It is always a pleasant experience to come across more stories written by a favorite author. I've always felt that way about Bruce Montgomery, who wrote as "Edmund Crispin," and gave us a mere handful of excellent mysteries featuring Oxford University Professor Gervase Fen. So I'm delighted to offer an introduction this week to Fen Country, a book containing 26 short stories, written in Crispin's pointed and witty style. The book is the subject of this week's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.
Gervase Fen appears in about half the stories in Fen Country. You'll also find Inspector Humbleby, who often serves as a not-very-bright foil for Fen in the novels. Here, he is given some cases of his own to solve, which he does quite nimbly. There are some other stories in which neither Fen nor Humbleby appear. Some of the stories are quite funny, some are chilling, and all are worth your time.The stories are quite short; many of them only five pages or so. Two in particular, I think, are worth my calling to your attention.
The first story in the book, called “Who Killed Baker,” was written by Crispin with another author (a musician, actually) named Geoffrey Bush. In the story, Fen tells an audience of friends and acquaintances about a murder and invites his listeners – and readers – to solve the mystery. He warns them that to do so, they must be prepared not only to ask the proper questions but also improper ones. What does he mean by that? You’ll have to read the story, I’m afraid.
My favorite tale, however, features neither Fen nor Humbleby. It has the delightful title: “We Know You’re Busy Writing, But We Thought You Wouldn’t Mind If We Just Dropped in for a Minute.” I assure you that it’s something that most probably has happened to a great many writers, struggling under deadlines, or writer’s block, or research needs. It is – by far – the longest story in the book and, I suspect, will leave some writer friends with smiles on their faces (for which, I trust, they will be suitably ashamed later). Enough. Fen Country, by Edmund Crispin, is available in a variety of formats (including both paper and audio editions). If you like Crispin, you really do want to read this book.
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