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Loading... Heiliger Bimbam: Kriminalroman (Professor Gervase Fen ermittelt 2) (original 1946; edition 2019)by Edmund Crispin (Autor), Ulrike Wasel (Übersetzer), Klaus Timmermann (Übersetzer)
Work InformationHoly Disorders by Edmund Crispin (1946)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read. I am glad to have read it. Gervase Fen is a gem - Crispin writes Fen perfectly, with every necessary idiosyncrasy, but never too much over-description. The pseudo-Gothic history of Tolnbridge combined with the overlay of the Nazis in WW2 make this a really ripe setting for all sorts of goings on. Crispin capitalizes on all these things and writes a story with hilarity, good props, red herrings, and seemingly familiar characters. So many "Easter eggs" and homages and little hints about other books make this a nested joy. For example, the second half of chapter eight, in which a visit is made to Garbin's house is absolutely awesome writing. The stoic straight-facedness of Garbin combined with the utter ridiculousness of the props in the setting make this chapter awesome. Highly recommended that readers with wit read this novel - if only for this amusing chapter. Great vintage mystery. Easy to read, highly enjoyable. A mystery from 1940, the classic British gold age type with a map of the murder scene and the amateur detective draws up a timetable of everybody's movements and explains the crime to the police. The detective is a quirky Oxford don and this is the first in a series of at least ten. It's wartime and characters say things like "Mustn't forget to fix the blackout curtains" and mention shortages. Most of the characters are strange or unpleasant or both but the plot is nicely twisted and the writing is top notch. I felt chuffed at recognizing quotations and certainly missed a lot more, and love his habit of saying "Oh my ears and whiskers!" I immediately ordered more Gervase Fen mysteries from Powell's. Gervase Fen and his friend, Geoffrey Vintner, are in the town of Tolnbridge where shenanigans are afoot and church organists are dropping left and right. In fact, Vintner nearly becomes a fatality on the way to join Fen. An amusing mystery, with many literary allusions, the mystery itself is pretty good, although solvable, I missed some of the clues which told me why I was correct. Probably because I was skimming the parts which annoyed me. The characters didn't seem consistent, and their moods and temperaments were difficult to justify. Also, similar weird names left me befuddled because the ones which bore them had no special characteristics to set them apart. In spite of all that, it was an enjoyable read, but I won't be seeking out more Crispin novels to read. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesGervase Fen (2) Belongs to Publisher SeriesDuMont's Kriminal-Bibliothek (1105) Penguin Books (1303)
This 1945 classic British mystery from "a master of the whodunnit . . . combines a flawless plot, witty dialogue and a touch of surreal hilarity" (The New York Times Book Review). On holiday in the town of Tolnbridge with his butterfly net in hand, Prof. Gervase Fen, Oxford don of English Literature, is all set for a good frolic when he learns that the cathedral organist has been murdered. With Scotland Yard unable to make sense of the crime, Fen stands ready to step in. Whether he's chasing butterflies or catching criminals, it's all the same to this amateur sleuth with a penchant for literary allusions and an uncanny knack for solving the unsolvable: like why a small-town church musician would be mixed up with a local coven of witches-or a spy ring of Nazi sympathizers? Finding the answers provides endless amusement for Fen-and for readers as well-in this golden age English detective novel from Edmund Crispin, "an absolute must for devotees of cultivated crime fiction." -Kirkus Reviews Praise for the mysteries of Edmund Crispin "A marvellous comic sense." -P. D. James, New York Times-bestselling author of the Inspector Adam Dalgliesh series "Master of fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek mystery novels, a blend of John Dickson Carr, Michael Innes, M.R. James, and the Marx Brothers." -Anthony Boucher, author of the Fergus O'Breen series "One of the most literate mystery writers of the twentieth century." -The Boston Globe "Beneath a formidable exterior he had unsuspected depths of frivolity." -Philip Larkin, author of A Girl in Winter "One of the last exponents of the classical English detective story." -The Times (London.) No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Crispin had incorporated a bit of an occult aside in "The Case of the Gilded Fly"; he throws in a whole lot more of the occult in this book, and it is all completely unnecessary.
The criminals are also German spies, who receive their comeuppance, so just the right propaganda for war time. I can't recall a single reference to rationing, but soldiers are very much in evidence in the train stations.
The opening passage describes a trip involving a taxi, a stop at a sports shop, and then a train ride from Paddington along the south coast. Parts of this description are wildly humorous, the encounter in the sports equipment shop especially so.
Colin Watson did not write his first novel until the late 50s, but I can see a Crispin influence in Watson's depiction of groups consisting mostly of offensive individuals; Crispin's descriptions of train passengers, etc. were less kind than Michael Innes's, and Watson's descriptions of almost everybody but the few he spared, were unsparing. ( )