Molten lead

After Luke 4:16-30

His words poured into our ears

like molten lead, heat and agony

and pain slicing our souls,

this one we’ve known since childhood

who’d never given a sign

of disrespect, his words edged

in anger as if we were the ones

at fault, the ones blaspheming,

instead of the disdain pouring

from his mouth, pouring

on our ears, such dishonor

never heard before. And we knew

this traitor in our midst

must die.

Photograph by Chetan Menaria via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“The Man of Dangerous Secrets” by Maxwell March

Robin Grey occupies an unusual position with Scotland Yard. He is a policeman, but he’s often involved in cases and situations unknown to most everyone else in the force. He has a number of talents, one of which is the ability to remember faces.

Late one evening, he’s waiting for the boat train at Waterloo Station in London, scouting for someone the Foreign Office is particularly interested in. This night, he sees something else – a young man exits the train, be accosted by an older man, and flung onto the train’s electric tracks. Robin rescues and saves the young man, and is rather astonished at the would-be murderer’s identity – one of Britain’s best-known industrialists. The man quickly disappears into the crowd.

As it turns out, the young man who was nearly killed is said to be interested in marrying a certain Jennifer Wren, a beautiful young woman whose father, Sir Henry Wren, has ties to the industrialist in question. Miss Wren’s two previous fiancées were both killed, and it looks like the third time was almost the charm. Someone wants to make sure the woman doesn't marry.

Not realizing who it was who saved the young man’s life until they meet and talk, Miss Wren asks Robin Grey to investigate. But it’s too late to save the young man; he’s been poisoned. So, to help the lovely Miss Wren because it’s love at first sight for Mr. Grey, he suggests they pretend that they’re engaged, to see what can be smoked out.

Margery Allingham

The Man of Dangerous Secrets, written by Margery Allingham under the pen name of Maxwell March, was originally published in 1933 (in Britain, where it was first issued, it bore the name of Other Man’s Danger). It’s filled with car chases, kidnappings, conspiracies, a doctor who appears to be straight out of a 1930s horror movie (Peter Lorre could have played him in a movie version), a damsel in distress multiple times, and, because this is an Allingham novel, a romantic sub-plot.

Allingham (1904-1966) was a prolific writer during her career, producing 21 mystery novels and short story collections involving her detective Albert Campion; 12 additional mystery works; and three under the pseudonym of Maxwell March. She was one of the stars of the Golden Age of Mystery (1920s-1940s), along with Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey, and several others.

The Man of Dangerous Secrets is high melodrama, very much a product of its time but still a fun and absorbing ready today, some 84 years after it first appeared.

Related:

The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham

The Allingham Casebook by Margery Allingham.

Margery Allingham’s The Case of the Late Pig.

Margery Allingham’s Flowers for the Judge.

Margery Allingham’s Death of a Ghost.

Margery Allingham’s Black Plumes.

Margery Allingham’s Look to the Lady.

Margery Allingham’s Police at the Funeral.

The Essential Margery Allingham Collection.

Margery Allingham Box Set #2.

Margery Allingham’s The Fashion in Shrouds.

The Margery Allingham Society.

Top photograph by David East via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Two for Children for Christmas

One of the hardest things I can remember as a child is having to wait for Christmas (yes, I had a rather conventional suburban upbringing). In the 1950s, it was rare to see anything involving Christmas until after Thanksgiving. But once Thanksgiving had passed, it was time to pore over those big Christmas catalogs from Sears, Penney’s, and Montgomery Ward, with their pages full of the latest children’s toys. And then came the anticipation of what would be found under the Christmas tree.

But there’s far more to Christmas than the anticipation of new toys. For children and adults alike, Christmas is about the coming birth of the Messiah, and in that phrase, “coming birth,” is the summary of the two parts of that great season in the Christian calendar – advent and the arrival. Two new books for children focus on these vital aspects of the Christmas season.

Look: A Child’s Guide to Advent and Christmas, written by Laura Alary and illustrated by Ann Boyajian, deftly blends the story of the birth of Jesus with what happens in churches today – the celebration, the advent candles, and the trees and other decorations. Adults may understand the connections between what happens in church and the Advent of birth of Jesus, but it may not as obvious to young children (so what is the deal with the Advent candles?).

And there’s more. This isn’t only a book about the meaning of the Christmas story but also what that story should compel us to do, and how we live our lives because of that story.

In almost dream-like pastel colors, the illustrations are simple and moving. Whether it’s children looking at the stars in the night sky or a candlelight church service, the illustrations fit the text hand-in-glove to explain Advent and Christmas.

Look! A Child’s Guide to Advent and Christmas is a wonderful way for both adults and children to understand what Christmas means.

That Baby in the Manger, by Anne Neuberger and illustrated by Chloe Pitkoff, is a children’s book that focuses on the birth of Jesus, but it does so in a very particular way. A first-grade child doesn’t recognize the doll used for the baby Jesus in the church’s manger scene because the doll has blond curls, and the child herself has dark hair. The story becomes one of how a man overhearing the conversation helps the little girl and the children with her to see that Jesus isn’t only about children with blond curls.

The illustrations, done in watercolor style, are lovely. These are pictures of Christmas in a neighborhood in the city, and they are beautifully done.

That Baby in the Manger is about Christmas for all of us, and it is a season for all of us, “for God so loved the world,” and not only children with blond curls.

Top photograph by Petr Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.