In many ways, the situation at Flaxmere, the country home of Sir Osmond Melbury, was entirely traditional. Sir Osmond, after all, had summoned family members and a couple of other guests to join him at one of those grand old British country houses for a traditional Christmas. There were the guests themselves, all in some way dependent on Sir Osmond. There was Sir Osmond himself, who rather fancied himself as a wise and kindly patriarch but who was considered an anything-but-benevolent despot by all his relatives. There was the question of Sir Osmond's will, which he kept threatening to change. There was Sir Osmond's youngest daughter, in love and ready to marry but reluctant to go against her father's wish that she remain unmarried. And, of course, the traditional festivities, complete with a benevolent Santa to hand out gifts to the assembled guests.
In the midst of so much tradition, what could be more appropriate than a good old-fashioned murder?
And that's what you'll get in The Santa Klaus Murder, by Mavis Doriel Hay, a Golden Age writer whose work has remained out of print and virtually unobtainable since its original publication in 1936. The Santa Klaus Murder is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.
Why Santa Klaus with a "K"? I'm not really sure, except the apparently German roots of the name. But this Santa Klaus who dresses up and hands out gifts at Flaxmere is a little different from the traditional Santa. It would appear that he carries a gun. And when murder happens, it seems that the young man dressed up as Santa had the only real opportunity to commit the crime. At the same time, the suspected killer was probably the only person in Sir Osmond's household who had absolutely nothing to gain from the murder. It makes quite a puzzle for Colonel Halstock, the Chief Constable, who finds that his close friendship with Sir Osmond and his family make his own job considerably more difficult as he tries to get to the bottom of this particularly nasty murder.
I'm not sure why Mavis Doriel Hay's name and work has been so completely forgotten over the years. She's not even listed online in the Golden Age of Detection wiki. Certainly The Santa Klaus Murder is a good, workmanlike job, with plenty of suspects and a fair number of clues in what is certainly a fine puzzle-oriented mystery from that Golden Age. The British Library, which provided me with a review copy, has reissued this book in its British Library Crime Classics series, and they're expected to publish Hay's other two books next year. It's good reading on a cold winter's night, particularly with Christmas just around the corner.
Les - I have to confess, I'd not heard of Hay's work. I'm so glad you were able to find a copy of this one. I'm even more glad her books are being re-printed. Interesting how some authors never do get recognition (or at least, not during their lifetimes) even if they are quite talented. Thanks for this.
Posted by: Margot Kinberg | November 25, 2013 at 07:24 AM
Margot, it's rare to come across an eligible writer of the period who's not in the GAD wiki online - that's a remarkably complete resource.
Posted by: Les Blatt | November 25, 2013 at 10:20 AM