Whenever Gladys Mitchell and her series detective Mrs. Bradley tackle a case with the trappings of witchcraft -- be it in an earlier book like Tom Brown's Body or a later one like Nest of Vipers -- the results are always memorable and quite often inspired. The old psychoanalyst definitely carries a witch-like aspect, with her yellow skin and bony, claw hands, piercing black eyes and eldritch cackle upsetting more than one acquaintance; she even boasts an ancestor who was burned for being a witch. Mitchell had a lifelong interest in the occult, as well as in the supernatural and druidic ritual, and incorporated these elements into many of her rational detective novels. It is much to the author's credit that such pairings of fantasy and reality (I use both words with latitude) work as well as they do in her books. A few -- e.g., When Last I Died, centered around a haunted house, or Tom Brown's Body, in which Mrs. Bradley communes with local witch Lecky Harries -- are to be counted among Mitchell's very best stories, and several others, including The Devil at Saxon Wall, A Hearse on May-day, and Wraiths and Changelings, integrate these colorful subjects into the plot to very enjoyable effect.

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Merlin's Furlong unfolds in a singular way: after spending the first chapter with the Aumbreys, where the uncle's will and testament is at the front, the focus shifts in Chapter Two to the three adventuresome young men and their encounter with Professor Havers. We stay with this trio until they nearly literally stumble upon Uncle Aumbrey, lying dead in the house in which they are trespassing. It's a somewhat unconventional, but quite successful, narrative structure, and Miss Mitchell (as is usual) continues by filling the story with so many incidents and oddities that the reader forgets that the primary suspects have been offstage for several chapters; there is enough to figure out without the meddlesome concern of spending time with the suspects. It's a sleight-of-hand that the author knows well and practices expertly, stuffing plots with so much clue-worthy impedimenta that often the getting there is more fun than arriving at the solution. Still, when it comes, Merlin's solution -- in a rare gathering-of-suspects "J'accuse" finale -- is quite satisfying, and Mrs. Bradley manages to tie up all the loose ends accountably, if not altogether logically (another Mitchell trait). Merlin's Furlong, while not a key title in the Mrs. Bradley canon, is nonetheless very entertaining and serves to illustrate once more that Gladys Mitchell can spin a tale that's quite unlike any other in mystery fiction.

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