Customer Reviews

Political Suicide

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Many of Robert Barnard's books are satire. It is such a trick to not go too far when writing satire, and I have yet to observe him putting a foot wrong. This somewhat elderly book is no exception.

Somewhat elderly, because it was first published in 1986, a lifetime and a half ago, when it comes to politics, in Britain--or the US! None of the higher-ups are named in this book, so it's a safe read, anyway, except for the damage you may do to yourself by laughing too hard!

The Tory MP for East Bootham (a dreary little place that is a casualty of the economic wars and located in far Yorkshire) James Partridge by name, has apparently committed suicide by jumping off a bridge into the Thames. Or did he?

Mixing the events taking place behind the scenes leading up to the new by-election for Partridge's replacement with the very subtle investigation of his death by the about-to-be-retired Superintendant Sutcliffe of the London Police, allows the reader to see many sides of what could be a one-dimensional picture. There is also, of course, the ever present media, digging ever deeper into backgrounds and foregrounds.

In the end, the Superintendant solves the puzzle, which will leave you chuckling as you finish the tale, even though justice is probably not well-served. But then, this IS about politics. Remember?

This Barnard mystery is so entertainingly wry and such a page-by-page pleasure that the murder and the whodunit are almost incidental to the telling. In this one Barnard skewers the British polictical system top to bottom -- from opportunistic PM to dim-witted voter -- without resorting to forensic clues or Holmesian detection or red herrings. It probably helps to be something of an anglophile and more than a little cynical to get the most of Barnard's insights and deft verbal political cartooning.

Political enthusiasts in particular should enjoy this Robert Barnard mystery, in which a shrewd superintendent inquires into the death of James Partridge, a quiet, well-mannered Tory, who, before his untimely demise, represented East Bootham, Yorkshire, in the House of Commons. Was it murder or suicide? Are Partridge's family and friends grieving, or moving on with their lives with suspicious quickness? Did any of his potential successors -- or their contributors -- benefit disproportionately from Partridge's death? Barnard's book smoothly resolves these questions even as it gives the reader the unique flavor of a parliamentary by-election. Worth reading.

Robert Barnard in his crime novels veers often from his Dickensian caricatures to his Swiftian satire and irony that spear a great deal of English social and political life. He can be quite cutting and misanthropic; it's difficult to find many likeable, admirable characters in his cast of mostly selfish, nasty, grasping, mean-spirited, and petty monsters. His humor saves him from being condemned as solely as an unpitying commentator.
He's a born storyteller who keeps you whipping through his stories, effortlessly and enjoying the ride, though you won't be able to avoid his rapier thrusts of cynicism and sarcasm. He thrives on dissecting the British class system, and he can be just as cutting with the rich as the poor. His sympathies reside in the craft of writing. His frequent use of a nasty newspaper called The Grub, his own creation, show his great disdain for the press, reporters and the media.
In "political Suicide" (1986) James Partridge, a Tory member of Parliament ends up quite dead in the Thames. Police Superintendent Sutcliffe investigates, suspecting murder. He finds that the M.P.'s Bootham constituents in Yorkshire were rather indifferent to him. The unnamed prime minister for the Tories was Margaret Thatcher at this time, a frequent target of Barnard's jibes. He has only negative barbs for the country's leader throughout the book. Partridge was trying to get an animal rights bill through the House that would provide for more humane treatment of animals particularly on factory farms, but the bill was very unpopular within his own party.
Partridge and his uppity wife are separated; the man had no friends and was a loner. The whole book deals in considerable detail with the election campaigns of the three men vying to replace the dead House member.
This is one of Barnard's lesser efforts. The story and the characters aren't that interesting. The usual comic element seems muted, and the story pokes along. Barnard seems incapable of writing a bad book, but this one just doesn't have it. I didn't find the solution of the case satisfying or credible. I think Barnard's goal was to skewer the electorate and show how pitiful the three party hopefuls were. One was a class snob, one a scheming rabble rouser, and the third a barely competent nonentity. Although it is in the mystery genre, it is really an indictment of the British political system, politicians, and an uninformed electorate.
One M. P. says, "All politicians have problems with their private lives: they either have too little of it, or too much."