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.