The Case of the Seven Sneezes by Anthony Boucher

In 1915, Horace Brainard married Catherine Herndon. Dr. Hugh Arnold was the best man. Slim and sexy movie actress Stella Paris was the maid of honor. Lucas Quincey was an usher, and Alys Trent was the flower girl. The wedding was attended by James Herndon, the bride's brother, and by their friend Martha Stanhope who was murdered the next day. This murder still remains unsolved in the year 1940. Martha's brother Jay had died shortly before the wedding in the Lusitania sinking.

In 1940, Horace Brainard planned a celebration of the 25th year of his marriage at his house on Blackman's Island.  Horace has become a pompous and insulting person; Catherine is rather nondescript.  The party will be attended by Lucas Quincey who is now wealthy, Stella Paris who now weighs 200 pounds which she gained after retirement from the screen,  James Herndon  who has achieved nothing in life, and whose main passion is his collection of pipes, and Dr.Hugh Arnold who seems to be quite unmoved by any of the violent events. Alys Trent will also be there; she has changed from being a sweet flower girl to being an alcoholic nymphomaniac. Also attending will be Janet Brainard, the daughter of Horace and Catherine, who is the editor of a puzzle magazine, and Tom Quincy who is Lucas' nephew.

Another person attending will be the red-haired private detective Fergus O'Breen. Brainard did not invite Fergus and resents his presence. O'Breen came at the request of Stella Paris who suspected that something was going to go wrong at this celebration, especially since her cat had just been murdered. Two cats had been murdered before the death of Martha Stanhope.

The weekend starts off badly. The island handyman Corcoran was attacked and someone tried to cut his throat with a rather dull knife. Corcoran did survive the attack, but could not identify his attacker. Then Jesus Ramirez, who piloted the boat which brought the guests to the island was knocked out, and his boat was sent off leaving the guests stranded on the island. The suitcase which O'Breen had brought which contained his crime scene investigation tools was stolen.

After a rather unpleasant anniversary dinner, Lucas Quincey was murdered in the night, and other attacks upon members of the party were made. The members of the anniversary are left, stranded, and fearing for their lives while Fergus struggles to find the murderer of Lucas and a solution of the murder of Martha Stanhope before anyone else dies.

Anthony Boucher was a writer of mystery and science fiction. He was also a noted mystery critic, and was the reviewer of mystery novels for the New York Times and other publications. His contributions to mystery writing have been honored through the naming of the Bouchercom mystery convention and the Anthony Award. The Case of the Seven Sneezes was published in 1942. It is currently not in print, but used copies are available.