It was on a warm summer's day that Samuel Heatherington, retired carpenter, wheelwright, and accomplished beekeeper noticed unusual activity among his twelve beehives. The bees apparently were preparing to swarm as they moved to a new beehive, located some distance away. Following the swarm, when it finally moved, Heatherington discovered an unfamiliar - and empty - hive that quite clearly did not belong where it was found. Nearby, in a well, Heatherington discovered the body of a rather unpleasant man named Gerald Batley. With the smell of cyanide in the air and a container of poison found in the victim’s pocket, it was quite clearly a case of murder. Finding a solution to the crime would require a thorough understanding of the remarkable honey bees, those insects whom Shakespeare called "the singing masons, building roofs of gold." It's a splendid book first published in 1950 called The Singing Masons, by Francis Vivian, and it's the subject of a complete audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here.
Francis Vivian is another of the many authors whose books, written during the Golden Age and shortly thereafter, are now being brought back in editions aimed at a new audience. Dean Street Press is republishing Francis Vivian’s mysteries with new introductions by mystery historian Curtis Evans, and the publisher sent me an electronic edition of The Singing Masons for this review.
Apparently, Francis Vivian – the pen name of Arthur Ernest Ashley – counted beekeeping among his hobbies, and I suspect that a great deal of the intriguing information about bees to be found in this book will both entertain and educate readers such as myself. Certainly Vivian’s series detective, Inspector Gordon Knollis of Scotland Yard, is an enthusiast (and so, I would remind you, was Sherlock Holmes). Be careful to pay full attention to the bees and to their behavior, as recorded in The Singing Masons.
When Gerald Batley's body is discovered, local authorities call in the Yard, and Inspector Knollis enters the case. It doesn’t take him very long to discover that Batley was, to put it mildly, quite a philanderer, with a long history of trying to seduce women – especially married women – which, as you might expect, opens some pretty fertile ground for investigation. And oh, those tangled relationships! There’s a young and fairly wealthy woman, Daphne Moreland, who was engaged to be married to Batley and says she would have married him despite knowing that he would continue to chase other women. There’s a cash-strapped young couple, the Maynards, who might be expecting a desperately-needed financial boost from Batley’s death. There were other women who appeared to have been the victim of Batley’s blackmailing efforts – for he had no scruples about blackmailing his intended conquests into accepting him. And through it all, there are the swarms of honeybees. Inspector Knollis will have to use his knowledge of honeybees – and of the suspects – to solve this murder. And don’t neglect that Shakespearean connection. You’re likely to come away from The Singing Masons with a new respect for both honeybees and beekeepers. I think you’ll enjoy it.
For another, more detailed review (but still enthusiastic!), please check out "armchairreviewer" at the Cross-Examining Crime blog.
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