The clue of Twisted candles

Have you ever heard this term… “Locked–room mystery” ?… A well-known term for mystery lovers. It is also called an ‘impossible crime scene’ as if some supernatural entity came out of nowhere, murdered someone, and then disappeared, inside a room, which was locked from inside and remained locked!
This book is one example of such a story, indeed one of the earliest, it claims. Look at the few lines about the author on his page,
Wallace was such a prolific writer that one of his publishers claimed that a quarter of all books in England were written by him. Wallace wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories, and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone.

I was thinking to read some English mystery, and some short book from Agatha I was almost ready to go for, but the above-mentioned introduction of this author tilted me in his favor, more than 170 novels in all, my goodness! Are thrillers and mystery the only genre, in which you can become such prolific? I also came to know that many writers of his time criticized Wallace and George Orwell was one of them. But he must have been a populist writer, I am pretty sure.

As I had not read anything from the author and after reading a few pages of the book that I had downloaded years ago on my device, I decided to go for it. And I must say I was not disappointed. He created layers of suspense from the beginning, a murder occurred in the beginning and for hundred-odd pages, I kept thinking that it was rather a simple case, then the real murder of the rich and most villainous character of the story occurred inside a locked room and the rest of the story pursues around this second murder. The characters are interesting and dialogues are also very handy.

The writing is very simple yet binding and for a mystery plot, there is no hindrance in understanding the connections and hidden clues, but I could not guess till the end. The book kept me engaged all the time. T.X. is the name of the detective behind the mystery. The way the secret was revealed at last did little dishonor to the effort of this audacious detective T.X, though by introducing one line that ‘T. X. knew it’ author maintained his dignity in the last pages.

The thing that I disliked about the plot is that the author created so many suspicious incidents throughout the book, which steered the needle from one direction to another. And at the end when the mystery was revealed some of those scenes looked frivolous to me yet they were very cleverly crafted in the middle of the plot. One more revelation at the end, after disclosing the murderer, did not seem natural and seemed foisted on the reader just to make a happy ending.

Yet my first time experience with Edgar Wallace was certainly not bad. I don’t know if I will get time to revisit the author sometime but I will keep my eye on his King Kong!

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In the shadow of time, there occured a dazzling tale!

“The cuisine here is simple but tasty,” She said, squeezing a wedge of lime over Vincent’s food without being asked. “A little bit of heaven on your tongues.”

IN THE SHADOW OF TIME

Terrified to my core, I was shaking like a leaf. Someone was trying to make my blood run cold, trying to make my flesh creep. I was sweating. I was a panicky egg, an ovoid, ready to be pulverized by the hammer of dread.

This was a bad dream.

Friends!

Don’t reach a conclusion so quickly. I had not yet picked up this book. This dream was of the previous night. The next morning, after rinsing my body with the neem-oiled water, my mental grime too washed out and I came back to my senses that I was not an egg. It was just a nightmare. This sometimes happens when you decide at night to read a magical realism author the next day!

So, the next morning, with this newly acquired freshness, I was ready to time travel. As far as fiction is concerned, I have never read a book based on time traveling. The only mention of time travel I encountered was in one of the Bradbury stories, I read lately. That was too short to comprehend well, the concept of time traveling.

Through Kevin’s book, I was traveling in time, scientifically. Though I was expecting magical things in this book when I received it, and I indeed found some, I will still call the book a dramatic science–fiction. A well-written, histrionic science fiction! You can make a movie on it!

 I will begin with the fact that when I started this book, which was launched in the Silkeborg Forest of Denmark, in 1970, where a dying couple is placing their baby daughter in the hollow of an oak tree wrapped in a rustic blanket of braided ivy, with a hope that after they die, their daughter must be found by a human first, rather than a wild fox, from this outset, I could not put this book down until that ‘big day’ in the end.

I never knew I was going to witness such a flamboyant and elegant prose writer. Highly British. Lovely positioning of phrases and meticulous use of words, without making the reading task of the reader strenuous in any sense! The writing, I loved the most in the book. The author’s sense of execution is also praiseworthy. He has not stretched any scene beyond the limit of a pleasurable reading experience. A conscientious storyteller, I was beholding in the book. The dialogues of the characters are lively and humorous and intense too.

The characters are amazingly crafted.  Sofia, the astrophysicist is the brain with beauty, Hugo, the MI6 professional assassin is the swashbuckling macho man of the plot, Pablo, the sleek-haired shoeshine boy brought innocence, and Luna, the magical girl, her presence made the story magical. Vincent and Maria had their own chemistry going on behind the curtain.  Scenes around the Pablo and that contemptible villain guy Ruben were framed very nicely and those parts of the book gave me Dickensian taste in the book.

The storytelling of the author is very captivating. He has assorted emotions and amusement together in a balanced manner and the concept of time travel has been used in an erudite way to give rise to the sentimental and suspense elements. In some scenes, a poignant effect has been created by this time lag technique, like in the case of Salazar’s brother and in the scene of vengeance taken against that rogue bully, Ruben.

Two minor things did not happen the way I was expecting.

First Luna, the girl who showed her magical pose every time she was present in a scene, yet she ended up too much worldly, as her final act was too mundane for her character, I was expecting a little more other-worldly, turn out on her part. But maybe that is what realism is all about.  Second, is the character Mr. Salazar, the butler, his entry was the beginning of another monstrous impression, after the Ruben, in the plot. His dialogues and intentions were nefarious, those smoldering satanic eyes. Yet he could not do much and I think, the author could have developed this character a bit more fiendish. Both these points were just my expectations and, and did not at all affect my overall experience of the book!

I will highly recommend this book to all to see the storytelling, writing, and precision. The book has everything romance, humor, magic, reality, science, fight, and emotions!

Finally would thank Nilanjana for bringing me round and would thank Kevin for giving me such dazzling literary entertainment! Full Marks Guys!

19th Century 20th Century Adventure Africa American Asia Booker British Literature Children Classic contemporary Crime Detective Drama Essays fantasy French Literature German Literature Gothic Historical Fiction Horror Humor India Indian Literature magical realism Memoir Music Mystery Nature Netgalley Nobel Prize Non Fiction Novel Novella Philosophy Play Poetry Race Romance Russia Russian Literature School Short Stories War Women