Now out: E. X. Ferrars companion (ed. Foxwell).

Just out is E. X. Ferrars: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Gina Macdonald with Elizabeth Sanders. This is volume 2 in the McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction series that I edit (volume 1 is on John Buchan; the Scots will be pleased that both volumes feature writers of Scottish heritage).

Detection Club member and British Crime Writers Assn cofounder Ferrars published her first book, Turn Single, in 1932, and the last, A Choice of Evils, in 1995. Her sleuths include physiotherapist Virginia Freer and her estranged, often feckless husband Felix and retired professor Andrew Basnett (who often poignantly grapples with the effects of aging). Some of her books are still in print with Langtail Press and Doubleday, and Doug Greene of Crippen and Landru plans a collection of her short stories. Very helpful with the book was Peter Mactaggart, Ferrars's nephew and literary executor, who provided the cover photo, manuscript excerpts (including one from an unpublished novel), and valuable insights on Ferrars's life. Readers may like the handy table that lists Ferrars's methods of murder and the works in which they appear.

George C. Scott, left, and
Angela Thornton in E. X. Ferrars's
"We Haven't Seen Her Lately,"
  Kraft Mystery Theatre
NBC, 20 Aug 1958

One fascinating aspect was her duel in print with sci-fi writer John Wyndham over the merits of mystery fiction vs. those of sci-fi.

Another intriguing discovery was "We Haven't Seen Her Lately," the 1958 Kraft Mystery Theatre production of Ferrars's Always Say Die (see photo), in which a woman investigates her aunt's disappearance amid a slew of shady characters.

Shortly before his death, distinguished author-critic H. R. F. Keating, who reviewed Ferrars's Frog in the Throat favorably in the Times, kindly provided a blurb for the back cover. Sadly, Macdonald (coauthor, Scott Turow: A Critical Companion and Shaman or Sherlock? The Native American Detective; author, Robert Ludlum: A Critical Companion) died in September 2010 of leukemia—she worked on this book as she was undergoing medical treatment. Her dedication to this work was inspirational.

Mystery vs. sci fi: E. X. Ferrars against John Wyndham.

As the sustainability of genre fiction is a topic of perpetual discussion, it seems there is nothing new under the sun. In April 1954, a spirited exchange in print occurred between John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (aka John Wyndham, author of Day of the Triffids, 1951) and Morna Doris Brown (aka E. X. Ferrars [US] and Elizabeth Ferrars [UK], Detection Club member and a founder of the British Crime Writers Assn).

In "Roar of Rockets!" in the 2 Apr 1954 issue of John O'London's Weekly, Wyndham asserted that science fiction would replace mystery fiction.  Ferrars replied the following week in "No Danger to Detectives!".

Wyndham theorized that a shift in New York publishing to science fiction was because "there has been too much murder going on for too long." He stated, "The number of people who are bored with routine detective stories has been increasing.  . . . The present outbreak of rockets may be seen as the assault weapons softening up the detectives" (1–2). He dubbed some fictional detectives "long-toothed bores." However, he does not reserve his criticism to mysteries, addressing weaknesses in his own genre ("Wells's conceptions degenerated into a kind of super-gadgetry"). He also cited his choices for exemplary works (Vonnegut's Player Piano, Orwell's 1984, Lewis's cautionary It Can't Happen Here)—perhaps implying that mystery fiction could not propose their equals.

Ferrars, in her reply, pointed out that The Brothers Karamazov is a detective story and that both Shakespeare and Sophocles were concerned with murder. She also listed the strengths of the genre: "The detective story must deal with human emotions, with violence, fear, guilt, suspicion, courage, intelligence, and moral values . . . suspense must be created, curiosity stimulated” (2). Science fiction, she asserted, "cannot be redeemed by answering that fascinating question, whodunit? or give the reader the satisfaction of winning or losing in a game of wits with the writer."

Thankfully, Wyndham's prognostications have not come to pass. Indeed, it's hard to imagine one genre's fans doing a whole-scale jump to another, especially if they enjoy reading across genres.