In Memoriam: Robert Barnard

Word came while Bouchercon was under way last week that the English mystery writer Robert Barnard has died. Perhaps the timing was ironic, as Barnard had graced several previous Bouchercons as well as Malice Domestic. If you enjoy the traditional British mystery, you will most certainly enjoy Barnard's books, for he was one of the finest modern practitioners of the classic puzzle-oriented mystery. He also had a knack for writing humor; some of his mysteries, especially the early ones, are an absolute delight.

I find that I have reviewed three Barnard books over the years, on this blog and on the podcast: Death and the Chaste Apprentice, Corpse in a Gilded Cage and Death on the High C's. You can't go wrong with any of them.

Curiously enough, the only obituary I can find on Google News is in a British publication, the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, which remembers Barnard not so much for his mysteries as for his expertise in scholarship about the Bronte family - the headline says "Former chairman of the Bronte Society has died aged 76." I think you'll find a great deal more in the personal reminiscences of some of the people in the crime fiction community who knew him well: the editor/publisher at Felony & Mayhem Press, which has republished several of his books; Janet Rudolph, of the Mystery Fanfare newsletter; and Mike Ripley, the columnist for the British ezine Shots. They are all tributes to the unique and memorable voice of Robert Barnard.

Comments

[Margot Kinberg]

Les - Robert Barnard will indeed be sorely missed. In case you're interested, here is crime writer Martin Edwards' tribute to Barnard. In my opinion it's well worth reading:

http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/2013/09/robert-barnard-talent-to-entertain.html

[Les Blatt]

Thanks, Margot - in fact, I first learned about Barnard's death from that post by Martin Edwards. Thank you for providing the link to his tribute.

[Yvettecandraw.blogspot.com]

Over the years I've read a few Of Robert Barnard's books and enjoyed them. But memory fails me as to the titles or the plots. What else is new? Sad to read of his passing, though.

I think I'll hunt around for a couple of his titles just to refresh my memory.

[Les Blatt]

Two you might enjoy, Yvette, are "Death and the Chaste Apprentice" and "Death on the High Cs" - both set in the theater and opera worlds, both good mysteries - and both extremely funny. Barnard never failed to delight readers with his satire. In describing the play at the heart of "Death and the Chaste Apprentice," supposedly a newly rediscovered Restoration tragedy of dubious authorship, Barnard notes, "it was generally agreed that two hands were discernible in it, though only half a brain." He's worth a re-read.