the case of the gilded fly

by Edmund Crispin

Well, I finished The Case of the Gilded Fly. If I had been in a better frame of mind, I might have enjoyed it more. I was more or less obsessed with the presidential election while reading it, and I was impatient with the erudite and mannered Oxford characters, and the quirky Gervase Fen. Once again, I was left cold by the characters. This happens to me so often, I'm beginning to wonder if the fault lies in myself.

I do think it would be worthwhile to try more books by this author. I did love the writing, especially the beginning passages I mentioned earlier.

finished knots and crosses, started the case of the gilded fly

Knots and Crosses was pretty good, especially if you like the deranged-serial-killer-with- past-personal-link-to-detective genre. I'm going to try another one. They're not the refined type of British, or in this case, Scottish (or is it Scotch?) mystery, but more down and dirty. But our policeman, Sgt. Rebus, is different and kinda believable.

Meanwhile, I've started The Case of the Gilded Fly. Very British. Written in 1954, set in 1940 in Oxford. Characters are sophisticated and nasty (some of them, anyway). I loved the beginning - wonderful writing about a train slowly, maddeningly arriving at Oxford station. Also great writing about our sleuth, a professor of English who is an amateur policeman, close pal of a policeman who's an amateur literary critic. I'll try to post a couple of excerpts.

This book has a theater context. That's a negative for me; I find the whole theater thing wearisome, even when it's presented in a critical light. But I'll continue.