Originally published in 1932, this is the first Crime Classic novel written by an MP. And fittingly, the crime scene is within the House of Commons itself, in which a financier has been shot dead.
Entreated by the financier’s daughter, a young parliamentary private secretary turns sleuth to find the identity of the murderer – the world of politics proving itself to be domain not only of lies and intrigue, but also danger.Wilkinson’s own political career positioned her perfectly for this accurate but also sharply satirical novel of double cross and rivalries within the seat of the British Government.
Blurb from the 2018 British Library Crime Classics Edition
This is a wonderful find. Ellen Wilkinson, it transpires, was one of the first female MPs, and a friend and contemporary of Lady Astor. She was Labour MP for Jarrow and famous for a prominent role in the 1936 Jarrow March, as well as her flamboyant outfits, red hair and her affairs with various leading political figures.
Perhaps it was no surprise that she should set her first crime novel in the House of Commons.
A wealthy American financier is having dinner with the Home Secretary in one of the Commons private dining rooms. The Home Secretary has to leave to vote before the 9 o’clock Division bell is rung.
Young Private Secretary Robert West is in the corridor outside Room J when a shot is heard. Rushing to the room he finds the Home Secretary’s guest dead, shot through the chest, his gun beside him on the floor. Mr Oissel’s daughter however is adamant that her father would not commit suicide, and subsequent events tend to suggest she is correct. The victim’s house is burgled and one of his staff, on loan from the Home Secretary, found dead.
Robert West becomes a willing sleuth, working with Inspector Blackitt and at some points coming to blows with Sir George Gleeson, the very epitomy of the soul of the Civil Service.
The denouement is a little brief and the explanation of means of death a little far fetched, but we can forgive Wilkinson that.
It’s an engrossing and fascinating read and features – others have suggested – thinly veiled portraits of the author and Lady Astor in the form of Gracie Richards and the wonderfully sketched Lady Bell-Clinton.
One also gets a fascinating and no doubt realistic view of the day to day workings of the House of Commons in the Thirties. Someone in the novel suggests that the whole proceedings should be filmed so that the public can see how foolishly the government and opposition behave. It is now and we can.
Not a lot has changed it seems.
Bodies In The Library 