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Hare, Cyril - Best Detective Stories / Death Among Friends (1959)

The process of criminal justice falls neatly into two sections; apprehension, which is the province of the police, and sentencing, which takes place in the courts. Detective writers have always had an interest in legal processes, and some excellent writers have been concerned with the legal profession in one capacity or another. Cyril Hare was the pseudonym of Alfred Gordon Clark, a barrister who rose to be a circuit judge. Though his courts presided over civil, not criminal, cases, in his earlier career and during his war service he must have been in contact with plenty of real criminals and their activities. Despite this, when he sat down to write he was able to distance himself from the real and sordid and produce some masterpieces of classic detective fiction. He had a particular interest in concealing motives; and one of his books, A Very English Murder, features a motive that could have occurred nowhere else in the world.

Not surprisingly, many of his books and stories concentrate on knotty legal points and unexpected discoveries, sometimes reminiscent of those exploited by another lawyer, Erle Stanley Gardner, in the long series of Perry Mason books. But Hare’s most common detective, Frank Pettigrew, is an elderly and rather diffident man, more in the tradition of Berkeley’s Mr. Chitterwick and Agatha Christie’s Mr. Satterthwaite.

This particular book also introduces the short - short detective story. These began to appear in the detective story magazines that flourished between the wars, first as fillers; and then as a literary form in their own right. Producing these requires particular skill; like Carr’s books, they must deliver a surprise ending, and build up to it so quickly, within a few hundred words, that the reader is never quite sure from where the shock is going to come. Hare’s stories are excellent examples, delivered in his own characteristic voice, and the introduction by Michael Gilbert, another well - known writer (still active today, in his nineties) gives a portrait of the man and his stories. These are discussed in detail below:

Where There’s A Will - A good example of the biter bit – a young man’s clever plan which turns out somewhat less clever than he had thought. There is a hint in the middle of the story, however, that he did not take his fate lying down. The moral is one which turns up in several Hare stories – a little knowledge of the law is a dangerous thing.

Miss Burnside’s Dilemma - A slightly longer story in which the character of the baffled narrator is nicely developed through her choice of words and actions. This one also turns on a will, and this time it is the vicar who has the legal knowledge. And the final question – ‘What am I going to do?’ is one that many people have asked themselves when faced with the strange inconsistencies of the law.

Name of Smith - This is an interesting example of a classic kind of story – usually a short - short – which takes the form of a round - robin discussion. The information contributed by each person is innocuous in itself, but as it comes together with what the others already know it gradually builds up into a damning case. But here at least the exploitation of legal knowledge has served the ends of justice instead of thwarting them, although this – as Pettigrew points out – is ‘a mere side issue’.

Murderer’s Luck - “The cussedness of things in general” gets a serve here as a carefully - laid plan unravels. One might say that the besetting sin of Hare’s criminals is their over - cleverness.

The Tragedy of Young Macintyre - This is pure farce in the Wodehouse manner. A surprising number of crime and detection writers in Britain have paid homage to PG Wodehouse, including Carr, and Wodehouse himself occasionally appears in crime anthologies with his ‘caper’ stories. Fun is had with elocution lessons, and the diffidence of the young Barrister Macintyre, reminding us of other English legal humorists like A. P. Herbert.

Weight and See - There is a strong tendency among British crime writers to give their police detectives funny names. This is partly a class thing – prosaic names like ‘Bucket’ and ‘Japp’ are associated with the working class, while more mellifluous names like ‘Campion’ and ‘Wimsey’ usually indicate an upper - class background. I don’t know if it reflects reality, but in the 1930s a Scotland Yard detective rejoiced in the name ‘Inspector Shape’. Here it is the bulky Inspector Mallett who recounts the story. It is a story of an alibi which needs to be broken, and it is Mallett’s weight rather than his detective abilities which break it. But Mallett is smart enough to put two and two together after his lucky discovery. And it involves a dog – another favourite of detective writers including Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton.

It Takes Two... - We approach the end of our discussion group sessions with the same crime that we began with – the murder of a diamond courier. Compare Hare’s treatment with Freeman’s, written fifty years earlier. Very little has changed in the essentials; only the details are altered. But here it is hubris rather than Thorndyke’s careful examination which leads to the criminal’s capture. Like many criminals – in fiction, at least – Brackley overreaches himself, and comes a cropper.

Death of a Blackmailer - Here it is homely advice on the eradication of wasps which leads to the death of a blackmailer; but there is still a surprise in store at the end. This is a good example in minature of the sleight - of - hand detective story in which the clues which lead the detective one way may lead the attentive reader another way altogether – Agatha Christie’s ‘ABC Murders’ being the best - known novel - length example.

The Old Flame - A short short story – again, about hubris leading to miscalculation.

As The Inspector Said - The burglar after silver and jewels, currently active in a particular district, is another stock character of detective fiction. Do real burglars concentrate on a single area, and do they ever come from the upper classes, like E. W. Hornung’s Raffles? Here the burglar is utilized to solve a problem – but which problem?

Death Among Friends - Miscalculations – and “the cussedness of things in general” – keep justice from achieving its aim.

The Story of Hermione - Not a detective story, alas – and what it is doing in this book is hard to see. Unfortunately anthologists, editors, publishers and even writers often fail to distinguish detective stories from others.

A Surprise for Christmas - Justice is done here at last, twelve years after the event – and in a Christmas story too. Christmas stories are – or were – a tradition among British writers, who produced them for special December editions of magazines. And another story utilizing the confusions of war for a cover - up.

The Heel - Another war - related story – this time centred around the American forces based in Britain towards the end of World War II. Like many other stories in this volume the tale takes place in the imaginary town of Markhampton; like St. Mary Mead, an imaginary place well - stocked with murderers and victims. The localized structure of British police forces means that the locals have a free reign in investigating a crime, but retain the right to call in specialist help from Scotland Yard if necessary.

The Rivals - A sordid tale of violence among teddy - boys is rounded off with a neat piece of detection.

The Ruling Passion - Frank Pettigrew appears but contributes little to this brief piece of misdirection.

The Death Of Amy Robsart – …His name, indeed, hinted at Russia or Greece, his complexion suggested the Levant, his nose proclaimed Judea. The presence or absence of xenophobic sentiments, and specifically anti - semitism, in detective fiction, has always been a hot topic for debate. Is calling a nose ‘Jewish’ in itself a racial slur, or just a description (what about a Roman nose?). Why is it all right to use stereotypical characters (a domineering mother, for instance), but not to tag them with racial descriptors? Inspector Mallett reappears here in a longer story, his common sense prevailing against the local sergeant’s explanation in terms of ‘pea sigh cology’. The deduction is done with the aid of a heavily - accented rustic and the local water company; one early example of how remote monitoring by technology can put paid to a murderer’s chances.

I Never Forget A Face - A mildly humorous story with only the character of the narrator to sustain it.

A Life For A Life - Capital punishment was another hot topic in Britain after World War II, and Hare uses this story to make his own comments upon it.

The Markhampton Miracle - Another Markhampton story, and with little to do with detection.

A Very Useful Relationship - Hare plays himself in this story about the relationship between an uncle and a nephew, where a very convincing red herring is drawn across the trail.

Sister Bessie Or Your Old Leech - Timothy Trent is an unsavoury character who has been latched on to by a more unsavoury one – a blackmailer. Naturally, he makes plans to remove the encumbrance, but the plans fail.

Line Out Of Order - Three men with the names of old porcelain form a spy ring; but technology defeats them.

Dropper’s Delight - Back on the seamy side, with forged banknotes and dog racing, and a neatly tied ending.

The ‘Children’ - A series of short stories about six people, each with a salient characteristic • Monday’s Child – Deborah Franklin is remarkably beautiful – and an excellent detective. • Tuesday’s Child – Our only encounter during this course with a priest - detective, though there are plenty of examples from Chesterton’s Father Brown to Ellis Peters’ Brother Caedfal. • Wednesday’s Child – A sad little story with a giveaway device which has now become well - worn through use. • Thursday’s Child – A tale of stolen identity. • Friday’s Child – A confidence trick goes awry thanks to the generosity of a woman. • Saturday’s Child – The hard - working local doctor is pursued by a jovial – but effective - constable.

Hare died in harness in 1959, an excellent example of a writer still working after a distinguished career in another profession. Many other British writers have combined two professions successfully – Michael Innes, Edmund Crispin and Nicholas Blake, who wrote detective fiction while serenading the Queen as Poet Laureate under his real name of Cecil Day - Lewis.

Mike Grost

B

Hare’s short stories, collected and introduced by Michael Gilbert.  Some very good ones (most of the legal ones, especially “Murderer’s Luck”; “Weight and See”; “The Death of Amy Robsart”).  However, too many are slight tales of career crime or Ilesian twist tales.

Nick Fuller.

Vickers, Roy - Best Detective Stories (1965)