The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin

Author : Edmund Crispin
Title : The Moving Toyshop
Published : 1946
Publisher : Collins Crime Club
Pages : 244
Genre : Crime Fiction

     Richard Cadogan, poet, and would-be bon vivant, arrives for what he thinks will be a relaxing holiday in the city of dreaming spires. Late one night, however, he discovers the dead body of an elderly woman lying in a toyshop and is coshed on the head. When he comes to, he finds that the toyshop has disappeared and been replaced with a grocery store. The police are understandably skeptical of this tale but Richard's former schoolmate, Gervase Fen (Oxford professor and amateur detective), knows that truth is stranger than fiction (in fiction, at least). Soon the intrepid duo are careening around town in hot pursuit of clues but just when they think they understand what has happened, the disappearing-toyshop mystery takes a sharp turn...

     It is not too often that I pick up a book published as long ago as this one. I can't really say why that might be I suppose we to often go for what is shiny and new. But I was given a copy of The Moving Toyshop by a friend who saw it tucked away in a little book shop who knows I enjoy a good crime book. Upon receiving this copy I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. I had never heard of either the series or the author before. But as it was on of my countrymen and it was a gift I thought what the heck, why not give it a go and see if I had been missing out on something for a long time. 

     This book seems very strange to me, while I appreciate that being written so long ago the style and flow are so much different to what I am used to. On the other hand, even taking that into account it felt to me like it was written a great deal before its own publication. At times it almost felt Dickenson in its approach to storytelling. But what that does mean is that we get a strong pair of leads to guide us in what is somewhat of an absurd account of a murder. When I read the blurb I was trying to work out how this book would stay within the realms of the very grounded world. But it is something that our two heroes do with great abounds. I think long gone are the days of the amateur detective it is a style of crime fiction that evolved into other things. And to be fair the police now have there own ways of solving crimes all in house. I liked the gentle play between the two as the tried to piece together how a man can see a dead body one second in a certain place and come to, to a complexly different one.  I don't feel it is a trope that would work too well in a modern setting but here it works well. 

     This book defiantly as a certain way about it, it blends crime with comedy by way of an already established friendship. It is a bond that holds each other true on the great adventure to solve a murder. The flow is generally light and in good humor. You can't really go in expecting the sheer savagery of a modern crime book. While we do get some details of our poor murder victim most is left to that of the reader to piece together. And for it due it is much more about taking clues small and large to piece together the story. To me, it was a great read in the context of when it was written. I feel If it where to be published now it would pass by the way with no real attention being paid to it. I can, on the other hand, appreciate that at it's time this would have been one of the go-to crime books to pick up. It delivers on everything it sets out to and at such a short page count, it did not take me long to get to the bottom of this case.

     For me, this book and possibly the series going forward worked well as a filler between modern crime fiction. It works as a palate cleanser, being not to heavy and gave me a nice little mystery to wrap my head around. Which for its part is all it needs to be. When entering this book you never have to ask too much from its pages or author. So if you are looking for something light and refreshing with a little humor along the way try slipping this in between those dark and macabre modern classics.