G. D. H. Cole and Margaret Cole

• Born: September 25, 1889
• Birthplace: Cambridge, England
• Died: January 14, 1959
• Place of death: London, England

• Born: May 6, 1893
• Birthplace: Cambridge, England
• Died: May 7, 1980
• Place of death: Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Types of Plot: Police procedural; amateur sleuth

Principal Series: Superintendent Henry Wilson, 1923-1942; Everard Blatchington, 1926-1935; Dr. Benjamin Tancred, 1935-1936; Mrs. Elizabeth Warrender, 1938-1941

Contribution

G. D. H. Cole and Margaret Cole contributed little that had an immediate impact on the mystery and detective genre. Although their thirty-odd full-length novels and several collections of short stories are well written, they are, on the surface, very conventional and often predictable. The writing of mysteries was for the Coles an avocation, an escape from a very active involvement in the academic, political, and economic life of Great Britain between the two world wars.

The Coles shared the task of writing, and while one might be responsible for the completion of a particular story, the other never failed to make suggestions or actual contributions to the narrative. The assumption on the part of some critics that their fiction contains few references to their political and economic thought betrays a superficial treatment of their work. Among the most prominent and outspoken socialist thinkers in modern England, the Coles infused their fictional works with ideas, experiences, and bias that give each novel or short story a special significance. Through their polished and often amusing prose, the mystery story becomes an unconscious vehicle for the dissemination of socialist dogma.

Biography

Although he was born in Cambridge, England, late in 1889, George Douglas Howard Cole spent most of his life in Oxford, first as a student and later as a professor. It was during his undergraduate years that Cole developed his passion for socialism. First as a member of the Fabian Society and then as a worker in the Independent Labour Party, he began to make a name for himself among the radical elements in Great Britain in the years before World War I. It was while he was a member of the Fabian Research Department that he met Margaret Isabel Postgate, to whom he was married in 1918.

Born Margaret Isabel Postgate, Margaret Cole was also a native of Cambridge and took her degree at Cambridge University and served as classical mistress at St. Paul’s Girls’ School in London between 1914 and 1916. Like her husband, Margaret Cole was very interested in adult education, and for a quarter of a century she helped combat illiteracy. Although the Coles became permanent residents of Oxford in 1925, when G. D. H. Cole became a fellow of University College and university reader in economics, they kept a residence in London and remained actively involved in the political life of the capital. Three children did not deter either Cole from pursuing a career, remaining involved in socialist circles, and publishing a remarkable number of books and pamphlets.

During his years at Oxford, G. D. H. Cole distinguished himself as a leading economist, and he gathered around him a group of students and teachers who still remain very active in the political and economic life of Great Britain. G. D. H. Cole died in 1959 after a long illness. Awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1965 and made a dame of the British Empire in 1970, Margaret Cole survived her husband by twenty-one years, dying in a nursing home at Goring-on-Thames (near Oxford) in 1980.

Analysis

G. D. H. Cole’s career as a writer of mystery and detective fiction began in 1923 as a cure for the boredom that attended a long recuperation from a mild case of pneumonia. Detective stories were the rage among members of the British intelligentsia in the years between the two world wars, and Cole, who was an avid reader of mystery stories, proposed to try his hand at writing one. Spurred by his wife’s contention that he would not finish it, Cole quickly completed The Brooklyn Murders (1923). It marked the first appearance of Superintendent Henry Wilson, and it was the only work to which Cole ever willingly made substantial revisions at the request of a publisher. The original draft supposedly contained too many murders.

Already well established as an author of numerous works in the areas of economics and politics, Cole had no difficulty finding a publisher for his first novel. The plot is a simple one, and to a student of detection the murders of the two nephews of Sir Vernon Brooklyn, who are also his heirs, are easily solved. What is important in this work is the examination of greed as a motive for crime. Again and again the Coles would explore this weakness of a capitalist society and its malevolent influence on the human character.

The Death of a Millionaire

A second novel, The Death of a Millionaire (1925), marked the beginning of the partnership between Cole and his wife. More radical than her husband, and often more intense in her espousal of socialist economic principles, Margaret Cole nevertheless possessed a finely honed sense of humor that somewhat softened her criticism of capitalism in the mysteries she would coauthor.

Corruption in the world of business formed the theme of this second novel, and it is particularly interesting because the reader is given the socialist view of the sordid world of finance with a touch of satire. This lesson in leftist economic theory in no way detracts from the story. The element of humor continued to be an important part of the mysteries written by the Coles. Many of their characters exhibit that charm and wit so often associated with the British upper classes. The repartee of the gentleman’s club and the college senior common room is often echoed in the remarks of the men and women who people their books. With their second mystery the Coles began to experiment with techniques for developing memorable characters using a minimum of words. Over the years they were able to create a host of major and minor actors in their mystery novels who were genuinely alive to their readers.

The Blatchington Tangle

This talent for creating memorable portraits with a minimum of words is ably demonstrated in The Blatchington Tangle (1926) when Henry Wilson, the professional police officer, encounters Everard Blatchington, the amateur sleuth. Among the protagonists in this mystery is a rather obnoxious American who immediately becomes a suspect when the body of a crooked financier is found in Lord Blatchington’s library. Although G. D. H. Cole may not be accurately described as anti-American, he did have suspicions about the economic policies of the United States in the years after World War I. This attitude hardened into open hostility during and following World War II. His American suspect seems to combine in his personality every unpleasant characteristic associated with his fellow countrymen.

Greek Tragedy

It is interesting to contrast this almost pathological distrust of capitalism in all of its forms with the apologetic tone assumed by the Coles with respect to communism. In Greek Tragedy (1939), they offered their readers a glowing endorsement of the Left. In a workers’ paradise there might be no Blatchington rubies to tempt a criminal to commit murder.

The Murder at Crome House

With the publication of The Murder at Crome House (1927), the Coles seemed to settle down to the writing of detective fiction that would appeal to an ever-growing audience, instead of using the mystery novel as a device for pleading the cause of socialism. Drawing on their varied experiences, they also began to experiment with various techniques of detection and literary devices that render their novels among the most intellectually stimulating in the genre. The locales of the Coles’ mysteries written between 1927 and 1943 are as diverse as the crimes they sought to unravel. The Murder at Crome House and Double Blackmail (1939) are set in country houses and combine romance with amateur detection. This pleasant mixture is made all the more palatable by a generous portion of humor.

Scandal at School

The Coles often used laughter both to lighten the varied tragedies that formed the core of their novels and to give depth to the characters they created with such care. Scandal at School (1935) contains an air of authenticity born of a long association with the academic world. G. D. H. Cole was first and foremost a teacher, and it is for his brilliant performance as a lecturer that he is most fondly remembered. Margaret Cole also was no stranger to the classroom. Using the innocence of childhood, they construct a gruesome crime that almost baffles Blatchington. Throughout the mystery, the antics of the students and the responses of their teachers and the other adults add the touch of humor that is so necessary to relieve the tension.

Poison in the Garden Suburb

From time to time the Coles explored problems that required a depth of knowledge beyond their areas of expertise. With the thoroughness of first-class scholars they mastered a number of fields and then used their ability to produce remarkable mysteries. In 1929, a year before Dorothy L. Sayers published her classic mystery, Strong Poison, the Coles won critical acclaim for their latest addition to Superintendent Wilson’s adventures, Poison in the Garden Suburb. The knowledge of toxicology displayed by the Coles was truly remarkable—indicative of the care they took while writing their books. While exploring a new subject of endeavor, the Coles did not neglect the exploration of characters: Poison in the Garden Suburb contains the memorable portrait of Miss Lydia Redford.

The writing of mystery and detective fiction had begun as an avocation, but by 1930 it had come to absorb an increasing amount of the Coles’ time and creative energies. The mysteries that appeared over the next five years were well received by the public and the critics. Having achieved popular success, they were able to experiment with new techniques, literary devices, and characters.

Burglars in Bucks

In Burglars in Bucks (1930), the Coles presented their readers with chronological evidence as it would appear to the investigator, in this case Superintendent Wilson. One by one, letters, telegrams, bits of conversations, and other clues are presented in a confusing way. Thus the reader becomes an amateur sleuth, as bewildered as the professional detective.

End of an Ancient Mariner

The critics found End of an Ancient Mariner (1933) somewhat unnerving because the villain is revealed rather early in the story and then the authors proceed to disclose the reasons for his actions. This is a novel of crime and retribution, a psychological mystery and not a mere whodunit. Unfortunately, in places it is rather carelessly written, probably because the Coles were at that time less concerned with polished fiction than with the realities of the Great Depression. It is interesting to note that the least successful of their mysteries were written and published in those years in which the Coles devoted their prime energies to economics and politics for a scholarly audience. In the midst of a world financial crisis, they explored the theme of the corruption of capitalism in their fiction. Big Business Murder (1935) is filled with the technical language of finance made simple for the average reader. Satire is employed to unmask the crooks who dominated the world of business. To the informed reader—the audience for whom the Coles preferred to write—it was a very disturbing book.

Dr. Tancred Begins and Last Will and Testament

Dr. Tancred Begins: Or, The Pendexter Saga, First Canto (1935) introduced a new and very clever sleuth who was featured again the following year in Last Will and Testament: Or, The Pendexter Saga, Second (and Last) Canto (1936). Already masters of character analysis, the Coles used their skill to create a wonderful Cornish setting in which Dr. Tancred might solve his mysteries.

Superintendent Wilson, who began his career as a rather two-dimensional character, gained depth and a certain professional dignity in mysteries such as Corpse in Canonicals (1930); Death in the Quarry (1934), in which he is reunited with Everard Blatchington; The Brothers Sackville (1937); Off with Her Head! (1938); and Double Blackmail. In all these tales, the plots are developed with a literary style only rarely marred by a flippancy that some readers might find irritating. The mysteries are usually well planned, always studious in tone, and at times almost poetic in their descriptions of people and places. In some mysteries, such as Dead Man’s Watch (1931), the characters and their delineation become more important than the story itself.

Murder at the Munition Works and Knife in the Dark

Two of the Coles’ final works, Murder at the Munition Works (1940) and Knife in the Dark (1942), deal with labor, politics, and social problems. The former book is particularly worthy of mention because of the wealth of detail devoted to labor relations. In a Great Britain besieged by fascism, it became a text for popular consumption on the economic theories of the British Left. The Coles’ last published mystery novel, Toper’s End (1942), appeared just as the tide of battle was turning in favor of the Allies. Another mystery, half completed at the time, was never finished, as the Coles turned their energies to helping reshape postwar England. Although his extreme views on many subjects denied G. D. H. Cole a place in the Labour Party government of Clement Attlee, he continued to publish his ideas both in print and from the podium until his death. Margaret Cole carried on her husband’s work until her own failing health forced her to retire. It is regrettable that their witty and entertaining works are all but forgotten, relics of a time when crime and its detection was a genteel obsession.

Principal Series Character:

• Superintendent Henry Wilson of Scotland Yard is neither flamboyant nor eccentric. He is a perfect example of the typical English senior police officer of the interwar period. He is competent, thorough, and respected by his colleagues.

Bibliography

Barzun, Jacques, and Wendell Hertig Taylor. A Catalogue of Crime. Rev. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Massive, nearly one-thousand-page critical bibliography of mystery, detective, and spy stories. Provides background for understanding the Coles’ work. Includes an index.

Barzun, Jacques, and Wendell Hertig Taylor. Preface to The Murder at Crome House. New York: Garland, 1976. Analysis of the Coles’ relationship, collaboration, and writing style.

Cole, Margaret. The Life of G. D. H. Cole. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1971. This biography of G. D. H. Cole by his wife and coauthor provides insight both into her personal life and into the couple’s relationship.

Ingle, Stephen. Narratives of British Socialism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Critical study of those British texts informed by socialism, such as those of the Coles, as well as of texts directly representing socialism in Great Britain.

Roth, Marty. Foul and Fair Play: Reading Genre in Classic Detective Fiction. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995. A poststructural analysis of the conventions of mystery and detective fiction. Examines 138 short stories and works from the 1840’s to the 1960’s. Contains only a brief mention of the Coles but helps place them within the mystery fiction of the time.

Vernon, Betty D. Margaret Cole, 1893-1980: A Political Biography. Rev. ed. Dover, N.H.: Croom Helm, 1986. Details Cole’s political activism, its origins in her experiences, and its consequences for the rest of her life, including her fiction.