Fell, Gideon, retired; formerly schoolmaster,
journalist, and historian;
b. Stavely Manor, Garth, Lincolnshire, 1884;
sec. s. Sir Digby and Lady F.;
grad., Eton and Balliol, Harvard (U.S.A.), BA,
MA (Oxon.), PhD (Harvard), LLD (Edinburgh).
Fellow of Royal Historical Society, Grand Cross
of the Legion of Honor (France).
Publications: Romances of the Seventeenth
Century (Smith, 1922); The Drinking Customs of England from the Earliest Times
(Crippen & Wainwright, 1946).
Clubs: Garrick, Savage, Detection.
Hobbies: Reading and detection of crime.
Present address: 13 Round-Pond Place,
Hampstead, London NW3.
– Detective
Who’s Who
According
to the venerable The Man Who Explained
Miracles (p. 436), there ‘was the
attempt of Punch cartoonist Francis
Wilford-Smith to treat Sir Henry Merrivale as the Baker Street Irregulars treat
Sherlock Holmes—that is, to sort through inconsistencies and to work out a
chronology of his adventures. Wilford-Smith sent the chronology to Carr in
1967. He replied that he accepted the chronology as official and would “defend
it against challenges”’. To my knowledge, there is no access to such a
chronology at the moment, and, anyway, it would be a challenging problem to try
and work one out ourselves. So, let us try! But we shall start with Dr. Gideon
Fell instead. However, some problems we encounter are systematic and thus must
be addressed beforehand:
· We must decide whether we allow
stories to be set after the moment they were written/published. There is no
obvious way why Carr would write about future; however, sometimes, when a
different solution seems unavoidable, we would perhaps be forced to stretch
this a bit.
· Some stories supplement their dating
by some pairing of a week-day to a particular date; others have only such a
pairing to be of use. However, they are rarely relatable: as we shall see,
Carr’s week-days, while they can and frequently are correct when writing about
the publishing year or the year before (obviously, he could consult with actual
calendars), they become ravingly wrong as soon as his pattern changes to
resetting his novels into the ‘nostalgic past’. So, can they be trusted if they
are the only evidence? I assert ‘yes’, but only if they produce years close
enough to the publishing one to assume actual consultation with a physical
calendar.
Let’s get
going!
Hag's Nook (1933): July 1931(?)
This
novel’s dating rather depends on the following, but on its own it can only be
based on a shaky assumption (Chapter 5), being a stream of consciousness from
Tad Rampole:
‘The calendar in the lower part of the
clock-case showed a staring figure where he had been last July 12th,
and couldn’t remember.’
This,
basically, just means that the room where he was staying at Dr. Fell’s
possessed a calendar open on ‘July’. We will have to confirm or disprove it by
the data from the following novel.
The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933): March 1932
Thankfully,
we can confirm it (Chapter 1)! Not
only Dr. Fell claims knowing Tad from ‘last
July,’ but the article, “Hat-Fiend Strikes Again!, by Philip C. Driscoll”
is dated 12 March during the conversation, which is March 1932, as this is the
date when, according to Hadley, ‘the
defendant did… abstract the helmet of Police Constable Thomas Sparkle’.
This settles the previous story.
The Eight of Swords (1934): August 1932? 33?
Beside
(Chapter 1) ‘the diabolical August heat’ besetting Hadley, August being
confirmed multiply, there is no year, month, or date in the whole of the novel
to refer it to any particular year, or even attach it to the previous ones!
Unless there are tie-ins in the further novels (hint: none), we are unable to
determine the year. Assuming, just assuming, that it is set both after the
previous two and before the book’s release, we can trim it down, but to two
options: 1932 and, preferable as it keeps the distance between setting and
printing more constant, 1933.
The Blind Barber (1934): May 1933(?)
It is
easier to start with Morgan’s visit to Dr. Fell, which is (Chapter 1) on the
morning of the next day after the Queen
Victoria ‘was to dock at Southampton
on the afternoon of May 18th’. However, what is the year? During the trip, an article by Leslie Perrigord
is read (Chapter 9), ‘reprinted by
permission of the author from the Sunday “Times” of Oct. 25, 1932’. This
declares autumn of 1932 a firm past for
our story and, if we accept no future settings, makes the May of 1933 almost
the only option (and more logical for article to be fairly recent).
Death-Watch (1935): September 1932
The story
starts (Chapter 1) at ‘the night of
September 4th’ which is even more obviously expanded (Chapter 5) into ‘September 4th, 1932’. (I
wish all of these that simple.) The first hint that the stories do not happen
consequentially!
The Hollow Man (1935): February 1935(?)
The novel
is consistent with (Chapter 1) referring to a span of dates starting with ‘Wednesday, February 6th’; however,
there is no year. A leap year like that should start on Tuesday (1924 in all
pre-Fifties XX Century), and an ordinary one should begin similarly (as the 6th
of February precedes leap-day): these are 1929 and 1935 from the period we are
concerned with. The appearance of 1935 is catchy.
The Arabian Nights Murder (1936): June 1935(?)
An equally
long chain of days fixes (Chapter 1) the setting on ‘Friday, June 14th’. Seemingly content with these dates, Carr
chooses not to elaborate. Once again, chase the correspondences: the
Tuesday-starting common years still fit (1929, 1935), but now they correspond
to leap years with Mondays (1912). As previously, 1935 is the obvious
candidate.
To Wake the Dead (1938): February 193?
Though the
main events take place in February, the coupled reference is one (Chapter 3) to
‘Tuesday, January 12th’ and many more
to that effect. This is, however, problematic due to printing date: both common
(1926, 1937) and leap years (1932) fit when starting on Friday. Here we have an
obvious second contender in 1932; however, the attractiveness of the
pre-publishing year is undiminished.
The Crooked Hinge (1938): July 1936(?)
From the
outset (Chapter 1) it offers us a series starting with ‘Wednesday, July 29th’. Let’s see where… Common > Thursday
(1925, 1931); Leap > Wednesday (1936). Well, not exactly previous, but still…
The Black Spectacles (1939): September 1938
A
catastrophe. Because it is so nontrivial to untangle the date that I have to re-read
the novel to determine the dating – and thus I read JDC instead of dating him. These
are the dates mentioned in here:
· Pompeii scene (Chapter 1) is set on ‘Monday, September 19th’.
· Hadley’s arrival (Chapter 2) is both
‘the third of October’ and after The Crooked Hinge.
· ‘Last June 17th’ is the poisoning day (Chapter 2), a ‘Thursday’.
The first
is most explicit: it refers to common year on Saturday (1921, 1927, 1938) or
leap year on Friday (1932). 17 June is Friday on both, but last year has those
on Thursday.
The Problem of the Wire Cage (1939): August 1935(?)
The series
in this novel starts (Chapter 3) with ‘Saturday,
August 10th’. This corresponds either to an (already seen) common year on
Tuesday (1929, 1935) or leap year on Monday (1940). As we see, these both are
problematic: either this is set into the future (but in this case not a single
mention of the Germans, as opposed to Merrivale’s And So To Murder is glaring), or much towards the past, which is a
sub-par solution but more in the line with the intensifying back-setting which
will now proceed.
The Man Who Could Not Shudder (1940): March 1937
The book
boringly (Chapter 1) suggests itself starting on ‘Saturday, March 13th, 1937’, thus inaugurating one of
two trends: the one of setting stories into the past (which would be clearer
for Merrivale’s) However, it does not yet start the one of choosing arbitrary
week-days for these (1937 is a common year on Friday, and thus any March 13th
is exactly a Saturday – can we assume at this date Carr stored old calendars,
or was he lucky?).
The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941): September 1940
The novel
(Chapter 1) goes explicit: ‘the first of
September,’ when ‘the heavy raiding
of London has not yet begun’. There is no more clear way to refer to 1940.
Death
Turns the Tables (1941): April 1936 (sic!)
One of the
complicated ones. The series starts (Chapter 4) with ‘Friday evening, the twenty-seventh of April’. This is either a
common year on Monday (1923, 1934, or even 1945) or a leap one on Sunday
(1928). With this, it becomes unclear what to do with (Chapter 2) the ‘transparent picture hats which were
fashionable in that year 1936’ (emphasis mine). An equally
clear claim! The 1936 calendar, one of a leap year on Wednesday, gives us 27th
of April as a Monday. Apparently, the time has come to override the date by
year: as “April” and week-days are more important, one could read ‘twenty-seventh’ as “twenty-fourth” etc.
Till Death Do Us Part (1944): June 1937(?)
And, at
once, a new complication. Carr, apparently, decides that a week-day is enough
of a definition and does nothing but (Chapter 3) identifying a ‘Thursday, June tenth’. This is either a
common on Friday (1926, 1937, 1943) or a leap on Thursday (1920). A sudden
appearance of, though a wartime one, but the year preceding publishing is
tempting, but so is 1937, which offers no intersection with the previous cases.
The definition (Chapter 1) of the rural England as being ‘in opulence, a year or so before the beginning of Hitler’s war’ seems
a way to exclude the 1940’s setting, and 1937 is not contradictory, with ‘beginning of Hitler’s war’ possibly
referring to the Anschluss of Austria on March 1938, thought the start of WWII
is also a near exact fit.
He Who Whispers (1946): June 1945
Now all the datings become simple and
explicit (and too-frequently ignoring week-days!). This is possibly the last
time we need a coupling of a week-day. The book (Chapter 1) start with a ‘Friday, June 1st’; it would be a Monday
common (1934, 1945) or a Sunday leap (1928); out of these, the presence of the
pre-publishing year of 1945 is striking. The fact that (Chapter 1) indeed ‘the war is over’ is confirmed
immediately, supporting it: Dr. Fell series, much less than other one, hides
away from the time and is willing to proceed into the future.
The Sleeping Sphinx (1947): July 1946
The book
(Chapter 1) refers to ‘Wednesday, July
tenth’ and the following correspondences. A common for it is Tuesday (1929,
1935, 1946); a leap is Monday (1940). Out of these, the desire to fix 1946 is
confirmed, however, by a super-explicit (Chapter 1) detail: ‘April just before the war ended’ is the
same as ‘a year and three months and
something’ before now!
Below Suspicion (1949): March 1947 (sic!)
We won’t be
dating Butler’s solo yet; however, this book is simple. The date (Chapter 2) is
given as ‘Tuesday, March 20th’.
Common year would be a Monday (1934, 1945), and a leap would be Sunday (1928).
However, there is an explicit one: the final chapter features a letter from Dr.
Fell, dated ‘22nd June, 1947’!
While it is possible to assume that Carr chose to complete the novel with some
correspondence of two years later, both the fact that the war is explicitly
over (Chapter 1) and an air of immediate response in the letter itself rather
point to the fact that it is the week-day
one should ignore, the setting is 1947, and ‘March
20th’ should be read as “18th March”.
The Dead Man's Knock (1958): July 1948
This is the
longest venture into the past in the whole Fell canon – and not even to the
pre-war one! Despite being published in 1958, the structure of dates, starting
(Chapter 1) with ‘Friday evening, the
ninth of July,’ which, if common, is Friday (1937, 1943, 1954), and, if
leap, is Thursday (1948), hints to a 1948 solution, or, at worst, a 1954 one.
Furthermore, the book twice confirms the first date, by mentioning (Chapter 2),
say, a ‘new Chevrolet, in that year 1948’.
In Spite of Thunder (1960): August 1956
The novel
is set some time into the past: the series (Chapter 3) starts with ‘Friday, tenth August’ which is a common
on Monday (1934, 1945, 1951) or a leap on Sunday (1956). The final date is
confirmed (Chapter 2) by the ‘present of
1956’.
The House
at Satan's Elbow (1965): June 1964
The series
(Chapter 1) starts on ‘Wednesday, June 10’,
which could be a Thursday common (1942, 1953, 1959) or a Wednesday leap (1964).
The appearance of 1964 is remarkable; and the text (Chapter 1) confirms it ‘during the early spring of 1964’.
Panic in Box C (1966): April 1965
This is
very detailed and explicit: the novel (Chapter 1) sets itself in ‘January, ‘65’ and moves itself (Chapter
1) right to ‘Monday, April 19th’,
which fits.
Dark of the Moon (1967): May 1965
Nothing is
easier. The story (Chapter 1) claims that ‘Sunday,
May 2nd’ is ‘today, 1965’ – and is correct. The distance with the previous one
is uncomfortable, but feasible.
And now for
the complete chart: here bold stands
for “there is explicit year information in the book, and any possible
additional information backs it up”; bold
underlined for “there is explicit year information, but something,
normally week-days, contradicts it and should be over-ridden”; italic for “the dating can be only
deduced by evidence, normally week-days, but this allows us to reconstruct it”;
and no marking for those dates which are conjectural even with the evidence.
1931, July: Hag's Nook
1932, March: The Mad Hatter Mystery
1932,
August: The Eight of Swords
1932, September: Death-Watch
1933, May: The
Blind Barber
1935, February: The Hollow Man
1935, June: The Arabian Nights Murder
1935,
August: The Problem of the Wire Cage
1936, April: Death Turns the Tables
1936, July: The Crooked Hinge
1937, February: To Wake the Dead
1937, March: The Man Who Could Not Shudder
1937, June: Till Death Do Us Part
1938, September: The Black Spectacles
1940, September: The Case of the Constant Suicides
1945, June: He Who Whispers
1946, July: The Sleeping Sphinx
1947, March: Below Suspicion
1948, July: The Dead Man's Knock
1956, August: In Spite of Thunder
1964, June: The House at Satan's Elbow
1965, April: Panic in Box C
1965, May: Dark of the Moon
Two more notes:
· This survey made me realize I never completed
The Eight of Swords. Satisfying
stuff.
· After a lot of studying of the
weather reports I now think that the August described in the aforementioned
novel is rather the 36-degree-Celcius one of 1932 and not a fairly ordinary
26-degree one of 1933.
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