Mystery and Crime Martin, A. E.: Common People, v1, 11 Jan 2026

[Pulpmeister]

Strange but gripping murder story set in a country side-show and carnival, in which a member of the "freak show" is murdered while fasting in a glass room; the promoter, and his friends in the show, seek the solution, as does a dubious police detective.

The "freaks" are, apart from their physical variations from the norm (bearded lady, armless woman, tom thumb etc) all come over as ordinary people, dealing with life as as best they can in mid-20th century Australia. Hence the title, "Common People".

The author was himself a promoter of side show exhibits, circuses and the like in Europe and Australia for many years, and took to writing when he was 50. This novel won the "Australian Woman's Weekly" prize of a thousand pounds in 1943 (a vast sum in the 1940s); was subsequently published in book form, and also in the USA, (although the USA version mutilated the text and even changed the murderer!)

It was made into a Hammer movie called "The Glass Cage" in 1955. Hammer were famous for horror movies at the time...

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