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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Mount TBR Reading Challenge Wrap-up

Here we are at the end of the TBR Reading Challenge. I have reached the top of Pike's Peak. I do not have a head for heights so it was about as high as I could go. I did wave from the top. In reaching the top, I have read the following books:

1. A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt

2. Matter by Iain Banks

3. Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson

4. Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler

5. The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick

6. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

7. Adam and Eve on a Raft: Mystery Stories by Ron Goulart

8. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

9. Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

10. The Gilded Nightmare by Hugh Pentecost

11. Fen Country by Edmund Crispin

12. The Human Division by John Scalzi

Part 2: These are Bev's suggested sentences completed with my book titles.

Describe yourself: A Gilded Nightmare
Describe where you currently live: Fen Country
If you could go anywhere where would you go?: Winesburg, Ohio
 Every Monday morning I look/feel like: Cocaine Blues
The last time I went to the doctor/therapist was because: I felt something was the Matter with my interior regions.
The last meal I ate was: Adam and Eve on a Raft
When a creepy guy/girl asks me for my phone number, I give him the one for The Magnificent Ambersons instead of mine.
Ignorant politicians make me: Glad I am part of The Human Division
Some people need to spend more time: learning a talent for peace, not a The Talent for War
My memoir could be titled: The Cassandra Project
If I could, I would tell my teenage self: Never visit a Full Dark House
I've always wondered: Is there such a thing as A Burning Paradise?

Best wishes to everybody; may you have a happy and book filled New Year.
 


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Vintage Mystery Bingo Challenge 2015

Once again I am signing up for the Vintage Mystery Bingo Challenge. I have found it a great way to read new books and new authors.  Essentially the object is to complete a row or rows on the bingo card for either the Golden Age or the Silver Age of Mystery novels. The Golden Age includes mystery novels written up to the year 1959
.
The Silver Age includes those mystery novels which were written between 1959 and 1989.

Bev Hankins is the great lady who runs this Challenge and the complete rules for this challenge may be found on her My Reader's Block site. If you are new to this Challenge, I would definitely encourage you to study these rules before you begin. And there are prizes!

It is my intention to read some of the the Golden Age mysteries, and maybe give the Silver Age a try.

I can hardly wait for January to begin!!

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The books which I have read for the Golden Age challenge are: 

G1  Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon. A book with a color in the title.

G2 Greenmask   by J. Jefferson Farjeon. A book which is not set in England or the US.

G3  The Secret Adversary  by Agatha Christie. A book which features a crime other than murder.

G4 To Wake the Dead  by John Dickson Carr. A locked room mystery.

G5  The Nursing Home Murders by Ngaio Marsh and Dr. H. Jellett. A book with a medical mystery.

G6 The Long Farewell by Michael Innes. A book with a professional detective.

O1 Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly. TBR first lines.

O2 The Case of the Seven Sneezes by Anthony Boucher. A book with a number in the title.

O3 The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin. A book with an animal in the title.

O4 The Blotting Book by E. F. Benson. A book by an author whom I have never read before.

O5 Double for Death by Rex Stout. A book with something "spooky" on the cover.

O6 Mrs. Murdock Takes a Case by George Harmon Coxe. A book with a woman in the title.

L1 When the Wind Blows by Cyril Hare. A book set in the entertainment world.

L2  The Glass Key  by Dashiell Hammett. A book which has been made into a movie.

L3  Drury Lane's Last Case  by Ellery Queen. A book with an amateur detective.

L4 Patrick Butler for the Defense  by John Dickson Carr. A book with a man in the title.

L5  Gaudy Night  by Dorothy Sayers. An academic mystery.
  
L6  Nine - and Death Makes Ten by Carter Dickson. A book which involves a mode of transportation.

D1 A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh. A country house mystery.

D2 The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by C. W. Grafton. A book with a lawyer.

D5 Nine Times Nine by Anthony Boucher. A book that involves clergy or religion.

D5 Heads You Lose by Christianna Brand. A book set in England or the US.

D6  Case with 4 Clowns   by Leo Bruce. An author whose first and last initials are the same as mine.

E1  Murder Comes First  by Richard and Frances Lockridge. A book with a detective team.

E3  Unexpected Night  by Elizabeth Daly. A book published in my birth year.

E2   The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth. A book with a time in the title.

E4  In the Teeth of the Evidence    by Dorothy Sayers.  A short story collection.

E6  Lord Edgware Dies  by Agatha Christie. A book which I had to borrow.

N1 The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow by Anna Katherine Green. A book with a method of murder in the title.

N2 What Happened at Hazelwood by Michael Innes. A book with a place in the title.

N5 The Black Stage by Anthony Gilbert. A book written by an author with a pseudonym.

N6 Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh. A book featuring a party.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Vintage Bingo 2014 Wrap-Up

After a year of very enjoyable reading, I am submitting my final results for the 2014 Mystery Bingo Challenge. I have managed to cover all all of the squares of the Golden Age Bingo Card.


The books which I have read are listed below.  Many thanks to Bev for all that she does to manage this Challenge. I am looking forward to next year.

G1 The Woman in Black by Leslie Ford. A book with a color in the title.

G2 Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh. Read one book set anywhere except the U.S. or England.

G3 The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. A book that features a crime other than murder.

G4  The Case of the Constant Suicides by John Dickson Carr. A locked room mystery.

G5 Old Hall, New Hall by Michael Innes. An academic mystery.

G6 Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh. A book set in the entertainment world.

O1 Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham. A book published under more than one title.

O2 The 9 Dark Hours by Lenore Glen Offord. A book with a number in the title.

O3 Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout. A book which features food/cooks in some way.

O4 Meat for Murder by Lange Lewis. A book by an author I've never read before.

O5 Poison in Jest by John Dickson Carr. A book with a method of murder in the title.

O6 The Vanishing of Betty Varian by Carolyn Wells. A book with a woman in the title.

L1 Haunted Lady by Mary Robert Rinehart. A book with a "spooky" title.

L2 The Odor of Violets by Baynard Kendrick. A book that has been made into a movie.

L3 Bodies in a Bookshop by R. T. Campbell. A book with an amateur detective.

L4 The Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth. A book with a man in the title.

L5 The Clue of the Judas Tree by Leslie Ford. A country house mystery.

L6 The After House  by Mary Roberts Rinehart. A book which involves a mode of transportation (a yacht).

D1 Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh. A book by an author that I have read before.

D2 The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner. A book with a lawyer.

D3 Mr. Bazalgette's Agent by Leonard Merrick. A book which has been read by a fellow challenger.

D4 One Man Show by Michael Innes. A book with a professional detective.

D5 Fatal Venture by Freeman Wills Crofts. A book which involves water.

D6 The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim. A book outside my comfort zone.

E1 Death Takes a Bow by Richard and Francis Lockridge. A book with a detective team.

E2 Spring Harrowing by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. A book with a time, day, month, etc. in the title.

E3 Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon. A book that is translated.

E4 The Old Man in the Corner  by Baroness Orczy. A short story collection.

E5 Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay. A book set in England.

E6 Murder is Served by Francis and Richard Lockridge. A book which I had to borrow.

N1 The Murderer is a Fox by Ellery Queen.  A book with an animal in the title.

N2 The Lake District Murder by John Bude. A book with a place in the title.

N3 The Tall House Mystery by A. E. Fielding. A book with a size in the title.

N4 While the Patient Slept by Mignon G. Eberhart.  A book which features a doctor or nurse.

N5 There's Trouble Brewing by Nicholas Blake. A book written by an author with a pseudonym.

N6 The Benson Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine. A book set in the United States.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

One Man Show by Michael Innes

Lady Judith Appleby took her husband Sir John Appleby, assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard,  to a show of the work of Gavin Limbert, a recently deceased (murdered) artist. Mr. Braunkopf,  the owner of the art gallery tried to interest Appleby in the purchase of a Limbert's masterpiece which was an abstraction named "The Fifth and Sixth Days of Creation". It was Braunkopf's hope that Sir John would purchase the painting and donate it to the Tate before rich Americans snapped it up. Braunkopf and Sir John had wandered away from this painting while discussing the price, and when they turned to view it again, the painting was gone; someone had stolen it.

Appleby returned to the Yard with a new interest in the murder of Gavin Limbert. At the Yard, his assistant, Cadover,  informed him that the Duke of Horton had called to inform Appleby that his Lordship's aquarium, goldfish, and silverfish were missing. This was considered quite odd because the Duke of Horton did not appear to be an ichthyologist,

Appleby and Cadover went to take a look at Limbert's rooms in a building which was a rooming house for artists. In Limbert's rooms, they discovered a valuable Stubbs painting which they removed to take to the security of the Yard. Appleby took the Stubbs painting home with him with the idea of returning it to the yard the next morning.They also found out that Mary Arrow, an artist who occupied the rooms above Limbert, had vanished taking only her toothbrush with her.

 When Appleby got home, he found the Duke of Horton having dinner with Lady Judith. The Duke clarified his previous request, and it seemed that the Aquarium is a painting by Vermeer, and the goldfish and silverfish was a painting of horses by Stubbs. These had been stolen from his home, Scamnum Court, one of the great English homes. Possibly they had been stolen while the Duke and Duchess were leading half-guinea tours of Scamnum which gave them the funds needed to live there. The Duke immediately recognized the Stubbs that Appleby had as one of the stolen paintings.

Appleby went on his own to investigate the art theft - this will be his One Man Show. While he was gone, Lady Judith also conducted her own investigation of the thefts. Both ended up in very dangerous situations before arriving at a solution of the various crimes in this book.

This is a literate and funny novel. There is little in the way of intense detection, the use of little grey cells, and the clues examined with a magnifying glass which are much loved by many mystery novelists. Sir John Appleby and Lady Judith advance from one situation to another coming across clues along the way which makes it all rather like a scavenger hunt.

 Art lovers will enjoy this book. They will recognize the artistic jargon which is spouted in the art gallery because it does not differ in essence from that which is spouted today. Appleby in the art gallery thinks "Gavin Limbert had perhaps been lucky,  after all. He had died young and untouched by disillusion - ignorant or careless of the oceans of twaddle and humbug which constitute the main response of the Anglo-Saxon peoples to any form of artistic expression."

This book was published in 1952 and has had two other titles, A Private View and Murder is an Art. It is currently out of print, but used copies are available online.





Monday, October 20, 2014

Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout

Nero Wolfe has actually left his house, and ventured out into the world. He and Archie Goodwin are attending a meeting of the Fifteen Master Chefs of the world at the Kanawha Spa in West Virginia. At this meeting, Wolfe, a great gourmet, will be the guest of honor and will deliver a speech on the closing night. Only an event and an honor such as these will tempt him to undergo the perils of a train trip from New York to West Virginia.

All fifteen chefs are not attending. Three have died, and two chose not to attend which has left ten master chefs to attend and compete and express their resentments about each other. The dubious honor of being the most disliked chef goes to Phillip Laszio who is the chef at the Hotel Churchill in New York. Lazlo is accused of stealing this job, stealing the wife of another chef, and of stealing recipes.

On the second night of this meeting, a wager is made by Louis Servan, chef of the Kanawha Spa and Ramsey Keith of the Hotel Hastings in Calcutta. A complicated test is set up and each of the attending chefs and Wolfe will participate in the tasting of nine samples of sauce printemps and will determine the missing ingredient in each sample. Phillip Laszio volunteers to prepare the samples of the sauce.  Servan believes that the tasters will only get eighty per cent correct. The tasting proceeds and each taster enters the test room alone; only Phillip Laszio is in the room with the taster. At the end of the test, the body of Phillip Laszio is found behind a screen in the room. He had been stabbed with a steak knife.

Several people ask Wolfe to find the murderer and offer to pay him, but Wolfe is reluctant to accept the job until his friend, Jerone Berin, chef of the Corridona in San Remo, is arrested. Then Wolfe starts to look at the possible suspects, and there are a great many suspects in this case. Each master chef had been allowed to bring one person with him, which means that there are wives and one daughter present. There is also the large kitchen staff of the Kanawha Spa who also may be involved. Raymond Liggett, the manager of the Hotel Churchill where Laszio was employed, also shows up after the murder seeking a new chef.

Wolfe does solve the case, and almost loses his life in the process. This was a very readable book, and foodies will enjoy it very much.  The really diligent reader may want to take notes about who is who, and who was where when the murder occurred. The kitchen staff are African Americans, and there are a number of racial slurs which are indicative of the time when this book was written. Wolfe and Goodwin are above this sort of thing, and treat the kitchen staff quite well.

I should note that there are recipes at the end for dishes mentioned in the story. This includes one for Tennessee opossum should you have an opossum on hand.

I have read this book for the 2014 Vintage Mystery Bingo in the category of a book which features food/cooks in some way. I found this to be the most difficult category in the Bingo. I read the book Meat for Murder which really had nothing to do with food. I also read Murder is Served which does have some references to a steak and a restaurant. I am indebted to Bev Hankins who reviewed this book in July for the suggestion of  this title. This book was published in 1938 and is now available in book paper and ebook form.




Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Mr. Bazalgette's Agent by Leonard Merrick


Miriam Lea is a twenty eight year old single unemployed woman living in a depressing and cheap boarding house in London. She writes about her life in her diary which is the form in which this novel is written. She has been a teacher and an actress, but she is now at wit's end, because she is about out of money and will need to leave the boarding house for the streets of London. Mr. Clausen, another resident of the boarding house, suggests that she look at an ad in the paper which has been placed there by Mr Bazalgette who is looking for detectives for his agency.

Miriam applies and find a job there because she is of a higher class than the usual applicant  and speaks several languages. Her first assignment is to locate Jasper Vining who until recently had been employed by a company of financiers. He had pleaded ill health and departed for what he said was a trip to Australia for his health. Nothing was suspected until a month later when it was discovered that he had forged checks for forty thousand pounds, and had taken two bonds worth fifteen hundred pounds.

Miriam is given a very large expense account, money for clothes, a generous salary, and a maid, Dunstan, who is an experienced detective employed by the agency.  She also has a year old photograph of Vining from which to identify him. She and Dunstan travel through the larger cities of Europe, and finally encounter Vining who shortly thereafter departs for diamond mines of South Africa. Miriam and Dunstan follow him, and I will not spoil your reading with details of what follows.

I liked Miriam. She is honest, straightforward, and has a good sense of humor.  Merrick had been in South Africa, and the descriptions of the diamond mines makes them sound quite appalling.

This book was written in 1888, and some say that it is the first full novel about a female detective, but I will not go into that debate here. This issue is discussed in some detail in the introduction to this book by Mike Ashley. This novel was not a commercial success, and later Merrick would buy up and destroy all the copies of it that he could find. The reason for this is not known.  He went on to write other novels, but never wrote another detective story. This book has been republished by The British Library and is available in paper and ebook forms.





Friday, October 10, 2014

Murder is Served by Frances and Richard Lockridge

Peggy Mott wrote an essay for her Experimental Psychology class on the subject of hate, specifically about how much she hated her husband and how much she would enjoy killing him. She turned the essay in to her professor,  John Leonard, who was very much disturbed by it. He was so disturbed by it that he called his friend and publisher, Jerry North, and asked him to read it. Pam and Jerry North both read excerpts of the essay, and they felt that it might just be the writing of an overly dramatic woman seeking attention, but they agreed to show it to their friend, police detective lieutenant Bill Weigand. Then they all agreed that there was nothing to do but wait and see what would happen.

Tony Mott was murdered in his office at Andre Maillaux, Inc, operators of the restaurant of the same name. Mott had been stabbed; nobody at the restaurant had seen anyone enter the office, but there were two other entrances which could have been used. Bill Weigand was put in charge of the case, and he immediately thought of the essay which Peggy Mott had written, because she was the estranged wife of Tony Mott.

Peggy Mott was terrified when she heard about the murder. She knew that the police would want to question her and she knew that they would suspect her of the murder and she also remembered the essay which she had written. She hoped to avoid the police by wandering the streets, and by hiding  for a long time in an all day movie theater. Then she sought the help of Weldon Carey one of her fellow classmates with whom she had developed a friendship (or romance). Carey had written a play which Tony Mott had agreed to produce, but Mott had then withdrawn his backing.

Bill Weigand questioned the people at the restaurant who might have had a reason for the murder of Mott. His partner Andre Maillaux was the orginal sole owner of the restaurant until the restaurant needed an infusion of money to modernize it. Maillaux wished to be known for his superb food,  but he would hardly want to kill Mott who continued to bring business and patrons into the restaurant. Elaine Britton, Mott's current girl friend, came forward to say that she saw Peggy Mott leaving the restaurant at about the time that the murder occurred. Later, Elaine Britton would also be murdered.

Weigand is very sure that Peggy Mott is the murderer. The Norths, who will eventually meet Peggy Mott, are sure that she is not the murderer. There are actually few viable suspects in this book, but Weigand's tireless investigations bring to light other motives for the few suspects that there are. This is a very well written book, and somewhat more serious in its approach to detection than the other Pam and Jerry North books which I have read.





Monday, September 29, 2014

Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon

Detective Chief Inspector Maigret of the flying squad received a series of telegrams from the International Police Commission (IPC) which was based in Vienna. The IPC was an organization which tried to stop those who were engaged in organized crime in Europe. These telegrams informed him that Pietr the Latvian was headed for Paris.  Maigret had also received a very detailed description of Pietr the Latvian, and Margret knew that he would recognize him . Maigret also knew that Pietr was in car 5 of the train which would arrive at the Gare du Nord, and Maigret went to the station to watch him arrive. Maigret easily recognized him from the description. A very well dressed Pietr was leaving the station for one of the most expensive hotels in Paris and was being followed by three porters with his luggage. At exactly the same moment, a cry of murder came from the train carriage. Maigret found the body of a man in the restroom of car 5 who exactly matched the description of Pietr the Latvian.

Maigret would also find two other manifestations of Pietr as his investigation continued. One was a disreputable alcoholic named Fyodor Yurevich who was living with a Jewish woman in a dismal room in Paris. The other was found by tracing a photograph cover found in the pocket of the dead Pietr. This led Maigret to the village of Fecamp where he found a Mrs. Swaan who stated that her husband (who also appeared to be Pietr) was the first mate on a ship.

 Maigret found that the well dressed Pietr was engaged in some kind of business deal with a very wealthy American businessman named Mr. Mortimer-Levingston. Surveillance of Pietr in the hotel led to a shooting and the death of a policeman for which Maigret felt responsible.

Maigret is a man who enjoys the confort and warmth of the big cast iron stove in his office. This investigation seems mainly to be conducted in the cold, rain, and mud. He was shot in the coarse of the investigation, and carried on with very little medical attention. He eventually found the solution to the various personalities, pseudonyms, and murders involved in this story. Maigret follows his hunches and follows people who will eventually provide an explanation of what is going on.

This book was written in 1929. There is a mention of the political situation in the Baltic, of the communists in this area, of the various ethnic groups in regions where national boundaries do not match ethnic differences.  There are several antisemitic statements in the book.

This is the first of the series of seventy five Maigret novels. It was translated by David Bellos, and the edition which I read is the first in the series of Maigret novels which Penguin is currently publishing. It was a very readable book, very dark, and the problem of determining the identities of the various Pietrs does keep the reader going.




Sunday, September 28, 2014

The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner

A woman who called herself Eva Griffin came to the law office of Perry Mason looking for help. She had been at a club called the Beechwood Inn with congressman Harrison Burke who was a candidate for the senate. A murder had happened in the club that night, and the police were called. She and Burke had hidden in a private dining room, and a policeman friend helped them to get away without being interviewed.  She knew that a reporter, Frank Locke, who wrote a for gossip paper called Spicy Bits, knew about Harrison Burke being there and was going to publish. Locke did not know that she was the woman who was with Burke. She also knew that Frank Locke was working for the real owner of Spicy Bits, and that this paper made its money from blackmailing people who wanted to keep their names out of the news. She wanted Perry Mason to hush the whole thing up, and was willing to pay a lot of money to keep her name out of it.

Mason went to Locke and found out the huge price that would be required to keep it hushed up. Mason, with the help of private investigator Paul Drake,  found out the owner of Spicy Bits was a man named George C. Belter.  Mason went to Belter's home, and threatened to expose him as the owner of Spicy Bits if the story about Harrison Burke is published. On his way out of the house, he met Belter's wife who was the woman who gave her name as Eva Griffin.

Then George Belter was murdered in his home. Eva Belter called Mason to come to the house before she called the police, and Mason examined the gun which was used.  Mason found that Belter had a nephew named Carl Griffen who was dedicated to loose living, and who would be the heir to the Belter wealth. Eva Belter was left very little money.  Further investigation revealed even more blackmail schemes, and forgeries, and other complications until Mason worked the whole thing out. It should be noted that all along that Mason's secretary Della Street believed that Eva Belter was a dishonest woman who was manipulating everyone in her life including Mason. Eva Belter did accuse Perry Mason of the murder of George Belter. Even then, Mason continued in his belief that his first duty was to the client who hired him.

This book does not have a courtroom scene.

This book was published in 1933, and was the first Perry Mason mystery. It is available as an e-book. The Perry Mason novels were extremely popular. There were six movies based on them, and the Perry Mason TV show was on the air for nine years and had 271 episodes.


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham

The Gyrth Chalice was a priceless historical relic, and it was the duty of the Gyrth family to protect this thousand year old relic of the earliest years of British history. The family kept it in a tower in their estate of Sanctuary. This tower also contained a "secret room", and on his 25th birthday, the Gyrth heir was told of the secret of the "secret room", as he took over the duty of protecting the Chalice.

Percival St. John Wykes Gyrth (Val) was the only son of Colonel Sir Percival Christian St. John Gyrth who was the current protector of the chalice. In just a few days Val Gyrth was due to learn the secret. He, however, was estranged from his father who did not approve of Val's marriage to a woman who had since died. Cut off from funds, Val had fallen on very hard times when he was rescued in London by Albert Campion.

Campion is an amateur detective with a private income. He is described as "a tall thin young man with a pale inoffensive face, and vague eyes behind enormous horn-rimmed spectacles." He was assisted by his man Lugg, an ex-criminal who was very large and muscular.  Campion believed that there was a group of very, very wealthy people who employed criminals to steal very valuable items of such importance that they would never be placed on sale. Campion believed that the Gyrth chalice was the next item on their list to be stolen and offered to assist Val in protecting it.

Campion, Val, and Lugg went to the family home where Campion effected a reunion between Val and his father.  Also present were Val's aunt, Lady Diana Pethwick, who was quite domineering and "difficult". She had the bad taste to be photographed with the Chalice. This photograph had appeared in the newspaper, and had attracted a disreputable group of artistic and new religion types who hung around the neighborhood.  Val's sister Penelope was quite attractive and had a charming personality as did her friend Beth Cairey who was the daughter of an American professor who had taken a house near to the Gyrth's. Another neighbor is Mrs. Dick Shannon who owned a racing stable. She had a bellowing voice and Val called her "One of those damn women-with-a-personality". She wanted to buy horses from the Gryth's, but they did not wish to sell them to her.

Near the Gryth house was Pharisees's clearing which was supposedly haunted by evil spirits, and it was here that Lady Diana died of fright. The doctor believed that she had seen something horrible which caused a heart attack. Lugg went to the clearing, and returned in hysterics.

Campion stopped Penny's attempt to remove the chalice to the safety of a London bank. He took it to an expert in London who testified that the current chalice was a 150 year old copy of the original. Campion now had the problems of not only protecting the chalice from thieves, but also of finding the original chalice to protect. Campion did succeed but his success included confronting the horror of Pharisee's clearing, and a mad cap confrontation between friendly gypsies and the thieves.

This is a great read. Campion is a bit vague about everything. The reader will wonder as the novel goes along how he knew this or that, but all will be explained in the end.  Allingham is one of the great writers of the Golden Age of mystery fiction, and one of my favorite mystery authors.

This book was published in 1931. It is available in paper and e-book form. It is also the first story in the TV production of Campion stories which starred Peter Davison. When the book was published in the United States, the title was The Gryth Challenge Mystery.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh: a review

Agatha Troy Alleyn has been asked by Sir Henry Ancred, an outstanding Shakespearean  actor,  to do a portrait of him as Macbeth, one of his most famous roles. At first Troy does not want to undertake this commission because Sir Henry has requested it be four by six feet which Troy considers to be impossibly large. She relents when she discusses the situation with Sir Henry's son Thomas who says it would cheer up an ailing and aging Sir Henry, and she sets off for the family residence of Ancreton.

At Ancreton, Troy meets the quarreling and overly emotional members of the Ancred family. There is elder daughter Pauline who is the mother of Paul and Panty. Panty is a young problem child who engages in a great deal of mischief. There is Millicent who was the wife of Sir Henry's oldest son who is now deceased. Millicent has remained at Ancreton to care for Sir Henry. She is the mother of Cecil who is the heir apparent of the estate.  Also present is Fenella, Sir Henry's granddaughter who is the child of Claude Ancred, Sir Henry's son. Most shocking to the whole family is the presence of Miss Sonia Orencourt who is Sir Henry's current love interest. She is much much younger than he is, and not a member of the Ancred's social class.

Troy begins the portrait and is soon caught up in it. Sir Henry poses, and Troy gives young Panty a board and some paints to keep her out of mischief during these sessions. Then strange things begin happening. Troy finds red paint on the banister of the stairs near her room. Somebody paints spectacles on Sir Henry's portrait. The family immediately blames Panty, but Troy believes her innocent.

The climax begins when Paul and Fanella announce that they are engaged. Sir Henry is furious because he does not believe that first cousins should get married. He springs a surprise on the whole family and announces that he going to marry Miss Sonia Orencourt. The family members are appalled because this may mean changes in the Will. Sir Henry announces changes to the Will each year at his birthday dinner which is only a few days away.

The birthday celebration takes place with family members and friends present. Sir Henry enjoys himself immensely while eating and drinking far more than his doctor would approve of. The change in the Will is announced. The portrait is unveiled and applauded. The next morning, Sir Henry is found dead in his bed. The doctor pronounces heart failure as the cause of death.

Troy returns to London, and Roderick Alleyn returns home after being away for three years because of the war.  The first case that Roderick is assigned  on his return to the police force is the death of Sir Henry Ancred which has been brought to the attention of the police by family members because they have received anonymous letters which imply that Sir Henry had been poisoned. Roderick's investigation is complicated by the possibility that Troy, his wife, could be called as a witness. Roderick will solve the case but not before another death occurs.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book because I find Marsh to be a literate and witty writer. If you like country house mysteries with lots of difficult family members, you will find it enjoyable too. This book is available in paper and e-book format.


Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim

The Great Impersonation is the story of a German agent who enters Great Britain by impersonating a British citizen whom he very strongly resembles. This book was written in 1920, and the time period in the novel is about the years 1912 - 1914.

Everard Dominey and Leopold Van Ragastein had attended school together in England,  and everyone said that they strongly resembled each other. Now they were grown men in German East Africa, and their lives had diverged. Baronet Everard Dominey had fled England after it was believed that he had murdered Roger Unthank who had disappeared. Dominey's wife Rosamund had developed mental problems after Roger's disappearance and vowed never to see Everard again. Everard had wandered around the world living a life of dissipation. Leopold was now Major General Baron Leopold Van Regastein and was commander of the colony. He had been banned from entering Germany again because he killed a man in a duel over Princess Stephanie Eiderstrom, a Hungarian princess and his lover. Where Everard was weak and flabby and showing signs of his drinking, Leopold was strong, active, and showed every sign of great intelligence and determination.

Leopold decided  that since he strongly resembled Everard that he would enter England posing as Everard. The real Everard was made to disappear, and Leopold took over his life. Whereas Everard was a spendthrift and has impoverished his estate, Leopold brought a lot of money from the German government, and paid off the debts on the estate. Then he had to convince those who had know Everard that he was Everard and had overcome his bad habits through healthy living. Most people believed him and most amazingly Rosamund overcame her morbid fear of Everard.

The imposter at first was not sure what his mission for the German government was. He took a trip to Germany and met with the Kaiser who told him that he should make friends with Prince Terniloff who was the German ambassador to England, and who was working for peace and understanding between the two countries. The imposter's mission was endangered when he encountered Princess Eiderstrom again. She had great difficulty in accepting his assumed identity, and wanted to marry him right away even though in his new role, he was married to Rosamund. Indeed, Rosamund was beginning to seem like a better choice for a wife than the princess.

Then World War I began. Everard now has to deal with political events along with the complications in this personal life. Oppenheim brings it all to a surprising and successful conclusion.

This is a readable novel. If you are a fan of spy stories with a lot of melodrama, you will enjoy this book. It is available in both print and ebook form.

I do not especially care for spy stories which is what I initially thought this book was. However this book developed into a story of love and romance among the very wealthy which I do not especially care for either. There are also melodramatic elements such as haunted forests and screams in the night which are not on my list of favorite things in novels. So all in all, it is not really my kind of book.


Monday, September 8, 2014

Death Takes a Bow by Francis and Richard Lockridge

Jerry North was quite nervous because he was going to deliver the introductory speech for a talk by Victor Leeds Sproul at the Today's Topic Club.  Sproul had become a best selling author for Jerry's publishing company, Towsend Brothers. Sproul's book was a big hit because it described Paris as it was before WW II (This mystery was published in 1943). Before Sproul had written this nonfiction book, he had published several not very successful novels during the period when he was living in Paris. Jerry believed that these novels had included people whom Sproul had know. "You could almost see the people whose lives Mr, Sproul had borrowed squirming uneasily on the pages to which Mr. Sproul had pinned them."

Jerry got over his nerves and delivered his speech  and turned to Sproul who was sitting on a chair onstage. Sproul did not move. Indeed Sproul would never move again because Sproul was dead. For a while it was a question of whether Sproul had committed suicide or had been poisoned but morphine poisoning was finally ruled the cause of death.

Before Sproul had gone on stage, he had met with his agent Y. Charles Burden who had arranged a speaking tour which was to begin with the talk at the Today's Topic Club. Sproul also met with Mrs. Paul Willians who was the program chairman. She was a very uptight and successful lawyer in her mid thirties. Loretta Shaw was also present. She had divorced her husband, and believed Sproul when he said he would marry her, but she was beginning to have her doubts and her ex-husband was looking a lot better. There were several others from Sproul's life in Paris whose secrets he may have known.

This is very much Lieutenant Bill Weigand's investigation. He  believed that the notes for the lecture that Sproul was going to deliver contained a secret about somebody in the audience who did not want it made public. Bill got the notes, lost the notes, and got the notes back again with the help of a little dark man with the difficult name of Bandelman Jung.

Pam North was hampered in her usual part in the investigation because she was playing hostess to two teenage nieces who were very much interested in all the sailors and marines who were in New York at this time.  The sailors and marines were also quite interested in the nieces. and Pam needed to be a chaperone. She did manage to get into a wacky pursuit down Fifth Avenue in the rain.

Pam and Jerry North had always been favorites of mine. They are pleasant people, and the murders which they investigate are not gory.  This book was published in 1943, and is now out of print. Used copies are available.




Friday, September 5, 2014

The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy

An old man and a woman reporter sat in an A.B.C. tea shop in London, and had conversations about recent murder cases while he drank his milk and she drank her tea. The woman reporter would record these conversations,  and they would be the first descriptions of a detective who solved crimes by using logic alone,  and who saw little reason to investigate the scene of the crime and to collect clues. He says "There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation".

The old man was pale, thin, with light colored hair combed over his bald spot. He constantly played with a piece of string and tied and untied complicated knots in it while he described the murder that he had solved. He did attend trials and these and newspaper accounts seem to be his primary source of information. He had a profound distrust of the ability of the police to solve anything. He believed that people failed to observe, and failed to think about what they did observe. Most of his solutions seem to be based on the idea that once an explanation of the cause of the crime was made by the police or by the court, they failed to consider that another interpretation of the facts could be made. Most of the cases deal with middle class members of British society who have enough money to make significant bequests in their wills or to keep cash on hand. Frequently family disputes are found to lead up to the murder.

Baroness Orczy is best know for her novel The Scarlet  Pimpernel which was published in 1905. The first Old Man in the Corner story was published in The Royal Magazine in 1901. This was followed by five other stories. In the last of these, "A Death in Percy Street" she revealed the identity of the Old Man and ended the series. The stories were so popular that, like Sherlock Holmes, the Old Man was revived and continued with his stories and two more series of stories were published. Baroness Orczy had two other detectives. She published Lady Molly of Scotland Yard in 1920This book described the investigations of a female detective associated with Scotland Yard. She published Skin o' My Tooth in 1928 which narrates the adventures of an Irish lawer.

I would like to note that the murder in "The Tremarn Case" bears a striking similarity to the murder in The Mystery of the Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume which was published in 1886.

These stories are available in e-book form. I have read the paper Dover edition which has an introduction by E. F. Bleiler. The subtitle of this book is "Twelve Classic Detective Stories" I see that there is an e-book edition available which has an introduction by Otto Penzler.






Monday, September 1, 2014

Spring Harrowing by Phoebe Atwood Taylor


Somebody or something murdered Bart Paget in his own home. Paget was found with claw marks on his throat and a skull in his hand. Asey Mayo, the Homespun Sleuth of Cape Cod, was a friend of Paget's, and was definitely going to be involved in the investigation of the mystery. Paget was a collector of everything. He had collections of books, skulls, Indian relics, and many other things which were all crammed into his home. He also owned the Porter Century automobile which was close to Asey's heart.

The claw marks were attributed to Mrs. Susan Remington's wild cats. Mrs. Remington had married Mr. Remington, a very wealthy and older man, who had died and left her very well off at her home on Cape Cod. She indulged in her hobbies which included raising these two wildcats. Someone had released the wild cats on the evening when Bart Paget was murdered. Mrs. Remington set off on a search for the cats as did others in the community of Quanomet Bluffs. The wildcats were found and returned to their cages, but now Mrs. Reminton had disappeared.

 Asey Mayo's investigation is thorough, but a bit haphazard. He confides details of this investigation to Dr. Cummings who is his friend and confidant in the book. He does do better than Hanson who is the local policeman who is not really open to new ideas. The reader will learn what a wagh nakh is and how it was used to commit a murder. The reader will also learn how to play Hoople which is a game dear to the heart of the local residents.  These local residents are rather eccentric and include Webster Betts who is a one-armed man who built his own golf course, and Ellen Allenby who invented Hoople, and her son Scott who was promised a job by Bart Paget who later changed his mind about the offer. There is also Madame Lucy who arrived at the Allenby's one day and stayed for a year.

Phoebe Atwood  Taylor usually tells a good story, but I would not say that this her best novel. She does not include much description of Cape Cod which is a very scenic area. Occasionally she mentions the beach but that is about it. Also the local yokels who constitute the police force are really too stupid and frightened to be believed. It would have also been helpful to the reader to understand the action of the characters if she had given more indication of their ages.

The spring harrowing in the title does not refer to plowing the earth, but to Asey's plowing the clues to find the murderer. This book was published in 1939, and is no longer in print.




Friday, August 29, 2014

There's Trouble Brewing by Nicholas Blake: A Review

It was a dreadful shame about the death of Truffles. Someone had thrown the poor dog into the copper brewing kettle at the local brewery, and Truffles was cooked. Truffles was the pet dog of the brewery owner, Eustace Bunnett.

Erudite author and amateur detective Nigel Strangeways had been invited to address the Maiden Astbury Literary Society something that he would normally avoid at all costs. He had, however, been invited by Sophie Cammison who was married to Dr. Herbert Cammison who had been a friend of Nigel's at Oxford. Nigel's talk went well, and at the discussion afterwards, he met Eustace Bunnett . Eustace wished to employ Nigel to find the murderer of Truffles, and Nigel agreed to accept the case.

Nigel took an instant dislike to Bunnett. As his investigation continued, he found many others who did not like Bunnett.  Bunnett had been mean to his employees, and had fired them for incidents which were really Bunnett's fault. He had even been mean to Truffles. The employees at the brewery much preferred Eustace's brother Joseph who was more pleasant and friendlier. Joseph worked at the brewery as a representative to the pubs. Eustace had also refused to update the brewery and to use more modern brewing methods, and the employees believed that Joseph would modernize the brewery. Sophie and Herbert Cammison seemed to be afraid of Bunnett.

Somebody acted to murder Bunnett. Most of Bunnett's body was found in the copper brewing kettle, and  boiling in the kettle had removed most of the identifying marks on the body.  Bunnett was identified by his false teeth.

His brother Joseph, who would inherit the brewery, was away sailing so he was cleared of suspicion.  Miss Mellors, the head of the literary society, and Gabriel Sorn, a budding poet who had been condemmed to writing advertising jingles for the brewery, seem to hold a lot of hostility toward Bunnett. Dr. Herbert Cammison had a strong reason to murder Bunnett, but Nigel could not believe that his friend was guilty.

Nigel Strangeways conducted his investigation in a through manner and eventually discovered the murderers of both Truffles and his master, Eustace Bunnett, in this entertaining and well plotted mystery.

Nicholas Blake was the pen name of English Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis. Blake wrote 20 mystery novels. All but four featured Strangeways as the detective. There's Trouble Brewing was published in 1937, and is currently available as an e-book.







Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Benson Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine: A Review

Alvin H. Benson, a well-known Wall Street broker and man about town, was murdered in his home. He had been seated in a chair and had been shot through the head. Oddly enough, this vain man was not wearing his toupee or his false teeth. John F. X. Markham, district attorney of New York, started an investigation of this crime along with the city police. Markham brought along his friends, Philo Vance and S. S. VanDine. Van Dine was along as a sort of Watson to record Vance's exploits.

A large part of this book is devoted to presenting Philo Vance and his philosophies of crime detection and the psychology of murderers. Vance "was an aristocrat by birth" and a "man of unusual culture and brilliance"  He was good looking, well-dressed, and a member of the best clubs.  Vance was quite knowledgeable about art and very well educated. "The great majority of those with whom he came in contact regarded him as a snob." I did find him a bit overbearing.

During the initial visit to the crime scene, Vance was able to deduce the height of the murderer, and identified two cigarettes by their tobacco. At the crime scene were found the gloves and handbag of Muriel St. Clair who apparently had visited the house that day. She was engaged to Captain Philip Leacock who had recently had a public argument with Benson. Further investigation would reveal others who had an interest in the fate of Benson including his brother and business partner,  Major Anthony Benson, and Alvin's housekeeper, Mrs. Platz.

During the whole book, Vance states that he has know from the beginning who the murderer is. He observes the fumbling efforts of Markam and the police to solve this murder. At the end, he details how each person who was involved with Benson could have committed the crime and how he (Vance) eliminates them from consideration. Finally he reveals who the real murderer is and how the crime was committed.

This book, which was published in 1926,  is the first of the series of Philo Vance mysteries which all have a 6 letter word in the title except for The Gracie Allen Murder Case. S. S. Van Dine is the pseudonym of American art critic Willard Huntington Wright. The book is currently available in paper and e-book form.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Fatal Venture by Freeman Wills Crofts: A Review

Harry Morrison first met Charles Bristow on the Calais boat train. Morrison, at the time, was an agent for the Boscomb Travel Agency, and Bristow was a lawyer. The two men entered into a conversation about travel and they came up with a scheme to buy an older ocean liner, the Helenique, and run her around the British Isles. This would enable people with limited means to enjoy a holiday trip on a ship which they could afford. The two men agreed to look into the financial aspect of this business and get back to discuss it. Sharing the train compartment with them was a man who appeared to be asleep. Morrison noticed from his luggage tag that his name was A. N. Malthus.

Their financial investigations showed that the scheme would work, but they would need a backer with money in order to buy the ship.  Harry Morrison had had dealings though his travel agency with John M. Stott who was a wealthy man. Stott enjoyed traveling, but he had been just about everywhere, and Morrison thought that he might be interested in the venture and would enjoy having a ship in which he was a part owner, and could have his own deck. Stott became very enthusiastic about it, and agree to put up the money for the ship. Malthus had not been sleeping on the train, and he tried to get the ship first, but Stott figured out a clever way to get the ship for himself, Morrison, and Bristow.

Now that Stott was a major partner, he decided on a new purpose for this venture. Instead of a lower price cruise for the middle class, he wanted the ship to be used for a floating casino for the upper classes. The cabins would be refitted to be luxurious. Since British law did not permit such a gambling venture, the gambling rooms would only be open when the ship was outside the three mile limit, and Stott had the ship registered as a French vessel. The ship would now feature both gambling and day trips to scenic spots on the islands, England, and Ireland. Morrison was hired to arrange travel for the customers to and from the ship and was given ten percent of the profits. When the ship had been refitted, the cruises began, and did very, very well.

Many people in England did not approve of this gambling venture, and neither did the British government. The government wanted someone on board this ship who would look out to see that  everything was done properly, and to look for some way that this venture could be ended. For this purpose, Inspector French was enlisted. He would take a two week cruise on the ship under the name of John Forrester, and he could bring his wife Em along.

John Forrester and his wife would arrive on the ship along others who were very important to the story. There was a group which was made up of Major Wyndham Stott, Mrs. Stott who was Wyndham's second wife,  Miss Majorie Stott, his daughter, and Mr. Percy Luff, who Mrs Stott's son. The members of this group were very important people since they were relatives of John M. Stott and they would receive VIP treatment. Also on this day, Alex N. Malthus and Clarence Mason arrived. They were the ones who had tried to start this venture before Stott beat them to the punch.

John  Stott had a strong interest in archaeology and when the ship visited the islands, he either went or sent someone to take photographs of historical sites. When the ship was the neighborhood of the Giant's Causeway,  Stott himself went to take photographs, and after he did this, someone murdered him.

Now Inspector French had two problems. Scotland Yard wanted him to reveal his true identity and find the murderer, and he still had the task of finding something illegal about the activities of the gambling ship. Inspector French is a man who would not be daunted by difficulty.  He is incredibly methodical, and I somehow picture him with an ordnance map in one hand and a schedule of some sort in the other. He will overcame the problem of finding a motive for the crime (nobody seemed to have a good one), and finding someone who did not have an alibi for the time of the murder (all of the suspects seemed to have one).

This is an enjoyable book if you like puzzle mysteries with difficult solutions. French is an upright and hardworking policeman which does not make him a very exciting detective. I do wish that his wife had been given a bit more to do in the book since she was along on the trip.

This book was published in 1939. It has been reissued by the Langtail Press in print and as an e-book.







Sunday, August 3, 2014

The Vanishing of Betty Varian by Carolyn Wells: A Review

To appreciate the crime in this book, you must visualize the setting. Headland Harbor was a summer vacation spot on the Maine coast for artists and other generally pleasant people. The Headland was a gigantic cliff which was 300 feet high and which jutted out into the ocean. It had an overhang and was unscalable. The ocean waves crashed into the base of the cliff. The top of the cliff was narrow and had enough room for a house with room for small gardens on either side. The only way to reach the house at the top was to walk up a narrow path with steps. Headland House was an old house with a few towers and turrets and it had been rented for the summer by the Varian family.

Fred Varian had money - possibly from Wall Street. His wife Minna was considered to be a clinging vine who was spoiled by her husband. Their daughter Betty was pretty and charming and spoiled. Betty and her father did argue a lot. It seemed that whenever Betty seemed to be interested in a young man, that her father did everything he could to break off the relationship. Currently Betty's interest was Ron Graniss, and Ron was staying in Headland Harbor.

Mrs. Varian decided to have a picnic to get to meet some of the residents of Headland Harbor. She invited Fred's brother, Herbert, and his wife and daughter. She also invited Mrs. Clare Blackwood and instructed her to bring two suitable young men (but not Rod Graniss). These three climbed up to the house and then they and the Varian families started walking down to a spot for the picnic. They were loaded with picnic baskets which the staff had prepared before they left for a day off in the small town. Part of the way down, Betty announced that she had forgotten her camera and that she would run back to the house to get it. The party waited and when it seemed that she had been gone a long time, her father said that he would go back to the house to see what was keeping her. When the father had been gone a long time, they all returned to the house. There they found Fred Varian murdered, and Betty Varian had vanished.

They searched the whole house for Betty. There did not appear to be any secret rooms or passages where Betty or her body could be hidden. It was impossible to get down from the house without being seen. If Betty had been murdered where was her body? Or did Betty murder her father and, if so, where did she go afterwards?

Enter the detective, Pennington Wise. He is undoubtedly a great detective, and he brings his assistant, Zizi. She is the strangest character in the book. Her relationship with Pennington is not clear. She is a small woman who is intelligent, kind, sympathetic, understanding, and full of praise for Pennington. She does not hesitate in dangerous situations. She is so perfect that I found her rather disturbing.  The police in this small community are not very effective.

Eventually everything is explained. The mastermind behind these crimes is exposed, and dispatched in a very brutal way. I found this to be a very interesting book. It was published in 1923, and it was good to see a crime scene very thoroughly investigated by interested people without all of the modern methods: without the crime scene technicians, DNA experts, and photographers. Carolyn Wells plays fair with the reader, and there are clues given in the book for the careful reader.

This book has been reissued by Resurrected Press and is available in paper and as an e-book.



Thursday, July 31, 2014

Poison in Jest by John Dickson Carr: A review

This is a novel of a big old house, a family with many secrets, and several kinds of poison. Jeff Marle had returned to his home town in Pennsylvania and to the old house where the Quayles lived and where he had played as a boy. Old Judge Quayle wanted to see him and to discuss the book that the Judge had finally finished writing. They met in the Judge's study which was as it had been many years before and there was still the statue of Caligula which had a broken hand. The Judge told Jeff that he could no longer get along with his family. The Judge was a man of upright morality and old-fashioned ways, and he felt that his family was adopting new ways which he did not understand. The Judge offered Jeff a drink of brandy from a bottle which had never been opened. Shortly after drinking his brandy, the Judge collapsed from what was found to hyoscine poisoning. Forturnately his son-in-law Dr. Twills was in the house, and his rapid actions kept the Judge alive. Dr. Twills had also found that the Judge's wife had been given a dose of arsenic.

The family consisted of Mary, the oldest daughter, who was unmarried and who kept the house and looked after the old Judge and his wife who was ill. There was also the beautiful daughter Clarissa who had married short but diligent and wealthy Dr. Walter Twills. The youngest daughter Virginia was still single, but was longing to get married and get out of the house. The younger son Matt still lived in the house, and was a lawyer. The Judge had never approved of Matt, and had never ceased to criticize him. The older son Tom had had an argument with the Judge, and had run away several years before.

This family had many secrets and many arguments, but there was one thing about the house that they were never supposed to speak of. That was the mysterious white hand which would appear on occasion in various parts of the house. It would appear to be the hand broken off of the statue of Caligula in the study.

Jeff talked to Dr. Twills who had seemed quite overwhelmed by the family members, but who was much more sure of himself when he was alone. Twills admitted that he had hyoscine, but he was a doctor. Twills also admitted that he was scared of the family, and that he wanted to go back to Vienna where he was happy, but he could not get away. Unfortunately that evening, somebody poisoned Dr. Twills with a dose of hyoscine.

The family wanted to keep the death quiet. They wanted to say that it was suicide because that would avoid an inquest and the publicity which would come with it. But the county detective, Joe Sargent, was called upon to investigate the case. Jeff felt that Sargent was the insignificant kind of man who would think that if he could solve this important case that he could make a name for himself. Sargent engaged in long discussions with Dr. Reed, the coroner, but they do not manage to figure out what is going on.

Now enters the weird detective Rossiter who is one of the most uncordinated, eccentric, and puzzling detectives in mystery literature. Another horrible death would occur, but in the end, Rossiter  puts all the clues together and finds the murderer. The clues have all been available to the reader who will probably feel bad about not having seen them.

This is good mystery with a gloomy atmosphere, an uneasy family, and several murders. John Dickson Carr, one of the masters of the Golden Age, published this book in 1932. It was one of his early novels and does not feature any of his series detectives although Jeff Marle knows Bencolin.  It does not seem to be currently in print although used copies are available.




Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Meat for Murder by Lange Lewis: A Review



Earl Falconer is a stage set designer in Hollywood. He  built for himself a large house in the Los Angeles area in the form of a castle with a moat. He lives here with two bodyguards, three dogs, a very religious housekeeper, and a small, retiring French mathematician, Andre Viaud, who is recovering from a nervous breakdown. Falconer is a vegetarian, does not drink alcohol or smoke, and he exercises frequently.  He and his two bodyguards sleep outside on cots.

Falconer hires Laurel Byrd, a recently graduated English major, and her friend Jeff Prince, also an English major, to assist him in writing a play. Woody Cornell, apparently a world traveler, is also hired to assist in the writing.  The writers are under a contract which says that they will live in Falconer's house until the play is completed, and that they will not be paid until Falconer is satisfied with the play.

There are also some women in Falconer's life. There is Denise Morissey, a blond, who seems to be fond of Falconer and expects him to marry her. Other well-to-do and aimless friends include Ruth de Lisle, and Rita Callendar. One evening when all the occupants of the house and these friends are together, Denise Morissey is apparently poisoned with arsenic in a tablet which was supposed to be phenobarbital. Luckily for her, a doctor in her apartment building saves her from death. The next day Falconer is also poisoned with arsenic and dies.

Enter the police. There is Detective Tuck  who is a large man who takes a realistic approach to the crime although he does apply a bit of psychology. He is assisted by Brigit Estees who is five foot eight and really enjoys her police work.

This book seemed to me to be ready for a typical 1930's movie treatment. The Hollywood location helped. The characters are eccentric, the setting speaks of money, and the women definitely seem the Hollywood type. Laurel Byrd is the ingenue and Denise Morissey the older attractive wealthy blonde. Peter Lorre definitely would be cast as Andre Viaud. The dialogue is witty in a movie sort of way.

Lange Lewis is the pseudonym Jane Lewis Brandt (1915 - 2003) who lived in Los Angeles, and who was married to writer Mal Bissell.  The Golden Age of Detection web site lists five mysteries written by her. This book was published in 1943, and is currently out of print.




Monday, July 28, 2014

The Murderer is a Fox by Ellery Queen: A review


Captain Davy Fox returns from World War II  to his home town of Wrightsville and gets a hero's reception. His plane had been shot down in China. He had struggled through the rice fields, and hid from the Japanese while carrying his crew man Binks on his back because Binks was too injured to walk. Now he was a big hero, but he could not get the memories of the war out of his mind where they kept playing over and over again. He tried to adopt to life in Wrightsville with his family and his new wife Linda. He could not sleep and when he did it was fitful and dream filled. Then one night he woke from a troubled sleep and tried to strangle his wife.  Perhaps he was trying to kill his wife just as his father, Bayard Fox, killed his wife Jessica 12 years before.

Davy and Linda went to Ellery Queen hoping that he could reopen the case and prove that Bayard Fox had not killed Davy's mother. They saw this as the only way to dispel the fears in Davy's mind. Ellery came to Wrightsville and staged the crime again. He even got Bayard released from the prison where he was serving a life sentence to attend the reenactment. The event was also attended by Talbot Fox and his wife Emily. Talbot and Bayard were brothers, business partners, and were both in love with Jessica. They had decided that she would be the one to decide which brother she preferred, but she did not live long enough for this.

The reenactment had been staged in Bayard Fox's house which had been sitting empty since the murder. Jessica had been poisoned with an overdose of digitalis in a glass of grape juice that Bayard had given her. The reenactment only showed that there was no moment when anyone other than Bayard could have put the digitalis into the grape juice. It did seem impossible for anyone other than Bayard to have poisoned Jessica which left Ellery Queen with a very difficult problem to solve.

This is a very well written book, and the impossibility of finding a solution certainly keeps you reading. There is a long beginning which describes Davy's past war experience and the resulting problems that he is experiencing which makes him a very sympathetic character.

This book was published in 1945, and is currently available as an e-book.




Sunday, July 20, 2014

While the Patient Slept by Mignon G. Eberhart: a Review

Nurse Sarah Keate has taken an assignment in an old dreary house which will become a scene for murder.  She has arrived at Federie House to nurse old Mr. Federie who has suffered from a stroke and who is now unconscious. She finds the house to be absolutely dreadful. It is large, has no electricity, and does not seem to have been dusted in years. Many of the rooms lack doors and instead have dusty curtains at the openings. The butler, Grondal, would not have been out of place in a horror movie. The cook is equally mysterious, and serves stewed prunes for dessert.

The Federie family members and friends have gathered in the house in hopes of speaking with old Mr. Federie before he dies. There is his granddaughter March who is attractive and very strong willed. Her cousin Eustice has wasted a lot of money and hopes to get more from the old man. Old Mr. Federie's son Adolph is also a waster of money, and his wife, Isobel who apparently does not care for Adolph,  is not much better. Also present are Elihu Dimick, Federie's financial advisor,  Deke Lonergan who is a friend of Eustice and Mittie Frisling who seems to have been living in the house for some unknown reason. There is also a male cat who is named Genevieve.

On Sarah's first night in the house, she settles down in the patient's room.  During the night Adolph Fererie is murdered. Young police inspector Lance O'Leary arrives and after interviewing the residents of the house, he decides that nobody has an alibi for the time of the crime. Isobel does not seem to lament the death of her husband, and the others do not seem to have any motive for killing him.

Sarah is drawn into the search for the murderer. She is puzzled by the appearances and disappearances of a small jade elephant which seems to very important to several people in the house. She tries investigating the attic which is even spookier than the rest of the house. Eventually she and O'Leary will unravel  the web of historical and current events which ties these people together.

This is a very spooky book, and a very good mystery novel. It was published in 1930 and helped make Mignon G. Eberhart a very popular mystery writer. I read the edition which was published in 1995 by University of Nebraska Press. It has an introduction by Jay Fultz and a very good bibliography. I was surprised that he said that he had talked to Ms. Eberhart, but she did  live to the age of 97 (1899 - 1996).





Sunday, July 13, 2014

The Tall House Mystery by A. E. Fielding: A Review

Five young gentlemen agree to share the rent of the Tall House in Chelsea for five weeks. Their names are Haliburton, Moy, Tark, Gilmore, and Charles Ingram. Last names are used almost exclusively for men in this book except for Ingram because his half-brother Frederick will make an appearance later on. During this time, they will be visited by lovely Miss Winnie Pratt who is romantically involved with some of them, and her mother, Mrs. Pratt, who will be a chaperone.

Alfreda Longstaff will also be joining this group. She is the only child of the rector of Bispham, and would naturally be expected to keep house for her aging parents which she has no desire to do in this boring village.  Gilmore had come to the area, and Alfreda had been attracted to him because he was the only eligible young man to come her way. Gilmore had left with only a civil goodbye and Alfreda was quite upset that a stronger relationship had not developed. Later on at a golf course, she met Warner who worked for a London newspaper. He told her how a position on the paper could be obtained for an aspiring author who managed to find a real "scoop". Gilmore returns and declares his undying love for Alfreda. She declares that they must get to know each other better so he invites her to Tall House for the five weeks, of course, with Mrs. Pratt as a chaperone. Alfreda sees this as an opportunity to get out of Bispham, and to London where she may find her "scoop" and land a newspaper job.

One evening when this group is at dinner, the conversation turns to the talk of ghosts and how an old house like Tall House must have one. Gilmore says that ghosts are nonsense. They were just  living people dressed up and pretending, and that if he ever encountered such a "ghost" he would shoot it. Later during that night, the residents hear a gun shot and find Gilmore at the door of his room with a gun in his hand, and Ingram dead on the floor of the hall with a bullet in his head and with a sheet wrapped around him. Gilmore is panicked and says that he only had blanks in his gun.

Enter Inspector Pointer who is  has "a tanned, pleasant face and a pair of very steady, tranquil, dark gray eyes " with which he can watch the strange activities of those living in the house. Ingram was an expert in codes and ciphers, and the residents all seem to be engaged in going through his papers and books to find something of value to them, although Pointer is not sure what this is. An inquest leaves Gilmore free of blame in the death. Miss Longstaff does provides inside information about the crime to the paper thus giving her a scoop.

Things will get even more complex in the best tradition of the puzzle mystery, but in the end, Inspector Pointer solves the crime and finds the murderer even though he spends a lot of time on a big red herring. Sometimes I found that the search for Ingram's papers became a bit confusing. Also the author gives very sinister descriptions of the appearance of Miss Longstreth and Mr. Tark surely to convey to the reader that they are "bad guys" while it could be assumed that attractive Winnie Pratt must be above suspicion.

Nothing is really know about the author, A. E. Fielding. There is a forward by Greg Fowlkes which tells about the search for information about A. E. Fielding who also published books under the name of Archibald Fielding and Archibald E. Fielding. There is some evidence that Fielding could be a "middle-aged English lady" or could be Lady Dorothy Mary Evelyn Moore nee Feilding, but her descendents deny this.

This book was published in 1933, and has been reissued by Resurrected Press, and is available from Amazon in paper or e-book form.





Friday, July 4, 2014

The Lake District Murder by John Bude: A review

Many mystery novels ask "Who done It". Some mystery novels ask "How was it done?" This novel asks "What in the world are they doing".

One evening Luke Perryman stopped at the garage owned by Clayton and Higgins to buy petrol for his car. (There is little use of first names in this book). Perryman discovered Clayton sitting in a running car in a closed garage with a tube from the exhaust pipe to his head which was covered by a macintosh. Clayton was dead. Inspector Meredith was called to the scene, and his immediate thought was that Clayton had committed suicide. Apparently, however, Clayton had started preparing his dinner, and had left his tea kettle on the heat. Further investigation showed that Clayton had money in the bank, was engaged to be married, and had purchased tickets on a ship to Canada for himself and his new bride. Everything seemed to be going well for him, and Meredith started in to investigate the possibility that Clayton was murdered. His rather worthless partner Higgins has a strong alibi for the time of the murder. Meredith did find that a petrol delivery truck which delivered Nonocks petrol to the garage was seen in the vicinity of the garage that evening.

Meredith is a very, very meticulous investigator.  Operating on the hypothesis that Clayton's death is somehow related to the Nonocks petrol truck and its owner Ormsby-Wright, he sets out to discover the link, and the discovery of that link is the major focus of the book. Meredith's investigations are described in great detail as he eliminates one possibility after another. There are a great number of measurements and schedules which is in the best tradition of writers such as Freeman Wills Crofts, but modern readers may be put off by the description of so many details.

Meredith does succeed in the end in discovering what crime was being carried out by Ormsby-Wright and in finding the murderers of Clayton. Actually what that crime is is rather ingenious, and I will give you no hint of what it is. This is Meredith's first independent murder investigation, and he and the reader enjoy his success.

This book was published in 1935. You will learn that a petrol lorry at that time carried 1000 gallons and was not able to go faster than 20 mph. Think about that the next time time a tanker truck passes you on the turnpike. There are some rather nice descriptions of the Lake District. This book has been reissued by the British Library, and has an introduction by Martin Edwards.







Sunday, June 29, 2014

June Checkpoint for the TBR Challenge

I am proceeding up Pike's Peak at a very relaxed pace. My goal is 12 books and I have read 6. I do hope to reach the top before it snows.

My two linked books are A talent for War and The Cassandra Project which were both written by Jack McDevitt. The latter book was cowritten by Mike Resnick.  There are current science fiction novels which are so vague and mysterious as to be almost  considered as literary fiction. There are current  science fiction novels which leave one wondering if having a Ph. D. in astrophysics would help to understand them. Then there are Jack McDevitt's books which tell a good story and in which the science is not too complicated to understand. The Cassandra Project tells about an investigation of intriguing hints that the US landed on the moon before the landing with Neil Armstrong, and that the US and Russia kept this a secret from everybody. I found this to be a real page turner. I have read many of Jack McDevitt's books and I highly recommend them.

The book that has been on my TBR pile the longest is The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. I must have bought this book in the 90's. I found it to be a fascinating story of the changes in American life brought about by the automobile.  It is also the story of the decline of the wealthy Amberson dynasty and the unrealistic expectations of George Amberson Minifer, the last of the Ambersons, who cannot seem to see that the world around him is changing. Many years ago, I saw the movie based on this book and directed by Orson Welles, but I was so intrigued by the book that I watched the movie again. Welles stayed quite faithful to the book. Possibly George Amberson Minifer is a bit more likable in the movie than he is in the book where he is a truly obnoxious character. This book was worth the wait.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The After House by Mary Roberts Rinehart: A Review

The yacht Ella left port on a day in July with 5 passengers and 14 crew members. She returned a
month later with 15 people aboard, and three bodies in a life boat which she towed behind her.

This story is narrated by Ralph Leslie who had recently graduated from medical school. He then became ill from typhoid, and spent some time in the hospital. When his hospital stay was over, he was broke because his next medical job would not start until the fall, and he also felt the need for fresh air and exercise. A friend of a friend got him a job on the Ella although he had no experience working on ships of any kind. When he got the job, he did not tell his employer or his fellow sailors about his education and medical training.

The Ella was owned by Marshall Turner who was head of a prosperous shipping line. The Ella was a schooner which had carried cargo for many years. Turner had had it cleaned up, fixed up, and remodeled so that he could use it as a yacht. It had even been fumigated and there were no rats on this vessel. The odor of formaldehyde below decks was so overpowering that the crew members preferred to sleep on the deck.

Ralph Leslie was hired as a deck hand, but his lack  of sailing experience led him to do jobs like swabbing the deck, and assisting Williams, the butler, with the passengers who had rooms in the after house.  There was Marshall Turner and his wife. There was also young and attractive Elsa Lee, sister of Mrs. Turner, and two of their friends, Mr. Vail and Mrs. Johns. In another room in the after house were Karen Hansen, a maid, and Henrietta Sloane, a stewardess. Marshall Turner spent his days drinking, and the others played bridge and shuffleboard.

The cruise started to go wrong almost from the beginning. Turner had an argument with captain Richardson,  and wanted to promote Singleton, the first mate, to the captain's position. Mrs. Johns became very nervous, and asked Leslie to sleep in the storage room in the after house which he did. The second mate, Schwartz disappeared on August 9th - apparently he fell overboard.

The murders occurred during early morning hours of August 13. Mr. Vail was hacked to death with an axe in his room. Karen Hansen, the maid, was murdered in her cabin, and the captain was killed with an axe. The mate Singleton was so distraught and his behavior was so suspicious that the crew suspected that he was the murderer and locked him in a cabin. Marshall Turner was so drunk that he was incapable of doing anything.

The crew seemed to recognize that Ralph Leslie was more than a deck hand and voted him acting captain. A sailor with a little knowledge of navigation set what he hoped was a course back to the United States. The whole yacht was filled with suspicion and terror. Strange events occurred, and strange sightings were made. Eventually, they got to Philadelphia, and the murderer was captured.

The conclusion of this book is a little disappointing, but the story leading up to it is so good that it will keep you reading to the very end. Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote this book in 1914. It is still available, and, at the time of this writing, the kindle edition is free.