Was It Murder?

An interesting one this - the only crime novel written by the writer of "Lost Horizon" and "Goodbye Mr Chips" (and due to it's boarding school setting, distinctly closer to the latter). Not quite a lost classic but also with lots of elements which are rather striking and unique in the genre. The problems first - it's screamingly obvious who did it and Hilton badly fudges the misdirection. He also badly misjudges when to wheel out the big conclusion - because he's aiming for something akin to psychological realism he mistakenly swaps a dramatic and satisfying denouement for revealing the murderer two chapters before the end and just letting the detectives waffle on for a bit. And for a school story nary a single student gets a walk on show more part - despite the fact two of them are victims of the murderer. But the good things are *very* good - he has a simplicity and directness of prose which helps his slight story and the whole thing is tremendously pacy. The hero is just the right side of engaging and not too crass (as he could easily have been) and the twist whereby the amateur detective's work is revealed to have hindered the professional's job (a similar idea to that in "The Cartwright Garden Mystery" by J S Fletcher but better developed) is nicely done. Similarly almost all the supporting characters are nicely drawn, particularly the shell shocked and war wounded teacher Lambourne whose character will, I think, be the most striking thing I will carry from this book. Recommended but be warned, it will madden you just as much as delights you. show less

Was It Murder? (1931) by James Hilton. Writing under the name Glen Trevor, Hilton penned this, his only mystery, just a few short years before his masterworks Goodbye My. Chips and Lost Horizon. Although a mystery, you can feel the author’s growing abilities to depict character and setting, especially while evoking the lead character’s feelings upon returning to his alma mater, Oakington School, where he spent many formative years before progressing to Oxford and his real life, such as it is.
Colin Revell is something of a slacker, to use the modern term. Oh, he wrote the expected book after graduation and pays his bills on time, but other then pen a few lines for literary magazines and visiting with friends, he has not much to show more show for his time. There was that neat little mystery, something about a missing manuscript that he managed to settle without too much embarrassment to anyone involved, but that was a while ago. And he is writing an epic poem about Don Juan so he’s got that going for him.
But it was the quiet solving of the manuscript problem which has the Headmaster of Oakington inviting him for a long weekend. Seems one of the boys managed to get himself killed while sleeping. A large gas fitting, for the lighting of the dorm rooms (this is set in 1927) fell onto his head, killing him instantly. The question of course is, was it murder?
A few days at his old school provides no evidence of foul play so it is back to London for Colin. A few months pass when he reads of another death at his school. Odd coincidence perhaps, but the newly dead boy is the brother of the first dead boy. Colin heeds the call to action for his old school.
Something is rotten at Oakington and soon even Scotland Yard is on the case. But again clues are scarce and those that arise merely point nowhere. Scotland Yard retires from the case but Colin stays on. There is the matter of the fetching young wife of the prime suspect who is a master at the school. She and Colin share several interludes, and he has a growing attachment to her.
A third death arouses more consternation, but it isn’t until there is an attempt on Colin’s life that things get really moving.
The story is okay, not a deep mystery at all with, from what I have seen on the internet, the majority of readers claiming to have solved the riddle of who the killer might be. The trouble with this story is that Colin needs a Watson, someone to talk over part of what he is thinking. Having the lead character ponder the clues and talking to himself leaves the wary reader with the knowledge that Colin will not, in all likelihood, tell us who the killer is while naming everyone else. By avoiding naming people as suspects the writer invites his readers to pinpoint the killer.
A shame really as this could have been a first-rate mystery. There were certainly enough false leads strewn about the place, and a surprising number of deaths that were not murder. Still, not a great book. But rest easy, Mr. Hilton would soon return to the ‘Old School” motif with a much better tale. show less

A nice fun break in my reading.....an English boarding school murder mystery. ...I love the setting, am always intrigued by the traditions and language of the English and very much enjoyed the always changing perspective relative to the 3 mysterious deaths and their likely causes. It felt a little forced a few times, but i have no regrets.....i have 8 other James Hilton books on the shelf and may just move on to the next one....heard about them for years, but i have no idea as to what they are about.

TheTortoise talked so much about James Hilton last year that I decided I needed to read something by him. This was a book my library had that I had not read and I have a mystery category in my 999. I didn’t know that Hilton had written a mystery and I’m curious now if he wrote any more. This was a mystery set in a boys’ school in England which starts with the protagonist, a former student himself, being called in to decide if a death of a student was an accident or murder. Although I knew almost immediately who the culprit was, there were many twists and turns and surprises before the final solution was reached. A very entertaining Sunday afternoon read and highly recommended for fans of older English mysteries. For me, it was a 4 show more star read, for others who like this kind of thing it would probably be a 3 star read, so I’ll compromise and give it 3 ½ stars. show less