biggles sets a trap

Biggles #73

by W.E. Johns

Biggles is visited by Sir Leofric Landaville who has a surprising tale to tell. For generations his family has suffered from what could be called "the curse of the Landavilles". Intrigued, Biggles and Bertie travel to Ringlesby Hall in Hampshire to hear the story (Algy and Ginger being on leave). On 22nd August 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry VII defeated Richard III. Henry's life was saved at the battle by a squire named Leofric Landaville who was knighted and given Ringlesby Hall with 100 acres of land and a pension of £400 in perpetuity. Ever since then, Landavilles have been dying mysterious and violent deaths and legend has it that such deaths are preceded by the croak of a Raven. Leofric's elder brother Charles has recently died a violent death after being shot, supposedly in an accident. Leofric heard a Raven croak before it happened. Biggles investigates the death and discovers it was murder. Ringlesby Hall has also been entered by an intruder. Biggles is invited to stay and sets a trap to alert him to any further entries by the mysterious intruder. Making enquiries in the locality, Biggles finds out about the De Warine family who owned Ringlesby Hall before the Landavilles. Eventually the trap is sprung and an intruder is discovered. In trying to escape, the intruder is killed in a car crash. The identity of the intruder and the explanation for the "curse" are revealed. The dust cover of the book shows Biggles sitting in a chair in Ringlesby Hall, in front of a suit of armour.

159 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1962

About the author

Invariably known as Captain W.E. Johns, William Earl Johns was born in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Richard Eastman Johns, a tailor, and Elizabeth Johns (née Earl), the daughter of a master butcher. He had a younger brother, Russell Ernest Johns, who was born on 24 October 1895.

He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.

In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.

On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.

With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.

He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.

He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.

Reviews

[Daniel Bratell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biggles sets a trap is one of the late Biggles books, published in 1962, and contains not a single airplane. In fact, I think airplanes is only mentioned once, in regards to Sir Leofric Landaville losing his license due to reckless flying.

Said Sir Leofric visits Biggles in his office at Scotland Yard and asks help solving a curse, that every heir of the Landaville family dies in accidents and have done so for hundreds of years. A curious Biggles who is without any current case follows Sir Leofric to his derilict house, without water, electricity or telephone and starts investigating the curse.

One thing that stands out in this one is that there is a foreword with some information about the war of the roses, a civil war in the 15th century in England. The reader might almost learn something. I approve.

All in all though, as many other Biggles books this is a simple adventure without any complications whatsoever. Clearly targetted at the younger audience and not I who read them in an hour or two as a disconnect from the real world. As such, I deem this one fair but nothing special.

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

A day after reading this I'm still so flabbergasted by the utter inanity of the plot that I can't bring myself to critique it. It isn't so much that the plot is implausible; it's that neither people, nor legal systems, nor rural communities behave in this fashion. In addition, Johns, who is generally sensible, gets bonus demerits for being a Lancastrian.

[Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was wonderful!!!
A wonderful mystery with a dash of history!!!

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing the series as a whole, rather than the books individually
The Biggles series is great adventure fiction: we get high stakes, aerial action (in most of the books), and a hero who is endlessly loyal, competent, and calm under pressure.

I love the dogfights, recon missions, and wartime scenarios.

Where the series falls short is character depth. Some attitudes and simplifications reflect the period in which the books were written. There are very definitely dated elements, but considering the era the books were written - overall the series performs well. More than a few of the stories defy plausibility, but who doesn't love to curl up with a good adventure book or 10?

“Never say die.”