As I write these lines from my home in New Jersey, it is positively disgusting outside - hot, muggy, thunderstorms everywhere. So, rather than curse the darkness, let's light a candle together by thinking of - and talking about - a nice, snow-filled holiday murder. I'm thinking of one of those Christmas house parties so beloved of many writers, especially in and around the Golden Age. Let's talk about a book that may be a perfect antidote for the weather: Murder for Christmas, by Francis Duncan. The book, first published in 1949, is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the complete review by clicking here. It's one of five mysteries featuring the amateur detective, Mordecai Tremaine, written by Francis Duncan.
Francis WHO?
Francis Duncan - a name so obscure that Vintage, a Penguin Random House UK imprint, having discovered the book and wanting to publish it, couldn't find any biographical information about the author - not even the names of the people holding the publication rights. According to an "About the Author" note in the book, Vintage went ahead and published the book - and the author’s daughter happened to see it displayed at a bookseller. She came forward and provided information to Vintage. Now, Sourcebooks Landmark is also publishing Duncan's Mordecai Tremaine books in the U.S. I found Murder for Christmas on display at Malice Domestic, that annual conference dedicated to the traditional mystery which is held each spring in Bethesda, Maryland. There’s not a word online about the author in the Golden Age of Detection wiki online, not even under Duncan’s real name, William Underhill. But the books really do speak for themselves.
In Murder for Christmas, Mordecai Tremaine is invited to a Christmas house party at the home of Benedict Grame in the small English village of Sherbroome. Arriving at Grame’s home, Tremaine finds an odd assortment of house guests, most of them at odds with each other. Grame is a believer in what period mysteries tell us were great traditions, including elaborate parties, with gifts for all the guests, and even a Father Christmas – in this case Grame himself playing the part of Father Christmas and hanging gifts for his guests from the great Christmas tree in the house.
The mystery, however, really begins with a scream in the middle of the night, when one of the guests discovers a dead body beneath that tree – a body which is dressed as Father Christmas...
Mordecai Tremaine, being on hand, is immediately drawn into the investigation when the police officer in charge discovers Tremaine’s role in finding surprising solutions to tricky mysteries and invites him to help out. What he discovers takes the investigation off in unexpected directions.
Murder for Christmas gives us a crackling good story, with interesting characters, more than a touch of romance, snow on the ground, and a very likeable protagonist in Mordecai Tremaine.
Comments