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Book Review: DEATH IN THE TUNNEL by Miles Burton

2/29/2016

12 Comments

 
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Humdrum. That is the name attached to a category of books from mystery fiction’s Golden Age where the puzzle is not only foremost but also its only notable feature. It’s a term of derision and dismissal used by genre critic Julian Symons in his 1972 survey Bloody Murder: from the Detective Story to the Crime Novel. Symons notes that Humdrum authors “had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and [believed] that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles and crossword puzzles.” With such an ascetic emphasis, the reverse supposition is that all other literary merits of a legitimate crime “novel” – psychologically layered characters, a penchant for verisimilitude, a real-world resonance of theme and setting – are absent in the Humdrum.

In my opinion, Symons is accurate in his categorization…up to a point. The greatest difficulty I have with the label and definition is that sweeping idea of “nothing more” to interest the reader, “nothing more” of value or skill on display than a puzzle and a formulaic march to a solution. But I can’t fully rush to the defense of the Humdrum authors because, compared with their genre contemporaries who actively used characterization, tone, and themes (such as observations of class differences, social customs, the law and justice) to enhance their stories, the dogmatic Humdrum emphasis on plot can create a superficial or distanced reading experience.

But why should a mystery story be required to carry a Great Idea? Why must it have something to say? Detective stories are almost by definition entertainments, plots constructed by the writer to engage and beguile the reader. Many of the Humdrum authors Symons singles out were extremely successful in their time: Freeman Wills Crofts, whose plots often involve railways and the use of timetables to make and break suspects’ alibis, and Major John Street, who wrote dozens of books under the pseudonyms John Rhode and Miles Burton, were both prolific and popular. Their focus on the puzzle did not limit their contemporary appeal.

It can also be argued that the shift from detective story to crime novel was not entirely a beneficial one. While many authors in later decades would deliver complex and haunting books that used antiheroes, modern crime, and psychology in a compelling way – Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell, Nicolas Freeling, and Reginald Hill are all favorites of mine – here in America it feels like the genre has been swallowed up by endless tales of sociopathic serial killers, broken and vulnerable cops, amoral lawyers and as many fights within the justice system as outside of it. Michael Connelly and Jo Nesbo are excellent writers and craftsmen, but I can only visit their fictional worlds occasionally before the many cruelties and injustices within their pages start to weigh as heavily on me as they do on their weary detectives.  


All this to introduce Death in the Tunnel, a 1936 mystery by Miles Burton appearing in April 2016 by The Poisoned Pen Press as part of their marvelous British Library Crime Classics series. It is a story that is proudly, winningly Humdrum. The puzzle starts as a clever variation of the locked-room mystery: upon exiting a tunnel, Sir Wilfred Saxonby is found in a locked train compartment, shot through the chest. A gun with his initials is found inside, and at first the death appears to be a suicide. But the fateful train also made an unscheduled slowing when the engineer saw a red light on the tracks ahead within the tunnel, a light that turned green before the train was forced to brake completely. Both tunnel entrances were observed by crew workers, and no man was seen entering or leaving. It’s enough for Inspector Arnold to begin to investigate, and he soon calls in the more imaginative Desmond Merrion to offer advice.

Treating the death of the wealthy magistrate as suspicious, other clues soon surface: Saxonby is found with his wallet and money still in his pocket, but a family member is certain that the wallet is a duplicate; the dead man had sent his secretary and niece away from the house the day before he took his last trip; and a mystery man named Yates (the name of Saxonby’s solicitor but definitely not that person) had met with Sir Wilfred in secret. Inspector Arnold finds details that consistently lead to an older man named Dredger, but Merrion feels like the man is being framed through impersonation and cunning, and expands his theories to include two culprits instead of one.


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Death in the Tunnel – in England, the title was Dark Is the Tunnel, and one of five Rhode/Burton mysteries published in 1936 alone! – remains an entertaining Golden Age puzzle mystery. Its principal strength is Burton’s ingenious intersecting of motive and crime, and how the clues align to the rather devilish timetable. The murder method is both elaborate and very busy, involving as it does some very precise vehicle choreography and traveling from the criminals to ensure success. Merrion and Arnold hypothesize and reconstruct the villains’ actions throughout the investigation, and that might be considered one weakness of a puzzle-centered Humdrum plotline: while the detectives are in a constant state of discussion, there’s little that occurs in the way of immediate (or suspenseful) action. After all, the murder has already taken place, the culprits long ago abandoning the scene. Even the suspect interviews are muted, as most exist to provide information from third parties about the movements of the unknown murderer on the day in question.


Along with attention to past over present actions, Burton also provides little characterization to make either his leads or his supporting cast memorable and distinct for the reader. The downside is an impression of rather low stakes – if both victim and suspects exist as sketchy, generic character types, little emotion will be invested in the outcome. But such distancing can also be an unacknowledged goal with the puzzle story: the focus remains exclusively on problem and solution, uncluttered by anything as lateral and inessential as meditating on a character’s psyche or the morality of murder. Instead, the pursuit is almost academic. The Humdrum, it seems, is mystery detection in its purest form. With a mystery novel pared down to its core, the Humdrum author succeeds or fails on the strength of his puzzle. And fortunately, Death in the Tunnel is a very strong puzzle indeed. How satisfied you are when you arrive at the story’s destination, I feel, will depend on whether you had expected (and wanted) to ride the Crime Novel Local or the Detective Story Express.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers at The Poisoned Pen Press for offering an advance eBook copy of Death in the Tunnel in exchange for an honest review.


12 Comments
Robert Rosenwald link
3/2/2016 11:08:46 am

What a great, thoughtful review. I realize I have self-interest here as the publisher, but regardless, thank you.

Reply
Jason Half
3/2/2016 12:13:15 pm

Hi Robert --- Thank you so much for the kind words, and for your continued efforts at The Poisoned Pen Press to make great mysteries from the Golden Age of detection available to a new generation of readers! Your company's British Library Crime Classics series is fantastic, and I'm happy to hear that you have plans for many new-to-discover titles coming in future months. You're also introducing new GAD authors and stories to veteran mystery readers like me, and that's a remarkable achievement.

I also want to applaud Martin Edwards for his role as scholar and curator of the series. His informative introductions are always welcome, and his choice of material -- such as the stories collected in the recent publication Serpents in Eden -- is really smart. If it sounds like I'm overly effusive, it's only because I feel like PPP's offerings merit the praise; I'm so happy to see classic mysteries enjoying a reader renaissance!

All best --- Jason H

Reply
Curtis Evans link
5/7/2016 06:34:32 am

I talk about the Humdrum at great length in Masters of the Humdrum Mystery and lay out a largely sympathetic case for their work. I gave the contact info for the Street estate to the British Library in the hope they might get the estate to allow something by Street to be reprinted; past efforts had not been successful. By the way, John Street is what he went by, not Cecil Street, just like Cecil Day Lewis went with C Day Lewis. Seems neither liked the name of Cecil!

Reply
Robert Rosenwald link
5/7/2016 09:32:50 am

I am not even slightly knowledgeable in this area so I probably should keep my mouth shut, but my motivation is two-fold. First, and most important to me, is to publish well written, well edited, intelligent mysteries that a number of people find enjoyable. The second is to make enough money to keep working on the first.

My point is to thank you and all like you, Jason Half, Martin Edwards, Les Blatt, and all the other commentators on these books for your work.

Reply
curtis evans link
5/7/2016 10:42:15 am

I'm glad someone is reprinting Street and Crofts, and the books are certainly lovely editions which get a lot of attention, deservedly so. It was only four years ago when Masters was publsihed, which seems amazing because the publishing environment has changed so much. I was told numerous times that there was no interest from the public in these authors. That view has been proven wrong, I think! I just blogged about this matter at The Passing Tramp. I'm glad to read Jason's words; he makes a formidable advocate.

Reply
Jason Half link
5/24/2016 04:41:40 pm

Hello Curtis and Robert ---

Many thanks for your responses; I should have seen them long ago but had not checked the activity of previous blog entries for a while...

Curt, I will happily change the listing of "Cecil Street" to "John" today. Thanks for pointing out the author preference. For any and all Golden Age Detection readers, I cannot recommend highly enough a visit to THE PASSING TRAMP website; the wealth of information and its celebration of unjustly forgotten mystery authors have provided hours of entertainment and research reading. Curtis Evans's book MASTERS OF THE HUMDRUM MYSTERY, focusing on the work of Street, Crofts, and J.J. Connington, is also fantastic and worth finding and devouring.

Robert, thank you again for your work with the BRITISH LIBRARY CRIME CLASSICS series. It's great to have classic mysteries reprinted and available again in both printed and digital forms. I don't believe that Golden Age Detection ever goes out of style, but it often is difficult to collect and enjoy as first editions and decades-old reprints become very scarce for fans of the genre. So thanks for making these stories available again!

All best,
Jason H

Victor Maity
1/22/2019 10:31:09 am

A very good review and I wholeheartedly agree with you. I have read a couple of John Rhodes(Invisible Weapons was very very good) this year and even though there was not much characterization, they still hooked me from the beginning and was very satisfactory all along. I have not read any detective novel by Symons himself but I hope he has the capability to produce as ingenious a plot as John Rhode did .
It really is a pleasure to read a detective story without worrying about the detectives ulcer and his teenage daughters love life.

Reply
Jason Half link
1/28/2019 08:33:51 pm

Hello Victor, and thanks for commenting! I keep returning to the John Rhode/Miles Burton mysteries because they are consistently entertaining, if never really dazzling or daring. They're just solid Golden Age mystery stories. I haven't read INVISIBLE WEAPONS yet, and should definitely give it a try!

The modern crime writer's penchant for making his/her detective flawed to the extreme can easily be overdone. Personally, I prefer those writers who manage to stay in middle ground, giving the detective a personality but not letting it consume the narrative. I'm thinking of Georges Simenon and Nicolas Freeling, specifically...

All best wishes -- Jason

Reply
Robert Rosenwald link
1/28/2019 11:06:53 pm

I so enjoy reading these comments. I hadn't read the blog in quite a while and am pleased to see that there's still interest. I think you, Jason, Les, Curtis, and Victor, will love the major surprise we have coming and will be announcing soon. And, Victor, we just released Julian Symons The Colour of Murder in the BLCC series.

Reply
Jason Half link
1/29/2019 02:11:43 pm

Robert, this is very tantalizing news! I will be happy to advertise any GAD-related announcement from British Library Classic Crime and Poisoned Pen Books when the time comes. I've added a number of followers to the site since I hosted my first Mitchell Mystery Reading Group, and we have a second Gladys Mitchell title to be announced soon for discussion in March and April. So the interest in classic mystery fiction is very much alive!

All best wishes at Poisoned Pen Press, and I look forward to learning more ---- Jason

Reply
Robert Rosenwald link
1/29/2019 02:59:51 pm

If you can keep it to yourself until a public announcement is made and if you email me directly I'd be happy to tell you.

Reply
Jason Half link
1/30/2019 06:24:13 am

Done and done! I will contact you ---
Jason

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