R. C. Woodthorpe (1886-1971), born in Glasgow, held several positions in a variety of schools before becoming a journalist with the Daily Herald and was the author of eight mysteries between 1932 to 1940, during the height of the Golden Age, who is now sadly largely forgotten. Woodthorpe was regarded as a writer of ‘comic detective tales’ and he used his experience of school life as the basis for his first book The Public School Murder in 1932. It was lauded as a fresh take on the detective story, Dorothy L. Sayers describing it as ‘the most brilliant and humorous detective story of the season’, and was many years later dramatized as an episode of the 1960s BBC series Detective. Unfortunately, it is now sadly one of the episodes from that series which is missing from the BBC archives, so unavailable to view. In 1935, Woodthorpe introduced Matilda Perks in Death In A Little Town (1935), his fourth mystery. Perks was a elderly spinster detective, a character-type which was proving popular at the time, with Dorothy L. Sayers’ Miss Climpson and Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple having debuted in 1927 and 1930 respectively, and is described as ‘a little old lady with a great hooked nose, a dark growth of hair on her upper lip and remarkably fierce eyes’. His other series character was Nicholas Slade, who appeared in Silence Of A Purple Shirt (US – Death Wears A Purple Shirt) (1934) and The Necessary Corpse (1939).
To connoisseurs of the crime tale the work of R. C. Woodthorpe needs no introduction. In this new novel he sets his scene in a country district in the South of England and reintroduces one of his most striking character creations, the shrewd, acid-tongued, but eminently likeable, Miss Perks. The Helmstone council is considering a project to build a motor racing track on the Sussex downs, near the quiet home of an elderly valetudinarian nephew of Miss Perks; and when the chief sponsor of the scheme dies suddenly in mysterious circumstances, the formidable old lady solves a double problem in crime detection and takes a resolute but highly questionable line of conduct on an issue of public duty. The story is deftly contrived and told with the sleek and fastidious distinction of style that is characteristic of Mr Woodthorpe’s work.
Blurb of 1st UK edition
For his second Matilda Perks mystery, published the same year as her debut, Woodthorpe sets the action in a English village on the Sussex Downs which is undergoing the changes wrought by commercialisation as the modern world impinges on the traditional. Herbert Winstanley, the rather timorous nephew of the acerbic Miss Perks, who has invited herself to stay at his house on the edge of the downs, feels the changes coming and resents them utterly. Plans to build a motor-racing track nearby, as well as the expansion of the seaside resort Helmstone, which sits at the foot of the downs, cause him to lament the gradual loss of the peaceful, sparsely-populated environment he has hitherto enjoyed. The neighbourhood is inhabited by a motley cast of characters, including the Diana-like Mrs. Partridge, much admired for her physical attributes as well as her forbearance in tolerating her wastrel husband, and her town councillor father Mr. Speakman, chief instigator for the so-called improvements Winstanley so strongly opposes.
When Councillor Speakman is discovered dead in the porch of the local church by the vicar, the movements of several people become of interest, including his impecunious son-in-law and a discharged bankrupt named Lovett, who is lodging in the same house as the Partridges and disappears soon after. The local doctor diagnoses heart failure as the cause of Speakman’s death, but Miss Perks begins to ask questions and uncover the various intrigues and disputes that surrounded the dead man, including his involvement with a woman who is a tenant of Winstanley and regarded with disfavour in the community. Before long, whisperings of ‘poison’ are spreading amongst the locals in relation to Speakman’s death and Miss Perks hears them, as well as seeming to be always on the spot when something of interest happens, and questions abound. Who is the tramp who appears to be trying to blackmail Partridge and what does he know? Is Lovett’s hobby of creating herbal medicines relevant to the mystery? Why do Partridge and Councillor Copplestone come to blows on a village street? What are the real relations between local publican Charteris and Mrs Partridge and how does his annoying, hypochondriac wife factor into them? Miss Perks is under no illusions regarding her latent detective instincts, remarking to herself ‘..what a Nosey Parker I am. I am like one of those dreadful old women who infest cheap boarding-houses and poke their snouts into everybody’s affairs and stir up trouble.’
The tension in the village continues to grow, with rumours and dark forebodings spreading rapidly. When Mrs Partridge’s pet dog is found poisoned the clamour grows even more, and reports begin to circulate that the police are taking an interest and an exhumation might follow. Then further tragedy strikes in the form of a spectacular and fatal accident and this is followed by a suicide, galvanizing Miss Perks to go to work. She confronts several people with secrets to hide before thwarting another potential murder, then finally revealing the true sequence of events to an astonished and frankly disbelieving Winstanley and the vicar.
Woodthorpe’s writing is certainly of a high quality, with numerous interesting and fallible characters, who speak and act quite convincingly, and a nice, well-paced, narrative flow. There are occasional truly comical passages when they interact, as foolishness or selfishness are exposed ruthlessly to the reader. Few characters here are particularly likeable, and Woodthorpe refrains from the common fault in detective fiction of tying up all the loose ends neatly for the reader, with questions still remaining at the conclusion of the narrative which are yet to be resolved and are dependent on actions still to be taken. Miss Perks is astute and refreshingly blunt with people, and quite refuses to suffer any fools gladly, but is not without some character traits that are unattractive, yet still remains quite likeable. One possible criticism might be that Woodthorpe, a lifelong bachelor, doesn’t seem to have the highest opinion of women generally, but there are also no male characters here who are without flaws either. However, it is the women whose behaviour has the more profound effect on the course of events, and are judged more harshly by the village community in consequence. Perhaps Woodthorpe could be described as a writer whose strength lays more in the comedy of manners with a detective twist, but the mechanism of the crime and the development of the investigation are as well handled as many found in more conventional puzzle-plots. Unfortunately this was Miss Perks’ last case, as Woodthorpe returned to Nicholas Slade once more and then wrote a couple of standalone mysteries before abandoning detective stories for good in 1940. I can’t help but feel his retirement from writing was a loss to the genre, though I would like to read more of his books to come to a definite conclusion. Most are not readily available, which is unfortunate, but this one is, allowing devotees of Golden Age crime fiction to try it for themselves and make up their own minds about this unjustly neglected author.
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8/10
Matilda Perks #2
Preceded by Death In A Little Town
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Edition Reviewed
First UK edition (digital copy)
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Collector’s Notes
No record of any modern reprint or audiobook has been traced by the reviewer. Print-on-demand copies are available, copyright status unknown. An ebook version is available free at The Internet Archive here.
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First Edition Details
UK
Originally published by Ivor Nicholson & Watson, London 1935
pp 315 + 5pp adverts, 8vo
Dustwrapper priced at 7/6 net on front flap.
US
Originally published by The Crime Club, Doubleday, Doran & co, New York 1935
Black Cloth Boards, pp 290, 8v0
Title and Author surname reverse stamped in green on spine, with pictorial image of town. Doubleday gunman stamped in green below with ‘The Crime Club, Inc.’ at bottom.
Front Board Plain.
Green top page edges.
Dustwrapper priced at $2.
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R E Faust
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Witness To The Crime 