Review: Whistling in the Wind
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 07 4, 2014
John Nesbitt's rather longish short story, "Death at the Whistling Swan," is a perfect example of why many people dislike academic types. It's the story of an obscure literary murder with an obscure literary motive. Nesbitt apparently believes this motive provides a fascinating basis for the story; most readers, however, will not be impressed one bit.The story is fairly straightforward. The narrator, a college professor, attends a poetry reading by a little known, modestly talented poet at a local bookstore called the Whistling Swan (for those curious about the story's title). The next morning, the poet is found in the bookstore parking lot with his head bashed in. Since this town apparently doesn't have a police force (no one is investigating the crime), the narrator takes it upon himself to look into the death. After talking briefly to a couple of witnesses, including the bookstore owner, the narrator figures out that the poet discovered something while browsing through the bookstore that led to his murder. The narrator does a little bit of reading, and the mystery is solved.There have been a few good mysteries in which the crimes were motivated by similarly obscure literary motives, but it's safe to say that those types of motives don't resonate with readers the way the good old fashioned ones like sex and money do. A writer has to work harder to make a story that hinges on such a motive appealing, and Nesbitt completely fails to do so. I don't know whether this is due to his unfamiliarity with the mystery format per se or just a misguided assumption on his part about the story's inherent appeal. In either event, "Whistling Swan" has a vague air of smugness to it that most readers will not appreciate."Whistling Swan" might have been saved with a solid ending. The narrator discovers the motive but has no real proof when he confronts the killer. In a better story, this might have led to a cat-and-mouse game of wits between amateur detective and killer or, at worst, some type of physical confrontation. No such luck. Instead, in a completely dumbfounding development, the killer breaks down, cries, and gives a detailed confession moments after being accused (thus, conveniently tying up any loose ends in the story). The result is an ending that's even less satisfying than the investigation leading up to the confrontation. And, for those readers who, for whatever reason, had not completely given up on the story, Nesbitt ends it with a "zinger" of a quip by the narrator that Nesbitt himself is probably the only person to find the slightest bit amusing.The failure of "Whistling Swan" is especially surprising considering Nesbitt's reputation as a writer and his usual genre, the Western novel, which is not exactly the type of work prone to overbearing literary pretentiousness. His skill as a writer is evident a couple of places in the story, such as his description of the poetry reading, which made a seemingly boring event rather entertaining. However, he appears completely lost once he gets into the mystery elements of the story. Whatever his other skills may be, as a mystery writer, Nesbitt doesn't whistle, he blows.