A review of The Crow’s Inn Tragedy by Annie Haynes – 231130

The third and final of Annie Haynes Inspector Furnival series, The Crow’s Inn Tragedy was originally published in 1927 and has been reissued by Dean Street Press. It is an engaging and, at times, thrilling murder mystery which takes its name from the chambers in which the story begins, but what particularly intrigued me about it was some of the undertones and themes which threaten to derail the whole story.  

The consequences of the First World War, the so-called war to end all wars, were all-pervasive, especially for those who survived the fighting. Many had psychological scars and many found that the land of heroes was not ready or equipped to assimilate the return of its conquering heroes. Many drifted into poverty and crime, one such being Tony Collyer, whose financial plight persuades his father, the Reverend James Collyer, to go up to London with a view to selling an emerald cross, a valuable family heirloom, seeking the assistance of his brother-in-law, Luke Bechombe, partner at the Crown’s Inn chambers.

Luke’s nephew, Aubrey Todmarsh, was a conscientious objector during the war and has subsequently established a facility which seeks to rehabilitate ex-offenders and wayward youths. He is idealistic, supports the concept of the League of Nations and world peace, his views often jarring with those of his contemporaries who prefer more direct forms of action to resolve the world’s problems. These sections give a fascinating insight into the issues that were exercising many minds at the time and the long-lasting consequences of conflict.

Internationalism of another sort emerges as the story evolves with the emergence of a group of international jewel thieves, known imaginatively as the Yellow Gang, led by the Yellow Dog. This twist almost comes out of nowhere and adds an unexpected dimension to what seemed to be building up into a cosy murder mystery with a social conscience. The hand of the Yellow Gang is detected when Luke’s body is found in his office, having conducted some private jewel-related business with his chief clerk, Amos Thompson, and a mysterious visitor who is able to gain access via a convenient back passage. Is this the opportunity that Furnival has been waiting for to nail the Yellow Dog and his gang?

I had feared that this book would lurch into the dreadful territory trodden by Agatha Christie’s The Big Four, also published in 1927, but to her credit Haynes manages to resist the penny dreadful sensationalism that the plot twist offers and wrestles the book back on to a more conventional track, with the odd join showing.

One curious feature is the role of Steadman, a barrister and criminologist, who seems to be cast as Furnival’s amateur foil, but, unlike most amateur sleuths, he does not seem to add very much to the investigation, other than exercising his penchant for amateur dramatics and donning costumes and disguises. Haynes is very much on the side of the conventional police and her hero, the initiable Furnival, ferrets out the truth, although not without a scare or two along the way.     

Haynes is an engaging writer with an easy style that draws the reader in. This is far from the perfect novel but once she has regained control of the wild beast that threatened to run away, Haynes delivers an intriguing mystery and a compelling solution.