Friday
means Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by Todd Mason on his Sweet Freedom blog. FFB today in
these parts is Barry Ergang’s 2013 review of The
Case of the Baker Street Irregulars by Anthony Boucher.
THE CASE OF THE BAKER STREET IRREGULARS (1940) by Anthony Boucher
Reviewed by Barry Ergang
Mystery lovers who haven't
read it will probably find The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars by
Anthony Boucher a lot of fun. It combines bizarre situations, action, humor,
lively and intelligent prose, and the advancement of several plausible
solutions before the actual one is revealed.
Stephen Worth, ex-private
detective turned hardboiled mystery novelist and sometime screenwriter under
contract to Metropolis Pictures, is supposed to write a screen adaptation of
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” which will be produced by F.X. Weinberg.
When word of this makes the newspapers, Weinberg starts receiving irate letters
from the Baker Street Irregulars. The want the screenplay entrusted to someone
who reveres the Canon as they do, not a “rat,” as they refer to Worth, who
writes hardboiled fare. For his part, Worth contemptuously dismisses the BSI as
a bunch of “deductionists.” The studio's publicity director, Maureen O'Breen,
who has no liking for Worth, a heavy-drinking lecher and prankster, suggests
that Weinberg simply take him off the film and assign another writer. When
Weinberg tries to persuade Worth to work on a different project, Worth balks at
the idea and points to a contractual clause that effectively prevents him from
being replaced involuntarily. From his position between rock and hard place,
Weinberg hits on a solution and sends letters to each of the five Irregulars
who have written to him, inviting them to Hollywood at his expense to serve as
advisors on the film. When they agree, the studio provides a house for them at
221B Romualdo Drive, complete with a housekeeper named Mrs. Hudson.
To help tout the film, Maureen
plans a party for the press. On the afternoon of the party, Maureen, trying to
coordinate the preparations at 221B, is besieged by mysterious callers,
messages, and telephone calls. Once things are under way, Stephen Worth makes a
drunken, belligerent appearance. When he tries to hit one of the Irregulars,
his wild swing hits instead one of the guests, Lieutenant Jackson of the police
department. Jackson knocks him cold and he and some others carry Worth to a
room upstairs to sleep it off. That ends the party. Later on, Maureen goes
upstairs and finds a still drunk and abusive Worth standing in the doorway of
the room. Moments later she hears a shot, blood blossoms under the hand Worth
claps to his heart, and he falls back into the darkened room. When she bends to
help him, something strikes the back of her head, rendering her unconscious.
One of the Sherlockians carries her downstairs. When she revives and reports what's
happened, Lieutenant Jackson goes to investigate.
There's a lot of blood in the
room. There are other significant things there, too. There just isn't any
corpse. The next day, each of the Irregulars has a peculiar, sometimes
frightening adventure. Each adventure has its roots in a Holmes story, and each
elicits information about another Irregular which he'd prefer not be revealed.
The police and the Sherlockians thus have their hands full trying to unravel
codes and ciphers, interpret the meaning of the adventures, and discover the
whereabouts of Worth's body and the means by which it was removed from the
house. There's a cover blurb from the New York Times Book Review on the
paperback edition I have which reads, “Delightful...offers a surprise on nearly
every page.”
This brings me to the only
complaint I have about the book—the edition. Mine was published by Carroll
& Graf. I'm not sure about the number of pages containing surprises, but
this particular book must have been proofread by someone whose idea of
intellectual activity is dwarf-tossing. Even by C&G standards, which
generally seem to be abysmal in the typographical error department, this one
qualifies for the Guinness Book of World Records. By all means read the
book. Just avoid the Carroll & Graf edition if you have options.
Barry Ergang © 2013, 2019
Among other works, Derringer Award-winner Barry
Ergang's own impossible crime novelette, The Play of Light and Shadow, is
available at Amazon
and Smashwords as is his recently released book
of poetry, Farrago, and other entertaining reads. For more on Barry’s books
as well as his editing services, check out Barry’s
website.
4 comments:
I often wished Boucher had written more mystery novels, but then we probably would have had less great radio scripts, less criticism and reviews, less interesting magazines and anthologies, and less wonderful writers nurtured.
It's been a long time since I read this, but I remember it being very enjoyable.
I haven't read any of Boucher's radio scripts, but your other points are well-taken, Jerry.
I haven't read it since I originally wrote the review, Rick, and no longer have my copy, but it's definitely an enjoyable read.
Barry
One of Boucher's best. No fan of Holmes or cleverly constructed detective mystery should let this one pass by without reading it.
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