I’ve recently been reading some classic historical mysteries. That’s classic not in the sense of “set in older times,” but as in foundations of the genre, written in the vernacular of older times.
First published in 1903, The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers could in some ways be thought of as rather more of an early prequel to the modern spy thriller novel than a murder mystery, as the mystery it holds is one of intrigue and national strategies played out in the tidal mudflats of northern Germany. The language reads in the proper British style of the day, but the atmospheric descriptions of time, tide and endless navigational feats through rain, fog and mud create an enveloping environment of mystery and a sense of the growing menace in Europe during the years before WW1.
Beginning in 1936, Eric Ambler wrote a series of works thought of as precursors to our modern suspense novels. I checked out A Coffin for Dimitrios, which features a slightly hapless writer of detective stories as its main character. The story follows him as his idle curiosity sparks an investigation into the death of a notorious Greek criminal. As he learns more he becomes personally embroiled and slowly finds himself changing from impartial observer to hunted target of a murderer.
Then I had to pick up the just-published novel(s) The Twenty-Year Death, by Ariel S. Winter. No light reading this at 600 odd pages, but turns out it’s really three novels in one volume: each modeled after an earlier writer–but all revolving around the same two central characters, alcoholic novelist Seth Rosenkrantz and his wife Clotilde, a French actress. Switching styles in each piece to match three of his mystery mentors, Winter tells the twenty year story of the Rozenkrantz’ downfall in the noir voice of each decade. See if you can name the classic author each novel is modeled on before you check the dust jacket to confirm your guess.
In all these books the changes in voice and focal point of the stories during each era were interesting to ponder and reminded me how closely our fictions come to echo the mores of the day.
Leave a Comment