Murder in the Family (1936) by James Ronald

This was a re-read for my book group. I first read this story back in 2020, but I unfortunately had one of the abridged versions (Belmont, 1964), so I was looking forward to sampling the full text via the Moonstone Press reprint. This reprint comes with an introduction to the novel and a section on the author written by Chris Verner. I felt the introduction to the text had an abrupt style and was something of a jolting read. The prose for the section about the author flowed much better.

Whilst I knew there was one abridged version, I wasn’t aware until now of how many different editions there were of this book. The first UK printing was by John Lane in 1936, whilst the first US hardback was published by Lippincott in 1940. Hodder and Stoughton produced a new UK edition in 1949. However, Murder in the Family was also published under the title of The Murder in Gay Ladies, which came out in 1939 via Mercury Mystery.  There was even an ‘earlier serialised version, by King Features Syndicate’ under the title of Trial Without Jury. Compared to some very well-known mysteries of the era I was impressed with how many versions were out there, leaving me wondering if James Ronald was quite savvy about such matters. Finally, there was also a film adaptation of the novel in 1938.

It was interesting to read about the impact a car accident had on Ronald’s personality and career as a writer, as ‘he later claimed he owed his literary gift and resultant career to this near-fatal automobile accident, which caused him to change from a sunny little extrovert to a cloudy introvert.’ (Although it should be noted there are many sunny introverts and cloudy extroverts and some from each camp are probably writers too!)

I also thought his decision to leave school demonstrated much of his character. Ronald definitely seems to have had a strong independent streak. After school he tried various forms of employment: ‘Then came a dozen jobs, including one with an art dealer for whom he gilded statues and washed windows. His mother told him, ‘It is no disgrace to wash windows, James, but it is a disgrace to wash them like that.’ Little details like this last one, added a great personal touch to the opening notes and brought that moment in history to life. At the age of 17, Ronald then went to the USA by himself, a decision which feels very bold and daring, looking at it from today’s perspective.

Synopsis

‘Stephen Osborne has lost his job and is worried about providing for his large family. He asks his wealthy sister for assistance, but Octavia Osborne is a most unpleasant person. She not only refuses to help but informs the family that she is writing them out of her will. Bad timing on her part; for while sitting in their drawing room awaiting her train home, someone strangles her. The police are convinced the murderer is a member of the Osborne household, and soon the whole town is in uproar.’

Overall Thoughts

As with my first read I was struck by the setting of the book, a town (whose industries are dying) during the Depression. This depiction of economically poor times is far removed from what is conceived as the typical Golden Age Detective fiction setting and I wonder if it would have some resonance with today’s financial climate. In the full text version of this story, Ronald provides detailed and rich picture of what it was like to be in and what it was like to look upon a dole queue:

‘Some of them kept their eyes on the pavement, ashamed of this advertisement of their poverty; some stared at those who passed with a boldness that mocked sympathy; some seemed oblivious to everything but the door at the head of the queue […] No two faces were alike. Cheerful, callous, anxious, listless, bitter, defiant: each expressed an attitude to life, and only hope was absent. There was little hope for an out-of-work in Branchester […] “To lose your job these days […] is to be out of work for life.”’

Again, this is not something you would automatically expect to see in a 1930s British mystery novel.

It was interesting to compare the career history of Stephen Osborne with his creator’s, as we are told about that Stephen that:

‘He had little initiative, no confidence in meeting and talking to strangers. He did not know how to go looking for a job. In all his life, he had held but one job, the one he had just lost; and it had been obtained for him through the influence of a friend.’

This feels very different to how Ronald approached work. He may not have held on to jobs very long and sometimes had to move because he had bottomed the job market in a given area, but he seems to have had that determination to find something new.

Another character depiction that interested me, was Uncle Simon, the “author” in the Osborne family. The narrative does not paint a particularly admirable picture of him. He is lazy, overdrinks, gets into debt regularly and is not above sponging off his relatives. He seems to only write when it becomes absolutely necessary:

‘When he had no money in his pocket and could persuade no one to lend him any; when the tradesmen stood out for ready money and the publican refused to add more items to the slate, then Uncle Simon would force himself to sit all day and half the night at his desk, scribbling furiously, churning out in a few days a thriller for the publishers of twopenny bloods who were his only sources of legitimate revenue.’

I guess this passage stuck in my mind, as I was curious to know whether Ronald based any aspects of Uncle Simon upon himself and his own writing and lifestyle. Simon, despite his many faults, is regarded with affection by many of his relatives, as although he can be irksome, there is something non-hypocritical in his roguish behaviour.

I still loved the moment when Ann Osborne and some other family members, completely let rip at Aunt Octavia. Their blistering portrayal of her and her way of life is fully deserved, and it is what every dependent relative wishes they could say. Ann also gets herself into the uniquely incriminating situation of not noticing a murder take place in the room she is occupying because she is so lost in her book. Something for us bookworms to watch out for! Given how much time we spend with the Osborne family. Ronald does a good job with how he characterises them. The children (of varying ages) are arguably sheltered, but importantly they are not irrevocably or repellently spoilt. Unlike quite a number of mystery novels, old and new, the family of suspects are actually quite nice and normal people. As one of the investigating officers puts it: ‘That was the devil of it all: all of these people were so confoundedly likeable.’ I think this likeability is one of the reasons this mystery stands out.

Reading the whole text version of this novel also helped to make the palpable sense of strain even stronger for those under suspicion and there is a really touching moment when Stephen and his wife are in bed, struggling with what has happened, but they are unable to help one another:

‘He was awake too; she could feel the tension of his body as he lay beside her. he was suffering – silently, agonisingly – his whole being one vast aching nerve. And there was nothing she could do about it; nothing she could say. Words have their limits which the circumstances far exceeded. It was not as though he were simply mourning the death of his sister; if that were all she could have found a way to comfort him. But Octavia had not died – she had been killed. And murder makes its victim live. Octavia would never die. The swift tightening about her throat of the gaudy scarf which had ended her life had, at the same time, granted her a terrifying immorality.’

The Saturday Review of Literature ‘recommended’ this mystery (as do I!) and they commented that the ‘solution slightly wrenches credulity but is highly satisfactory. Yarn offers brilliant picture of press-badgered people, much humour and sufficient thrills.’ I felt the solution fitted the story brilliantly, so my ‘credulity’ was not particularly stretched. The one thing I did note about the ending, which I don’t remember from the abridged version (although I could be wrong) is SPOILER IN ROT 13 CODE: gung gebhoyvat abgr juvpu pbzrf sebz Hapyr Fvzba’f qrpvfvba gb abg erirny gur vqragvgl bs gur xvyyre orpnhfr ur jnagf gb choyvfu n obbx ba gur pnfr naq znxr n ybg bs zbarl. Guvf fubpxrq zr, nf vg frrzf nccnyyvat gb chg lbhe eryngvbaf guebhtu fhpu fgerff, fgerff gung yrnqf bar snzvyl zrzore gb gel naq pbzzvg fhvpvqr, sbe cebsvg. Abg yrnfg orpnhfr orvat Hapyr Fvzba fheryl ur pbhyq jnatyr fbzr bs gur vaurevgnapr gurl jvyy erprvir sebz Bpgnivn’f jvyy. V jbhyq or vagrerfgrq gb xabj jung bguref znxr bs guvf.

Rating: 5/5

This reprint also comes with a bonus novella (‘The Monocled Man’) and a short story (‘The Second Bottle’).

‘The Monocled Man’ (1931)

Published by The Age

The novella starts off in an interesting fashion, with a humorously stressful game of bridge:

‘This was the sort of scene which invariably took place when the Throstles invited the Bordells over for a “quiet” game of bridge. Mrs Thostle had no memory, and still less skill at cards, while Mr Throstle took bridge very seriously indeed, had absolutely no control over his temper. The “quiet” game usually ended by Mr Thostle throwing his cards across the room and refusing to play anymore.’

Yet the group are distracted from acrimony when they realise that a crimson liquid is beginning to drop through the ceiling from the flat above, occupied by the Honourable Ernest Hardcastle’s flat. Even more intriguing is that when they and the police break into the flat, they discover that it has been ransacked, but there is no sign of a body. I felt this was a brilliant opening and I wondered what direction the story would take next.

Unfortunately, the plot rapidly degenerates into a lone policeman haplessly chasing a group of Chicago-based gangsters, who have come to London to seek revenge on someone who had betrayed them. It seems a bit too silly to have a policeman working by himself, trying to take down a gang single-handedly. Moreover, the number of times and ways DS Martin is bested by the crooks almost makes the story too embarrassing to read.

‘The Second Bottle’ (1945)

Published by Liberty Magazine

A young man on his uppers in the USA is offered a job by the owner of a diner, working as a night counterman. However, on his first night he has to deal with a drunk customer who claims he has shot his wife’s head off. Naturally the young man is frightened and unsure what to do. This is quite a short story, and it has a nice sting in its tail, but I would say it is easy to anticipate.

I don’t feel Ronald’s shorter work shows him at his best – or perhaps I am not a fan of the styles he deploys within them? After all, gangsters don’t really appeal to me. Although, in fairness, it is hard to draw any definitive conclusions based only on two short stories.