"Good by Stealth"

Miss Edna Alice is a most unusual person - at least, according to her neighbors. She is a woman of great virtue (just ask her). She is a woman who intends only kindness in her efforts to improve the morals and general behavior of her neighbors. Of course, she does this anonymously, for a great many reasons, none of them, of course, dealing with the legal and criminal issues involved in sending poisoned pen letters. But then, as I said, Miss Alice is serene in the knowledge that she is a great deal more virtuous than...well, people like you, for example. 

You'll find Miss Alice's rationale for her behavior in a wickedly funny Golden Age mystery called Good By Stealth. While I'm quite sure that most of us can think of a lot of mysteries in which poisoned pen letters play an important role, I think Good by Stealth may be the only one where the narrator/central character is the person sending those notes and offering her own very peculiar justification for doing so - for Miss Edna Alice looks on her letter-writing as a way to do good stealthily.

And the story that she tells us is – from her point of view – the story of her efforts to improve her neighbors – a story she tells us she is writing after spending an uncomfortable year in a British prison for her letter-writing. As Edna Alice tells us:

“The real trouble was, as I see since, that people do not discriminate. They lump all cases of what they consider a like nature together and to their ill-informed minds I was in the same category as a mentally unsound woman who posts disgusting anonymous letters to her neighbors.” 

What Miss Alice believes she is doing is the good work of pointing out – anonymously, of course – her neighbor’s faults, so that they may be corrected. What the neighbors think is that Miss Alice is "a mentally unsound woman who posts disgusting anonymous letters to her neighbors." 

What the reader is doing is relishing a remarkably twisted and funny narrative. Good by Stealth was written in 1936 by "Henrietta Clandon," one of several pen names used by the prolific author Vernon Loder. It is being re-published in March by Dean Street Press, and the publisher sent me an Advance Reading Copy for this review.

Loder/Clandon has created quite a monster in Edna Alice. The reader will quickly discover that Miss Alice has an astonishing facility for misjudging virtually every situation in which she becomes involved.  When one villager commits suicide after receiving one of these letters, Miss Alice knew that her suicide had been in one sense, a happy release” because the victim had learned from an anonymous letter that her fiancé was unfaithful.

What we are given, then, is a series of events as seen from Miss Alice’s warped viewpoint and her observations on the ways in which the police try to discover her identity. There is a great deal of very dark humor in the book; we laugh at Miss Alice’s absurdities even as we wince. The story of how Miss Alice is uncovered makes this one of the most unusual comic mysteries I can recall. It is called Good by Stealth, and I think it’s one of a kind. It's the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the complete review by clicking here.

Comments

[Art Taylor]

I'd never heard of this one, but sounds fascinating! There's a short story by Shirley Jackson which also has the main character sending letters out to friends (friends?) and neighbors. It's called "The Possibility of Evil"--published after her death, and then won the Edgar Award. A dark little story, to say the least--worth looking up!

[Les Blatt]

Im going to have to dig that one up - I dont think Ive ever read it. Good by Stealth would be a horror story if the central character wasnt so totally out of touch with reality. Its VERY dark humor, but its still quite funny!

[Jason Half]

Very nice reviews! I just finished Good by Stealth a few days ago, and agree with you about its unique premise and dark sense of humor. When I post my review, I will provide a link to your page. And I second Art Taylor's recommendation of Shirley Jackson's "The Possibility of Evil." It's a great story and I use it in my Composition class to teach literary analysis. All best wishes -- Jason

[Les Blatt]

Thanks, Jason. Please let me know when you publish your review and I'll add a link from here.

[Jason Half]

No worries! I just posted the review, and tagged you on the Facebook GAD group post. You can find it at https://www.jasonhalf.com/blog/book-review-good-by-stealth-1936-by-henrietta-clandon . Keep up the great podcast and blogging! I always enjoy visiting your site.