Gladys Mitchell's Late, Late in the Evening (1976)

Mal begins Season 3 with a "forgotten" Golden Age crime writer - Gladys Mitchell and her novel 'Late Late in the Evening' part of her Mrs (later Dame) Bradley series.

Mitchell is an author I've wanted to read for quite a while ever since I read about her existence in Christopher Fowler's 'Book of Forgotten Authors', a book every avid reader should acquaint themselves with. The creation of Mrs Bradley and the experimental nature of Mitchell's approach means she has some devoted followers but, in this episode, I'll ask whether this could be the reason why she is not as well-known. It isn't a new question to ask, as you'll be able to tell from a lot of the research and writers who have devoted time to looking into Mitchell's writing.

In this episode, as well as asking whether this book can be understood out of order, we'll look at the themes of 'Late Late in the Evening', how it reads more like a twisted children's story than a crime novel, and how I feel I haven't really read a 'proper' Mrs Bradley novel...yet!

Special thanks to Jason Half who has created 'The Stone House' website in honour of Glady Mitchell and Mrs Bradley in particular. It is a fascinating resource and well worth a visit to find out more about this author. I've put the link below.

Quick reminder: The podcast will be publishing episodes fortnightly this season to give me time to do some creative writing, so I can put what I learn from these authors into action!

Email: outoforderbookclub@outlook.com

Content warning: Contains a little swearing. Plus, I call writer Ronald Knox 'Roland', so apologies for that!

Useful links and Helpful Sources

The Stone House (or gladysmitchell.com) - A brilliant website, and as I mention in the episode a great resource for my podcast. It certainly made researching and learning about Mitchell so much easier. Jason Half, who created the site, also includes reviews of all of the Bradley books as well as reviews of other Mitchell works. If you are even slightly Mitchell-curious after listening to this, I would recommend exploring the site.

Shedunnit podcast - A great 20 minute podcast looking at Gladys Mitchell and what makes her a fascinating yet forgotten 'Golden Age' writer.

Lee O'Brien's Gladys Mitchell's Mrs Bradley: Detection, Difference and The Rising of the Moon (1945) - 'The Rising of the Moon' (which I haven't read, I admit) seems to be similar to Late Late in the Evening, as it focuses on two children within the mystery. The research itself is a very interesting look at how Mitchell's style and her willingness to experiment made her an interesting if an 'unpopular' writer.

Paul Peppis' Querying and Queering golden age detection: Gladys Mitchell's Speedy Death and popular modernism - Very interesting research about 'Speedy Death', Mitchell's first novel which seems to break a lot of the 'rules' set out by people like Knox while also playing with society's ideas of sexuality.

Christopher Fowler's Blog - Fowler mentions Mitchell a lot in his blog. However, this link will take you to a specific page (rather than the home page) where Fowler lists 10 forgotten authors he thought people should know about. His summary of the charms of Mitchell (which is at the bottom) is memorable.

The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler - Every home of every avid reader should have a copy of this! Support your forgotten authors!