Friday, April 9, 2021

FFB: At the Sign of the Clove & Hoof - Zoë Johnson

THE STORY: The Clove and Hoof is the hot spot in Larcombe for a pint of bitter, a good story and some laughs. It's also the focal point of a bizarre series of murders for the only connection the victims have seems to be that they all frequented the local pub. Strange pranks, a spate of anonymous letters all painted in blue watercolor, and a decapitated head found floating in the stream near Starehole Gap all lead to the police uncovering unusual criminality dating back 20 years.

THE CHARACTERS: The story of At the Sign of the Clove and Hoof (1937) is memorable for its offbeat sense of humor and the colorful characters who inhabit the village of Larcombe. This is a world of kooks, oddballs and eccentrics galore. Only an oddball would create anonymous letters with a child’s watercolor paint kit, right? And what kind of person would think that playing pranks by leaving a fish in someone’s bed, placing a ticking metronome outside a bedroom door or using a airgun to blast pepper shot at windows would be viewed as terrorism and result in hysteria? A nut job for sure, right? At first the novel seems to be no more than a Wodehousian satire of folksy villagers with a smattering of farcical scenes but the pranks and the oddness turn sinister and deadly as the story progresses.

Two policemen of decidedly differing approaches to crime solving head up the professional side of the investigation. We begin by meeting the officious Inspector Percy Blutton aided by local cops Jack Marsden and P.C. Jipps. Blutton questions the various habitués of the Clove and Hoof with vigorous impatience and makes up his mind fairly quickly who killed Vicar Ernest Pratt, the first victim of the mad killer, who was found shot in the head at the base of a cliff not far from his car. Footprints indicating a hobnail boot and a pegleg are found around the vehicle suggesting that Captain John Thomas Ridd, the only one legged man in the village, was near the car wreck recently. But Ridd has a solid alibi having been on his boat returning home to Larcombe the night Pratt was killed. Blutton disbelieves him and hounds Ridd for the rest of the novel. That is, until Ridd suddenly vanishes without a trace.

Our other policeman is Det. Sgt. Plumper from Scotland Yard. Considerably younger than Blutton he has a more subtle style of interrogation allowing the men of the village and the few women (nearly all of whom are servants) to chatter away and gossip while he nonchalantly inserts pertinent questions to catch them off guard and almost always getting a quick and truthful answer. Blutton finds this tactic strange and pointless but is ironically envious that it works for Plumper as often as it does. Plumper also exhibits impatience with the locals but manages to get the truth quicker than Blutton. Unfortunately, Plumper’s ego gets in the way and he allows himself to be hoodwinked by a clever ruse in the highly interesting final chapter.

Of the various suspects we have Bert Yeo, the pub owner who seems the most reticent of the lot; Sebastian Hannabus, aging antiquarian and jack-of-all-trades who counts among his various professions taxidermist, antique dealer, and barber; Lionel Gedling, ancient recluse who lives in the crumbling mansion known as Old Barton who is the victim of the various odd pranks; his mysterious manservant Costigan a man with a closed lip and a secret he’s hiding; Jeremy Scoutey, the local grocer, and his daughter Alice who is one of the several people in town who owns one of the paint sets that might be the source of the anonymous letters; Rosa, the barmaid with a fickle heart; and the star of the book Christian Peascod, dilettante of the arts and amateur detective.

Peascod is the best thing about At the Sign of the Clove and Hoof. He dominates the action whenever he appears with his larger than life personality, his arch humor and grandiose manner of speaking. Fancying himself both a poet and painter but good at neither he is also well versed in detective fiction having read the works of “Bailey, Doyle, Van Dine, Roger East, Freeman, Wills, and Croft and the Misses Sayers and Christie.” I love that bit Freeman, Wills and Croft. A real in-joke for hardcore devotees of mystery novels. I take it that Freeman is R. Austin Freeman and Wills refers to the now ultra obscure Cecil M. Wills whose books are as scarce as Johnson’s are now.

Plumper listens to Peascod’s fascinating ideas about how and why the various crimes were committed -- all of it inspired by his favorite writers. Much to the would-be poet’s delight the Scotland Yard officer allows him to continue his investigations as a sort of unofficial deputy. But all the time Plumper has Peascod in mind as suspect number one. It was Peascod’s metronome found at Gedling’s home. Peascod was present at Starehole Gap the day the head came floating up out of the water. That Peascod is also fond of watercolor as his preferred medium for his laughable artwork is also a huge mark against him.

By the time the police have sorted the red herrings from the facts, discarded all the surreal nonsense obfuscating the murderer’s motive, six people will have died, Plumper and Jack Marsden will be attacked and nearly killed, and Christian Peascod will have a last laugh on the police who scoffed at his ideas.

INNOVATIONS: Though there is a protracted denouement which consists mostly of a cliché of traditional detective fiction I am beginning to detest – the villain who performs a monologue of his life while outlining the reasons for his actions—ultimately the book ends with some stunning surprises. Johnson has dared to flout the tacit and written rules of detective fiction and come up with a solution that defies all those conventions. I loved it and it made me grin in admiration. This finale reminded me how rare it is to encounter an unconventional rule breaker who thumbs his or her nose at the supposed rules and how much I mentally applaud them when they do show up.

THINGS I LEARNED: Johnson loves language and words and sprinkles her novel with unusual vocabulary. The adjective corybantic cropped up to describe the men in the pub when they get rowdy and it led me to find out its origin. It comes from Corybant, the name given to a priest who worshipped Cybele in ancient times. Their ecstatic celebrations to the goddess included fervent dancing that came to be described as corybantic.

QUOTES: Starehole Gap was beauty spot. Not a commercial and official Beauty Spot with Tea Rooms run by languid, rapacious genteelwomen and with Period Car Parks for char-a-bancs. No; it was just a pretty, unnoticed place, the private property of Lionel Gedling and part of his small estate on Larcombe Head. The Gap itself was a steep little glade sloping down to the sea, whose chief attractions were a delicate waterfall and a deep green pool. People said that had Lionel Gedling not been so thick-skulled and simple and crazy, he could have made money out of it simply by changing its name to the Faery Grotto, hanging lanterns in the trees and opening it to the holiday public at a shilling or more per head.

Christian was only too pleased to go. He had already got the first two couplets of Ode to the Bloodiness of Man, and he knew he would forget them if he tarried much longer.

“Our man’s certainly a colorful humorist,” [Plumper said.] “Like Peascod, he’s read his detective novels. The Clue of the Wooden Leg. The Clue of the Headless Body. The Clue of the Painted Letter, and now the Clue of the Bloody Handkerchief. Rich – very rich. Too rich.”

But Plumper was scowling. He was angry and he was worried because he had a strong feeling now that he was up against a maniac of some sort; one who was treating crime as a game, taking fantastic risks because he was too crazy to care about personal danger, playing mysterious tricks because it amused him to do so, acting from inconsistently abnormal motives. The whole business was too theatrical, too Grand Guignol.

“Merciful heaven! The man asks has it anything to do with this business?” Peascod was almost prancing with excitement. “This [letter] has come straight from the murderer, don’t you realize that? Hot from his bloody hand. Don’t just stand there dithering, man. Don’t you realize you hold the key to everything? All unwitting, you’ve stumbled on the villain’s secret! Quick, quick what is it you’ve seen, heard, felt, smelled, dreamed?”

THE AUTHOR: Finding biographical information about Zoë Johnson was next to impossible. Other than the very few listings for this book, one of two that were for sale in the past six months, I found nothing online about her. With such a dearth of info I was convinced that Zoë Johnson is a pseudonym for some well-known mystery writer. The book itself – with its primarily male cast of characters, a hard-edged satirical sense of humor, knowledge about the life of a fisherman, and the emphasis on men gathering in a local pub for camaraderie and entertainment – seemed to be the work of a man rather than a woman. But this could be a combination of sheer bias and utter ignorance. I thought of other writers published by Gregory Bles who shared the same sense of offbeat humor and dreamed up similar bizarre plots like Reginald Davis, John Haslette Vahey under his “Henrietta Clandon” guise and John V. Turner writing as “Nicholas Brady.” I guess only copyright information on Johnson’s two books published with Bles would reveal the truth, that and the actual contracts. William Collins & Company (creator of the Collins Crime Club imprint) purchased the publishing house of Gregory Bles in 1953 and most likely still holds the copyright for Johnson’s novels. My feeble attempts at uncovering the copyright info turned up nothing. Then after a few days of compulsive searching of the multiple online updates at Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV I found this:

JOHNSON, ZOË (GREY?). 1913(?)-1992(?). (Adding somewhat more likely
middle/maiden name and dates for the author of two 1930s novels in CFIV.)

Good heavens, I thought. She’s a real person! If I had the patience to carry on with this data digging I might be able to verify her birth date and death date with records from Ancestry.com or some other similar genealogy website. But I really can’t spend any more time trying to figure out who she is or where she lived. I’m hoping someone who has some knowledge about Zoë Johnson will read this post and leave a comment below. It’s a real shame she only wrote two books and that the other one, Mourning After (1938), is so rare that no copies are offered for sale at all. This is yet another book I’d love to reprint in a heartbeat.

27 comments:

  1. There is a Zoe Johnson in the Fiction Mags Index, but I don't think it's your lady:

    JOHNSON, ZOË (stories)
    Inherited Love of Unexplainable Things (ss) Pulp Literature Sum 2019

    I hope you'll keep us informed if you find anything else about her, and Good Luck on finding her other novel!

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    1. Clearly not the same woman. In fact every time I do a search I have to weed through all the stuff about this very contemporary writer also named Zoë Johnson. Frustrating. The unusual first name coupled with a common surname is a huge stumbling block. I'm just not skilled enough to navigate my way through genealogy websites to find a possibly correct Zoë...if in fact she is real and that's her actual name. I think the pseudonym possibility is still valid.

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  2. It looks a fun book, if a book about mass murder can be said to be fun, and the a real mystery about the author. I hope some one digs up some info about the author. Wayne.

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  3. Another tempting obscure novel which you tantlise us all with!
    I agree with you in disliking the cliche of 'the villain who performs a monologue of his life while outlining the reasons for his actions'. I am glad it didn't completely mar the mystery's ending here, but unfortunately it is still a trope we see today and can often be used in quite a lazy way to overcome the fact that the sleuth doesn't have enough evidence to be convincing.

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    1. This was a wonderful book. It has all the ingredients I crave in a mystery. She’s so much like Reginald Davis and they had the same publisher. I wonder if they knew one another or — were, in fact, the same person! I’m seriously contemplating a Pretty Sinister Reprint line. I think this book and the three Reginald Davis mysteries will soon see the light of day again. Several publishing options are possible. Cross your fingers!

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    2. oooh a Pretty Sinister Reprint series has a good ring to it. At last we would be able to read all the books you rave about lol

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  4. I have a copy of this one, no dj though. Was never able to find the goods on the author though! You'd think with a name like Zoe Johnson....Maybe I should check again.

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  5. I had a theory as to the author too, but it involved its being pseudonym.

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    1. I’m convinced it’s a pseudonym too. Who did you think it might be? Any of those I suggested in the AUTHOR section? I think it might very well be another Gregory Bles mystery writer.

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  6. By the way, is your review of PQ's Suspicious Circumstances still up? I couldn't find it but I recalled you had reviewed it once and wanted to quote you in the book.

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    1. Haven’t read it or reviewed it. On this blog I have written about most of the Stagge books, and a few of the very early Q. Patrick titles. Not many of the Patrick Quentin titles are here. Only one of the Peter & Iris Duluth series, strangely enough.

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  7. I have been waiting patiently to find a copy of this book after your positive review. Today I learned that Moonstone Press is re-printing this with Amazon availability in August 2022 and look forward to reading it finally. It is great to see so many rare GAD titles gradually back in print.

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    1. I was going to publicize this until Debra Riley at Moonstone told me to hold off. Unfortunately, there will be a delay in this release. Don’t expect this book until at least February 2023. Sorry for the slight disappointment. Other much better and exciting news in reprints will be posted tonight. Thus is a promise I will keep!

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  8. I have been patient this long so some extra months will be okay. Looking forward to the other re-prints when you announce them. I always value your recommendations.

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  9. John - Thanks again for this review. I finally found a copy for sale and enjoyed this one. I appreciate your blog as you continue to introduce me to books that I otherwise never would have known existed. The ending as you said was a nice and unconventional surprise. Well done.

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    1. Wow! Glad you enjoyed it. Did you manage to buy a used copy? Lucky you! Hope it wasn’t outrageously expensive. After over a year of delays the Moonstone Press reprint should be released by the end of this month. Then everyone else will finally be able to enjoy this corker of a mystery novel.

      Some good news: I have a few reviews that will appear later this month and hope to back regularly in April.

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  10. Yes - it was a used hardback (no dustjacket) in good condition and the price was reasonable given the book's rarity. I am pleased to hear that Moonstone will reprint this as (you are right) it deserves to be read more widely.

    Coincidentally, I just purchased a used copy of another of your rare, enticing recommendations, "The Crowing Hen" by Reginald Davis, again at a fair price. I had never seen the Johnson or Davis books for sale anywhere at any price and now I get to read both. It pays to be patient. Thanks again.

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  11. I have just found this and have ordered a copy.
    Delighted to find that you will be back reviewing shortly. I have missed you!

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    1. I just hope that it’s released on March 28. It’s been delayed since October of last year! At least the cover has been updated so it looks like it probably actually will be coming out very soon. Foyle’s, Book Depository, and I think Amazon.co.uk websites all have updated release dates of March 28. So crossing fingers… All looks well.

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    2. I received my copy this morning. You are mentioned in the Introduction.

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    3. So glad it's FINALLY out! That I'm mentioned in the intro makes me smile. I'll have to buy a copy for the shelf with the rest of my Moonstone editions. Hope you enjoy it! I also hope that the other Zoë Johnson book turns up in a Moonstone Press edition.

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  12. Zoe Johnson was a real person, and that was her real name. She was my great-aunt. She was the second daughter of Professor George Grey-Turner (Professor of Surgery at Newcastle and then Hammersmith hospital, wrote numerous textbooks and scientific articles about surgery) and Elsie Grey-Turner (wrote books about travel and gardening). Her elder sister was my grandmother. Zoe was born on 24th April 1914 and spent her childhood in Newcastle. She attended St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, between 1932 and 1935 graduating with a degree in Modern Languages. She married Vernon Johnson in 1939; they spent the rest of their lives quietly in Cornwall, England. She never had any children.

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    1. This is very much appreciated, Merlin! Thank you for this vital info. I hope Debra Riley managed to get in touch with you. She spent many months trying to narrow down her authorial research in trying to identify the correct Zoë Johnson.

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  13. Yes indeed, in fact she first contacted my Grey-Turner cousins - this was a surprise to all of us, we never knew that Zoe had written any books! We are very pleased to see them in print again and are looking forward to reading them.

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  14. Eric, thanks for sending me the quoted section from the intro. But I’m choosing not to publish it here. Didn’t want you to think I’m ignoring that comment. My copy of the Moonstone Press edition is on its way to me.

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  15. I fully understand. I am currently reading the book.

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  16. Thank you for this recommendation. It indeed lived up to my expectations from your review. I too have reservations about the confessional denouement but you can forgive a lot, given the overall richness. The
    new word I learned was "reasty" meaning "stale". Can we expect some writing from you soon? I do miss your reviews.

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