Mystery in White

September 15, 2014
Age has not diminished this wintry tale, originally published in 1937, from British crime novelist Farjeon (1883–1955), whose Number 17 was the basis of the Hitchcock film of the same name. A train leaving London’s Euston Station is stalled indefinitely by heavy snow. The occupants of a third-class train compartment opt to strike out on foot for nearby Hemmersby. Edward Maltby, of the Royal Psychical Society, goes first, followed by a group of four comprised of David and Lydia Carrington (brother and sister), clerk Robert Thomson, and chorus girl Jessie Noyes. Leaving singly are elderly bore Hopkins and a cockney calling himself Mr. Smith. They find a house unlocked and unoccupied but obviously ready for company. The house holds many secrets that will be revealed only at a high price. By the time the storm ends, four people will have been murdered, and the survivors, not the police, will deliver justice in the satisfying ending.

A train carrying an ill-assorted collection of passengers runs into a snowbank in a fantasy-world 1930s, and--but wait, this isn't Murder on the Orient Express, though it was originally published only three years later.When a Christmas Eve blizzard brings their journey from Euston Station to an untimely halt, the passengers--David Carrington and his sister, Lydia; clerk Robert Thomson; chorine Jessie Noyes; Edward Maltby, of the Royal Psychical Society; and an old bore named Hopkins --severally leave their carriage seeking the Hemmersby train station. Hopelessly lost, they're reunited when they all take refuge in Valley House, a dwelling where the kettle is boiling and the table hospitably set for tea even though the place is deserted. It's enough to rattle anyone, even before they discover a knife on the kitchen floor. Hopkins, whose unannounced discovery of a corpse in the neighboring train compartment gave him a particularly compelling reason to strike out in the snow, is especially rattled, and his temper doesn't improve when he learns of a Cockney arrival at Valley House called Smith, who insists he was never on the train even though he drops a ticket to Manchester at Maltby's feet. It's Maltby who takes the lead in shepherding his bewildered fellow travelers through an intricate, ingenious, and increasingly improbable series of inferences that end by uncovering a fiendish domestic conspiracy that's left four homicides in its wake. Both the tale and its cast will have jumped the shark repeatedly and pleasurably, at least for fans of agreeably decorous thrills, by the time Christmas finally dawns. Farjeon (1883-1955) provides a superior example of the Old Dark House genre, this time with snow, that will remind readers with long memories of his play No. 17, impudently filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1932. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2016
When the British Library reissued this long-forgotten mystery from 1937 in the UK shortly before Christmas 2014, it became an unexpected hit, right up there with blockbusters like Gone Girl and The Goldfinch. This Christmas Crime Story, as the subtitle dubs it, may well strike a chord with U.S. readers, too. Farjeon starts with a blizzard that piles up record snowfall in the days before Christmas; then the narrative zeroes in on one country-bound train that becomes completely blocked in the snow. The focus narrows still further, as Farjeon follows the passengers in one compartment (including a chorus girl, an elderly bore, an exceptionally nervous young man, and a sensible brother and sister) who decide to leave the train and find shelter. They find a country house with door open, fire blazing, and tea kettle boiling, but no inhabitants. As a peculiarly upsetting mood develops, made up of equal parts cozy cheer and mounting menace, the country-house party learns that a murder was committed on the train before they left. There will be two more murders before Christmas. The characters are well drawn, especially as they unravel under pressure. The settings of train, blizzard, and the eerily welcoming home are all engrossing. Dorothy L. Sayers characterized Farjeon as unsurpassed for creepy skill in mysterious adventures. This reissue proves it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2016
A train carrying an ill-assorted collection of passengers runs into a snowbank in a fantasy-world 1930s, andbut wait, this isnt Murder on the Orient Express, though it was originally published only three years later.When a Christmas Eve blizzard brings their journey from Euston Station to an untimely halt, the passengersDavid Carrington and his sister, Lydia; clerk Robert Thomson; chorine Jessie Noyes; Edward Maltby, of the Royal Psychical Society; and an old bore named Hopkins severally leave their carriage seeking the Hemmersby train station. Hopelessly lost, theyre reunited when they all take refuge in Valley House, a dwelling where the kettle is boiling and the table hospitably set for tea even though the place is deserted. Its enough to rattle anyone, even before they discover a knife on the kitchen floor. Hopkins, whose unannounced discovery of a corpse in the neighboring train compartment gave him a particularly compelling reason to strike out in the snow, is especially rattled, and his temper doesnt improve when he learns of a Cockney arrival at Valley House called Smith, who insists he was never on the train even though he drops a ticket to Manchester at Maltbys feet. Its Maltby who takes the lead in shepherding his bewildered fellow travelers through an intricate, ingenious, and increasingly improbable series of inferences that end by uncovering a fiendish domestic conspiracy thats left four homicides in its wake. Both the tale and its cast will have jumped the shark repeatedly and pleasurably, at least for fans of agreeably decorous thrills, by the time Christmas finally dawns. Farjeon (1883-1955) provides a superior example of the Old Dark House genre, this time with snow, that will remind readers with long memories of his play No. 17, impudently filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1932.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.