Morris Bishop (1893–1973)

The Widening Stain is a classic mystery published in 1942. Written by W. Bollingbroke Johnson, pen name of Professor Morris Bishop of Cornell University and set in a university library, it is admittedly somewhat dated but it is also a whole lot of fun. Often with use of limericks, Bishop pokes subtle and sometimes not so subtle tongue-in-cheek humour at the world of academia.

The mystery itself is interesting - two murders and the disappearance of a very rare, very valuable book - but it does move at a slow pace. However, the wonderfully eccentric cast of characters keep this story from losing traction. The main protagonist , Gilda, chief cataloguer and amateur sleuth, especially, makes for a strong woman in what, I suspect would have been a bastion of maleness at the time. The solution itself was a bit dated but, in fairness, likely reflected contemporaneous ideas. Then again many of those beliefs seem to be coming back again so maybe not so dated. Overall, I quite enjoyed this book.

This is the only mystery Bishop wrote and that's a shame because it really deserves a sequel or two. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Todd Menesses who does a terrific job of bringing the characters to life.

I received an audiobook of this novel from Netgalley and Highbridge Audio in exchange for an honest review… (mer)

**I received an advanced listening copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Johnson's mystery set in an academic library has layers of humor and intrigue, which makes this an overall enjoyable book. Gilda's character was delightful - parts stereotypical librarian but yet parts struggling to break away from the confines of 1940s mores - and I would have loved to read further books featuring Gilda as the amateur sleuth. The quirks of the professors and other library staff were amusing, and the mystery itself held my interest. A great example of a classic mystery novel, and I can see why Penzler Publishers selected this as part of the American Mystery Classics series.

As for the voice narration, it took me some time to adapt to the various voices and characterizations. Admittedly, it is not often I listen to a male reader - it just seems the books I listen to tend to be voiced by a female - so it takes me some time to adapt to the narration. However, once I did, I thought it was well done.… (mer)

Two suspicious deaths and a rare-book theft at a university library would normally be the purview of the police, but in this case Gilda Gorham, chief cataloguer at the library, feels compelled to investigate. Normally I am skeptical of amateur sleuths, but Gilda was mostly sensible in her sleuthing. That said, the means by which she got the killer to confess was rather dangerous, and I wasn’t fond of the way that the solution was revealed. The introduction to this book in its American Mystery Classics reprint is really interesting and well worth reading, as is the book if you like mysteries set in an academic environment.… (mer)