A review by robinwalter
Information Received by E.R. Punshon

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Information Received is the first in E. R. Punshon's  Bobby Owen mystery series. The Dean Street Press editions I have bought (of the first four books in the series so far) all make much of the ringing endorsement of Punshon's work by Dorothy Sayers. It is a testament to my regard for Dean Street Press and trust in their judgment that I bought these books despite their being burdened with praise from an author I actively dislike. Happily, this first book in the series rose above that potentially crippling handicap and proved to be exceptional.  It also proved again the exceptional value Dean Street Press adds to their reissues with the wonderfully informative introductions, this one by a DSP stalwart, crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

 

Sayers praised the books for the quality of their writing. The truth of this assessment is obvious throughout  Information Received . I highlighted many passages in my copy where the writing just sang to me. Here are a few of my favourites: 

 That’s the first maxim in my forthcoming book, The Complete Detective and How to Be It, which will be one of the world’s lost masterpieces because I’ll never write it.

 

Glancing at a pile of cigarette ash and deducing therefrom the age, income, and political opinions of the smoker, was a feat entirely beyond his powers. 

(bonus points for sniping at Holmes)

‘Not that I know much about cricket or football or racing,’ he added, as one might say, ‘not that I know much about slums, or sewage, or lice,’

I daresay lunch was one of the things you studied at the ’Varsity – the Assistant Commissioner always squirms when I say “’Varsity” to him, I don’t know why.’
‘To squirm at that word, sir,’ explained Bobby, ‘is one of the more important points of the U-ni-versity curriculum.’

(bonus points for making me think of Unseen Academicals)

Careful attention to word choice did more than reveal the author's skill as a wordsmith. It was central to unravelling the mystery of who committed the first murder. One key phrase of only three words, which when uttered the first time seemed nonsensical, made such perfect sense the next time it occurred that it actually enabled me to figure it out.   Since I "solve" whodunnits less often than Halley's Comet is visible from Earth, this was in itself cause to love the book.  I did highlight its second occurrence but did not share the quote in case anyone reading this wants to start the book without knowing whodunnit. 

 

It's a mark of how well the book is structured that working out the whodunnit was made easier for me because the why had been discreetly telegraphed earlier. Thus the lengthy confessional exposition at the end of the book contained few surprises. The journey to that point however was interesting and engaging despite the ultimate answers being fairly clear. 

 

I scored this book 4.75/5 because my one slight niggle was that it was a little longer than it needed to be. I recognise that that's a feature of literature in the pre-social media days, and the quality of the writing was so good that the excessive length was only a minor quibble. Nevertheless, since it was the first book in the series and thus introductions of the key recurring characters were necessary, I'm hoping that later books may be at least a touch tighter and tauter. I'll be finding out soon enough as I look forward to reading the second book soon.