The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1980) - Plot & Excerpts
Publicado en http://lecturaylocura.com/bombones-en...En el prólogo de la edición inglesa de The floating admiral (1931), el presidente en la actualidad del Detection Club, Simon Brett, comenta a propósito de las novela negras en el momento presente que “they are certainly more psychologically credible than many of the works produced at that time. They are also more serious, sometimes even to the point of taking themselves too seriously. In crime fiction, noir is the new black”. Opinión generalizada y que tiende a denostar, en cierta manera, lo que fue la edad dorada de las historias de detectives, sobre todo ofreciendo los aspectos en los que se ha mejorado, sin duda esa credibilidad psicológica de los personajes y la seriedad de los aspectos tratados.De todos modos Simon utiliza este argumento a su favor para concluir que “Most of these differences could be seen as improvements but the one thing that has been lost with the passage of time is the sense of fun that used to be associated with crime fiction”, es decir, a pesar de que esas diferencias pueden ser vistas como mejoras, una cosa se ha perdido con el tiempo: ese sentido de la diversión que solía estar asociado con la ficción criminal.La gran Dorothy Sayers, integrante destacada del Detection Club, comentaba “whether the detection game thus played for our own amusement will succeed in amusing other people also is for the reader to judge”, resaltando el hecho de que ellos lo hacían para divertirse y si eso divertía a otras personas, sólo el mismo lector podía juzgarlo. Ciertamente se lo debían pasar muy bien, y el propio Chesterton lo comentaba en un artículo sobre esta obra (incluido en la fantástica colección de artículos Cómo escribir relatos policíacos de Acantilado), que consistía en que cada uno de los integrantes del club escribía uno de los capítulos siguiendo la trama que iban dejando los predecesores hasta llegar a un increíble capítulo final donde el último “afortunado” debía cuadrar todos los cabos introducidos anteriormente, tarea harto complicada, ya que no se lo ponían fácil entre ellos.El encargado de realizar tan titánica tarea (y que no se resolviera como un sueño, tentación que intentaba evitar), fue el destacado Anthony Berkeley; ya que, como bien sabían todos, si alguien era capaz de arreglar el entuerto era él, autor de la obra El caso de los bombones envenenados en 1929 en la cual demostraba que era el mayor especialista en urdir todo tipo de argumentos y acabarlos de la manera más ingeniosa.El caso de los bombones envenados es la tercera obra que vemos publicada por aquí del autor y desde luego, se trató de la protohistoria, el germen, que sirvió para engendrar otros juegos del club que vinieron después, como es el caso de The floating admiral. La trama es aparentemente sencilla, seis componentes de un Club de Misterio (a lo Detection Club), entre los que se encuentra Roger Sheringham, deciden ayudar a Scotland Yard a descubrir quién es el asesino de un crimen que se encuentra sin resolver; pero deciden que cada uno, usando los métodos que crea convenientes, presentará su solución al caso; es decir, no trabajarán conjuntamente.Así vemos sucederse las soluciones y los métodos utilizados, desde los métodos inductivos (cui bono? ¿quién es el beneficiado?), pasando por los simplemente psicológicos, deductivos (a lo Sherlock Holmes), recopilación de pruebas materiales o mezclas de ambos, es decir, una “lección muy instructiva en el campo de la investigación comparada” como indica Chitterwick, el último de los que habla y que crea una tabla en su argumentación con los métodos seguidos, las pruebas usadas y el asesino deducido, que es distinto en cada uno de los investigadores. De hecho, cada método, la forma de desgranar el misterio va dibujando puntualmente la personalidad de cada uno de ellos.Lo más increíble de la situación es su capacidad de retorcer la trama pareciendo cada solución la correcta, hasta el punto de que uno de ellos, Bradley, es capaz de demostrar que él es el asesino en un desternillante ejercicio paródico, con sus propios motivos incluso. Naturalmente sólo hay una solución, que sólo se desvela en la última página, dejando una elipsis magnífica para el lector, al que sólo le puede quedar ese “sentido de la maravilla” que te deja el regusto de una gran obra.Dorothy Sayers tenía dudas de si el lector se podría divertir con estos juegos, puedo confirmar ahora que sí, que se lo puede pasar estupendamente con un juego de tal inteligencia y humor. Estamos ante una obra que es un clásico de la novela de detectives. Una obra maestra del género. ¡Qué talento tenía el gran Anthony Berkeley!.
BOTTOM LINE: Anthony Berkeley's twisty tale of Roger Sheringham and his very own detection club puzzle - a classic, and deservedly so. Setting: A Club of the best sort, wherein several VIP fans of detection and puzzles meet weekly to solve mysteries proposed by members or invited guests.Main Characters: Six members of the club, including founder Roger Sheringham, detective deluxe, in the Wimsey mode, all referential and witty, but also truly a bit of an ass at times. A renowned Lady Novelist (Modern Division), a full of himself popular Mystery Writer, a well-known Lady Playwright, an extremely expensive and quite famous Lawyer, and an extraordinary little man who, somehow, passed all the tests for entrance but nobody can quite remember just how. And for garnish, a Detective Inspector as guest, asking for assistance in what seems an insoluble case. A wealthy gentleman happens into his club at the moment another member receives a large, complimentary box of chocolates to sample. On hearing that they will simply be tossed aside otherwise, he accepts them as a gift, explaining that he had made a bet with his wife and lost, and had forgotten that tonight he must pay up, and these will do very well.... The chocolates are, indeed, as per the title, poisoned, and his dear little wife bites the dust. Thus is set in motion one of the most famous classic puzzle plots of the 1920s, a period renowned for such things. And this is a very plush, and posh, variant on that style, with a select number of puzzle solvers, a seemingly unsolvable crime (or was it an accident?), and six gloriously twisted, all quite possible, solutions provided by the club members. Each gathers clues and presents a report over six days, and each one is quite different from the previous one. The reader gets drawn further and further into the belief that each is the correct solution, as all are plausible and well-thought out. Berkeley is quite diabolical in this process, pulling you further and further along, all the while making you understand the people involved in the club almost as much as the people in the case. Of course almost from the first the reader knows that, in the classic manner, the inoffensive little man saves the day, ultimately, but we get to go on several wild rides before then, all glossed over with gloriously snappy patter and a few not inconsiderable digs at Berkeley’s friends and compatriots in the real Detection Club, which he helped found a few years earlier. It takes a while to “get going”, but this is, overall, a superb, deceptively twisted bon mot of a tale, deservedly on many “best of” lists, and after nearly a century, still a rather delicious treat.
What do You think about The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1980)?
It's kind of a 3.5 star book, but the ending was a bit of a cop-out, so I went for the lower star rating. It's enjoyable fluff - the scenario is fun too: a crime club meets up every week, consisting of writers, lawyers and various folk interested in crime, who decide that they'll solve a murder that has stumped the police. They are given the "facts" and go away for a week and then each night, one of them will present their findings and their solution to the crime: 6 interpretation, 6 solutions, 6 murderers. It's a great idea let down a little by its jolly-hockey sticks writing style and stereotypical characters.I thought that my own guess at a solution was a good one, but it appeared (in a modified form) as number 4 of the solutions and so was wrong. The ending was a bit of a cop-out and unconvincing, but on the whole this is recommended as an unusual example of what's known as "the golden age of crime writing".
—Phil
This novel is far more about detecting than about solving. It was mentioned in a recent WSJ article about novels from the classic era that have fallen under the radar today.Six men and women of a mystery club sit around and discuss a murder. They each provide their suggested solution. Each latches on to one detail of the case and builds an argument upon it. As you can imagine, each member goes in a different direction. Each of their suspects is possible (even probable?), but of course only member #6 gets it right (not that the murderer is ever actually named--only implied!).The point is that a good detective or cop or prosecutor or novelist can pin a rap on any number of suspects. The interest lies in building the case here, not on being right or wrong (well, unless you care about justice! or are an innocent suspect--then, well, . . ).
—E
Una vecchia regola dice che niente deve essere trattato piu' seriamente delle cose futili. Vale per il gioco e vale anche per i gialli. Ignora la regola aurea questo libro molto vezzoso e molto inglese (anche la grande Agatha Christie non e' immune da questo "peccato") dove tutto e' leggero (o preso alla leggera), anche il delitto. Ma questa leggerezza, piu' o meno voluta, non permette alcun coinvolgimento con i personaggi, peraltro tratteggiati in maniera a dir poco schematica, il Sir, la Lady, il circolo di buontemponi d'alto rango. Si ha sempre la spiacevole impressione del gioco di ruolo, anche se poi, nello specifico, l'attivita' di detection svolta da ciascun personaggio ha una sua intrigante attrattiva.
—Paperorosso
