Time for my second nomination for Cross Examining Crime’s Reprint of the Year Award – and today, in a change from my usual modus operandi, I’m selection a Golden Age crime book which is *not* reissued as a British Library Crime Classic! 😱 The book in question is “Let X Be The Murderer” by Clifford Witting and it’s from a new outfit on the scene – Galileo Publishers. I only became aware of their output this year, and they’ve issued an intriguing range of books with a selection of authors I’d not come across before. Witting is a particular author they favour, and I found this particular title to be an absolutely wonderful read!
In my original review, I noted that the book “is one of the titles in Witting’s series featuring his serial detective, Inspector Charlton. First published in 1947 and set in the fictional town of Lulverton in Downshire, placed somewhere on the South Downs, the book opens with Charlton’s side-kick, Detective Sergeant Bert Martin, taking a call from a local dignitary, Sir Victor Warringham. The latter makes the outrageous claim that a ghost attempted to strangle him in the night; and though this outlandish remark is not really taken seriously by the police, they attempt to call on Sir Victor at his country house of Elmsdale, since he *is* such a dignitary.
However, the setup at Elmsdale is odd; housekeeper Mrs. Winter is fiercely protective of Sir Victor, preventing access to him; she’s also obviously at war with the Harlers, Sir Victor’s son-in-law and his second wife. Also present in the house is young John Chapman, the housekeeper’s nephew. And lurking in the background are a variety of other characters including slippery Raymond Valentine and Tom Blackmore, a loner who’s the son of an old friend of Sir Victor. Add in a dubious doctor, accusations of madness, tragedy from the past and mysterious motives, and you really do have the recipe for an engrossing mystery; and it will take all of Charlton’s ingenuity to get to the bottom of the mystery, untangle all the threads and bring the murderer to justice!”
As well as the cleverness of the plotting and mystery, the actual style of the book is very distinctive. In my original review I described the book as “a twisty and clever mystery, and most entertaining. Witting cleverly shifts his narrative viewpoint, letting us into conversations amongst various characters, witnessing some of their actions, and by giving us these glimpses he actually really does lead you up the garden path! I worked out some of the elements – and I think Witting expected the reader to do so – but the actual culprit was certainly not who I was expecting.”
In addition, I felt that “the detecting duo Charlton and Martin are well painted, and Witting shows the duller side of detecting, allowing for all of the forensics to be done, the plodding round shops checking up on leads; and the sheer level of detail needed to follow through physical clues. Really, there’s so much to relish about “Let X Be the Murderer”! I really am struggling to understand why Clifford Witting has been allowed to languish in obscurity so long, so kudos to Galileo for reissuing his work.”
As you can tell from my earlier comments, I really was impressed with this book and it stood out for me amongst the various GA crime reissues I’ve read this year. Witting really is an excellent author who deserves much more exposure, which is one reason I’ve chosen this book as my second nomination. It’s a well-plotted, well-written, twisty and quite unusual book which does keep you guessing right up until the end – never was there a more accurate title for the book, because I did feel at some points that *anyone* could have committed the crime! I highly recommend this book to any lover of GA crime and am happy to nominate it as my second choice this year.
Dec 16, 2023 @ 12:19:27
An excellent choice! And I’m so glad that new publishers are out there bringing some of these great vintage books back to life for new audiences. In today’s world, that’s taking a big risk, and I hope they do really well. And I’m with you: Witting really deserves more attention.
Dec 16, 2023 @ 17:33:55
I agree Margot – the British Library can only release so many books, so it’s good that other publishers are picking up the baton and I’m happy to support them. Witting definitely deserves to be championed!
Dec 16, 2023 @ 15:05:10
I had this shortlisted from your initial review both because of its distinctiveness which you pointed out and since the author is one I’ve never read before. Need to track down a copy now!
Dec 16, 2023 @ 17:33:03
Excellent! I was so pleased to discover Witting’s writing – hope you enjoy him!
Dec 16, 2023 @ 18:57:06
Great title, and from what you say the story lives up to the promise!
Dec 16, 2023 @ 20:25:38
Very much so – I was really impressed by this one!
Dec 16, 2023 @ 21:52:33
One of the things that I enjoyed about this book was how Witting subverts the expectations that the start of the novel makes.
Dec 18, 2023 @ 12:17:20
He does – very clever indeed!!
Reprint of the Year Award 2023: Nomination 2 – crossexaminingcrime
Dec 16, 2023 @ 22:04:26
Dec 20, 2023 @ 11:49:30
What a great find. The storytelling style sounds interesting, and it’s nice to see a new publisher on the block, too. I like mysteries to be cleverly plotted, and this sounds satisfying in that respect.
Dec 20, 2023 @ 11:50:31
It’s a real treat I think! Not at all what I was expecting in some ways, which I liked, and I’m glad that other publishers are picking up GA crime too – I can’t have enough!
Dec 21, 2023 @ 18:24:52
This sounds a great read – thank you for the reminder. I’ll look out for Witting.
Dec 22, 2023 @ 11:31:35
He’s definitely a name to check out – I was highly impressed!!