historia que te encuentras un domingo en la tarde en la tele abierta y no tienes nada más que hacer, pero que sabes que olvidarás en cuanto pases al siguiente programa

[Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a book that's ahead of its time. This guy can clearly write. Mysterious and surreal, it's a terrifying descent into madness. The book starts really strong, with the detailed and nuanced world of a mental asylum and all its associated rules and customs. By the end you have delved in and out of dreamy murky worlds, are we in the past? Are we at all to trust this most unreliable of narrators? And there are violent delights to witness along the way, culminating in a classic twist.

[Joe Rodeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mental illness and multiple personality disorder are the problems of our concert harpsichordist heroine deranged by child abuse and dreams vs reality confusion. While the story drew me in, it later became too burdensome to figure out is this the here and now? is this a nightmare? is this memory? Others may like the challenge.

Reading level: challenging. 9th grade & up.

[Juan Carlos · Rating 1 out of 5]

ES un libro incomprensible. Tedioso, aburrido, sin un argumento que abra una intriga que atrape al lector. además de ello no compone una trilogía con El Percherón Mortal y el final de Phillip Banter ya que es un libro que no posee ninguna relación con los anteriores. Lo peor que he leído en mucho tiempo.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was sadly only 2.5 (rounded up) for me.
Although, I love the idea of schizophrenia / memory loss & what is real vs not real, this story dragged in so many places by the time the ending came (which was quite good in fact), I was mostly over it.

Still glad I got introduced and read a couple books by John Franklin Bardin, who should be more well known.

[Dima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much in two minds about this. On the one hand - it seems to be one of the earliest examples of a psychological thriller, with an unreliable protagonist, and a nuanced view of a disintegrating psyche. On the other hand - it's not super well written, with erratic dialogues, and a jiterry narrative.

[Eugene Novikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling mystery built around its protagonist’s steadily deteriorating mental health, though I wish the two weren’t joined together quite so literally by the big twist ending.

[Andres Besada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mucho más que un thriller psicológico. Novela que ahonda en las mas recónditas cavidades de la psiquis humana. Atención, psicólogos. A Freud le hubiera gustado esto.

[Berenice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se requiere de mucha atención para entender la trama, pero el final sin duda fue una delicia.

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unsettling depiction of mental illness from an author who went through it with his own mother. Easy 3 stars.

[Victoria Pantano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oscuro, pero psicológicamente variado.
Juega mucho con la percepción de realidad vs imaginación y los saltos temporales de la memoria.

[Javier_Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hasta donde he leído, ésta es una de las mejores novelas del thriller psicológico, esto es, género policiaco sin policías. Una prosa excelente, propia de los narradores norteamericanos de mitad del Siglo XX, y luego, cuando todo parece estable y decidido, sobreviene un tremendo latigazo que lo transforma todo. Por qué se habla tan poco de John Franklin Bardin? No tengo la menor idea. /// * * * 1/2

[Fernando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma surpresa, suspense "psiquiátrico", estrutura narrativa moderna, desenvolta e com final forte e intenso. Ellen (Nelle) é um personagem que irá inquietar a memória de todos os leitores. Bem escrito e muito perturbador.

[Lix Chvz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the choice of words on the descriptions of Ellen's mind; but things became most predictable at the middle of the story. Still worth the reading!