Classic Academic Mystery. This 1937 mystery fits the criteria for genre: set in a university department, professor as detective, an international cast, erudite dialogue, recondite digressions, and mild gibes at scholarly manners and ways.
The Case of the Seven of Calvary – Anthony Boucher
In his first mystery, the author takes pleasure is satirizing the conventions of the Golden Age mystery. For instance, the professor-detective, like Nero Wolfe, never stirs out of his rooms to investigate the crime. In fact, he has a graduate student be his ArchieGoodwin, getting out and talking to persons of interest.
The grad student narrates the story in a faux-sophisticated tone, brash like Archie Goodwin too. In an outrageous post-modern technique, the grad student and Boucher meet in a chinwag to confirm with each other that fair-play has been the byword, that clues needed to solve the mystery have indeed be given to the reader.
The story moves steadily through plenty of action. Boucher misdirects too but the long-time mystery reader, while alert to being fooled, will not be cheated out of a good surprise either. It’s impressive that Boucher developed such a crackerjack story his first time out.
This book well deserves its classic status. Although he
did not return to a campus setting, Boucher (rhymes with voucher, I think, not bouquet) wrote many more mysteries and short
stories, even producing science fiction. For many years he was the mystery
reviewer for the New York Times. He has a world convention of mystery fandom named
after him, Bouchercon.
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