“The past,” according to the opening line of The Go-Between, “is a foreign country. They do things differently there.” It’s worth having this in mind if you are to consider dipping your toes in the water of Through Three Rooms (an Asbjørn Krag mystery, no less).
What you have here is a reprint (by the inestimable Kabaty Press) of a long out of print detective novel (one of a great many such detective novels by the author in question, who was once world famous) by an author who was himself something of a wild card (churning out books at the age of 17, publishing in the region of 90 books in his lifetime, international celebrity with a passion for food, drink and – later in life – dodgy and contradictory views before finally expiring, Elvis-like, on the loo, on a ship bound for Palestine).
Through Three Rooms is considered one of his best, and it’s certainly a compulsive read – powered like much of Conan Doyle and Wilkie Collins (and Dickens for that matter) by the fact that each chapter was published in serial form over a period of months, so Elvestad (real name Stein Riverton) had to ensure that there was something in each excerpt to keep his readers returning to find out what happened next.
In terms of the tale itself – our erstwhile detective (who, like Holmes, seems to have all of the answers one step ahead of everyone else) is intrigued by the story of a country gent who sleeps in a room that can only be approached via two other rooms which are kept locked. The gentleman in question, one John Aakerholm, set to be married to a woman much his junior, appears to be suddenly haunted and erratic. His hair has turned white overnight. He jumps at shadows and smashes mirrors. Just what is the cause? Krag is on the case!
As you’d expect (if you’ve ever dabbled with the likes of Conan Doyle in particular), there are historical betrayals that give rise to the eventual denouement, and murder most foul, and all kinds of ups and downs and twists and turns (not all of which bear too thorough an interrogation) but it’s a fair old entertainment.
Any Cop?: If you have any interest in the development of detective fiction over the last couple of hundred years, then you’ll likely get a kick out of the adventures of Asbjørn Krag (and, indeed, the list of Kabaty Press more generally).
Bookmunch 