June Wright (1) (1919–2012)

I was really hoping to love this. Supposedly June Wright's "Mother Paul" was the first nun sleuth (it's a thing), and as that's a sub-genre I really enjoy, I was excited by the prospect of reading this pioneering story.

Sadly, almost every character in this book is wholly unlikeable, including Mother Paul. I'm willing to lay some blame at the feet of my own modern twenty-first century sensibilities, as opposed to those of 1960, but my quibbles would likely be the same, even if I had read it show more when first published. The young women at the University of Melbourne leave much to be desired, as the vast majority are whiny, fickle, mean, and/or duplicitous. Mother Paul herself is sketchy and manipulative, and seems to operate very much in the background. Miss Marple or Sister Fidelma she is not. Instead the protagonist (maybe) seems to be Elizabeth, who is perhaps the most typecast as the easily-shocked, 1960's version of a feminist who uses her wiles to make her nondescript fiancé jealous when he strings her along for too many years.

The big reveal was a bit of a let down, only because I cared so little for any of the characters that it came as a relief just to be done with it. Detective Savage is potentially the only truly likeable character, and he too must tolerate the whims of the Mother Superior.

Lucy Sussex's introduction is a worthwhile read, and contextualizes Wright's choice of a nun as her star sleuth in an important light. It is also important to note that Wright's life took a different path and she did not continue writing as many Mother Paul mysteries as she would have liked. That is a pity, because one gets the sense that Mother Paul might have developed and grown to be more than a conniving interloper. show less

What the blurb above does not say is that the main reason this novel was "consigned to her bottom drawer" was that the author's usual publisher rejected this offering in the 1950s because of negative reviews by three of their pre-publishing readers.

I can understand what attracted scathing comments from these readers. First of all I think Wright meant this as a spoof on the genre. The murder victim is a publisher known for his scathing comments about would-be authors and the books they gave show more him to read, but also an unlikeable person who tried his invective out on most of those who came within range. The amateur sleuth who thinks the murder is not accidental is his nephew, but he didn't like Athol Sefton any more than most people. He just thinks the local doctor and policeman are bumbling idiots.

Enter an odd plot strand - the victim himself was under observation by the Victoria police for the murder of his wife, actually a cold case, with the second suspect being the nephew who used to send her boxes of chocolates.

The style in which all this is written is, at first, a bit hard to take. She writes as if she has swallowed the dictionary, a rather pompous version of English which I think was supposed to point the finger at more academic writers from the Golden Age- lots of five syllable words appear in the narrative. The style changes a little for the better in the latter half of the novel. I think it was supposed to imitate the thinking style of the voice of the narrator which did change from section to section of the novel, but was nearly always that of the nephew.

So there we have it - a country house murder set in the style of Agatha Christie (to whom there is the odd reference), located in rural Victoria in the 1950s. The location is near the Murray River at a hotel called The Duck and Dog Inn. The timing: the opening of theduck shooting season.

I spent some time considering whether I thought Wright intended this as a spoof or not, and therefore how I should rate it. I think she did, but her original readers misunderstood, or disapproved. Other bits of humour emerge, even a romantic element. So it may well have been "ahead of its time", but she doesn't quite pull it off. show less

When browsing mysteries I discovered this mystery by June Wright and was instantly reminded of the captivating drama titled "Cable Girls" that I watched last year on Netflix, set in Madrid in the 1920s sharing the story of 4 women working at The National Telephone Company. As I was reading the mystery I visualized the architecture of the building used for "Cable Girls" as the exterior and interior were quite exquisite.

I would encourage every reader to enjoy the "Preface" to learn more about show more June Wright and I also found it rewarding to read the "Preface" again after enjoying the mystery. It came as no surprise that the author was once a telephonist at the Central Telephone Exchange in Melbourne. The intricate details that added the most intrigue were not only the mechanics of the operations but clearly understanding and conveying the "dance" of alternating shift schedules from daytime to nighttime as well as the individual that was designated to cover so coworkers could take their breaks to how the different personalities of women working together are reflected in how they respond to one another.

The author's favorite detective novel was written by Dorothy L. Sayers so it is also no surprise that June Wright's first crime novel reflects the same writing style. There were a few times that I felt the mystery could have been shorter as I didn't need sleuth Maggie Byrnes to repeat the history of her "findings to date" when only a little tidbit of information was added. But it also became easy to gloss over as it was simply part of the author's portrayal of the character with this repetitive aspect of mulling things over to be part of Maggie's investigative technique to solve the various questions that would lead her to the answers needed for means, motive, and opportunity. After all, it was the author's first detective novel and therefore Maggie's first time as an amateur sleuth. show less

Before any rumours get started, when I read MURDER IN THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE many years ago, it wasn't quite as far back as 1948! No idea where that copy sadly disappeared to, but the book was one of those Golden Era, mostly by female author's books that got me started on a life long love of Crime Fiction. Particularly if it has a very strong sense of place and time.

Which is something you really get from MURDER IN THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. For a start June Wright had worked in a telephone show more exchange herself, so she knew the "mechanics" of how the systems worked; and she obviously was a keen observer of her fellow workers, as she has been able to put together some excellent characterisations in this book. Given this was also her debut novel it's remarkably competent on a number of levels.

Of course, it is one of those Golden Era novels which means it's considerably more wordy and mannered than books written these days. There's also quite a strong sense of 1940's sensibility - with young working women seemingly focused on catching a husband, and much whispering behind hands about any "spinster's" in the group. What's less expected is an illicit love affair. Not that that sort of thing never went on, but it was quite surprising to come across even the suggestion of such in a book of this era. But there's a lot about this book that feels real and seems quite brave for the time. Of course that's combined with touches of the technicalities of how those exchanges worked which, for this reader, was actually quite interesting, as was the whole idea of so much work based facilities - canteens, sleeping facilities and so on. (Even in my early working days we were down to the twice daily tea lady only!)

The saddest part of the republishing of MURDER IN THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE really has to be how long it's taken. June Wright's books deserve a considerably wider audience and really should be part of the whole Golden Era consideration. It's always amazed this reader just how much local crime fiction has been written, over such a long period of time and how much of it has slipped from notice - particularly, it seems, that of many of our female writers.

Dark Passage / Verse Chorus Press are republishing a range of June Wright's books - starting out with MURDER IN THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, followed, also in 2014 by a previously unpublished book DUCK SEASON DEATH. From there her remaining five Mother Paul books are scheduled to appear over the next two years. Hopefully this is the beginning of a resurgence of interest in both June Wright's writing, and in many of our other Golden Era writers who have slipped from the radar.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-murder-telephone-exchange-june-wri... show less