The novel is a dossier compiled by Paul Harrison, son of the victim, who is convinced that his father was murdered. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure, as Robert Harrison was known to forage for mushrooms and other wild edibles. But he was an acknowledged expert, hence the son’s disbelief that he would mistake Amanita muscaria for the edible A. caesaria. The chronological arrangement of news reports, letters and solicited statements makes for a satisfying tension as the characters reveal themselves, and events are seen from several viewpoints. At the centre of the plot is a love triangle between Margaret Harrison, a conventional but romantic young wife married to Harrison, a stodgy older man who’s incapable of expressing his affection for her. Lathom, a painter who rents the floor above their flat, satisfies her desire for romantic fantasy while flattering the husband in his quest for artistic fulfillment. Munsinger, an author who’s notorious for having written a scandalous novel, and school fellow of the painter (and co-renter), becomes an unwilling witness of much of the melodrama.
That Harrison’s death is murder is pretty obvious, but how it was done is not. A wide-ranging discussion about religion and science, and the puzzle of life’s origins, gives Munsinger the clue that solves the puzzle, and the justification for turning in his school fellow.
Well done, with the touches of mild satire and astute moral criticism that I’ve noticed in these re-readings; a satisfying read. Recommended ***
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