google-site-verification: googlef64103236b9f4855.html Philly Reader: March 2015

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Nursing-Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh and Dr. H. Jellett

Sir Derek O'Callaghan had been having pains in his stomach for quite some time. He was the Home Secretary and was sponsoring a very important bill which would deal with the growing threat of anarchists, and he really did not have time to see a doctor. His sponsorship of the bill might expose him to threats by the anarchists to assassinate him, but he bravely refused to turn aside from what he considered his duty. After an important cabinet meeting, he felt ill and returned home to his wife Cicely, and her sister Ruth who was a great believer in the advertisements of less reputable pharmacists who promised miracle cures. Ruth had been plying Sir Derek with some of these cures and he tried very hard to avoid her.

Sir Derek did have a very well known and skilled doctor,  Sir John Phillips, but Sir Derek and Sir John were now enemies. Sir Derek had had a little fling with a nurse, Jane Harden, and then called everything off. Jane had taken their relationship seriously, and had written Sir Derek a letter in which she threatened to kill him. Sir John Phillips wanted to marry Jane Harden himself, and came to Sir Derek's house to express his anger at the treatment of Jane, and also threatened to kill Sir Derek.

Shortly afterward, Sir Derek passed out in the middle of a speech to parliament. His wife was called, and she, not knowing about the quarrel with Sir John, said that Sir Derek should be taken to Sir John Phillips' nursing home.  After his arrival and initial examination Sir Derek was prepped for surgery. The people in the operating room had very strong feelings about a number of things.  Sir John Phillips and nurse Jane Harden wished Sir Derek dead. Nurse Banks had definite communist leanings, and thought the loss of Sir Derek would be good for the country. There was also the anesthetist. Dr. Roberts, who had strong views on the necessity of removing what he deemed to be genetically unfit people. Prior to the actual surgery, Sir John had administered a dose of hyoscine which was his customary practice. The operation was performed, but Sir Derek was not doing well on the table. Customary injections were given, but Sir Derek died.

 An autopsy showed that a huge amount of hyoscine were in Sir Derek's system, and inspector Alleyn of Scotland Yard was called in to investigate. Alleyn, his assistant, Inspector Fox, and Alleyn's friend, Nigel Bathgate, looked at all the motivations of the people present in the operating room, and the murderer was exposed in a reenactment of the operation. I found this to be a very interesting book because of all the suspects with reasons to want the death of Sir Derek, and the difficulty of determining when and how the murderer managed to deliver the fatal dose to him.

Hyoscine is a drug which is derived from the nightshade family of plants such as henbane and jimson weed. It was used in surgery to prevent post-operative nausea. Agatha Christie, the queen of poisons, used it in her books, as did John Dickson Carr.

This is the third novel by Ngaio Marsh who is one of the great names of Golden Age mystery fiction. Her coauthor Henry Jellett (1872 - 1948) was a practicing obstetrician and gynecologist in New Zealand. This book was published in 1935, and is available in paper and e-book formats.




Monday, March 9, 2015

Evidence of Things Seen by Ellizabeth Daly


"Mrs. Gamadge, that woman's there again". These are the opening words of this book spoken by the elderly maid, Maggie, to Clara Gamadge. Three times now at sunset, they had seen a woman, wearing a sunbonnet, standing and watching their vacation cottage. The rather isolated cottage had been rented with the plan that Henry Gamadge would return on leave from his war duties (it is 1942), and, even if he didn't, Clara would be joined by their friends, the Herons. Unfortunately the Heron's son had gotten measles, and they had to postpone their arrival for two weeks which meant that Clara and Maggie would be alone in the house. They did have a couple of wealthy and friendly neighbors, Phineas and Fanny Hunter who would be quite helpful as the story progresses.

The cottage had been rented from Miss Radford who owned the farm up the road from the cottage. Miss Radford had lived in the cottage with her sister, but, upon the death of her sister, Miss Radford had moved to the farm. The miserly sister had left Miss Radford one hundred and six thousand dollars in her will which enabled Miss Radford to have a decorator fix up the cottage for summer rental, and also to install a high wire fence around her farm house which was guarded by two dobermans. The decorator had done a good job and Clara was quite pleased overall. At the cottage, two small rooms on the ground floor had been converted to bedrooms. One of these rooms had a door to the outside which had been decommissioned, and the outside knob removed so that no one could enter. This door will play an important part in the book. The  rented cottage was really two houses joined together, and I wish that a drawing of the plan of the house had been included in the book.

Miss Radford had continued to deliver eggs, chickens, and other produce to house. On one of these trips, Miss Radford was in her buggy at the cottage, making a delivery, and suddenly the horse bolted and Miss Radford seemed to be totally terrified. Clare saw that Mrs. Radford had seen the woman in the sunbonnet standing near the cottage. Miss Radford was thrown from the buggy, and injured. Clare and Maggie brought her into the cottage, and put her into the bedroom with the decommissioned door. They took turns watching her during the night, and while Clara was sitting by the bed, Miss Radford was somehow strangled by someone that Clara did not see.

Henry Gamage arrived at the cottage on leave and began a hunt for a ghostly strangler for many in the neighborhood believed that Miss Radford had either been strangled by the ghost of her dead sister, or by Clara in a fit of insanity. Miss Radford's only relatives were Mr. and Mrs. Groby who began a frantic and very thorough search of the farmhouse for Miss Radford's money which seemed to have disappeared. A mysterious neighbor, Gilbert Craye, who had taken in some war refugees, was suspected somehow of playing a part in all of this.

I really enjoyed this book. Elizabeth Daly keeps the suspense going, and the characters are quite sympathetic.  It is said that she was Agatha Christie's favorite American mystery author, and I can see why. I have read very few Elizabeth Daly books, and this one makes me want to read more. This book was published in 1943, and has been reissued by Felony and Mayhem Press.







Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Double for Death by Rex Stout



Andrew Grant was accused of murdering Ridley Thorpe, a very, very wealthy financier, and Nancy Grant, Andrew's niece, came to Tecumseh Fox, a lawyer and detective, to seek help in clearing Andrew's name. Andrew Grant had worked for the Willoughby Advertising Agency, and Thorpe Control was their biggest client. Andrew had written what he thought was his best ever advertising campaign for Thorpe, and Thorpe executives turned it down. Andrew lost his temper, and the agency fired him. Andrew thought that if could show it to Ridley Thorpe himself that Thorpe would give his approval.

Ridley Thorpe maintained a secluded cottage where he went for peace and quiet on weekends. He was accompanied only by his valet, Luke Wheer.  Andrew and Nancy drove to the weekend cottage, and, through the window, Andrew saw Thorpe listening to the radio. When Andrew went around to the front door, he heard two shots and another look through the window showed him that Ridley Thorpe was dead. The Grants called the state troopers, and Andrew was arrested for the murder.

Thorpe's death would affect many people. Undoubtedly, his company stock would fall when the murder became known. He had two children, Jeffrey and Miranda who would benefit from his death, as would his secretary Vaughn Kester.

After the murder comes a very tricky plot twist, and I will not spoil the book for you by telling more of the story. There will be a question of identity, and a bit of romance and humor as Nancy Grant is pursued by a very determined suitor. 

Rex Stout only wrote 3 Tecumseh Fox books. This is the first one which was published in 1939. Fox lives on a farm in New York state where he provides a home for several eccentric people. Fox is very bright, energetic, wealthy, and likeable but he is just not as fascinating as the more eccentric Nero Wolfe. I found the book to be an interesting read, and well plotted.  The book is out of print but is available as an ebook.