Murder at the Matinee Monday

[evelyn_b]

What I've Finished Reading

So I knew there was going to be some vintage bigotry in Enter Sir John, but it's mostly fairly subtle in the first half of the book. Thus I was completely unprepared for the nature of the HIDEOUS SECRET that Martella Baring heroically risked her own life to conceal, and which drove the real murderer to start smashing

Comments

[liadtbunny]

Maybe not? Sessue Hayakawa did alright and there was Merle Orberon. I think she did hide her Indian heritage?
Also if the book is set in the 1920s silent films were big on 'exotic' characters. I don't know about the theatre, but the theatre is usually more forgiving? So Sir John, fight!

[evelyn_b]

Realistically, I don't think being rumored to be 1/4 Indian would have harmed his career very much - it's more that Martella thought it would damage his standing among "the right people" and that the guy in question (correctly) thought that she would hold him in contempt if she knew.

It's interesting that the book pretty clearly presents Martella's attitude as extreme for her own time and place, but also as something that an Englishwoman raised in India "can't help" and shouldn't be expected to help.

[heliopausa]

Nasty! especially that it was "people who count" who are in question.

The "one of us would have died" is nonsense, of course - otherwise there wouldn't have been all the Eurasians to make a fuss about, in the theatre and in business and in society as well. Though (miserably) such heritage was concealed if possible. :( (Following what liadtbunny has said above - there was Vivien Leigh, too.)

[evelyn_b]

Yep. I think by "one of us would have died," we're meant to understand that either he would die (of embarrassment or suicide) or he'd kill her - or at least that he feels that way. Why exactly he's in love with the one person he most expects to loathe him on racist grounds is never really clear, except that we're invited to understand admiration of Martella as a marker of good taste in general. Well, and sometimes people are irrational - but the characters in this book aren't strong enough to activate my "sometimes people are just like that" defense.

[sallymn]

Sounds like a book destined for reading as part of social history courses more than Eng Lit...

I'm glad you liked Lord Edgeware Dies, I did too :)

[evelyn_b]

Lord Edgeware Dies is a delight so far. I'd say "Poirot at his best," but when is Poirot not at his best? Hardly ever!

It would be interesting to have a social history course all about murder motives in crime fiction. I'm sure somebody's already doing it and having a great time. I don't know that I'd recommend assigning all of Enter Sir John unless you were really keen to get it back into print - but it does have an entire chapter of jury deliberations, and probably some other points of interest to the social historian.