The Worm of Death

So, for one of the prompts in my Vintage Scattergories Reading Challenge, I'm tasked with randomly selecting four books, reading the first line of each and then choosing one of the four to read--based on that first line. I've already done this for the Golden Age category. Here are the selections from the Silver Age:

Toby Glendower was in a state of complete happiness akin to ecstasy; he snuggled down in the dry, withered grass and looked lovingly at the huge granite boulders above and on three sides of him. (Death on the Dragon's Tongue by Margot Arnold)

Nigel Strangeways and Clare were strolling down the hill past the Park. (The Worm of Death by Nicholas Blake)

"Look," said the man who preferred to call himself Roger Farrar, "let's call the whole thing off." (The Dog It Was That Died by H. R. F. Keating)

"...These were not, members of the jury, crimes of passion, committed while the blood was hot." (The Sleeping Tiger by D. M. Devine)

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I wrote the above portion before making my selection and starting my chosen book. I don't know which one grabs your attention--there are reasons why each of them could spark interest. Are the huge boulders above Toby Glendower the Dragon's Tongue, the apparent scene of murder? Is the entire Blake book going to be a huge contrast to that very placid opening? What is the "thing" that Roger Farrar wants to call off (and what's his real name)? What cold-blooded crime is the prosecutor talking to the jury about in the last selection? As this review's title indicates, I decided to find out what dastardly deeds would follow Nicholas Blake's very sedate first line.

 Nigel Strangeways and Clare Massinger are invited to the home Dr. Piers Loudron on a foggy February night. They are fairly new to the Greenwich area and the dinner invitation is a chance for them to get to know some of their neighbors. It is a pretty uncomfortable meal with Loudron's children behaving as though they're still in the nursery rather than grown men and women and the doctor being sarcastic about the lot. They squabble amongst themselves and take verbal potshots at one another. His son James is also a doctor, but he lacks the confidence and presence of his well-respected father. Rebecca, the daughter of the house, is in love with Walter Barn, an artist and a man her father heartily disapproves. Howard is fairly unsuccessful business man with a costly wife who has an eye for anything in trousers. And then there's Graham, an adopted son,  who apparently can do no wrong in the good doctor's eyes. Nigel and Clare aren't quite sure why they've been invited--unless there was hope that their presence would put a damper on the family tensions. But it doesn't help matters that Loudron announces to all that Nigel is something of an amateur sleuth.

"Do you have noble ideas about justice and retribution and all that? Do you see yourself as a hound of heaven tracking down the wrongdoer?"

Later that night, long after the dinner party, Loudron disappears from his home. The next morning Rebecca and Walter come to Nigel to ask for his advice. But other than a search of the house and grounds (already done) and contacting the police (also done), Nigel has nothing to suggest. A little over a week later Loudron's body is found in the Thames. But he wasn't drowned...his wrists were slit. Was it suicide? If so, why was he in the river? If not, who killed him? And did the same person dump his body?

It's been a while since a read a Nigel Strangeways mystery. And it's been an even longer while since I read this one. I remembered exactly nothing about it. Not that it would have mattered if I did, because there's very little mystery about who did it. Despite Inspector Wright's point of view:

"We're getting nowhere. Nowhere at all. A lovely set of motives. Lots of lovely opportunity. Some cockeyed alibis. But hardly one solid fact to build on. Even their lies--and they've told enough, between them--seem to cancel one another out."

Wright's a trifle pessimistic. If, as Strangeways does, you pay any attention at all to psychology then you have to know who did it. Sure, all of the suspects have psychological hangups. That's an effort to muddy the waters and make the reader think there's some sort of choice about who did it. But, supposing the number of motives and personalities does distract you--there's really only one logical reason for the second murder. Especially after the reader recognizes the important psychological motive. And, knowing how Strangeways operates, the reader should be thinking about the psychology.

And--speaking of personalities. We've really got a prize set here. Not a likeable character amongst the suspects. I kindof wanted to root for one of the Loudron children, but they made it pretty darn hard to do so. And Strangeways isn't even all that attractive here--what with eyeballing old prostitutes and flirting along with the unashamed vamp. The best character is Clare, but we don't see nearly enough of her. I love how she saves the day for Nigel at the end. But overall, the book just didn't do it for me. The mystery is rather squalid and culprit is pretty cold-blooded. You can tell that we're not in the Golden Age anymore, Toto. ★★ and 3/4.

First line: Above

Last line: But you are dead, and myself I cannot forgive...

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Deaths = 4 (two natural; one stabbed; one strangled)