Have you read ... Edmund Crispin?

    

     I know Elaine at Random Jottings has read Edmund Crispin, but I have yet to, although he has been on my list since I noted this from P.D. James (see Talking About Detective Fiction):

"Crispin's books are always elegantly written with a cast of engaging, witty characters. Most readers at some point in the story will laugh aloud. Crispin is a farceur, and the ability to successfully combine this less-than-subtle humour with murder is very rare in detective fiction."

    Baroness James says Crispin's work has deservedly lasted beyond the Golden Age, and she cites his 1946 book The Moving Toyshop as his most ingenious. Mr. C. happens to be reading it just now on the recommendation of a friend and he says it's quite quirky and academic - reminiscent of Cyril Hare and Michael Innes - it contains a number of fourth wall jokes, and is very entertaining. Interestingly, the book is dedicated thus: "For Philip Larkin in friendship and esteem"; the two were contemporaries at St. John's College, Oxford.

    Have you read Edmund Crispin?

Comments

[Dark Puss]

No.

[adele geras]

Yes, I have and used to enjoy him a lot when I was a teenager but cannot now recall a single thing about them. Must try one again and see how I like it now. Gervaise someone, his detective, was good fun, as I recall.

[Lyn]

Yes, I read most of them over one summer a few years ago. I really enjoyed them although Fen can be a little smug. But then, he's a genius detective, he's allowed to be smug! The moving toyshop is a classic. Hope you enjoy him.

[Tabitha]

Oh,absolutely. All of them and more than once. I think they're delightful. I tried to talk the mister into naming his old MG Lily Christine (Professor Fen's car's name). He was SO not having it.

[Mary McCartney]

I've just finished Love Lies Bleeding having read Elaine's review. I loved the language used in the book but found Fen's exposition of the crime (and his part in it) somewhat tedious at the end. A good read nevertheless.

[sakura]

Not yet, but I have The Moving Toyshop on my shelf which I need to read by the end of the year. Nice to know he's mentioned in P.D.James' book (which I also must read).

[Danielle]

He's on my must read list, and I want to get to him before the year is out, but you know how that goes sometimes. I have The Moving Toyshop high up on my pile of mysteries--and if PD James recommends him you surely can't go wrong.

[Donnafugata]

Yes, I first read and relished Edmund Crispin many years ago, but I have never found any of his works in second hand book shops, much to my disappointment. I know I could find them via the net, but the thrill of discovering a favourite author amongst the second hand/charity shops is far more rewarding. However, now you have reminded me of this gap in my bookshelves, I shall have to start searching for Crispin via the internet!

[Mr Cornflower]

The climactic scene in The Moving Toyshop involves the armed murderer being cornered by the hero on an out of control, furiously spinning merry-go-round. Crispin's description of the disorientating effects of this experience mirror my own reaction - it is a very curious book which I found by turns exhausting, exhilarating and exasperating. Imagine Lord Peter Wimsey played for laughs by Hugh Laurie and you'll get some idea of what I mean.

[Audrey]

No, but I made a list of all the writers mentioned by P.D. James so I could read them! Just found the Nicola Upson mystery with Josephine Tey as sleuth on a sale table.

[Bibliophile]

I find Crispin to be a very uneven author. The first book of his that I read was The Case of the Gilded Fly, the first in the Gervase Fen series, and I found it dull and Fen smug and obnoxious. The I read The Moving Toyshop and enjoyed it very much for the humour and characters, especially the chase at the end. The last one I read, Frequent Hearses, was bleak and depressing.