The Bad Quarto

I treated myself to the final Imogen Quy mystery by Jill Paton Walsh, The Bad Quarto, published in 2007. Imogen is, as usual, warm and restful company, though I found this time that the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall rather haphazardly around her and only fit together satisfactorily at the very end.

I did enjoy the Night Climbers of Cambridge -- apparently a real thing -- a secret society of daredevils who reminded me of the Cave Clan here in Melbourne, but devoted to scaling towers and rooftops rather than tunnels and drains. The element of expert medical evidence, declaimed so confidently in court, resonated spookily with another book I've been reading, Sybille Bedford's The Best We Can Do, her groundbreaking account of a trial for murder of a doctor in the 1950s, which relied heavily on... expert medical evidence, though the three experts all disagreed with each other. This story hinges on a performance of the so-called 'Bad Quarto' of Hamlet -- a much shorter version of the famous play than we are used to, which was intriguing.

I was happy to leave Imogen at the end of her latest adventure, apparently secure in her job of college nurse, safe in her little house with lodgers Fran and Josh upstairs for company. She is an unusual model of self-sufficient, busy and contented womanhood -- never pining for sex or romance, or feeling herself incomplete without a partner, but keeping herself happily occupied with friendships, acts of kindness and mysteries to piece together. A modern Miss Marple, perhaps, who can pride herself on a useful career rather than needing to busy herself with village gossip! I'll miss her.