The Secret Cell

Author – William E Burton

Publisher – Gentleman’s magazine

Date – 1837

Stars – 5/5

Review

Whilst I still get used to blogging and wordpress, I am writing reviews on pretty much anything I am reading at the moment.  The more I write, the better I write so these reviews serve as a personal development as much as blog content.  If there are any suggestions of books to review, particularly by non-established authors, I would love to hear them.  Anyway, on with the review…

Before Holmes, there was Dupin and before Dupin there was L-.  Thanks to Sim’s “The Dead Witness” for reproducing this classic which hadn’t been reprinted since its initial release.  It seems Burton was the grandfather of the detective story although this has been the subject of some debate.  Burton started the Gentleman’s Magazine after moving to the USA from London.  He employed none other than Edward Elgar Poe, however their relationship is reported to have deteriorated and Poe was somewhat miffed when Burton sold his magazine to George Rex Graham in 1840, becoming Graham’s Magazine, in which Poe’s landmark debute Dupin story The Murders in Rue Morgue was eventually published. 

The story is written from the perspective of an unnamed narrator (although written in first person) who has a police detective for a friend, L-.  Our narrator is approached by Mrs Lobenstein inconsolable about the disappearance of her daughter, Mary.  Mary was 17 years of age and worked as, what seems to be, a carer for an old lady nearby.  When this lady dies and leaves her inheritance to Mary, suspicion immediately falls upon this lady’s niece who was very much aggrieved to have missed out.  

An investigation follows with L- as the main enquirer.  Kidnapping, illegal mental asylums, disguises and resurrection from the dead follow, written in that beautiful old English dialect, with which we have become so accustomed.  L- with his sidekick narrator serve as an early prototype for the Holmes-Watson relationship, however he is not quite the deductive genius likes Holmes.  He is a master of disguise and uses this ability to follow up the lead which eventually brings the story to its conclusion.  My favourite part is L- enlisting his wife as an undercover operator after his attempts had failed.  She ingeniously come upon the lead of “Joe” for which the remainder of the story is centred.  It is a sign of the times that women were so underwritten in such stories so L- having a wife who, not only, can he call upon in his time of need but is equally as brilliant as he, is a breath of fresh air. 

Whether L- is the first literary detective is a subject of debate. He is not very deductive but uses disguise and follows up leads to a satisfactory conclusion.  Whether a detective or not, L- is sure to have influenced Poe’s Dupin, as he was almost certainly privy to the manuscript when he worked for Burton.  Conan Doyle’s reference to Poe is unmistakeable in A Study in Scarlet where Watson compares Holmes to Dupin with Holmes’ replying “he had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine.”  

Whether we see L- as a prototype or a standalone character, the story is still wonderfully written with plenty of action and adventure.  Thankfully, this classic story has been digitally republished and can be found by a simple google search.  If you’re a classic detective fan, Holmes fan, or even just a lover of good written English, you should read The Secret Cell.