rosiev425's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
halfcentreader's review against another edition
5.0
Witty ,fast paced, literary and a clever who-dunnit. first published in 1946. This a gem of a classic British mystery. Some of the situations are just hilarious!
alexis_baldwin92's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
fictionfan's review
5.0
Murder Stalks The University!
Poet Richard Cadogan decides he needs a break from routine so heads to Oxford. As he walks along a street at night looking at the window displays of the closed shops, he notices the door of a toyshop is open. His curiosity gets the better of him so he enters, but is shocked to find the corpse of a woman lying on the floor. Before he has the chance to leave the shop to report what looks like a murder, he is hit on the head and falls unconscious. When he comes round some time later he finds himself locked in a cupboard, but manages to make his escape and go to the police. However when they return with him to the spot, not only has the corpse disappeared but the whole shop has gone, and in its place is a grocer’s shop! Not unnaturally, the police have difficulty believing his story after this, so he turns to his old friend, the amateur sleuth and university professor, Gervase Fen...
This is one of those crime novels that goes way beyond the credibility line, but makes up for its general silliness by being a whole lot of fun. Due to an unfortunate mistake, Cadogan is soon wanted by the police for stealing from the grocer’s shop, so all the time he and Fen are racing round Oxford pursuing their investigations, the local police are racing around too, pursuing Cadogan! Fen tries to get his old friend the Chief Constable to call them off, but the Chief Constable is far more interested in discussing the themes of Measure for Measure – well, it is Oxford after all, where even the truck drivers read DH Lawrence...
Fen is somewhat eccentric to say the least, and does his detection through a series of brilliant deductions well beyond the scope of us mere mortals, aided by large dollops of luck and coincidence. In fact, I can’t say I ever had much of an idea why exactly the villains had gone to such elaborate lengths to complicate a murder that should really have been pretty easy, but given their efforts to baffle and confuse, it’s just as well Fen is on hand to jump to the correct conclusions! He gradually involves his students as a kind of informal mob of enforcers, which might have worked out better if there weren’t quite so many bars in Oxford. Their ham-fisted efforts to help catch the bad guys add a lot to the farcical feel of the thing.
It’s very well written and full of humour. Cadogan and Fen make a great duo as they bicker their way through the investigation, filling in any lulls by playing literary games with each other, such as naming the most unreadable books of all time. (I was pleased to see Ulysses made the list, but was shocked that Moby-Dick didn’t get a mention!) It occasionally takes on a surreal quality when Fen makes it clear he knows he’s a character in a book...
As a little added bonus, I was thrilled to read the part of the book that inspired the brilliant fairground scene in Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train – one of my favourite films, largely because of that finale.
A thoroughly entertaining read, and I look forward to improving my acquaintance with Crispin and Fen in the future. Highly recommended.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Poet Richard Cadogan decides he needs a break from routine so heads to Oxford. As he walks along a street at night looking at the window displays of the closed shops, he notices the door of a toyshop is open. His curiosity gets the better of him so he enters, but is shocked to find the corpse of a woman lying on the floor. Before he has the chance to leave the shop to report what looks like a murder, he is hit on the head and falls unconscious. When he comes round some time later he finds himself locked in a cupboard, but manages to make his escape and go to the police. However when they return with him to the spot, not only has the corpse disappeared but the whole shop has gone, and in its place is a grocer’s shop! Not unnaturally, the police have difficulty believing his story after this, so he turns to his old friend, the amateur sleuth and university professor, Gervase Fen...
This is one of those crime novels that goes way beyond the credibility line, but makes up for its general silliness by being a whole lot of fun. Due to an unfortunate mistake, Cadogan is soon wanted by the police for stealing from the grocer’s shop, so all the time he and Fen are racing round Oxford pursuing their investigations, the local police are racing around too, pursuing Cadogan! Fen tries to get his old friend the Chief Constable to call them off, but the Chief Constable is far more interested in discussing the themes of Measure for Measure – well, it is Oxford after all, where even the truck drivers read DH Lawrence...
He felt about him and produced a greasy edition of Sons and Lovers for general inspection, then he put it away again. “We’ve lorst touch,’ he continued, ‘with sex – the grand primeval energy; the dark, mysterious source of life. Not,’ he added confidentially, ‘that I’ve ever exactly felt that – beggin’ your pardon – when I’ve been in bed with the old woman. But that’s because industrial civilisation ‘as got me in its clutches.’
Fen is somewhat eccentric to say the least, and does his detection through a series of brilliant deductions well beyond the scope of us mere mortals, aided by large dollops of luck and coincidence. In fact, I can’t say I ever had much of an idea why exactly the villains had gone to such elaborate lengths to complicate a murder that should really have been pretty easy, but given their efforts to baffle and confuse, it’s just as well Fen is on hand to jump to the correct conclusions! He gradually involves his students as a kind of informal mob of enforcers, which might have worked out better if there weren’t quite so many bars in Oxford. Their ham-fisted efforts to help catch the bad guys add a lot to the farcical feel of the thing.
It’s very well written and full of humour. Cadogan and Fen make a great duo as they bicker their way through the investigation, filling in any lulls by playing literary games with each other, such as naming the most unreadable books of all time. (I was pleased to see Ulysses made the list, but was shocked that Moby-Dick didn’t get a mention!) It occasionally takes on a surreal quality when Fen makes it clear he knows he’s a character in a book...
‘Murder Stalks the University,’ said Fen. ‘The Blood on the Mortarboard. Fen Strikes Back.’
‘What’s that you’re saying?’ Cadogan asked in a faint, rather gurgling voice.
‘My dear fellow, are you all right? I was making up titles for Crispin.’
As a little added bonus, I was thrilled to read the part of the book that inspired the brilliant fairground scene in Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train – one of my favourite films, largely because of that finale.
A thoroughly entertaining read, and I look forward to improving my acquaintance with Crispin and Fen in the future. Highly recommended.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
paulcowdell's review against another edition
4.0
A romp. It's unusual to find literary and sophisticated (especially in a detective setting) that doesn't collapse into leaden self-regard, but this was pleasingly frothy and zippy.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
The writing is so delightful and witty, the characters so charming, the setting so droll, the set-up so interesting, that one forgives The Moving Toyshop for ultimately being a thoroughly implausible, thoroughly artificial "puzzle" mystery whose solution is considerably less interesting than everything along the way.
Set in the 1940s (give or take), The Moving Toyshop follows a poet from London to Oxford where he finds a dead body above a toyshop, gets knocked over the head, and when he finally returns to the scene of the crime with the police both the body and the toyshop are gone. He engages the eccentric, almost schoolboyish Don Gervase Fen to chase around Oxford dodging the police while solving the crime. Along the way they meet a cast of equally eccentric characters, engage the help of a posse of students, and have several hilarious and scenic chases through Oxford.
Ultimately, much of the deeper mystery about the moving toyshop and the basic motives are settled about halfway through with a short suspect list that ultimately makes its way down to one, without a huge amount of interest in which of the short list actually did it (in part because they're all pretty repugnant).
Set in the 1940s (give or take), The Moving Toyshop follows a poet from London to Oxford where he finds a dead body above a toyshop, gets knocked over the head, and when he finally returns to the scene of the crime with the police both the body and the toyshop are gone. He engages the eccentric, almost schoolboyish Don Gervase Fen to chase around Oxford dodging the police while solving the crime. Along the way they meet a cast of equally eccentric characters, engage the help of a posse of students, and have several hilarious and scenic chases through Oxford.
Ultimately, much of the deeper mystery about the moving toyshop and the basic motives are settled about halfway through with a short suspect list that ultimately makes its way down to one, without a huge amount of interest in which of the short list actually did it (in part because they're all pretty repugnant).
scottwasalreadytaken's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed this book up until the ending. The ending was a real let down (seemed really cheap, lacked all of the richness of the first 85% of the book). One day I may pick this book up again, and I'll completely enjoy reading it, but I'll put it down as the end approaches, so-as not to ruin the good taste in my mouth.
losthitsu's review against another edition
4.0
I read a lot of these old school mystery novels but this was by far the most bonkers one I ever picked up.
iceangel9's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The third installment in the Gervase Fen Mysteries. Richard Cadogan is on his way to Oxford to visit an old friend. He steps into a toy store and discovers the body of a dead woman. When he returns with the police, the toy shop has turned into a grocery and there is no dead body. The police think Richard is nuts, so he turns to his friend. Gervase Fen, to help him solve the mystery - and hijinks ensure. Fans of the eclectic series will love this addition to the series.
relf's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I had high hopes for this 1946 mystery set in Oxford, and it started off amusingly, in an arch tone with a whiff of the Wodehouse about it. The plot was pleasantly ridiculous--our protagonist Cadogan happens on a dead body in a flat above a toyshop, but both body and toyshop have disappeared by the next morning--and I was hoping for an elegantly simple and entertaining solution. Cadogan's colorful friend Gervase Fen, a professor of English, leads the amateur investigation. But the plot got too complicated, I found the resolution unsatisfying, and the archness wore on me--as did the author's 1946 attitude toward female characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Sexism
Moderate: Animal death and Gun violence