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Mitchell Mystery Reading Group: DEAD MEN'S MORRIS (1936) - Post #4

2/29/2020

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Understandably, the end of the year and the beginning of the next found many of us busy juggling family, work, and life (usually all at once). This was the case for some of our readers involved in December’s Mitchell Mystery Reading Group discussion of 1936’s Dead Men’s Morris. As I am always happy to talk Gladys Mitchell and Mrs. Bradley, I am grateful that mystery writer Catherine Dilts has shared some concluding thoughts about the book! Here are her observations, along with a few of my own, to add to the recent conversation.

NATURE AND NARRATIVE

Looking at Morris’s second section, Catherine writes: “I am accustomed to the witty dialogue in a Mitchell novel, so was pleasantly surprised by detailed description of the countryside.”

The woods were the colour of woodsmoke, and had almost the same dense obscurity; on the opposite side of the road, far off beyond fields and hedges, a line of trees, a thin straggle of windblown trunks and leafless arms, stood up on the crest of a ridge like jagged clouds in the wake of a windblown storm. The sky was grey behind them, and they were silhouetted against it, a scarecrow brood with menace in their very shapelessness.
That is a great example of visual description that certainly sets the tone and reminds us that nature is literally a fundamental element in Mitchell’s prose and storytelling. From the primeval rains and muds of The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935) to the parched, dusty Greek grounds of 1937’s Come Away, Death, this decade definitely shows GM at her most evocative regarding the natural world and Mrs. Bradley’s relationship to it. Her excellent Stephen Hockaby titles of this fertile period display the same exploration of untamable nature, sometimes placid and beautiful but often threatening and destructive to humankind.

Catherine observes that the author’s descriptions of her unique detective carry their own intriguing duality: “Depictions of Mrs. Bradley could still be harsh, but at other times were flattering.”
She looked like an ancient, benevolent goddess, wrinkled but immortal.
“I felt like Mitchell had grown to love her protagonist too much to draw her as a hideous creature. Yet other characters see her as intimidating.” Tombley, for one, is not put at ease by the old woman:
 To bring this terrible little old woman into the heart of his affairs was rather like asking a shark to defend one from cannibals.
Catherine notes that “in many cozy mysteries, the victim is unlikable. The author does not want the reader to be emotionally involved with the victim, and gives other compelling reasons why the murder must be solved. Typically, it is to free the wrong suspect from suspicion. In Dead Men’s Morris, the two murder victims are without redeeming qualities.” She offers up this amusing exchange as evidence of Gladys Mitchell’s approach:
[Mrs. Bradley:] “You know, Selby, Fossder was a greedy, grasping, and rather foolish old man, and Simith was a nasty, bad tempered old man. Why should we bother who killed them?”

“Morbid curiosity on your part; a sense of civic duty on mine,” said Sir Selby, grinning.

CLASS AND CONSCIENCE

Regarding the Third Figure and the final section of the book, there is this positive comment: “I was enthralled with the story, to the point that I didn’t slow down to write up notes.” One exchange gave her pause, however.  Catherine writes that near the end of the book “there is a startling revelation of the social attitudes of that era that stopped me in my tracks. Carey asks Mrs. Bradley, ‘But how could [the murderer] reconcile with [his/her] conscience the murder of Priest, if that had come off?’ Mrs. Bradley replies, ‘On the principle that to the average European the slaughter of coloured people is not a matter of conscience in the same way that the slaughter of whites would be.’ Carey continues, ‘You mean that just because Priest was poor, and a country man, and uneducated—'”

Catherine concludes, “The manner in which Mitchell presented this conversation made me believe it was her commentary on an unpleasant situation, not approval of the attitude. She seems ahead of her time as an author, but is not in-your-face with her beliefs.” I agree with this interpretation, and also understand the reason for the shock. It’s a moment that directly exposes an ugly Colonialist ideology, and the British Empire is not the only nation whose citizens were quietly (or vocally) complicit in the genocide of indigenous people to promote nationalist expansion. 


The parallels between European class consciousness and its corollary of racist contempt in United States history is an interesting and unappealing one. England, with its masters-and-servants divisions and a lack of belief in upward mobility, is historically different from the American view, which has always been predicated on the shakily idealistic premise that one can go from rags to riches if one only worked hard enough. America’s ugly division, historically speaking, is not as much about class as skin color, and who has power over whom, in the past and in the present. Regarding the potential murder of the uneducated laborer Ditch, I believe Mrs. Bradley has a point: the killer can dismiss the act by rationalizing that the death of a menial is not of great concern. Catherine also smartly notes that Mrs. Bradley “distanced herself from that prejudice with the phrasing ‘to the average European the slaughter of coloured people is not a matter of conscience.’ We know Mrs. Bradley is not average.”

THE VERDICT
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Catherine’s final thoughts on Dead Men’s Morris below bring joy to my heart, and I look forward to future conversations with her and other group readers as we continue to discuss Gladys Mitchell’s many books!

“The closing explanation of the murder and clues was a bit long, but the convoluted plot required this, in my opinion. And at the end, I wanted to start re-reading the novel. After reading Dead Men’s Morris, I am a confirmed Mrs. Bradley fan.”


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Mitchell Mystery Reading Group: DEAD MEN'S MORRIS (1936) - Post #1

12/10/2019

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Welcome to the first installment of our current reading group title, Dead Men’s Morris. Author Gladys Mitchell has conveniently separated the book into three sections, and I will use that grouping to order our discussions this month. First up: Fossder’s Folly, where we discover that Mr. Fossder, a fusty lawyer with a weak heart, is found dead on the towing path beside the river. A mysterious letter with money attached lured him to the spot where a ghost in a horse-drawn carriage is rumoured to haunt. Mrs. Bradley, visiting her nephew Carey Lestrange at his Oxfordshire pig farm, begins to investigate, and her timing is good, especially as another rustic death will soon occur…
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There are four of us taking part in the dance this time around: Catherine, Martyn, Joyka, and me. As they have provided so many interesting observations, I will let them lead. We all are enjoying the book – it is more engaging than I remember it, and the working class dialects feel much more organic and less intrusive this time out.
 
Joyka considers theme in Dead Men’s Morris and observes that “this book is all about lasting relationships. We finally get to meet “the family.” What better time than at Christmas and what better present than a huge boar’s head that takes three men to strap into the car?” Indeed, that opening scene does seem perfectly in keeping with Gladys Mitchell’s warm but strange sense of humour.


Martyn Hobbs smartly spots in that initial scene a grander game playing out: “[It] is a beautifully crafted exchange, and in its formal play of negotiation, deference and reward, exemplifies something of ancient rules and order of the Morris dance.”
 
THE DANCERS
 
For me, nephew Carey Lestrange is drawn in an intriguing way that we haven’t often seen from Mrs. Bradley's friends and relations in the book series up to this point. From Joyka: “To be sure, he doesn’t sound all that attractive, with clothes looking like they have been slept in, nicotine-stained fingers, and paint-stained hands, but if Mrs. Bradley has both personal regard and respect for him, so then do I!”
 
Equally notable, Carey is allowed to show genuine physical and verbal affection for his saurian aunt, and that is rare to find in a Mrs. Bradley story. On several occasions, Mitchell describes Carey as taking the old woman in hand to aid her across the grounds or “placing his arm around her bony shoulders” in a bonhomous spirit. Carey’s loving attitude certainly adds to a slightly more human depiction of Mrs. Bradley, although I’m relieved to say that she still cackles harshly and can provide her relations with a display of knife-throwing when the mood strikes. (Catherine noticed this difference too; see her later comments.)

On relations, Joyka continues: “I feel GM must have created a whole raft of characters for this book with the express purpose of seeing who was going to make the final cut for the rest of her books. We have Carey (pig farmer extraordinaire and painter of posters and pictures), young Denis (scab but already a violinist), Jenny (whom Carey hopes Aunt Adela will like), Mrs Ditch (who can cook and serve pig for breakfast, lunch and dinner), our Walt, Lender [the family pronunciation of Linda], Ditch, and Priest. It is a cast of characters most promising.”
​

With the earthly setting comes some very earthy characters, and we see this in the delightfully drawn Ditch family and Carey Lestrange’s farmer neighbors, the fractious old man Simith and his unhappy nephew Geraint Tombley. Linda Ditch, with her catting around (I’m not sure of a more politic phrase), is a slight surprise to find in a Golden Age cosy mystery, but her nocturnal adventures are part of the plot. Her behavior also surprised Catherine, who writes, “I tend to fall into the trap of allowing the past to be painted with a brush of innocence, when I know people have always behaved in flawed and passion-driven ways. Mitchell doesn't hold back on her characters.” And Catherine notes Ditch’s response to her daughter’s wild ways:
"Nay, us'll just let her be. Her can make her a bed where she will. 'Tis her 'ave to lie on it later," said Ditch, with heavy philosophy.
It is true that Mitchell’s cast here is particularly earthy and vivid, and I am enjoying their company greatly. But we mustn’t (indeed we are not allowed to) forget exactly where we are, which is the muddy rolling lands where pigs outnumber the people five to one. Martyn offers this comment: “We soon learn that, while the environs of Oxford may have more than their fair share of toffs and gentlemen farmers, it is positively overrun by the swinish multitude; there are pigs galore! There’s no denying that pigs are widespread in Oxfordshire (predominantly free-range now – the traditional farmer Simith was absolutely right), but they seem to occupy a few too many conversations in the first six chapters. However, I have absolute faith that later on these pigs or boars will earn their time in the limelight.” Hold on until our future conversation about Section Three, and I think you will have your faith in the porcine population restored…
 
THE LANDSCAPE


Joyka: “I know Gladys Mitchell gets criticism for her lengthy descriptions of villages, rivers, forests, et cetera. I really like it. Even though I have read these books many times, I never skip the background material. I feel if it was 1940, I would be able to find these exact places and enjoy them as much as she does.”

I agree: Mitchell can be a wonderful evocator of mood and landscape – 1935's The Devil at Saxon Wall nearly traps the reader into becoming a prisoner of its darkly primeval setting – and the wet, muddy pastures and pathways of Dead Men’s Morris become noticeably tactile. The author’s love of county ordnance maps is on prominent display here, with Mrs. Bradley referencing them freely as she treks around the countryside with Carey in tow.
​

Martyn, an Oxford resident, is particularly well-suited to assess Mitchell’s use of the landscape. (GM was born in the village of Cowley, a suburb of Oxford.) He writes: “The journey into the heart of darkness of Oxfordshire is a cartographic metaphor for the confusion and misdirections that are to come. We pass from daylight and places (Chiswick, Hounslow) and roads (West Road, Bath Road) with proper names and respectable dimensions to dusk and winding wheel-rutted tracks and names (Egypt Lane, Roman Ending) that no-one can explain. George, the Londoner, will take a sociologist’s attitude to all this in his analysis of ‘the conditions obtaining in a small village community.’”

Martyn continues, “One of the joys of this novel so far is the contrast and clash of registers of speech – from the aristocratic polish of Sir Selby Villiers to the van man’s “‘Arf a mo, mate” and George’s occasional cockney (‘Some lout’s trick, sir. I’ll learn him if I lay my hands on him’); Pratt’s upper middle class prattle (‘One finds oneself well’) to all the oddities of Oxford pronunciation and dialect.”
 
THE DETECTIVE (AND THE CHAUFFEUR)


The group unanimously approved of chauffeur, bodyguard, and factotum George, who made a nice addition to the tale. "George is hot stuff – go George!" encourages Joyka. Martyn states that he sees "much promise" in the man, and mentions an exchange that amuses me as well: "His almost telepathic observation, ‘The Holbein portrait of his grace King Henry the Eighth, madam,’ when Mrs. Bradley is struggling to remember who Tombley reminded her of, is pure Jeeves and suggests unplumbed depths."
 
Catherine Dilts, whose own outdoors murder mystery Survive or Die I enjoyed and reviewed earlier this year, notes that Mrs. Bradley here “is drawn in a more pleasant light” than in other reading group stories. “Although the reptilian references remain, they seem gentler, and delivered in less frequent doses,” writes Catherine. She points to this wonderful line from Chapter Three:
"Well," said Mrs. Bradley, with the loving smile of a boa-constrictor which succeeds in engulfing its prey with the minimum of hazard, "and so this is Mr. Pratt!"
Observes Martyn: “Mrs. Bradley is as hieratic and essentially alien as ever – she is an ‘alienist’ after all – and has added knitting and table tennis to the reading of modern verse as her pastime activities. Being likened to a sea-serpent was a new one for me.”
 
And Joyka’s well-chosen quotation from the inimitable detective can stand as the final word for this installment: “Murder is the applied mathematics of morbid psychology.”
 
Next time we pay a visit to Figure 2 and Shotover Simith (Chapters 7 to 12). The new post will appear on December 20. If anyone new wants to contribute, just send your comments by the evening of December 18 to Jason@jasonhalf.com . Thanks to Joyka, Catherine, and Martyn for contributing!

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Book Review: SURVIVE OR DIE (2019) by Catherine Dilts

6/22/2019

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Author Catherine Dilts knows her way around the Colorado outdoors. So do most of her characters in Survive or Die, a reality television twist on the murderer-in-our-midst scenario found in mystery fiction. Catherine is the creator of the Rock Shop Mysteries and a regular contributor to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and despite her busy schedule she has also participated in my first two Mitchell Mystery Reading Group book reads. I always enjoy the lively, active characters she creates, their strong sense of motivation and morals (even when said morals are bent or broken), and intriguing outdoor settings that often pit people against the harsh realities of nature.

-Survive or Die follows a motley group of factory workers as they gather for a mandatory week-long retreat in the Colorado woods. Their saturnine and increasingly drunken boss, Jack Bender, has hired ex-TV host Rowdy Hunter to create a Survivor-like series of challenges that will force his employees to choose teams and fight to keep their current jobs. The rope bridges and ATV obstacle courses may not be the real threat, though: it is clear that injuries, attacks, and even death are occurring at an alarming rate.

Aubrey Sommers thought husband Grant was providing a romantic getaway for them both, away from kids and clutter, only to find herself separated from him, sleeping in a tent, and part of a competing team. Sotheara Sok is on an environmental mission and needs to use the contest as cover to hunt for treasure of a different and dangerous kind. Berdie Placer, the old but tough-as-nails company receptionist, has a family score to settle. Together with Madison Wilhelm, a friendly figure initially ill-suited to the concept of "roughing it", the women form the team Stockton's Revenge, relying on each other for support and survival.

It is largely through their eyes that we view this wet and wild world, and as the contest begins and the book continues, it is Aubrey, Berdie, Sotheara, and Madison who evoke much of the reader's interest and empathy. It also helps that almost everyone else could be considered a potential killer, so we are more inclined to trust the ladies, especially as they become active in investigating the death of a photographer who was allergic to bees. When an unlikely few found their way into his cabin room, the victim's always handy epinephrine pen was suspiciously out of reach.

As the week pushes on and physical attacks (involving tripwires, flying arrows and tossed rocks) on the contestants escalate, Aubrey wonders if she'll be able to escape in time with her husband before a restless killer claims another victim. Survive or Die builds to a memorable climax as the women protagonists -- now separated and trying to get back to camp after a violent storm brings new dangers to the group -- confront the criminal(s) and uncover some unpalatable truths.

Some personal impressions regarding this energetic, busy mystery novel: for me, the story came together about a quarter of the way through, and once it hit its stride, it was very engaging indeed. The initial chapters suffered from the need to set up the many subplots and from the sheer number of characters at camp (over 40 employees are initially gathered to compete, not counting Rowdy's cooks and crew). Those numbers dwindle quickly, and once the reader becomes familiar with Dilts's designated heroes, the plotline snaps into focus and the book becomes more convergent.
 
Similarly, the paradox of factory owner Jack Bender, by all accounts a selfish and misanthropic man, providing a week-long company retreat for his employees (presumably with paid vacation, as no one complains about missing income) meant I needed to wait until the book's second half before I could learn more about circumstances that would provide context for the choice. I enjoyed the deft brushstrokes applied to the many supporting characters that painted brief, intriguing portraits of each person, their personality, their role at Bender's Clips, and the motivation that drives or limits them in the contest and in life. 

I have always been a fan of mystery settings that isolate a group of people and plots that turn up the tension. J. Jefferson Farjeon's Mystery in White has his travelers stranded by a snowstorm in a country manor where murder may have just occurred, while Agatha Christie brings And Then There Were None's fated guests to Indian Island, with no means of escape. Catherine Dilts makes good use of her woods-and-mountains Colorado backdrop to trap and challenge her characters, and she keeps the perceived safety of civilized society just out of their reach. 

Survive or Die makes for a fun beach (or woods) read and is available now through Amazon in eBook and print formats.

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Book Review: STONE COLD DEAD (2013) by Catherine Dilts

7/29/2016

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I really should read more contemporary cosy mysteries. With so many unread British titles waiting for me from detection literature’s recognized Golden Age, roughly from the 1930s to the 1950s, when I do manage to find time to read for pleasure – which is becoming increasingly scarce – I often look no further than the hardcovers and paperback reprints gathering dust on my bookshelf. But keeping company with the Chief Inspectors and the amateur sleuths of yesteryear neglects the detectives (and their authors) who are diligently uncovering bodies and collecting clues in the 21st century, and doing so to entertain and engage today’s generation of readers.


 Such is the case with Stone Cold Dead, the first entry in the Rock Shop Mystery series by American writer Catherine Dilts. I had enjoyed this author’s short stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and decided to check her out in long form. Dilts has a gift for crafting endearing and accessible characters through spare but effective prose. The story’s protagonist is Morgan Iverson, a widower who returns to Golden Springs, Colorado when her brother and his girlfriend pack up and cross continents to begin missionary work abroad. In doing so, they leave Morgan with Rock of Ages, a tourist shop that sells geologic treasures and regional curios to summer visitors. It doesn’t help matters that Morgan takes over near the start of the winter season, and it’s even less of a comfort to learn that Kendall, her brother, has no intention of returning soon to the store, turning Morgan’s two-week visit into an indefinite stay.

Fortunately, she has help: Del, a weathered ex-cowboy and employee of the shop, proves to be a useful ally and handyman, while bakery owner Bernie quickly becomes a companion and confidant of Morgan’s, as the two get involved in the charity and competitive running events that are popular among the region’s forested hills and mountainsides. Morgan also inherits two donkeys, Adelaide and Houdini, who have a habit of wandering off the property when the gate isn’t closed. During a search for the AWOL animals, Morgan makes a tragic discovery: the body of a teen girl lies on a hiking trail, apparently dead. When Morgan is able to receive a cellphone signal and call for medical help, she returns to the scene to find that the girl is gone.  

There are many enjoyable elements at play in Stone Cold Dead, the author’s evocation of the wintry climate and the regional setting among them. But it is the characters, and their flaws and motivations, which make this story memorable for me. Through the book, the strong and decisive Morgan also has touching moments of guilt that she links to her decisions: could the girl have been saved if she had administered CPR when Morgan first discovered her? Later, she worries that she won’t be able to act fast enough to save another person close to her. Such emotional connection and doubt is quite powerful when built into a traditional cosy, and this recognition of Morgan’s vulnerability makes the reader empathize with her.

Dilts delivers another intriguing character with Piers Townsend, a new-age business owner and real-estate developer (are the two a contradiction in philosophies?) who becomes a potential love interest for Morgan while staying on the list as a prime suspect for the murder. In addition, Piers’ true motivation might be less than romantic, as he has previously tried to get Kendall to sell Rock of Ages… and the 75 acres of land attached to it. The relationship between heroine and potential villain keeps the reader engaged and the story moving along.

There is also an agreeable sense of humor throughout the book, from the conversation and camaraderie Morgan and baker Bernie share to the surprising role that donkeys Adelaide and Houdini play in the story’s crisis moment (and their resultant fame afterwards). It’s a winning mix of mystery, character, and snowbound setting, and by the story’s conclusion, the reader hopes that Morgan Iverson will remain as the adoptive shop owner in Golden Springs, and that doing so will bring the promise of future adventures.

Stone Cold Dead and its sequel Stone Cold Case are available through Amazon.com. Catherine Dilts’ website can be found at www.catherinedilts.com .     


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