Charles Williams - The Catfish Tangle

[severance]

Charles Williams - 'The Catfish Tangle' - Cassell (1963), Pan (1965) - originally 'River Girl' - Gold Medal (1951)

When Cassell published the early novels of Charles Williams for the hardback market in the U.K., the decision was made to re-title many of them - therefore, although this book was originally titled 'River Girl' in 1951, I've just read it as 'The Catfish Tangle' - a title which, in my opinion, better captures the flavour of this wonderfully conceived little thriller.

Jack Marshall is a small-town deputy, stuck in a loveless marriage, and increasingly frustrated at the corruption that he's a part of, particularly his bagman duties for his boss, Sheriff Buford. So when his wife goes away for a holiday with her girlfriends, he seeks some release by spending a few days fishing up on Stowe Lake, deep in swamp country. An accident causes him to meet Doris Shevlin and her husband...and their lives are changed forever, in the latter's case, terminally.

Even though this was only his third novel (all were published in 1951), Williams demonstrates here that he was already a master of his craft, perfectly nailing the characterisations of Jack and Doris - his frustrations, her terror and loneliness - and the tension is admirably ramped up once they go on the run.

Marshall is very methodical in his planning, and though he thinks the scheme is foolproof, the slightest of oversights cause everything to unravel, and from then on he's on a roller-coaster - unable to get off, unable to manipulate events to their advantage, increasingly fighting a sense of despair that the whole world is against them.

A downbeat ending is almost obligatory in this genre, and Williams succeeds here as well, in the end producing a superb small-town thriller that already has me anticipating some of his other offerings, and wondering why Williams, though highly regarded, is almost absent in todays book market.