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Views from the Choir Loft

Msgr. Knox • “Ten Commandments” for Crime Stories

Jeff Ostrowski · November 29, 2017

3779 Ronald Arbuthnott Knox OME READERS will remember I’m currently serving on a committee to create the St. Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal, which is turning out to be a marvelous and unique collection. One book that comes up constantly in our research is the 1939 edition of the Westminster Hymnal, which is quite different than Terry’s 1912 edition. (Feel free to download the 1939 edition here.)

With the possible exception of Dom Andrew Gregory Murrary (d. 1992), the person exerting the greatest influence on the creation of the New Westminster Hymnal was Msgr. Ronald Knox (d. 1957).

I recently stumbled upon the “Decalogue for Writers of Detective Stories” by Msgr. Knox:

Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction :

1.

The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know.

2.

All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.

3.

Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.

4.

No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

5.

No Chinaman must figure in the story.

(N.B. Google “mysterious Chinaman”—a cliché of the genre.)

6.

No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

7.

The detective himself must not commit the crime.

8.

The detective is bound to declare any clues which he may discover.

9.

The “sidekick” of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind: his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.

10.

Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

Knox was a founding member of the DETECTION CLUB and wrote several works of detective fiction, including five novels. The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Ronald Knox. The first president was G. K. Chesterton. In addition to meeting for dinners and helping each other with technical aspects in their individual writings, the members of the club agreed to adhere to a code of ethics in their writing to give the reader a fair chance at guessing the guilty party. These fair-play “rules” were summarized by one of the members, Ronald Knox, in an introduction to an anthology of detective stories. They were never intended as more than guidelines, and not all the members took them seriously. (These are the ten rules listed above.)

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Andrew Gregory Murray d 1992, Dom Gregory Murray, Monsignor Ronald Knox Traditional Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Indeed I might add that although unfamiliar with it myself, the Extraordinary Form expressly reminds us that Mass in either form is not merely a communion meal but a ritual of love, a sacrifice at Calvary, by which, for you and for me, yes, here and now, Jesus Christ lays down his life.

— ‘Most Rev. Philip Egan, Bishop of Portsmouth’

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