The Strangler Fig shows the same structure as The Man Who Killed Fortescue (1928). There is a crime in the past, one that is still mysterious and unsolved, and it triggers related crimes in the present. (The later Look Your Last (1943) has a similar two crime construction.) All events in the book are carefully dated. Bolivar Brown, the new sleuth of Fig, is a brilliant amateur. A lawyer, he likes to solve puzzles and problems. He is especially good at thinking. These are all traits of intuitionist school detectives.
Tillett's descriptive powers have grown. The early scenes (Chapters 1 - 3) presenting the island are a vivid piece of writing. Fig also shows Tillett's interest in rooms which are the scenes of crimes. They tend to be studies, and full of the personal and professional effects of the victims, and clues to their murder. People in Tillett's books like to look out upper story windows. They see large panoramas and vistas. They also watch processes develop from beginning to end. Unfortunately, after its opening The Strangler Fig also largely degenerates into a mechanically worked out story. Brown does little actual detection. Tillett does have an interest in social corruption, especially how large money interests do things that hurt society. Here it leads to the interesting discussion of the Neptune (Chapter 14).
Mike Grost
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