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Golden Age Author Anthony Berkeley
183 Plays6 months ago
Brook and Sarah explore the life and writing of Golden Age author Anthony Berkeley, founder of the Detection Club and author of several novels under different pen names.
Discussed
The Layton Court Mystery (1925) Anthony Berkeley (originally published as by "?")
The Winteringham Mystery (1927) Anthony Berkeley (originally published as by A. Monmouth Platts)
The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929) Anthony Berkeley
Murder in the Basement (1932) Anthony Berkeley
The Red House Mystery (1922) A.A. Milne
The Hunting Party (2018) Lucy Foley
The Guest List (2020) Lucy Foley
The Wychford Poisoning Case (1926) Anthony Berkeley (originally published as "by the author of The Layton Court Mystery)
Magpie Murders (2016) Anthony Horowitz
The Golden Age of Murder (2015) Martin Edwards
Before the Fact (1932) Anthony Berkeley (originally published as by Francis Iles)
Suspicion (1941 film) Alfred Hitchcock
Malice Aforethought (1931) Anthony Berkeley (originally published as by Francis Iles)
Trial and Error (1937) Anthony Berkeley
Flight from Destiny (1941 film) Vincent Sherman
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Transcript
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts' Writing Project
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome to Clued In Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke, and we both love mystery. Hi Brooke. Hi Sarah. Today we're going to talk about another Golden Age mystery author. I know I'm really looking forward to speaking about Anthony Berkeley, but before we do that, let's just chat briefly about our writing project that we are putting out into the world as we write. How do you feel like it's going, Brooke?
00:00:42
Speaker
I think it's going great. I think it's a lot of fun and it's really pushing me. Like this is something really new to me. I usually polish things up a lot before even I let my friends or my family read. So it's a great getting out of my comfort zone, but it's so much fun riding with you, Sarah. I agree. It's definitely uncomfortable, but I'm enjoying the process so far.
Anthony Berkeley: Personal History and Early Work
00:01:05
Speaker
Yeah, so if you would like to read this mystery as we write it, all the information on how to join the Clueden Cartel is on our website and we would love to have you.
00:01:16
Speaker
Okay, so let's talk about Anthony Barkley. I will do a little introduction. The eldest of three children, Anthony Barkley Cox was born in 1893 in Watford, which is now considered part of Greater London. Education was important in the Barkley Cox family. His father was a physician and inventor, and his mother had studied at university despite degrees not being granted to women at the time. She also ran a school and published a novel of her own before marrying. Berkeley studied classics at Oxford, though his siblings outshone him, with his sister earning a doctorate in music and his brother becoming a mathematician. He entered the First World War as an officer. The effects of a gas attack would impact his health for the rest of his life.
00:02:04
Speaker
After his discharge from the military in 1919, he had a series of jobs, including working as a journalist in property management and for the government. He wrote comic sketches, some with his brother, and wrote and performed in amateur theatre productions.
00:02:20
Speaker
In 1925, his first novel, The Layton Court Mystery, was published, though a question mark rather than his name appeared on the cover. This book was the first of several appearances of his writer sleuth, Roger Sheringham. In 1926, The Winteringham Mystery was published under the name A. Monmouth Platz and serialized in The Daily Mirror. The paper offered a prize for solving it, which was claimed by Archie Christie, husband of Agatha. His 1929 novel, The Poison Chocolate's Case, featured a gathering of crime lovers who each put forward their own solution to a mystery. The likely germ for this book was his fascination with true crime, an interest he shared with many of his contemporaries.
00:03:01
Speaker
In the late 1920s, Berkeley had begun organizing periodic dinners with other authors to discuss crime writing and true crime. These dinners ultimately became more formal, and in 1930, Berkeley organized the first official detection club dinner.
Berkeley's Notable Books and Innovative Storytelling
00:03:16
Speaker
Berkeley married Margaret Farrar in 1917 while he was on leave from the war. The marriage lasted until 1931, and the two remained friendly after their divorce. After that, he developed a bit of a reputation for being associated with married women, including his sister-in-law and his agent's wife, who, in 1932, married Berkeley. I imagine this was quite scandalous at the time. Throughout his career, Berkeley published under multiple pen names, A.B. Cox, Francis Iles, A. Monmouth-Flats, the question mark, and his own name.
00:03:47
Speaker
As ailes, he reviewed books for several publications in the latter part of his life. Berkeley died in 1971 in London. So Brooke, which of his books did you have a chance to read? So this week I read Murder in the Basement and I loved it. I was shocked by how modern it felt. I know that seems like kind of a ah strange thing to say, but what about you? So I read a few of his books. um I also read Murder in the Basement, which was published in 1932. He was very much a pioneer of the of the Golden Age authors. So his first book came out in 1925, and that was still pretty early on in Agatha Christie's career. I think Dorothy L. Sayers was publishing around that same time. um
00:04:37
Speaker
A.A. Milne, who was a member of the detection club, I think his book, The Red House Mystery, ah that came out in the early 1920s as well. So he was really riding that kind of wave of um detective fiction that the Golden Age is is really known for. Murder in the Basement was different in that ah the identity of the body was unknown and that was ah a big part of the mystery was trying to figure out who this was. So that was that was really interesting um and a different take on a lot of the novels of the time.
00:05:17
Speaker
Yeah, and that actually introduced me to a mystery term I hadn't heard heard of before. Martin Edwards does the introduction for that book, at least in the audio version that I listen to. And he called that a who was done in story, which is not a term. you know We talk about who done it or how done it. And then he referenced the fact that It was very cutting edge and it's, you know, still being carried out. Lucy Foley writes these type of stories. The Hunting Party and the guest list are both who was done in stories. So um I just I enjoyed learning a new mystery term. Yeah, you're right. Like I've really enjoyed Lucy Foley's books. And I think it's really interesting that the kind of origin of that style of book is 100 years ago.
00:06:06
Speaker
Exactly. And, you know, then that is just a component. Obviously, there's other than layers of the story that have to come through because once they discover who the body is, then they um then they still had to find the killer and bring them to justice. So it creates a really, I think, rich story instead of there just being one question. He's done a really great job of having like different components and and mysteries within the mystery.
00:06:35
Speaker
ah I read the Poison Chocolate Case, and so so that was published in 1929, and I believe it was published under his name, but it features um ah sharing him his sleuth, who is an author, um which you know we've talked about before, that kind of author sleuth. Yes, we love that. um And I liked the way that this mystery was set up. In this book, the set of facts is shared um to the members of the crime circle, who, ah you know, you can definitely see some parallels between that and the detection club.
00:07:14
Speaker
um And then the book is each of the ah members of the group putting forward their solution to the mystery. So some of them have gone off and done some investigating and some have just you know kind of looked at the evidence that was presented and and um put forward there their solution. Uh, and then two additional solutions have been put forward for this book, one by Christiana Brand and the second by Martin Edwards. Uh, so he he offered his solution as part of, um, the edition that was recently released by the British library. I also listened to the Whitford poisoning case, which was in 1926. That one was also published with a question mark on the cover.
00:08:02
Speaker
ah And I think that one was his take at um offering a solution to a real mystery, like ah a real case of poisoning that that had happened. um So he very much kind of drew from actual cases in developing his stories.
Pseudonyms and Personal Traits
00:08:25
Speaker
Yeah, that is so interesting. So in reference to the poison chocolates case and you know the setup, as you said, it's very similar to a detection club. And so you can kind of imagine what maybe their meetings were like when they're talking about some of these true crime cases that are in the newspaper.
00:08:41
Speaker
But that um took me back to Murder in the Basement where Sheringham is telling the police detective that m it's crazy to think that an author just comes up with characters, that every character is based on real people. So then I want to know in um in that book like who's who in the crime circle as far as who they relate to from the detection club. I think that would be really fun to draw those lines. um and And also another point about that idea that Sheringham has, ah he's written about this school and done basically character sketches of all these people that are there. And this is helping them determine you know who was done in. um Were you reminded, Sarah, of
00:09:28
Speaker
magpie murders. A large portion of that story is told as reading the manuscript that this author wrote and he plugged in characters from his real life and that what is what helped them solve the case and I feel like and it's a harkening back to this story from from Berkeley. Yeah, you're right. um i I did think of that and and definitely the um book within a book ah that yeah you know we've we've talked about that as well um in the past. And I thought, I wonder if that is the first example of that. I have to do a little bit of digging to to confirm that.
00:10:10
Speaker
The other thing that Poison Chocolate's case reminded me of is um the set of short stories that introduced Ms. Marple. right? Because it was the same kind of setup. It's people talking about crimes and solving them. I'm now believing that this is this was a pretty common pastime for people to you know have these, they're more than book clubs, right? It's it's like it's a real life version of a true crime forum. Yes, absolutely. And perhaps we'll have to keep our eye on this as we you know delve into more and more of the Golden Age authors, maybe kind of a device for them to in introduce their sleuths. um We've seen it now with Ms. Marple and we've seen it with Sheringham. We'll have to watch and see if you know these friends who are all authors kind of do this more than more than once.
00:11:05
Speaker
So a while ago, I think it was um either last summer or the summer before this was on my summer reading list, was The Wintering in Mystery. And that was, I think, the only book that he published under A. Monmouth Platz. And that felt a little bit different. It was a ah closed circle um at a grand house mystery ah that we often associate with golden age um Golden Age mysteries, but I don't think he wrote a lot of those.
00:11:40
Speaker
He seemed to be very, um you know and this is mentioned in the Martin Edwards introduction as well, ah wanting to do different things. you know He didn't have a formula or a structure, he followed. I also found it interesting that he would sort of use that pen name much much like a contemporary author might for that type of story. um you know It was noted that his Francis Iles pen name He tended to be more of like his suspense thrillers, and um then he wrote some more traditional type mysteries under Anthony Berkeley, or or a question mark apparently. But um but you know that was a little bit ahead of his time too, I think, to say, okay, I'm going to you do this kind of story under this name, build that brand, and have you know so some delineation there.
00:12:32
Speaker
Yeah, i I think you're totally right. I think he really recognized the importance of meeting kind of reader's expectations that are set by a a particular author. um I think the other reason or one of the other reasons that he used different pen names is um I really get the sense that he was very protective of his privacy. And he was also, I think, quite insecure. um And so I think having a pen name allowed him to both protect his anonymity, ah but also protect himself from any potential, you know, if if ah A.B. Cox is criticized for one of his works, then it doesn't necessarily feel like it's him.
00:13:23
Speaker
ah Something that I read in um one of Martin Edwards' books is that Berkeley inserted himself into many of his characters with either some of their backgrounds or their families or their opinions or personality traits mirroring him. And ah perhaps having that distance between him and the pen name helped also to preserve some of that um anonymity. I think it's very understandable. And we probably find that in, you know, a lot of authors of why they do that. um I think that it's very understandable and especially for someone who ah is insecure. I think that he also um had these health issues that were going on. And I don't know how that impacted his, you know, his mental health and his psychology. But um yeah, it's a useful tool, a pen name.
00:14:20
Speaker
Oh, definitely. So you, uh, talked about here, or you mentioned his, his health issues. Uh, I get the sense that in the latter part of his life, his health did impact kind of his quality of life and also impacted his mood. There were a few references that I saw to him being a bit of a, a bit of a grump, um, but that he was quite supportive of up and coming authors and he would really try to um help them in their, in their careers. So in your research, Sarah, did you come across anything about his writing habits or how he liked to create his stories? You know, Brooke, I didn't find anything about that. And I think that speaks to just how private of a person he was. I did see that um he refused to have his photo on the dust jackets of his books. Like that's how little recognition he wanted. So it actually is surprising to me that he used
00:15:22
Speaker
his name at all. um And I don't know actually while he was alive whether he whether he used his name or whether that is something that's happened since he died. But all of the names that he used had some connection to him, right? So his mother's maiden name was Iles, and that's where the Francis Iles name comes from, as well as he had an ancestor whose name was Francis Iles, who apparently was a smuggler. ah um The property that he grew up on was um called Montmouth Platz, which is where that name came from. You can kind of see where all of his names came from. They all meant something to him.
Adaptations and Legacy
00:16:04
Speaker
um But of course, readers wouldn't have had access to the internet and be able to dig that information up really easily.
00:16:12
Speaker
No, it was much easier to keep your pen name private or secret and interesting. And what about adaptations? So there haven't been many adaptations of his work. His Francis Isles novels, as you said, they were more psychological thrillers. So Before the Fact, which was published in 1932, um That was made into a film in 1941 by Alfred Hitchcock, but it was renamed Suspicion. um And I know you're a Hitchcock fan, so you may have seen that. um And it was, there was another version that was done in 1988. Malice of Four thought,
00:16:56
Speaker
which was published in 1931, also under the IELTS name, was serialized by the BBC in 1979 and on ITV in 2005. And those are both British um networks. And I did a search to see if any of the streaming services that I have had either of those available and neither, or I couldn't find um i couldn't find them. So i I don't know. They don't seem to be very easy to track down. Oh, that's too bad. Yeah, and it is because I think I would, um i I wouldn't mind seeing um some of these. You know, yeah I can imagine the poison chocolate case. I can imagine that working well on screen, right? We've seen movies where it's, you know, different points of view or different um interpretations of ah a case. So that one to me seems like it would be a an easy one to adapt.
00:17:54
Speaker
Um, and there was, uh, on Wikipedia, there were a couple of others that were listed that had been turned into films. Um, so trial and error, which was published in 1937 was turned into a film called flight from destiny. Um, and, uh, it was apparently adapted into a television mini series by BBC in 1958. So really not much of his work has been adapted. Yeah, that's too bad. Um, I actually have seen Hitchcock suspicion, but it's been a really long time. And so, um, that is going to be one of my summertime projects is to read before the fact and then rewatch suspicion. I'm, I'm looking forward to that. I, I really, really enjoyed, uh, Berkeley's style of, of writing. Uh, as I said at the beginning, I feel like it felt really modern and,
00:18:47
Speaker
I think part of that comes through with his journalism background. like He has a very um concise and matter-of-fact way of writing, so I'm really looking forward to reading more. Well, thank you so much, Sarah. This has been a great conversation about one of the other Golden Age authors, and um I'm sure we'll be doing more. Yeah. Um, I mean, there's a lot for us to, to dig into. So yeah, until, until next time, Brooke. Exactly. And thank you everyone for joining us today on Clued in Mystery. I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah, and we both love mystery.
00:19:28
Speaker
Clued In Mystery is written and produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers. If you liked what you heard, please consider telling a friend, leaving a review, or subscribing with your favorite podcast listening app. Visit our website at cluedinmystery.com to sign up for our newsletter, The Clued In Chronicle, or to join our paid membership, The Clued In Cartel. We're on social media at Clued In Mystery.