Noted Murder Mysteries by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Classic crime of all types has been turning out to be a bit of a lifesaver here on the Ramblings lately. Whether it’s the time of year, the fact that Real Life is screamingly busy, or because trying to read “Berlin Alexanderplatz” was a bit of a disaster, I’ve just found myself looking backwards to Golden Age Crime; or in this case, some real life crime cases from the past!
Marie Belloc Lowndes is a name I’d come across before; I have her classic novel “The Lodger” sitting on the TBR, and I’ve meant to pick it up on several occasions. However, when Mike Walmer kindly offered me a review copy of Lowndes’ “Noted Murder Mysteries”, I just couldn’t resist. It’s the fifth release in his Belles-Lettres series (I’ve reviewed several titles from this in the past), and was a fascinating and thoroughly entertaining read.
“Noted…” contains eight essays by Lowndes on famous crimes of her era. Some cases were familiar to me, such as the Charles Bravo affair (I’ve read and reviewed a fascinating book about it on the Ramblings) and the Madeleine Smith case; others, like the murder of poor Hippolyte Menaldo, were completely new to be me. However, all were gripping, engrossing and often dark stories, and the book made compelling reading. Lowndes is a natural storyteller, relating the events as if they were exciting fiction rather that dull fact. And what adds so much to the book is the verve with which Lowndes tells her tale; she ramps up the tension and the drama while she relates these tragic stories, and she’s often partisan about the outcome.
It’s worth pointing out that Lowndes chooses to retell a particular type of crime story; all of these murders are what you would call crimes of passion, motivated by romantic emotions or sexual obsessions, and a significant number of them take place in France. Something as sordid as Jack the Ripper does not make an entry here; instead, she focuses on crimes of the domestic, of emotional betrayal, misplaced devotion and the consequences of social disgrace. Interestingly, though, her novel “The Lodger” (which I mentioned earlier in this post) was published a year before “Noted…” and drew on the Ripper case!
However, Lowndes obviously had a wonderful talent for storytelling; she had me very much invested in the characters and their fates, so much so that I regularly ended up heading online to see what the modern take was on some of the cases. Several have their own Wikipedia page, and on the whole it seems that Lowndes’ reading of the facts was often spot on. However, some of the names and crimes seem to have slipped into obscurity, so this is a welcome re-release which brings these stories back into circulation. And as the blurb says, some of these cases have remained mysteries to this day – I do love a good mystery, and “Notable…” does not disappoint on that front!
It’s perhaps a little odd that I should find relief from the darkness of Weimar Berlin in the darkness of crimes of passion; but maybe that last word is the clue here. All of Lowndes’ stories are about people consumed by emotions and passions, and those very human feelings are something to which I could really relate.
So my reading mojo returned strongly thanks to this book, which turned out to be the perfect antidote to the struggles I’d been experiencing. Marie Belloc Lowndes – who was interestingly the elder sister of Hilaire Belloc – was obviously a formidable talent in her own right and kudos to Michael Walmer for bringing this work of hers back into print – highly recommended! 😀
mikewalmer
Dec 09, 2019 @ 07:53:48
She knows how to grab the attention, doesn’t she? Really glad it broke the dry, Karen. Thanks for covering it.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 09, 2019 @ 16:09:02
She does – such an entertaining book and a real page turner. Enjoyed it very much! 😀
JacquiWine
Dec 09, 2019 @ 07:59:45
Sounds like a very well-written book, but it’s probably not for me. A little like you, I often turn to Golden Age mysteries when in need of a wind-down read, but I prefer the crimes to be fictional rather than real-life cases. Sometimes the latter can be too disturbing, particularly in these divisive times…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 09, 2019 @ 16:08:35
It’s a good read, and although I normally avoid true crime as a genre, I didn’t mind this as it wasn’t too graphic and she was a very sympathetic narrator of her tales. The modern and gory stuff I won’t touch with a bargepole!
Silvia
Dec 09, 2019 @ 17:35:37
The modern and gory stuff I won’t touch with a bargepole! DITTO
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 10, 2019 @ 11:56:55
Yeah – I really don’t like it…. 😦
Silvia
Dec 09, 2019 @ 17:35:14
I’m the same, but sometimes, as such was the case with In Cold Blood, and The Devil in the White City, I read about true crime. If a book has literary quality, -such as those two titles I just mentioned-, or with the qualities Kaggsy mentions, I’m willing to give them a try.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 10, 2019 @ 11:57:50
It’s interesting, because I read In Cold Blood years ago and thought it was marvellous. I think maybe it’s the literary quality you mention – so many of the modern books seem to be simply on the level of tabloid newspapers…
Silvia
Dec 09, 2019 @ 17:33:04
Love to hear that this book brought back your reading mojo. So needed at times, right?
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 10, 2019 @ 11:58:13
Definitely. Getting bogged down in a book that isn’t working for you can really kill the desire to read!
heavenali
Dec 09, 2019 @ 20:22:15
This book sounds absolutely fascinating. I particularly like the fact that the author focuses on more domestic crimes than the Ripper style murders. Also good to know it isn’t too graphic.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 10, 2019 @ 11:03:02
Yes, it really a good read – very lively prose style, which I enjoyed. And I definitely don’t like the graphic nowadays… 😦
Liz Dexter
Dec 10, 2019 @ 16:49:59
Glad your reading mojo is back! I’m enjoying my final Iris Murdoch more than I expected, so that’s good!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 10, 2019 @ 19:03:46
I was relieved, I must admit! And glad the Murdochs have gone so well – it’s always a bit nerve-wracking doing a big re-read!
Jane
Dec 10, 2019 @ 18:31:43
This sounds great actually, and a top tip for when the reading is going slow – thank you!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 10, 2019 @ 19:03:08
Welcome! It was the perfect antidote to a bookish struggle! 😀