24
Popular Culture Review
Lewker in Tirol (1967) involves Italian-Austrian border politics and whether
the murder owes its commission to them. Then comes number 15, Fat M a n ’s
Agony (1969), back where Lewker belongs, in Wales. He’s now 60 (18), feeling
his age, and an old flame, the beauteous Olivia (a mere 41), catches his eye once
again. He and faithful wife Georgie have the expected words over what could
look to be an affair. It isn’t, and the reunited aging couple wind up in bed (22324), about to make love. Well and good, but not really Styles’s terrain any more
than world domination plots in Norway. Maybe it was fitting because the author
felt he had run out of ways to kill folks up in the mountains. The mystery plot,
however, is professionally handled if not quite top-notch. Maybe readers want to
say “enough,” to all those details about climbing, pitons, crampons, ropes, and
other gear (even if I not among them). In any event, what a unique 19-year high
we have experienced in the fine fresh air of the summits, not in some musty old
mansion, hiking and climbing with an expert, absorbing alpine lore, solving all
those intricate puzzles!
West Virginia University
Armand Singer
Works Cited
Carr, Glyn. Death on Milestone Buttress. London: Bles, 1951; also large print ed., and
paperback, Bath: Olivers, 1980.
--------- . Murder on the Matterhorn. London: Bles, 1951; N.Y.: Dutton, 1953.
--------- . The Youth Hostel Murders. London: Bles, 1952; N.Y.: Dutton, 1953.
--------- . The Corpse in the Crevasse. London: Bles, 1952.
--------- . Death Under Snowdon. London: Bles, 1954; also paperback ed.
--------- . A Corpse at Camp Two. London: Bles, 1955.
--------- . Murder o f an Owl. London: Bles, 1956.
--------- . The Ice Axe Murder. London: Bles, 1958.
---------. Swing Away, Climber. London: Bles, 1959; N.Y.: Washburn, 1959.
---------. Holiday with Murder. London: Bles, 1960.
---------. Death Finds a Foothold. London: Bles, 1961.
---------. Lewker in Norway. London: Bles, 1963.
---------. Death o f a Weirdy. London: Bles, 1965.
---------. Lewker in Tyrol. London: Bles, 1967.
---------. Fat Man's Agony. London: Bles, 1969.
Christie, Agatha. The Big Four. London: Collins; New York: Dodd Mead, 1927.
Davidson, Lionel. The Rose o f Tibet. N.Y., etc: Harper, 1962.
Hart-Davis, Duff. The Heights o f Rimring. N.Y.: Atheneum, 1981.
Jones, Dewi, Tessa Carroll, and ed. “Frank Showell Styles, 14 March 1908-19 February
2005.” The Angiy Corrie 65 (July-Sep. 2005). http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/tac/
tac65/tac65franksho.htm.
Mason, A. E. W. Running Water. London: Hodder / N.Y.: Century, 1907.
Mason, F. van Wyck. Himalayan Assignment. N.Y.: Doubleday, 1952; London; Hale,
1953.
Sayers, Dorothy. Five Red Herrings. London: Gollancz, 1931.
Schantz, Tom and Enid. Wikipedia entry, April 2000.
Stewart, Mary. Wildfire at Midnight. London: Hodder, 1956.
Styles, Showell. The Mountaineer's Weekend Book. London: Seeley [1950]. Rev. 1962.