The Death of Anton by Alan Melville is a real treat. Melville was a playwright and TV presenter who also wrote many musicals. Anton appears amusing and light, but the bones of the plot are quite dark - it holds up as a solid mystery with danger and unexpected violence.
Carey's Circus rolls up by train in the middle of the night and begins erecting the big top. The stars of the show - Anton and his lions, Dodo the clown, trapeze artists Lorimer and Loretta - are put up in the local hotel while the others B&B it or sleep rough at the grounds. Strange events are observed in the night with secret whistles and clandestine meetings at the owner's caravan - something devious is going on. Anton is about to reveal it, but is killed by his lions - or was he murdered? Detective Inspector Minto of Scotland Yard happens to be in town for his niece's wedding and is roped into the investigation. One performer claims to be the murderer, but wasn't. Another had a gun and was going to, but didn't. Minto has a silent ace up his sleeve - his brother is the local Catholic priest, and someone has confessed to the actual murder - but who?
Father Minto will not be saying.
Beyond the circus atmosphere, there is the rivalry between the performers, each trying to make space in the show, and every now and then, a shock of violence as someone is knocked off in the middle of their act, to the horror and delight of the one-and-threepenny customers in the bleachers. Minto is an amiable detective, clever and entertaining. Written in 1936, I can only imagine the unique excitement of the circus coming to town back then, and as the setting of a characterful murder mystery, it's tops.
1936 / Tradeback / 234 pages
Comments