A BOOK REVIEW FROM WILLIAM CROSS
OF "SECRET FEAR"
BY REGINALD UNDERWOOD (1943)
A RARE TITLE FROM FORTUNE PRESS
THE BOOK COVER
This crime curio offers, as the publisher’s own publicity
declares, a queer plot that is a far
cry from others stories of the same genre
at the time of its writing ( i.e. 1943).
The comparable titles are “ a little jaded by the ever-sinister Nazi" or of the image of the conventional
cloak and dagger detective, murderer or thief.
Secret Fear is a very
hard to get war time novel by the prolific Reginald Underwood from the
notorious FORTUNE PRESS.
Announced by the Press in their “ Summer and Autumn Titles” for 1943,
as a striking “thriller” the author
is better known for his other Fortune Press delights including the frolicsome relationship teaser,
“Flame of Freedom”, the racy gay
classic “Bachelor’s Hall “ and the torrid story of illigitimacy “An
Old Maid’s Child”. Yes, Secret Fear is
a whole new departure in the literary career
of dear old Reggie Underwood.
The book’s “Contents
of Chapters” gives ample warning of the nature
of the storyline to come, with stark headlines
including “ An Inexplicable Burglary”; “ Murder?”; “ Terror Finds The Doctor”; A Strange Death”; “An Appalling Ordeal” ; and “Escape”.
The action kicks off in Bruges
in Belgium, in order to introduce
the central character, 40-year-old Roderick Farne, MA,
a shy, English ex-schoolmaster, freed from having to seek employment in a profession he detests, after having
gained a modest inheritance and, with it, a taste for travel and exploring the world at large.
Farne is drawn into this mystery-suspense- vendetta, with the origin of
the apparent “Secret Fear”, set around concerns
for the well being of some old
acquaintances of his back in England.
Quite whether Farne’s informant in Bruges,
Tom Smeathers a creepy ex- Butler
to a rich family in Farne’s past life is an honest broker is part of the
mystery, mayhem and murder that unfolds. Mr Smeathers appears to have plenty of secrets, and a odd ball and strange wife who
keeps the dangerous company of men in the shadows.
Farne’s friends in England are apparently in mortal danger from the evil intent of a mother and child killer, a heavy drinking aristocrat, Clive Lowick. This wretch is believed to be quite mad and, “cruel as hell”, he has spent several
years in Dartmoor prison and upon his release from there was ordered abroad,
to Canada.
It seems that Lowick was done out of his
inheritance and the family pile was left
by his wealthy father to an old doctor and not to him, so on this count he is
seething with anger and bitter as a lemon.
Trouble is the villainous Lowick is now back in England looking for revenge, and
the line up of his would targets for revenge starts with the old butler in
Burges, and hot favourites by a
mysterious stranger ( possibly cavorting
with the ex-Butler’s wife) against the old family doctor and his beautiful daughter, these being the close friends of Farne. In fact Farne has quite a notion for the doctor’s alluring daughter, although no talk of romance has
been exchanged between them.
The damsel in distress is one Adele Burfield, who was once promised in marriage to an older,
effete, English Lord, named
Ploughdon, but for some reason or other she
remains single. Adele is living
with her father in a quaint little
cottage, having sold the Lowick family pile ( that was previously inherited) and
oddly it seems the doctor is no longer a rich man and has been the subject of a
recent burglary that has dumb founded
and unsettled them all.
Farne takes on the role of detective to
investigate a growing spiral of conflicting
threads in the relationships and he
is soon deeply embroiled in endeavouring
to solve a trail of crime, robbery, deception, lies, false Wills and multiple murders in search of the truth. What a jolly
good chap he is, and he seems to enjoy this quest.
Add to the mix a element of the supernatural, of
controlling, fiendish females and there you have it to try to keep up and unscramble.
A quite different, honest and refreshing storyline from the usually salacious, middlebrow, gay-themed fictional flirts from Reginald Underwood, who keeps up the pace of Farne’s scrutiny of events, and
lays on the reader exhilaration fairly well, albeit there is some muddling and the narrative is a
bit short on the detail on character development. But we get hooked as Farne tramples across the Midlands and back
in Bruges
looking for testimonies and answers to the riddles.
And, in the end cleverly, and unexpectedly Underwood pulls it
all off in exposing the “Secret Fear” or
fears of almost all the key players and with this some further gasps.
Farne is no Sherlock Holmes or Poirot, but he is still a steady handed sleuth albeit in the making.
Is there a resolution and happy ending, I won’t spoil it! That said : the only copy of the book is on my book shelves albeit looking for a new, loving home.
William Cross, FSA Scot
Enquiries email :
williecross@aol.com
A BOOK REVIEW FROM WILLIAM CROSS
OF "SECRET FEAR"
BY REGINALD UNDERWOOD (1943)
A RARE TITLE FROM FORTUNE PRESS