Review: Carr, The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey

[truepenny]

The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey by John Dickson Carr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is interesting, a true crime novel twenty years before Capote wrote _In Cold Blood_. Carr's book is nothing like Capote's. It is about the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey in 1678 and also, because these things are inextricable, about the Popish Plot and Restoration politics and that dreadfully malevolent figure, Titus Oates.

(For my money, Titus Oates and Judge Jeffreys--who also appears in this novel, although as a lawyer, not a judge--are two of the most terrifying figures in English history. Oates is weirdly similar to the afflicted persons of Salem Village--less than twenty years later--in that he would denounce you as a Catholic traitor for the flimsiest of reasons, or for no reason at all, and because the men in authority followed him blindly despite every effort on the part of Oates' victims to make them see the truth.)

Carr writes with a cheerfully omniscient narrator and an encyclopedic knowledge of the time period he's talking about. As one would expect from a Golden Age mystery novelist who was rigorous about the fair play of his clues and solutions, his answer to the question Who murdered Sir Edmund Godfrey? is very plausible. It makes sense of all the weird features of the case, including why the murderer was never caught.



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Comments

[sovay]

It makes sense of all the weird features of the case, including why the murderer was never caught.

I will look for this one; it sounds great. Also I hope that cover's Edward Gorey.

[truepenny]

It is!