Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our Dec 23/Jan 24 buddy read of The Long Divorce

Published in 1951 this is the eighth book in the Gervase Fen series. Short stories aside, sadly we only have one more book to go.... There is a new collection of short stories: ‘We Know You’re Busy Writing…’: The Collected Short Stories of Edmund Crispin and the final book in the series, The Glimpses of the Moon

The little village of Cotton Abbas is home to both an irritating influx of England?s newly rich and a deliciously weird clutch of long-time locals. Chief among the latter: Colonel Babbington, whose cat, Lavender, is remarkably clumsy and also convinced that he is responsible for saving the world from a Martian invasion. Lavender may be a little? odd, to say the least, but his unusual psychic gifts prove unexpectedly helpful to Fen (visiting incognito) as he attempts to discover who is responsible for the village?s epidemic of ugly anonymous letters.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

I found this to be better than some in the series. I did think it was obvious that the unknown man was Fen almost from the beginning, but that didn't spoil it for me. There are some amusing incidents, but also some sad, together with a couple of romances. All of which made it a quick read.

I doubt Fen could even attempt to remain undercover - he is just too flamboyant and obvious :)

Jill and Susan, I also spotted Fen right away - the dark hair slicked down with water was one of the many giveaways! I thought we were probably supposed to realise it was him and to be amused by his attempts to go undercover - he even admits to being a professor of English.

I was a bit surprised by the publisher's blurb putting so much emphasis on the cat, which doesn't really come in very much - I listened to part of this book on audio, but then got hold of a paperback from the library which has a cat on the cover! So I was just waiting for the cat to come in again - it did, but, much as I love cats, I thought it might not deserve quite so much prominence in the descriptions.

PS this is the cover with the cat!

I think this is my favorite Fen mystery: it avoids many of the excesses of previous ones and I really engaged with the characters. I liked the strategy of telling the story mostly from the point of view of the villagers instead of completely from Fen’s. The descriptions, as usual, are beautiful and there’s a good deal of the Crispin wit, balanced with a due sense of the seriousness of the crimes. The one scene I flagged while reading was the bravura description of Weaver’s sermon, though it wasn’t immediately apparent to me why it got so much attention. I did figure out that Sims was a baddie but wasn’t sure exactly how he fitted in. I think the story is just the right length. Was glad that this book’s quirky animal didn’t have to die to make things work out in the end! When that happens it really spoils the story for me.

I think this may be my favourite Fen book as well, Abigail - it was interesting to have the shifting viewpoints, and I especially enjoyed the sections seen through Helen's eyes. I didn't realise Sims was a villain for a long time, perhaps because he is made to be so attractive.

Crispin did a good job setting us up to accept Sims’s sudden proposal at face value by first giving us Casby’s sudden proposal first. But there were differences: first, Helen precipitated Casby’s proposal, a sign of mutual attraction even if we’d overlooked her mixed emotions about approaching him before on business—and then Sims’s reaction when she gently refused him was both unmanly and self-absorbed.

I finished tonight. It was one of those rereads in which I remembered very little. I also find it one of my favorites. I will be sad to say goodbye to Fen. I haven't read the final book for that very reason.

Any insight to the meaning of the title?

Sandy wrote: "I finished tonight. It was one of those rereads in which I remembered very little. I also find it one of my favorites. I will be sad to say goodbye to Fen. I haven't read the final book for that ve..."

After reading my own review from my first read, it seems another review identified the title as a quote from Shakespeare (who else?).

The line is “the long divorce of steel,” and it refers to Buckingham’s death in Henry VIII. Here’s the citation: https://www.litcharts.com/shakesclear...

I also think that this is my favourite Fen novel so far, and perhaps that is because there was somewhat less of him and his quirks than usual!

I had a few theories, and at one point I thought it might be Casby who was guilty and that Sims would end up as Helen's husband (I couldn't go back and find the bit where it said she'd be married in three weeks, but I didn't think it specified the husband), and then I thought that perhaps Sims had heard that the victim had left her money to "The Doctor" and he had assumed it was him-it seemed foolish to risk killing someone and assuming their heir would then marry him.

Also, did people get engaged so easily back in the day?

Frances wrote: "and then I thought that perhaps Sims had heard that the victim had left her money to "The Doctor" and he had assumed it was him-it seemed foolish to risk killing someone and assuming their heir would then marry him."

That does make rather more sense - because there was no suggestion of anything more than distant friendliness between the two doctors. let alone a relationship likely to lead to marriage. But Sims did pop the question believing that Helen was not aware that she was the heir(ess). Once she knew, she would be under much less pressure to marry because her practice wasn't thriving.

Judy wrote: "PS this is the cover with the cat!

" This was my cover with the poison pen letter being burnt.

I did find the cat episodes amusing-Colonel Babington didn't seem the sort to suffer a clumsy cat, but I guess it was a set up for the final denouement!