Freeman, R Austin as Clifford Ashdown; and John J Pitcairn - The Adventures of Romney Pringle (1902)
The Age of the Gentleman Crook is long gone and Romney Pringle, the ostensible literary agent of turn of the (Nineteenth) century London, was certainly not the most prominent of the lot. His predecessors (Colonel Clay and Raffles) and his antecedents (Arsene Lupin and Simon Templar) are, with the possible exception of Clay, more well known but the six stories in this collection and the six included in The Further Adventures of Romney Pringle are well worth seeking out.
Pringle lives by his wits and his keen observational powers. He is a consummate student of human nature and when he observes unusual or curious behavior he doggedly pursues those exhibiting it until he reaches his goal, which is self-enrichment. Although he usually ends up extracting treasure from a fellow criminal, occasionally an innocent is victimized. Pringle is no brute and never resorts to violence. A partial listing of his crimes is as follows: Patent medicine fraud, mail fraud, forgery, stock market manipulation, robbery, burglary, impersonation and treason (or something close to it).
Pringle enjoys fine art, bicycling, boating and fishing. He is a chemist, gemologist and master of disguises. He is a true loner—no fawning Boswell is present to record his adventures.
These connected stories (there are some recurring characters, notably the Windrush half-brothers, one bad and one good in the Adventures and a rival crook called the “Toff” in the Further Adventures) are uneven in quality but still highly readable and enjoyable. The opening story “The Assyrian Rejuvenator” is the best of the lot while the sixth story; “The Kailyard Novel” though not the strongest of the tales, has the most intriguing opening because it almost poses an obstacle to Pringle’s life of crime—the threat of an actual manuscript landing at his fictitious literary agency.
The Oswald Train edition (1970?) of the Further Adventures contains wonderful introductions by August Derleth and Norman Donaldson that succinctly overview Pringle, his era and his creators.
The hand of the future author of the Dr. Thorndyke opus is evident in the Pringle stories. The variety and ingenuity of the cons, the colorful dialogue, the familiarity with Edwardian era criminals, the spare but formal narration style all reveal the inklings of a future master of the detective story.
Bob Schneider
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.