A review of Framed for Hanging by Guy Cullingford – 251214
Although originally published in 1956, the setting for Guy Cullingford’s fifth novel is in the early twentieth century when Victorian sensibilities still abound and there is a clear class distinction between the servant classes and their betters, typified by her sardonic observation of the maid, Green, who can speak two languages, “kitchen and dining room”.
Cullingford, Constance Taylor’s nom de plume, has chosen to set her story in the quiet cathedral city of Cattminster to which Richard Groom has returned after a long and successful trip to the Amazon with his two companions, Dolly Thorne and Charles Hearst. The conquering hero returns to the abode of his three maiden aunts, Sarah who is the epitome of practicality, Ruth whose sense of religion has given her the reputation of a local saint, and Essie, who is viewed as being a tad simple.
It is not long before there is a sharp shower on Richard’s parade. He is prevailed upon to visit his ex-fiancée, Hester, now married unhappily to the local doctor, Morby. Hester tells Richard of her suspicions that her husband is poisoning her and urges him to have it out with the doctor. Richard accedes and shortly after the pair are heard arguing, the doctor is found poisoned with prussic acid after drinking a glass of rum. Richard is arrested and accused of Morby’s murder.
The three aunts are convinced that their golden boy is innocent as do is travelling companions and, in their different ways, all try to help with differing results. Dolly and Charles first give Richard a transparently false alibi and then confuse matters by buying their own poison while the aunts, whose relationship with Hester had been frosty since the split, try a charm initiative, the saintly Ruth appealing to her better nature and inviting her to tea at which Essie has made an orange cake with a slice cut especially for their guest and Sarah sends her off with a pot of damson cheese. Shortly afterwards, Hester is found dead, also poisoned although this time with arsenic. Were the sisters complicit in her death?
Inspector Yeald’s task is made more awkward as, as a boy, he was in Sarah’s Sunday school but eventually he steels himself to view the sisters as he would any other potential suspect. Richard too spends a lot of time considering the circumstances of Dr Morby’s death and he comes to a radical solution, which concurs with Yeald’s developing thoughts on the two murders.
It is a story that revolves around an attempt to break free with Richard’s return providing the catalyst and an innocent stooge, someone framed for hanging, that expedites a plan that was already maturing and what happens when a worm, sensing an imminent betrayal, suddenly turns. The solution involves two missing items, a decanter and a copy of a book entitled Mrs Maybrick’s Own Story, and finishes with a nice if minor twist in its tail.
The strength of the book lies in the strength of Cullingford’s characterisation and her interest in developing the reader’s understanding of their psychology while dressing up her tale in a style that is both witty and easy-going and well-paced. That there is no single focus in the investigation also gives the story more interest. In all, this is an enjoyable read. Those damn servants indeed.
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