Please welcome back Paula Messina to
the blog today…
Our Jubilee Is Death
By
Paula Messina
When a woman revels in her
nastiness, her death is a jubilee for everyone in her world.
There
are myriad reasons for the characters in Leo Bruce’s Our Jubilee Is Death to
contemplate shortening mystery writer Lillianne Bomberger’s time on earth. It’s the reader’s delight that Bruce
decided to kill off Bromberger in this
hilarious book.
Leo
Bruce is Rupert Croft-Cooke’s
pseudonym. A prolific English writer who died in 1979, Croft-Cooke wrote
numerous non-fiction books as well as plays, literary novels, and short
stories. He is most remembered for his two mystery series, the amateur sleuth
Carolus Deene and the decidedly unconventional Sergeant Beef. Bruce reveled in
sending up his fellow mystery writers and making his readers laugh out loud. At
least this reader could not suppress her laughter while reading Jubilee.
Carolus
is not your typical private eye. He’s
not a misanthropic Nero Wolfe nor a superior know-it-all Sherlock Holmes. A
history master at Queen’s School, Carolus is standoffish and blunt. The closest
thing Carolus has to an Archie Goodwin or Dr. Watson is one of his students,
the annoying Rupert Priggley, who insinuates himself into the investigation.
It’s conveniently the end of term when
Carolus receives a letter from his cousin Fay, who had a frightful experience
with the detestable Bromberger. Fay stumbled over Bomberger’s head in the sand
at Blessington-on-Sea. What else would a master facing a boring vacation do?
His cousin needs him. Carolus heads straight for Blessington to investigate
Bomberger’s demise.
When
asked by a police officer if she touched the body, Fay says, “Touch her? I always said I wouldn’t
touch Lillianne Bomberger with a barge-pole when she was alive. I certainly
don’t want to touch her dead. Not even my dogs wanted that. A sniff was quite
enough for them.”
Bomberger
was a hack who bullied her way into publication and to the top of the best
seller lists. She constantly berated her nieces who lived with her, made
unreasonable demands on her nephew and his wife, belittled her secretary, and
habitually battled with her publisher. In short, there wasn’t a single person in her life spared
her venom.
Her
publisher said about her. “She
was a bitch, Mr. Deene. The bitch of all times, if you want it straight. An
egotist on a scale you can scarcely believe. Folie de grandeur, and with a morbid selfishness and
pettiness which were quite terrifying to see. The only surprising thing about
her murder is that it did not happen years ago.”
Given
Bomberger’s personality, it’s
no wonder Carolus doesn’t lack for suspects. Everyone’s got a crackerjack
reason for wanting her dead. Carolus’s investigation is stymied because there
are more lies than motives. As all mystery readers know, the police and private
eyes expect lies. Usually one person is telling the truth. Not in Jubilee.
Everyone lies. Everyone tells the same lies.
Bruce
enjoys poking fun at his fellow mystery writers. Bomberger “wrote the same book over and over
again to the end,” her publisher says. “We’ve had her for twenty-three years,
and it’s been like a prison sentence. She was the most insufferable human being
of this century. Or any other,…”
By
the end of the book, Carolus Deene knows who the murderer is, but he has no
proof. He tells everyone he is leaving Blessington-on-Sea. The police will have
to solve the case without him.
Of
course, departing won’t
do. Carolus is talked into telling what he knows. A meeting is arranged. After
all, that’s how most mysteries end, even ones not written by hacks. The
revelation is a surprise. Bruce plays fair with his readers. The clues were
there all along.
It’s fun to dip into the works of authors who are largely forgotten. There’s no explaining why some writers have longevity and others fade into the background. Leo Bruce should be in the first category.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/41XIqmJ
Paula Messina ©2025
Paula Messina is a native New
Englander who writes contemporary, historical, and humorous fiction as well as
essays. Her work has appeared in such publications as Black Cat Weekly,
Devil’s Snare, Wolfsbane, Ovunque Siamo, and THEMA. She does not own
a cat.
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