Detective Fiction And SF

See previous blog discussions of Poul Anderson's three detective novels:

Murder Bound

Perish By The Sword

Murder In Black Letter

 

Detective fiction is remarkably constrained in space, time, plot and theme when contrasted with sf. Furthermore, the explanation of the detective's reasoning in the concluding chapter transforms a novel from a work of literature into something more like a crossword puzzle.

 

Maybe the explanatory passages in the three Trygve Yamamura novels (see above) are not overly obtrusive? - although rereading these works yet again is not on my current agenda.

Also, reading Poul Anderson's mysteries has not inspired me to read much other detective fiction. I was already a fan of Holmes (also here and here.) I got into Montalbano through television. Many of Asimov's Black Widowers stories are trivial. I think that I have found yet another instance of under-explanation in The Mysterious Affair At Styles.

 

I will stay with sf. (See also Getting Into Detective Fiction, Maybe...)  

Murder In Black Letter, Chapter 20

Murder In Black Letter, 20.

This concluding chapter is an extended action sequence which for me is an anticlimax. Kintyre goes to where the villain might be and sees a parked car which is unlocked. As in Anderson's Murder Bound, the owner's name is in registration information on the steering column. Thus, Kintyre confirms that the villain is nearby and also is able to sabotage his car. The rest is a fight on a dark beach. There is one further Machiavelli quotation but this one is from his private correspondence. Anderson's following volume, Murder Bound, does not tell us what becomes of Kintyre and Corrine.

We artificially differentiate the contemporary from the cosmic although, of course, the former is merely a minute part of the latter. Inhabitants of extra-solar planets must also have their domestic affairs. We will maybe follow up these posts on the Trygve Yamamura novels by quoting some descriptions of contemporary scenes in Anderson's sf and fantasy novels where the author makes the cosmic setting explicit.

Murder In Black Letter, Chapter 19

Murder In Black Letter, 19.

"Games theory," murmured the telephone. "You plan your strategy on the basis of the strategy your opponent would plan on the basis of the information you believe him to have.

Games theory is a link to some of Poul Anderson's futuristic sf. See here. Although this is rarely even mentioned in contemporary fiction, some sort of future history lies ahead of Yamamura's period and it could be one of the futures described in another work or series by Anderson.

There is another quote from Machiavelli:

"'One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves,'" recited Kintyre in Machiavelli's Italian. "'Those that wish to be only lions do not understand this.'"

- and I skipped past one about women in an intervening chapter. We have now reached the end of the penultimate chapter of this novel. It remains for the hero to rescue the heroine and apprehend the villain.

Murder In Black Letter, Chapter 18

Murder In Black Letter, 18.

you can try that on the switchboard girl for recognitionor. Does the phone office keep records of such things?

Should this passage read:

"'...you can try that on the switchboard girl for recognition or does the phone office keep records of such things?'"?

"This time he had two metal legs and he paid.

Metal legs?

This is that chapter in a detective novel where past events are summarized and explained and it is recognized that incidental incidents were in fact clues, e.g.:

when I told him Margery's place had already been raided, it was a shock

Yes, that character did respond with surprise or shock at that point in the conversation in a previous chapter. That obviously meant something although I had no idea what.

This chapter ends as follows, with Yamamura's pov:

Kintyre and Yamamura speak by phone;
Kintyre breaks off in mid-sentence;
his voice trails off;
his receiver crashes down;
he rings back to say that he has just rung someone who should have been home but there was no answer....

Another moment of realization and another possible murder...

I am summarizing the structure rather than the content of a detective novel.

Endgame

Murder In Black Letter by Poul Anderson.

Chapter 15 ends when Yamamura asks Kintyre, "'Who is our man?'" Chapter 16 begins when Kintyre tells him. Yamamura, surprised, almost drops his pipe. Kintyre explains his reasoning. This is definitely a "Robert Kintyre, Amateur Detective" novel, not a "Trygve Yamamura, Private Detective" novel.

There are twenty chapters. Is the rest of the narrative just the tracking down of the now identified master villain? I remember that there is a culminating chase sequence represented by the cover illustration.

I will continue to reread because I always find other interesting details in Anderson's texts.

Two Details In Murder In Black Letter

I ask not, "What does 'East Lynne' mean?' but why does Guido say:

"Next week, East Lynne."
-copied from 15, here.

Despite Yamamura being back on stage, Kintyre continues to do all the detective work:

What else was there? Some information on crime in the Mediterranean countries. And—God help us!"
The table went over with a crash as Kintyre stood up. It was not himself who screamed: "Margery! She's next in line!"
-copied from 16, here.

This is a moment of realization and Margery has been found with her throat cut at the end of Chapter 16. Four chapters left and I expect to find something of interest in each of them.

Fear And Counter-Fear

Poul Anderson, Murder In Black Letter, 14.


Yamamura and two companions question a man who is afraid to divulge what he knows about armed criminals. Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander interrogates a man in exactly this situation. Lisbeth's technique is to make the man more afraid of him. He stands upright with a noose around his neck. If she paralyses him with a taser, then his muscles will relax...

I must read on to learn how Yamamura fares with his potential informant. Consecutive blog readers might deduce that I am not gripped by this Yamaura novel. However, any text written by Poul Anderson deserves our attention. I always appreciate his style and literary techniques and pursue strange words and phrases as in some recent posts. In fact, I never know what to expect from his narratives as in life.

A Robert Kintyre Novel

Poul Anderson's Murder In Black Letter is not a Trygve Yamamura novel but a novel about Robert Kintyre with Yamamura in it. This broadens the perspective of the fictional universe as when:

Nicholas van Rijn gives way to his protege, David Falkayn;

one short story features David's grandson and a later novel features a direct descendant;

John Ridenour, introduced in a Dominic Flandry novel, reappears in a shorter work;

Flandry is succeeded by his daughter;

Manse Everard's protege, Wanda Tamberly, becomes the central character of some later Time Patrol episodes;

two other Patrol agents also lead stories;

Steve Matuchek's daughter, Valeria, is born in Operation Chaos, a teenager in Operation Luna and a young woman who meets Holger Danske from Three Hearts And Three Lions in the Old Phoenix in A Midsummer Tempest;

van Rijn also visits the Old Phoenix -

- a list of character interactions that begins and ends with van Rijn.

Any Other Faith

Poul Anderson, Murder In Black Letter, 9.

His brain querned until he brought it under control. Damn it, Trig was right, there was no reason on God's earth ever to tense any muscle not actually working; and the same held true for the mind. An emotional stew would grind him down and get him to the Bishop no sooner.
It was a hard discipline, though. Kintyre had no urge to embrace Zen Buddhism, or any other faith for that matter; but he would have given much to possess the self-mastery it taught.
-copied from the above link.

You do not need to believe in supernatural entities or in rebirth.
"Faith" can be trust in meditation.
Do not try to control the brain.
Let it quern.
Let go of each thought.
Watch thoughts flow and pass.

L.L.?

Poul Anderson, Murder In Black Letter, 8.

Another quote from Machiavelli:

A line from The Prince came: "... it is better to be impetuous than cautious, for fortune is a woman—"

Kintyre finds that the murdered man had scribbled "L.L." several times in the margin of the Book of Witches. He has no idea what it means. Neither have I, despite having read this novel once before. I could list the Superman supporting characters who have the initials, L.L., but Poul Anderson fans would not thank me for that.

Chapter 8 (of 20) ends with the palimpsest stolen and it is time for me to drive to the Gregson Centre (scroll down) to meet John and Kevin. England prevails!

(Lancaster for Europe meets every Wednesday in the Gregson and hogs the top table that we Englishmen (but that is not a political label) like. They are probably even more active at present.)

Italian Connections

Poul Anderson, Murder In Black Letter, 8.

Robert Kintyre, still amateur sleuthing, lists the Italian connections of nearly all the relevant characters. I thought, "Mafia." He comments:

"'Holy Hieronymus,' muttered Kintyre, 'next thing I'll be looking for a Black Hand.'"

A guy I knew who teaches in Sicily and has seen Montalbano filmed said that:

protection money is like tax;

Sicilians who say that the Mafia is a myth are Mafia whereas those who say that of course there is Mafia are not;

when a company receives a phone call saying, e.g., "Your new cleaner stars on Monday," the correct response is "Thank you."

Inside The Alley Cat

Poul Anderson, Murder In Black Letter, 6.

"Do you know," murmured Kintyre, "I think this really is a case for the police. Ever hear of citizen's arrest?"
-copied from the above link.

How does citizen's arrest work? I have sometimes imagined a John Citizen/Daily Mail "Have A Go" Hero type approaching me on the street with something like: "I saw you on that violent demonstration today. I am taking you on citizen's arrest to the nearest police station." I would accompany him with interest, curious about the outcome. (Since I am long retired, I am even less concerned than previously about the consequences of possible arrest.)

A person who makes a citizen's arrest could risk exposing him or herself to possible lawsuits or criminal charges – such as charges of false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, kidnapping, or wrongful arrest – if the wrong person is apprehended or a suspect's civil rights are violated.^[4] This is especially true when police forces are attempting to determine who an aggressor is. Private citizens do not enjoy the same immunity from civil liability when making arrests on other private citizens as do police officers.
-copied from here. 

Since I would not resist any person making a citizen's arrest, he would not be in any danger of criminal charges (I hope). 

A Chianti bottle is thrown in a bar fight. I suppose that we should have seen that coming. And the bartender wields a bungstarter. Anderson choreographs the fight. This guy, Kintyre, neither a policeman nor a private investigator, goes around interrogating dangerous people and having to defend himself against physical attacks. He needs to hand the case over to Trygve Yamamura. 

Time And Place: Candles In Chianti Bottles

Poul Anderson, Murder In Black Letter, 6.

San Francisco, about 1960:

the Alley Cat in a quiet, shabby, tough subdistrict of North Beach;

stairs down to a door with a painted name and a formidable bouncer;

a dark, low room;

abstract murals and mobiles;

bar, deep booths and tables packing the floor;

candles "...in old, wax-crusted Chianti bottles...";

typical patrons, described with contempt;

a singing Italian guitarist -

- atmosphere.

Machiavelli

This blog has mentioned Machiavelli (scroll down) a lot. Dominic Flandry studies him.

In Poul Anderson's Murder In Black Letter, Robert Kintyre is a Renaissance historian. Thus, Anderson's knowledge of history will yet again influence the plot of one of his novels.

Machiavelli is quoted at least twice:

"He who does not choose the path of good, chooses to take the path of evil," said Machiavelli's Discourses...
-copied from Chapter 4 (see the above link).

'... the best fortress is to be found in the love of the people.'
-copied from Chapter 2.

From this point, Anderson fans can delve further into Macchiavelli if they are so inclined.

Terminology In Murder In Black Letter

Murder In Black Letter by Poul Anderson.

incunabula (3)
La Vecchia religione (3)
a propos des bottes (3)
De mortuis nil nisi bonum (2)
claque (2)
calabash pipe (2)
why-buy-a-cow (2)
jerkwater (2)
dojo (1)
epee (1)

Some terminology is completely unfamiliar. All is interesting to google. There are twenty chapters. The list will grow.

Involvement In History II

An occasional scenario in either historical or time travel fiction:

an important event happens exactly as described by historians;

behind the scenes, a fictional character unknown to history plays a crucial role in bringing about the occurrence of the event.

Examples:

the Scipios survived the battle at Ticinus, thanks to the intervention of two stun gun-wielding Time Patrol agents disguised as Roman soldiers;

Oliver Cromwell was not assassinated when refusing the crown, thanks to the intervention of secret agent, Nicholas Pym - but a fanfare covered the sound of Pym's gun.

I encountered a similar situation on a smaller scale. A trade union branch secretary was caught between his members who wanted to march through town and a policeman who was telling him that they could not do that. Behind the scenes of history, as it were, a local political organizer quietly advised the branch secretary, "Just march. What can they do but police the demonstration as they always do?" And that is what happened. Labor history records only that workers marched, not that a "Trot" (Trotskyist) crucially intervened.

As before, Poul Anderson's Murder In Black Letter is less easy to read on screen and must compete with more attractive looking, newer items like the Bentham Final Years volume. However, everything will be read, just not on any particular timetable. Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.

E Book

This time, blog readers can, if they want, read Poul Anderson's Murder In Black Letter here while I reread and post about it here. It is a different experience, reading on screen. This is the second of Anderson's three Trygve Yamamura detective novels, following Perish By The Sword. The interest in swords continues because the novel opens with Yamamura and his friend, Robert Kintyre, fencing and they mention Japanese Samurai swords which we know that Yamamura collects.

A policeman informs them that a young acquaintance of Kintyre has been murdered and the point of view stays with Kintyre, not with the detective. And that is as far as I have got.

To my surprise, when googling for relevant images, I found that Murder In Black Letter has been published with several variant covers. I remember the novel, from one previous reading, as a combination of interesting background information and, to me, uninteresting chase scenes. However, every other novel by Anderson reveals interesting content on further readings and I do not expect this one to be any exception.

The Current Agenda

To finish reading The Hammer by SM Stirling and David Drake where it seems that much battle preparation is soon to be followed by much battle.

To read for only the second time Murder In Black Letter by Poul Anderson which is on line here and was previously discussed here.

This evening, instead, to reread a Stieg Larsson novel while recuperating from a comrade's late night sixtieth birthday party with Irish rebel songs at the Toll House followed by an early drive to Leighton Moss. (Scroll down.)

Maybe to see some TV news about British politics, currently weirder than fiction.

Britain's relationship to Europe has gone Heisenberg. Alternative presents and immediate futures are superimposed. Sf writers might contribute by conceptualizing alternative speculative outcomes.

Conrad Lauring's POV

In Perish By The Sword: Stefanik.
In Murder In Black Letter: Kintyre.
In Murder Bound: Lauring. (Scroll down.)

In each of these mystery novels by Poul Anderson, the character named above is a more prominent viewpoint character than the detective, Trygve Yamamura.

At least, currently rereading the third novel, I have not yet looked ahead but, so far:

Chapter i, Conrad Lauring's point of view;
ii, Yamamura's pov;
iii, Lauring.

Yamamura seems to be squeezed out of his own books.

The opening paragraph of iii informs us that Lauring:

spends Saturday "...shopping for a used car..." (p 25);
buys a Citroen;
is "...still under the delusion that ten thousand dollars to his name made him wealthy." (ibid.)

POV Cop
That entire paragraph is narrated from Lauring's pov except for the second half of the concluding sentence. Lauring cannot know that he is under a delusion. Therefore, it is the omniscient narrator who comments by using the word "delusion." To remain within the character's pov, the text would have had to read something like: "The car was expensive but he was still well off with his ten thousand dollars," with the readers hopefully well informed enough to know that this is not the case.

Anderson And Others

("Ander" is a name but "anders" also means "other.")

As you know, I hope, the main focus of this blog always remains Poul Anderson. Other authors, notably SM Stirling, are discussed because they are both relevant and of interest. (EE Smith would be relevant as a writer of space opera but of less interest to me as a reader.)

The dilemma for the Poul Anderson Appreciation blogger is: which work by Poul Anderson to reread next? A scan through the collections should disclose some short stories that have not been reread recently. However, surprises are also possible. Ali Romer's review of Anderson's first detective novel prompted me to reread that work in order first to appreciate Anderson's evocation of "time and place," as commended by Ali, and secondly to assess the novel specifically as detective fiction, an aspect that had not really interested me before. On previous readings, I had not even tried to deduce who the murderer was and in any case had by now forgotten! This time I guessed right but certainly had not deduced any of the ramifications of the complicated plot - in two senses of the word, "plot."

So should Anderson's Murder Bound be reread next? (I do not have a copy of Murder In Black Letter and had to read it online.) Will I make some attempt to deduce who did it? Again, I do not remember. What do I remember from the book?-

sympathetic treatment of a Communist character;
an interesting use of the word, "environmentalism";
hints at supernaturalism, as with the cursed sword in Perish By The Sword;
thus, relevance of Anderson's fantasy, "The Tale of Hauk";
relevance of the fact that San Francisco is a port;
passages clearly reminding us that Anderson also wrote sf.

But there will be much that I have totally forgotten.