Masters of the 'Humdrum' Mystery : Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961

In 1972, in an attempt to elevate the stature of the ""crime novel,"" influential crime writer and critic Julian Symons cast numerous Golden Age detective fiction writers into literary perdition as ""Humdrums,"" condemning their focus on puzzle plots over stylish writing and explorations of character, setting and theme. This volume explores the works of three prominent British ""Humdrums""--Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, and Alfred Walter Stewart--revealing their work to be more complex, as puzzles and as social documents, than Symons allowed. By championing the intrinsic merit of these mystery writers, the study demonstrates that reintegrating the ""Humdrums"" into mystery genre studies provides a fuller understanding of the Golden Age of detective fiction and its aftermath. Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Preface 10 Introduction: Mere Puzzles? 14 1 “The Masters”: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, and Alfred Walter Stewart 24 2 Cecil John Charles Street ( John Rhode/Miles Burton) (1884–1964): Public Brain Tester No. 1 54 3 Freeman Wills Crofts (1879–1957): The Greatest Puritan of Them All 155 4 Alfred Walter Stewart ( J.J. Connington) (1880–1947): Survival of the Fittest 202 Appendix I: Notable Criminous Works by Cecil John Charles Street 256 Appendix II: Notable Criminous Works by Freeman Wills Crofts 259 Appendix III: Round Robin Writer: Freeman Wills Crofts’ Contributions to The Floating Admiral (1931) and Double Death (1939) 261 Appendix IV: Notable Genre Works by Alfred Walter Stewart 264 Chapter Notes 266 Bibliography 290 Index 300 "This volume explores the works of three prominent British "Humdrums" revealing their work to be more complex, as puzzles and as social documents, than Symons allowed. By championing the merit of these mystery writers, the study demonstrates that reintegrating the "Humdrums" into mystery genre studies provides a understanding of the Golden Age of detective fiction and its aftermath"--Provided by publisher.