Fearing, Kenneth - The Big Clock (1946)

Fearing was a well known Depression era poet who turned to writing novels during and after WWII. Published in 1946, The Big Clock is Fearing’s version of an inverted murder mystery in which we see the prelude to the murder, the murder itself and the investigation of the murder. The alternating viewpoints of the chapters provide both narrative thrust and insights into each of the several characters doing the narrating. The driving force of the story is the murder of a magazine magnate’s kept woman and the subsequent search for her killer. Suspense derives from the seemingly inevitable conclusion to the manhunt; which would be the capture of the protagonist, who is himself heading the search. The ending is properly foreshadowed by clues dropped at various points during the story.

Fearing never clearly defines what he means by “The Big Clock”: At times it seems to represent the inexorable march of time. Other times it seems to represent fate. I have seen some reviews where it is suggested that “The Big Clock” was meant to evoke the word “time” from the Time/Life/Fortune magazine empire which probably served as the model for the publishing organization featured in the book. An interesting plot device employed by Fearing was giving individual paintings important roles to play at certain points in the story.

I have only one criticism to make against this work: The employees of the magazine empire quite unbelievably get their hands on a key piece of evidence without police knowledge.

The book is a classic and should be read by both casual mystery fans and serious students of the genre. The fact that Fearing can get a reader to care about the outcome without offering any likeable characters is a tribute to his talent.

I understand that a pretty good movie starring Ray Millland and Maureen O’Sullivan was made from this novel.

Bob Schneider

An inspired plot which Fearing doesn't really make enough of. George Stroud is a mid-level executive in a Manhattan publishing firm who puts his marriage and his job at risk when he has a fling with the CEO's girlfriend, Pauline Delos. On leaving her at her apartment, George sees his boss, Earl Janoth, arrive, while Janoth notices, but does not recognise, him. That evening Janoth kills Delos, and it becomes very important to him to find and remove the unknown witness. The resources of his publishing empire are called on to track the man down -- and George Stroud is placed in charge of the investigation. Unwilling to call in the police and destroy his marriage, Stroud plays along.

Unfortunately, having got an intriguing investigation going, Fearing doesn't really know what to do with it. There are a string of entertaining vignettes as the characters confront each other, but no real progress until Fearing's crew track their mystery man to the publishing building. The police, meanwhile, are simply incompetent. It is not them or Stroud's wits but sheer luck that saves him at the last moment, in a disappointing finish.

A well-written and interesting curiosity, but not the classic of detective fiction that it has sometimes been described as. And why didn't Stroud merely make an anonymous call to the police?

Jon.