Here we go with Part Four of our latest audio diversion, and the first of this year's Christmas capers. Our "Christmas crime story", as the publishers bill it, is Mystery in White - a Jefferson Farjeon thriller from the England of 1937 - before grooming gangs and Albanian sex-traffickers and much else. If you want a preview of those coming attractions, see here or here.
Thank you for all your kind comments on the early installments of Mr Farjeon's tale. Fran, a First Weekend Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, is far from the snow belt, but writes:
I'm enjoying this queer wintery tale, especially the detailed snowstorm descriptions, as heavy snow almost never occurs here in the high desert of southern New Mexico. I do remember very vividly the snowstorms as a child in Philadelphia in the sixties with snowdrifts piling up eight feet nearly to the tops of the windows on the first floor obscuring the outdoors completely with such thick ice layers on the single panes; we could scrape and scratch with a kitchen knife for minutes before making a good sized hole to peer through the glass.
What a treat to hear the harp play! Puts me right in the holiday mystery tale mood. What is the title of the sweet piece? It's just perfect for bedtime easy listening. Excellent narration as always. Thank you for all the rich entertainment, Mark.
In tonight's episode, our ad hoc house party, having abandoned their snowbound train, settle down for a Christmas Eve dinner of tinned salmon. Nevertheless, the more convivial diners are determined not to let the unsavoury members of their group "spoil Christmas":
"Of course, we were all perfect idiots," she concluded, as she poured out second cups of tea, "and we're in a funny mess, but in my opinion we're luckier than we deserve, not excluding you, Mr. Maltby," she added admonishingly, "and so I vote we make the best of it!"
"Aren't we?" asked Jessie.
"We are," nodded Lydia, "and we're going on as we've begun! Nobody's going to spoil my Christmas!"
"Hear, hear!" murmured Thomson. Watching two attractive women out of the corner of his eye, and comparing them with his usual company at meals—and with the company he was going to—he had no present complaints. In fact, provided his nervous system could stand it—of that he was not quite sure, for his head was aching badly, but the tea and the fire gave him optimism—he believed he might welcome the eventual unearthing of a corpse, so that he could impress new stirring qualities upon these Venuses.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Mark read Part Four of our tale simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
Tales for Our Time is now in its eighth year. So, if you've a friend who might be partial to our classic fiction outings, we have a special Gift Membership that, aside from nearly six dozen audio yarns, also includes video poetry, live music, our weekly Clubland Q&A and more.
Please join Mark tomorrow evening for Part Five of Mystery in White.