Colonel Anthony Gethryn has been called home to London by his wife, who wants her husband to investigate the case of Daniel Bronson, accused and sentenced to hang for the murder of an unpleasant man named Blackatter by shooting him in the back of the head. There are signs that Blackatter was a blackmailer. But those who know Bronson best – including Bronson’s wife – insist that while Bronson might have been capable of killing someone, especially a blackmailer, he would never do so in that manner, shooting his victim at close range from behind. But Bronson's date with the executioner's noose is just five days away. Can Colonel Gethryn find the evidence that will save Bronson's life? That harrowing race against time is laid out for us in The Noose, a 1930 mystery thriller by Philip Macdonald. It's the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.
Colonel Gethryn was positive about one thing: the man convicted of murder and now awaiting execution was actually innocent. No matter what the court had decided. No matter what the witnesses against him had testified. Gethryn was convinced that Daniel Bronson was innocent – more, that he was the victim of an elaborate frame-up. All Gethryn had to do was discover who might have wanted both the original victim and Daniel Bronson dead, what motive there might have been for the planned double murder, how the plot was hatched and how it was carried out – and, of course, the who and why of it. And Gethryn had just five days to do all that if he was to save Bronson from being hanged for murder. Gethryn had been called in to help on Thursday. The execution was planned for the following Tuesday. The real enemy was time. Was there any possibility of success?
A good basis for an exciting thriller, to be sure. Philip Macdonald was quite popular during the first half of the twentieth century, and most of his books date back to the Golden Age. The Noose is really a thriller, not a puzzle-oriented mystery. as the time dwindles down in the race to save Bronson from the hangman's noose, the tension builds quite powerfully. There are a couple of memorable scenes with the condemned man in his cell which very skillfully add to the book’s emotional impact on the reader. It's a powerful, well-written book. Long out of print, The Noose has been reprinted as another hardback Detective Club entry from the Collins Crime Club, complete with handsome (if rather lurid) dust jackets. I think you'd enjoy it.
[Editor's note: this is being published on Saturday, rather than next Monday, because I won't be available to do the publishing on Monday. We should be back to normal by next week. LB]
Comments