Let X Be the Murderer (1947) by Clifford Witting

2023 is a great year for Clifford Witting fans as there has been not one, but two reprints of his work by Galileo Publishing, with a third one (The Case of the Michaelmas Goose (1938)) scheduled for later this year. The first Witting reprint this year was Subject: Murder (1945) and I enjoyed that one a lot, so I was looking forward to diving into Let X Be the Murderer, my 8^th Witting read.

Synopsis

‘It is a bleak November morning when Sergeant Martin, Inspector Charlton s stalwart sidekick, receives an agitated phone call from Sir Victor Wallingham claiming that a ghost attempted to strangle him in the night. When Inspector Charlton follows this up, he is blocked at every turn, but even so, when the following night does actually end with the discovery of a body, he is not expecting it.’

Overall Thoughts

A consistent strength I have found in Clifford Witting’s writing is his ability to deliver an intriguing opening narrative hook. Sometimes the intrigue settles upon the murder victim such as in Murder in Blue (1937) in which a policeman is killed, whilst on other occasions it is the circumstances in which someone disappears or dies which make the story intriguing (see Catt out of the Bag (1939) and Dead on Time (1948)). However, in Let X Be the Murderer, I think Witting creates intrigue and interest using both methods, leading with the unusual circumstances. One morning DS Martin receives what sounds like a hoax or crank call from a well-to-do local man asking for their help regarding a murderous ghost. Yet what DS Martin and Inspector Charlton find at Sir Wallingham’s country home is a very different sort of case, with the pair experiencing great trouble in getting to talk to Wallingham. In particular your suspicions are aroused by the other household members, who are competing factions, with their own end games for Wallingham and his money. Moreover, there are conflicting statements about Wallingham’s sanity. So all in all the first chapter offers a very puzzling set of circumstances, which conjure up certain expectations in the mind of the reader, particularly when a gunshot rings out at the end of the introduction. You could say Witting has written the perfect quintessential country house mystery in this opening section – yet I think it is fair to say Witting upends a number of reader expectations. Once death has struck I feel the reader has to spend some time reassembling what they thought they knew about this case, having to go over pieces of information to find a new interpretation or connection. This is an aspect that I enjoyed.

DS Martin and Inspector Charlton make for a pleasant policing duo to follow and through these characters we have a gentle stream of comedy. For example, in chapter 1, DS Martin tries to unnerve Inspector Charlton, with the phone call he had had with Sir Wallingham that:

“Morning, Martin. Anything interesting cropped up?” […]

“Very little, sir. Just routine stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary […] Small matter of an ‘omicidal ghost, amongst other things.”

Charlton was hanging his coat on the stand. He paused and looked over his shoulder to ask.

“What were the other things?”

Suffice to say Inspector Charlton is not easily ruffled!

With a country house setting, I can sometimes switch off to the setting itself, as it is a well-used location, ideal for housing a healthy number of suspects. However, on this occasion I was struck by the way Wallingham’s home is described:

‘“I feel like Prince Charmiung coming to wake up the Sleeping Beauty.” […]

There was something in Martin’s remark, however. It was aptly descriptive of a first impression of Elmsdale and its grounds, which had the forsaken atmosphere of le bois dormant. Everything was so uncared for. Even on that winter’s morning, Nature seemed to be suffocating man. The house was large, Victorian, three-storeyed and, architecturally, without a trace of elegance, but the ugly straight lines and brutal angles were masked, for the most part, by a cloak of ivy so thick and uncontrolled that a number of the windows looked more like the entrances to jungle trails than openings to admit light and air to the residents of Elmsdale.’

In this description it seems like nature has the upper hand and akin to Miss Havisham and her home in Great Expectations (1861), Sir Wallingham’s property is also in a state of neglect due to grief/sadness. Yet the mood or the psyche of the household’s inhabitants is reflected in the property in a different way, as it is mentioned that the ivy conceals the ‘brutal angles’ of the architecture, which connects to the question of what these characters are hiding beneath polite and respectable social veneers. This is a core element of the genre which has strong roots in Victorian sensation fiction, and it is still one that crime writers mine today to great effect.  

Rating: 4/5

Source: Review Copy (Galileo Publishing)

See also: JJ at The Invisible Event has also reviewed this title here.