Penguin no. 590: Trial and Error by Anthony Berkeley

Somewhat at sea, therefore, Mr. Todhunter expended a sum of money on the cheap editions of a great many detective stories in order to try to learn what was the best method of procedure in a case such as his. From these he gathered that so long as nobody saw you at the scene or near it and you left neither incriminating evidence of any sort nor fingerprints and had no possible motive for eliminating the victim, you were absolutely certain to be caught in fiction, but not so probably in real life.

Trial and Error tells the story of Mr. Todhunter who at 51 years of age is aware that he only has a few more months to live. His poor prognosis is the consequence of an aortic aneurysm which is threatening to rupture, and although he feels fine, his continuing survival depends upon his leading an exceedingly quiet life.

He is sent home with instructions to refrain from drinking, smoking, exercise, and excitement, and yet even as he contemplates this dull existence, he realises that it requires little deviation from what has been until then a fairly unremarkable life. He is a modest, self-effacing man, and with his donnish inclinations and pedantic tendencies, his pleasures have always been small. Now, in contemplating his approaching death, he feels something like regret for his staid ways, and thinks of using the remaining time to redress the conventionality of his life. He feels that he would like to achieve something worthy before he dies.

But just what could someone living under a death sentence do to improve the lot of humanity? It is a question he poses hypothetically one evening to a group of carefully selected friends, and the consensus (with the exception of the cleric) is that such a man should identify some source of evil in the world, and then act to remove it; where the death penalty is no deterrent, a man wanting to contribute to society should plan and commit an altruistic murder.

This is 1937, and Mr Todhunter toys briefly with the ambitious idea of taking out Hitler, but he comes to believe that such a plan would be too uncertain of achieving its aim, and would carry the risk of  inflicting upon the world a successor who could be even worse. Instead, his friends propose that the ideal candidate for murder victim would be some person making life difficult for a small and easily identified group. The discussion is purely academic, but a seed is planted rather firmly in Mr. Todhunter's mind, and it is one which has him spending time as a condemned prisoner during his final weeks, although a happy and contented one.

His conviction is for the murder of Mrs Norwood, an immoral woman who seemed to fulfil his friends' criteria of suitable prospect for hypothetically-justifiable murder victim. Charming and entirely self-concerned, she made a habit of luring wealthy man from their families, and then discarding them when their funds had been exhausted, leaving in her wake the devastated men and their abandoned wives and children. In this unusual case, Mr Todhunter's trial is not instigated by the Crown, but instead by a private citizen concerned that a previously-convicted but innocent man may be hanged for the murder of Mrs Norwood. A complex storyline explores the implications of two men being tried independently for the same crime, both facing separate juries, and both being found guilty.

Even though the story tended to ramble in places, and it is not always easy to follow the logic of Mr Todhunter's actions, I found it a very enjoyable book to read, and entertaining from start to finish. With his courage, his fixity of purpose, and his unswerving adherence to his own moral code, Mr Todhunter makes a surprisingly endearing character, even though he is presented as something of a fusspot, given to worrying about his health and the timing of his afternoon tea.

The moral implication of someone setting themselves up as judge and executioner is never really explored, except perhaps in the exposing of the arrogance and limited foresight of those suggested as possessing wisdom. No one taking part in the original discussion, for example, is conscious of the flaws in their thinking, such as the one eventually revealed: the possibility that an innocent  person could be convicted of the proposed crime. Anthony Berkeley seems to be highlighting a kind of self-satisfied smugness which can be observed of those in authority, and the narration is replete with small digs at the expense of the police, politicians and the media, and at the way power is exercised in general. Despite its subject, it was an amusing book with an interesting and well-developed premise, and with much that was clever about the story not revealed until the final pages.

By the same author:
Penguin no. 58: The Poisoned Chocolates Case