M. M'Donnell Bodkin
M. M'Donnell Bodkin, born Matthias McDonnell Bodkin in Ireland on October 8, 1850, was a multifaceted figure known for his contributions as a barrister, politician, and author. Educated at Tullabeg Jesuit College and Catholic University, he became a barrister and served as a Member of Parliament for the Roscommon district from 1892 to 1895, advocating for Irish nationalism. In addition to his political career, Bodkin was appointed as the county court judge of Clare from 1907 until 1924. His literary works spanned various genres, including short stories, historical romances, and legal texts, but he is particularly noted for his detective fiction.
Bodkin's detective stories featured unique characters, such as Paul Beck, a detective characterized by common sense rather than brilliance, contrasting sharply with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. He also introduced one of the genre's first female detectives, Dora Myrl, who defied contemporary gender norms. Despite facing criticism, Bodkin's works set a precedent for the portrayal of women in detective fiction and influenced future narratives in the genre. His contributions are recognized as part of the broader movement against the archetype of the genius detective, emphasizing a more relatable and methodical approach to crime-solving.
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M. M'Donnell Bodkin
- Born: October 8, 1850
- Birthplace: Ireland
- Died: June 7, 1933
- Place of death: Dublin, Ireland
Biography
Matthias McDonnell Bodkin, who wrote some of his books under the name M. M’Donnell Bodkin, was born in Ireland on October 8, 1850, the son of Dr. Thomas Bodkin and Maria McDonnell Bodkin. He was educated at Tullabeg Jesuit College and Catholic University and became a barrister. In 1885, he married Arabella Norman, and they had two sons and four daughters.
From 1892 to 1895, Bodkin served in the British Parliament, representing the Roscommon district and supporting the Irish nationalist cause. However, he did not stand for re-election. In 1907, he was appointed county court judge of Clare, a post he held until 1924.
As a young barrister, Bodkin had written both short, comic fiction stories, such as the ones published in Pat o’Nine Tales, and One Over, and historical romances, among them Lord Edward Fitzgerald: An Historical Romance. Over the years. Bodkin continued to publish such works and also wrote books on the law and Irish history. He published his memoirs, Recollections of an Irish Judge: Press, Bar, and Parliament, in 1914.
Bodkin is best known for his detective stories, several volumes of which were published between 1898 and in 1929. In Paul Beck, the Rule of Thumb Detective, Bodkin presented a sleuth who was in almost every respect the opposite of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s popular hero, Sherlock Holmes. While Holmes had a commanding appearance, Beck looked like an ordinary tradesman. While Holmes was intellectually gifted, Beck was not; it was not sudden strokes of inspiration but pure common sense that enabled Beck to solve his cases.
In Dora Myrl, the Lady Detective, Bodkin introduced one of the first women detectives in the history of the genre. Myrl was not the typical heroine of the period; she was assertive, tough- minded, and highly intelligent. Perhaps because she did not fit the expectations of the critics as to how a real lady should behave, she was not as popular as Bodkin’s male detective. However, instead of dropping Myrl from his stories, Bodkin let her both outwit and enchant Beck in a novel entitled The Capture of Paul Beck. Though Beck and Myrl begin by working for bitter enemies, in the course of the novel Beck changes over to Myrl’s side, falls in love with her, and marries her. The last two books in the series were Young Beck, a Chip of the Old Block, which featured the adventures of the detectives’ son, Paul Beck, Jr., and Paul Beck, Detective, a collection of stories set in the elder Beck’s younger days.
Bodkin was an important figure in the anti-Holmes school, which was made up of writers who believed that in real life, most detectives attain their goals by patient, methodical plodding and the use of good common sense. Bodkin also introduced one of the first women detectives and by pairing her with a male, set the pattern for many of the mystery novels that appeared in the second half of the twentieth century.