Reading the Detectives discussion

This is the eighth in the Nigel Strangeways series and was published in 1947.

The Second World War has just finished and amateur detective and poet Nigel Strangeways is working at the Ministry of Morale in London, in the Visual Propaganda Division.With war over, life seems to be calm again, that is until the Director's beautiful secretary is poisoned in full view of seven members of the division, including Nigel himself. Who could have killed her? And how?

Feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

I enjoyed this, but it wasn't my favourite Blake. The start was excellent, I liked the descriptions of the Ministry and the office rivalries. There were some nice little details, like the paper-thin walls (Nigel's secretary with her booming laugh was great) and the canteen.

I felt it got a bit bogged down in the detail of how the crime was committed, and Nigel went over this so many times. He discussed it with Blount, and with the suspects, and when he wrote all those notes "A1, see B2, etc" I lost interest. I liked the tense ending though (followed by Nigel explaining things yet again!)

Also, what did everyone think of the casual killing of his poor wife?

Apparently, Day-Lewis was having an affair at the time of writing this book:

Day-Lewis's first important affair was with Billie Curran, the wife of a Dorset neighbour, with whom he had a child; Mary decided that if she waited long enough, this would burn itself out. But she underestimated her husband's need to live intensely, and his capacity for what Laurie Lee called "indifference". No sooner had his feelings for Curran faded than he fell in love with Rosamond Lehmann, who as Stanford says was "more his social, intellectual and literary equal". Their affair, which flourished as Day-Lewis began spending much of his time in London to work at the Ministry of Information during the war, was not so much a flight to settled happiness as a means of living continually in two minds.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...

Susan wrote: "Also, what did everyone think of the casual killing of his poor wife?"

I think you mean his secretary/lover? I thought the killing was a kind of desperate act as he felt cornered, rather than a casual one, but incredibly selfish of course.

Strangeways was a bit scathing about the wife because she was self-contained and intellectual, I found that quite harsh. From what you've written above, though, it seems that Day-Lewis may be trying to justify his own divided feelings, which makes sense in a way.

No, poor Georgia, killed in the Blitz and given a whole line of remembrance, despite being centre stage in previous mysteries.

Susan wrote: "No, poor Georgia, killed in the Blitz and given a whole line of remembrance, despite being centre stage in previous mysteries."

Oh yes sorrry, Nigel's wife, haha that was so brief I'd forgotten it! I thought it was a shame as I'd enjoyed her previous contributions, but Blake had obviously had enough of her
:(

Yes, it felt very dismissive, didn't it? Quite shocking the way she was just declared dead and let's all move on...

And Georgia was an interesting female character, intelligent, feisty, not conventionally attractive but charismatic. She was a good foil for Strangeways.

I will miss Georgia as she had a lot of potential, mostly unused. And, being a professional explorer she could come and go. But I suppose the problem with including a mistress as a character in a series is what to do with her when the affair ends. One wonders if others will pop up in the books as Day-Lewis continues to test his wife patience.

Well, apparently he met Rosamond Lehmann at the Ministry, so perhaps Nigel will discover a new partner just about now!

However, I do know that he suddenly dropped Lehmann, after a long term affair of nearly a decade, deciding to marry again, so there are rocky waters ahead at some point.

I thought the same as Pamela, that it starts well but then gets bogged down and keeps going over the same ground. Some of the people at the ministry are also rather similar to one another.

I was also sad to lose Georgia and thought there should have been more about her death.

Charles is such a gay stereotype, similar to Cedric in Final Curtain, but appears not to actually be gay. It’s a bit disconcerting but he has some great lines and I think he livens the story up whenever it gets slightly bogged down in missing files.

Yes, I also assumed Charles was gay, although was also engaged, which was a bit confusing! He was certainly heroic and I enjoyed the story of his wrestling the cyanide capsule away from the top Nazi - was that supposed to be Himmler, I wonder? Although, in his case, he managed to bit it.

You do wonder how people felt, having cyanide tablets during the war - either because they feared capture, or feared invasion? It shows the reality of events quite starkly - especially if you were on a list, somewhere...

Pamela wrote: "And Georgia was an interesting female character, intelligent, feisty, not conventionally attractive but charismatic. She was a good foil for Strangeways."
I fully agree, but maybe Day-Lewis thought it had been a mistake to marry Strangeways off in the first place. And Georgia's not the kind of woman who can be easily confined to the margins of a story. I wonder if Strangeways kind of morphed from someone based largely on W. H. Auden to more of a Day-Lewis avatar?

(I actually read 'The Widow's Cruise' before 'Minute For Murder' and got terribly confused (and affronted on Georgia's account!) by Clare's presence and obvious importance to Nigel. That said, in the later books, although Nigel doesn't get married again, it appears that he and Clare are faithful to each other, unlike Day-Lewis)

Emma wrote: "I wonder if Strangeways kind of morphed from someone based largely on W. H. Auden to more of a Day-Lewis avatar?..."

I think that's probably true. He has certainly become a lot less eccentric since the first couple of books, where he spent his time eating enormous meals and chain-drinking cups of tea (he does still smoke heavily and throw ash everywhere though.)

I am really keen to read Cecil Day-Lewis's biography. There is one available, but it was expensive: C Day-Lewis: A Life

It does seem as though he has made serious changes to the character over the war years - dismissing Georgia abruptly and making Strangeways calmer. Possibly, with paper in short supply, he was just thinking that people read the books a few years back, with the war taking over, and will have forgotten any character details?

I think the portrayal of Charles is a really interesting one. Blake sets out his sort of camp, outrageous personality, and undercuts it with the serious bedrock beneath. I don't think he's meant to be read as strictly gay, mainly because of the engagement, but he definitely delights in subverting expectations, both of masculinity (particularly in contrast to the other men in the book) and of heroism, hence the reliance on drag. I also wonder if Blake intended some sort of semi-incestuous reading of Charles and Alice's relationship? Maybe not sexually, but emotionally?

That is an interesting point, Emma. Of course, they were twins, which implies a closer relationship than 'normal' siblings.