Golden Age of Detective Fiction

This week, I’ll be reviewing a selection of cat-themed short stories and books for #ReadingtheMeow2025. Most of my picks are from the Golden Age of Mystery fiction, which is set between the two world wars. You can learn more about how to participate or learn more about what I’ll be reviewing this week by checking out my introductory post here.

You can read my #ReadingtheMeow2025 reviews of “The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael ” or “The Cyprian Cat” if you’re looking for other cat-ty short stories.

Thank you to Literary Potpourri for hosting this event again!

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Hanging by a Hair

Today’s short story, “Hanging by a Hair,” is from the British Library Crime Classics short story collection Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards and published in 2022. The book features fourteen short stories, where animals provide the vital clue to solving the mystery.

The short story, “Hanging by a Hair”, initially published by Clifford Witting in 1950, boasts of not one, but two cats in the domestic mystery, one owned by Arthur Marstead’s domineering wife and the other by his insipid, clingy lover, Violet. When a murder is committed, it’s the hairs of a cat that provide the clue to hang the murderer.

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The Plot

Funny how the two women in his life both adored cats, yet were in every way so different; his wife thin-lipped and critical, old before her time; Violet meek and timid with the insipid prettiness of the girls on the covers of her beloved novelettes- Hanging by a Hair

Such were the musings of Arthur Marstead as he toiled in the garden on a hot Saturday under the watchful glare of his wife and her beloved cat, Rufus, upon whom she lavished more affection than she ever gave Arthur, and Arthur hated Rufus. Rufus, on the other hand, was aloof and paid no particular attention to Arthur other than keeping him under his watchful eye.

Rufus, the cat, might have been the creature Arthur Marstead hated most-until he had met his lover, Violet’s pet Persian, Tiggles, who clung to him and desperately needed his affection. Between the two cats, Tiggles got under his skin the most.

However, Arthur Marstead forgets his musings on cats when he goes into the toolshed and starts working on a spanner. While Marstead is tinkering, his wife calls out that she’s leaving for the movies- without him. In fact, he wasn’t even invited to come along.

Vengeful, Marstead goes into the house, takes all the loose money from her purse, and packs his suitcase. Marstead heads to Violet’s. It was the next day, the cleaner found Violet, head bashed in by a heavy blow. A spanner was found on the premises by Inspector Charlton. There’s an odd collection of woolen fibers, a stain of green paint, a forced cashbox, and, of course, cat hairs. Blue Persian cat hairs on the settee and another set- ginger cat hairs on a chair by the window.

Who killed Violet Florimer? Only a cat will tell.

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The Review

Clifford Witting’s domestic murder is laced with a darkly comic tone. There’s a hint of jest in Witting’s suggestion that Arthur’s jealousy towards a cat may be indicative of deeper mental imbalances. Arthur Marstead, like many paranoid cheaters, projects his resentments and personal perceptions about the two women in his life onto their respective cats, Rufus and Tiggles. Witting’s narrative underscores the symbolic role of the cats, as they are often shown sitting or are absent from the setting, leaving behind only their fur, which serves as a tangible reminder of their presence.

The evidence against Arthur Marstead is compelling, but Witting slips in enough about each woman, whose unflattering portrayals by Arthur Marstead are not wholly inaccurate, to subtly mount the clues against another character based on their psychology. The twist is well telegraphed to the reader and not particularly surprising, but enjoyable nonetheless. Clinching the evidence against the murderer by the placement of the cat hairs is a tidy flourish.

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Final Thoughts

“Hanging by a Hair” is a perfectly servicable golden age short story that has an enjoyable twist. With so many of the cat-themed short stories I’ve read recently dabbling in the supernatural, it was nice to have one clearly planted in reality. There is an element of the psychological dislike of cats, but it’s just used as an entry point to the story and to understand Arthur Marstead’s feelings towards Violet and his wife. Once Arthur is on the run, the mystery is a pretty standard who-dunnit, with Tiggles and Rufus as the witnesses who exonerate one suspect and lead to the hanging of another.

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