More from the Detection Club by Warren Bull
Double
Death published in 1939 was a product of Dorothy L. Sayers, Freeman Wills
Croft, Valentine Williams, F. Tennyson Jesse, Anthony Armstrong and David Hume.
John Chancellor supervised and wrote a preface and a prologue to the book.
The idea for the book came from a newspaper
editor who thought it would be a good idea to create a mystery in which each
chapter would be written by a different author. The authors above concurred and
each independently produced a chapter. In addition, each writer wrote a note
outlining his or her ideas to assist the authors who followed. Although the
authors did not know the notes would be included, when John Chancellor asked to
include them at the end of each chapter, the writers consented.
The mystery was interesting. I
thought the characters changed considerably from chapter to chapter. As you
might expect, a character seen as virtuous by one writer might embody evil in the
eyes of another writer.
For me, the notes were the most
interesting part of the book. They offer a view into what the authors planned
in their writing. It will come as no surprise that Dorothy L. Sayers set the
enterprise on a solid base in the first chapter. She left the options wide open
for later writers. Interestingly authors identified different characters as set
up by earlier authors to be the murderer. Just about every character was
proposed to play the part of the murderer.
I recommend this as a way to take a
look at the thinking and plotting of experienced mystery writers.
Verdict
of 13, published by the detection club forty years after Double Death, had an entirely different list
of authors. H.R.F. Keating,
Patricia Highsmith, Christianna Brand, Michael Underwood, Gwendoline Brand,
Michael Gilbert, Peter Dickinson, Michael Innes, Celia Fremlin, Julian Symons,
Ngaio Marsh, Dick Francis and P.D. James contributed never-before-published
short stories for the book. Verdict of 13
is an anthology, which includes stories of detective puzzles and thrillers; a
comic tale and a horrific one; realistic yarns and absolute fantasies. What
unites the entries is that all of them, one way or another include some kind of
a jury. It may be far from the traditional idea of a jury, but it is
nonetheless an identifiable as such.
The concept is not as original as
the idea for Double Death but I
recommend this book highly because the writing is stellar. I am glad the
Detection Club is still going strong.
Lisa Lutz co-wrote a book with another author. It was less a collaboration and more of a conflict. Each wrote every other chapter, but instead of making it seamless, they wrote what they wanted to write with depreciating comments about the other so although the mystery was solved, it became the lesser plot in the book. At the time, I thought it was an original idea, but I now realize I was wrong. The book was a twist on the Detection Club, and although interesting, the book was a neurotic read.
ReplyDeleteThese books sound like intellectual equals applying their talents to a collective good, making for an interesting mystey, but since you make note of the changes in characters, was it a good read or was it a great study in plotting?
Thanks, again, Warren, for introducing us to some classic detective fiction. You must have quite a collection of old books or a terrific used book store near you. I don't even think the local libraries carry many of those old treasures.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this as a child. What a wonderful book it was.
ReplyDeleteBoth books look interesting, especially the author's notes in the first one.
ReplyDeleteHow did you find this one, Warren? I checked worldcat.org and it is not in many libraries. Was it a used book shop find?
ReplyDeleteWarren, this sounds like another interesting book, both of them, in fact. Are they available through Amazon, or out of print.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of this concept before, although I've never been tempted to try it myself. What a great collection of authors to do it, though.
ReplyDeletePeople who are interested in books like this should check with their local public library for interlibrary loan. I looked up Double Death in the Pennsylvania database, and there are several copies available (free) for loan to anyone who holds a PA library card & has opted into the system (all free) One is even large print.
It is presently out of print, but that doesn't mean there are no offerings on Amazon. Several copies are listed for sale in Amazon, although sometimes people will list things they don't actually own and then go looking for it, so you can't be sure they will be able to send it.
I normally am a solitary writer. However, two of my novels were written as collaborations. In the first, WHERE IS ROBERT? I collaborated with my then teenage son Daniel and we wrote a YA mystery based on a story given to us by my older teenage son, Andrew. It was published while they were still in their teens.
ReplyDeleteThe second collaboration is more recent. Andrew and I collaborated on a mystery entitled THE THIRD EYE set in the Pine Barrens of NJ, a very unique area. We alternate chapters with two narrators, one a teenage boy who tells the story first person, the second, his mother, an emotionally troubled woman. Five Star/Cengage published it in their mystery series in 2013. Collaborative work can have exciting results.
The notes sound very interesting. Will have to check this out!
ReplyDeleteI read the book years ago, but the paperback version I had didn't include the notes. Those sound fascinating, and I'm sorry I missed them. You've inspired to dig around to see if I can find my old copy.
ReplyDelete