Scavenger Hunt Wrap-up 2016

It is now time to sum up my reading for the year for Bev Hankins' 2016 Cover Scavenger Hunts. It has been quite an enjoyable year of reading. Many thanks to Bev for managing all of this.

First for the Golden Cover Scavenger Hunt. For this, I have read 15 books. I did seem to be quite attracted to the covers of books by John Dickson Carr. I have six covers of his books in my list.

1. Hag's Nook   by John Dickson Carr. 1933. Picture of any other animal (rat)

2. The Lost Gallows   by John Dickson Carr. 1931.  Picture of a hangman's noose.

3.   The Santa Klaus Murder  by Mavis Doriel Hay. 1936.  Picture of a Christmas tree.

4.   Speak No Evil  by Mignon G. Eberhart. 1940. Picture of a telephone.

5.    The Deadly Truth  by Helen McCloy. 1946.  Picture of a drinking glass.

6.    Artists in Crime  by Ngaio Marsh.  1938. Picture of Artist/Art Equipment.

7.   The Skeleton in the Clock  by John Dickson Carr. 1948.  Picture of a clock/timepiece.

8.   The Estate of the Beckoning Lady  by Marjorie Allingham. 1955.  Picture of a policeman.

9.   No Coffin for the Corpse  by Clayton Rawson.  1942. Picture of just one person.

10. And So to Murder   by Carter Dickson. 1940.  Picture of a typewriter.

11.  The Reader is Warned   by Carter Dickson. 1939. Picture of a mask.

12.   Watson's Choice  by Gladys Mitchell. 1955.  Picture of a skull.

13.   Love Lies Bleeding  by Edmund Crispin. 1948.  Picture of a revolver.

14.    The Emperor's Snuff Box   by John Dickson Carr.  1942. Picture of a broken object.

15.    The Fallen Sparrow  by Dorothy B. Hughes.  1943. Picture of a bird.

Then I attempted the Silver Cover Scavenger Hunt. For this I read ten books. I did rather get carried away by the books of Emma Lathen, and read five books by her (actually, by them). I do think that John Putnam Thatcher is a very likeable detective.

1.  Sweet Death, Kind Death  by Amanda Cross. 1984. Picture of a body of water.

2. No Case for the Police  by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley. 1970.  Picture of a clock.

3.  Death's Bright Dart  by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley.  1967. Picture of a blue object.

4.  A Stitch in Time  by Emma Lathen.  1968. Picture of a nurse.

5.  Murder Against the Grain  by Emma Lathen. 1967. Picture of two people.

6. Death of a Mystery Writer   by Robert Barnard. 1978.  Picture of a drinking glass.

7. The Bay Psalm Book Murder by Will Harriss.  1983. Picture of a skeletal hand.

8. Banking on Death  by Emma Lathen.  1961. Picture of a dead body.

9.  The Longer the Thread  by Emma Lathen. 1971. Picture of just one person.

10.   Green Grow the Dollars  by Emma Lathen.  1982. Picture of a green object.

2017 Vintage Cover Scavenger Hunt

Once again for 2017, Bev Hankins has challenged mystery readers to locate books for her 2017 Vintage Cover Scavenger hunt. The object of this hunt to locate and read books with the objects on the covers which are given in one of the two grids given below. There is a Golden Cover Scavenger Hunt for mystery novels which were written before 1960. There is also a Silver Cover Scavenger Hunt for mystery novels written between 1960 and 1989. The challenge participant must locate six or more objects from their chosen period. The adventurous may locate six or more from both periods. A final post listed those titles which you have read must be submitted, and there are Prizes to be won. For more detailed information, see Bev's Rules for this challenge.

 I am entering in the Golden Cover Scavenger hunt, but I may get carried away and try the Silver Cover Scavenger hunt, too.

Books read for the Golden Vintage Cover Scavenger Hunt 2017.

1.  A Graveyard to Let   by Carter Dickson. 1949. Picture of a graveyard.

2.   Where There's Smoke  by Stewart Sterling. 1946. Picture of a red object.

3.    Dr. Priestly's Quest    by John Rhode. 1926.  Picture of a magnifying glass.

4.   The Book of the Lion  by Elizabeth Daly. 1948. Picture of a staircase.

5.    Antidote to Venom  by Freeman Wills Crofts. 1938. Picture of a building other than a house.

6.     Nothing Can Rescue Me   by Elizabeth Daly,  1943. Picture of a statue.

7.    Somewhere in the House    by Elizabeth Daly, 1946. Picture of a musical instrument.

8.   Crime Hound  by Mary Semple Scott. 1940. Picture of a hand holding a weapon.

9.   Do Not Murder Before Christmas   by Jack Iams. 1949. Picture of any holiday decoration.

10.  Blood Money  by Dashiell Hammett. 1927. Picture of a rope.

11.  Hamlet, Revenge!   by Michael Innes, 1937. Picture of a camera.

12. The Mad Hatter Mystery  by John Dickson Carr. 1933. Picture of a hat.

13.   Death on a Quiet Day  by Michael Innes. 1957. Picture of food of some sort.

14    Buried for Pleasure  by Edmund Crispin. 1949. Picture of a pipe.

15.   Minute for Murder    by Nicholas Blake, 1947. Picture of a clock.

16.   Cold Steal   by Alice Tilton, 1939. Picture of a mask.

17. Hanged for a Sheep   by Francis and Richard Lockridge. 1942. Picture of a skeletal hand.

18. The Plague Court Murders  by Carter Dickson, 1934. Picture of a dead body.

19. Mystery in the Channel by Freeman Wills Crofts. 1931, Picture of a boat.

20.  The Red Widow Murders   by Carter Dickson, 1935. Picture of a bird.

21. Death in Five Boxes   by Carter Dickson, 1938. Picture of a bottle of poison.

22.  The King is Dead  by Ellery Queen, 1952. Picture of a flower.

23.   The Man in the Brown Suit  by Agatha Christie, 1924. A map.

The Fallen Sparrow by Dorothy B. Hughes

Kit McKittrick was back in New York. He had fought in the Spanish war, and was then held prisoner for two years until he escaped. He had been recovering in the western US, but when he learned that his friend, policeman Louie Lepetino, was dead, Kit had to return to find out what had happened.

Now he was back in the New York world he knew. The world of money, of high-class women, and posh residences. He had been in love with Barbara Taviton before he went to Spain. When he went to see her on his first night back, she was at a benefit for refugees from the war (It is 1942). She seemed pleased to see him, but she seemed equally pleased to see Otto Skaas who was young, blond, and seemed to be more a member of the Luftwaffe than a refugee. Otto was in the US with his uncle Christian Skaas, who was a noted chemist and Nobel prize winner.

Kit heard that the police thought that Louie had committed suicide by jumping from a window. Kit and Louie's family didn't believe this but thought that Louie had been pushed out of the window. Kit found Content Hamilton, a singer and sister of Kit's good friend Abner Hamilton. Abner had also been in love with Barbara Taviton, but had stepped aside for Kit. Now Abner was working in the State Department decoding messages. Kit had also introduced Louie to Barbara Taviton, and Louie did have an eye for beautiful women.

Kit would find that events from his time in Spain would result in his being watched in New York. Kit seemed to know the location of something very valuable from his days in Spain. He was being pursued by a person whom he called Wobblefoot. He had never seen this person but had  heard these footsteps in the prison in Spain, and now he heard them in New York.  He grew to suspect everyone that he came in contact with of being in some kind of conspiracy against him.

This novel has a complex plot with a number of very suspicious characters. It takes place during World II when it was very easy to suspect refugees of being spies. Kit was essentially a moral man who didn't like violence, but he would use it if it was absolutely necessary.  He grew to suspect everyone around him, and carried a couple of guns just in case. This is a very noir mystery novel, and will appeal to those readers who enjoy this genre.

Dorothy B. Hughes started writing mystery novels in the 1940's. These were mostly hard-boiled, noir fiction, and were quite popular. The Fallen Sparrow was published in 1942 and was made into a movie in 1943 which starred John Garfield and Maureen O'Sullivan. Hughes reviewed mysteries for several publications and she received an Edgar award for mystery criticism, and in 1978 she received the Grand Master of Mystery Award.

Green Grow the Dollars by Emma Lathen

Why would anybody commit murder because of a tomato? Tomatoes are something that we take for granted; they are in spaghetti sauce, ketchup, salads, and many other things which we eat everyday. If you are, however, a large company which sells seeds, tomatoes are a big business. Such was the Vandam Nursery & Seed Company which was on the brink of the release of the seeds for the Numero Uno tomato. This was a biennial tomato plant which would produce many more tomatoes than the annual one. This tomato was to be featured in their spring seed catalog which was being eagerly awaited by gardeners all over America. Then a small seed company, Wisconsin Seedsmen, claimed that they had developed this tomato first and had brought a patent suit against Vandam's. Vandam's could not mail the thousands of catalogs to eager buyers until the suit was settled.

The Sloan Guaranty Bank and Trust company was not the principal bank for Vandam's but they were the principle bank for Standard Foods which had taken over Vandam's the year before. Standard Foods was a huge company which owned many smaller food producers. Thus the law suit against Vandam's was brought to John Putnam Thatcher's attention by Miss Corsa, his secretary, who was eagerly awaiting her spring catalog. Numero Uno was going to be worth millions to Standard Foods.

So John Putnam Thatcher, banker at the Sloan and amateur detective, went to Chicago to watch at first hand the developing situation. Dick Vandam told him that the Numero Uno had been developed for Vandam's by the Institute of Plant Research in Aleman, Puerto Rico. The IPR was headed by Howard Pendleton, who was a leader in plant genetic research. Pendleton developed plants for many companies and was growing rather wealthy in the process. His wife Fran was a geneticist but she specialized in roses, and his assistant Eric Most seemed very eager to take over IPR should Pendleton decide to retire.

Wisconsin Seedsmen was a much smaller organization. It was headed by Ned Ackerman who had raised the money to keep the operation going. Its star was Scott Wenzel who was a young plant geneticist who had developed the Wisconsin Seedsmen version of the contested tomato. This company ran on a shoe string, and many on the workers were high school students. Barbara Gunn was the secretary for the company, but she wanted to leave and get a college degree.

Now all of those involved in this controversy would meet at a Chicago convention of people involved in plant genetics. Needless to say, they did not get along very well together. A murder does occur at this convention. It occurs rather late in the development of the story, and I am not going to tell you who dies. So pay careful attention to all of the characters so you can predict the victim, and then determine the murderer.

This book will definitely appeal to gardeners, and the science of plant genetics is still very much in the news. This book was published in 1982, and is one of Emma Lathen's later works. It is available as an ebook and as a used paperback. 

The Longer the Thread by Emma Lathen

The political situation in Puerto Rico was definitely not good. A referendum was going to be held on whether Puerto Rico should remain a commonwealth or should become a state or even to declare its independence from the United States. Anti-American sentiment was running high. This was possibly not the best time for the Sloan Guarantee Trust to become involved in Puerto Rico, but they did by loaning three million dollars to Slax Unlimited, Ltd., a manufacturer of ladies sportswear. Slax had its headquarters in the US, but its manufacturing plant was in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

The problems at Slax started with the white slacks which were decorated with navy blue thread. Purchasers in US found that the blue thread was not colorfast and returned the slacks. Then other problems developed which could only indicate industrial sabotage. Fabric in the warehouse was splashed with acid, and sand was put into the oil for the machines which produced the garments.

When the Sloan found that not only had it invested in Slax, but also in five other companies on the island, vice-president John Putnam Thatcher was dispatched to find out what was going on. Shortly after Thatcher arrived on the island, Benito Dominguez, the overseer of the production line, was murdered in the management office. Dominguez was found to be carrying a membership card for a radical organization, The Radical Independents, and a handful of sand which would link him to the sabotage.

Then the Slax workers went out on strike. Management called in Anna Luisa Galiano who is the most delightful character in the book. She is a force and has an incredible ability to settle strikes. She had been a power in the Ladies Garment Workers Union for twenty five years, and had improved life and working conditions for Puerto Rican workers in New York's garment district. She would now manage a settlement in Puerto Rico.

You may find it hard to believe but things will now get worse for Slax. I will not spoil your enjoyment of the book by detailing all of the things which will go wrong for this company. But rest assured that John Putnam Thatcher will find the responsible parties.

I am a great fan of Emma Lathen's financial mysteries. This book was published in 1971, but the issue of whether Puerto Rico remains a commonwealth, becomes a state, or declares independence is still there. Now also Puerto Rico has big financial problems.

 

Banking on Death by Emma Lathen

A new and rather complicated trust case was presented to John Putnam Thatcher, head of the Sloan National Bank trust department, when Arthur Schneider came to his office to protest the handling of the Schneider Trust by Ken Nicolls who was in charge of the trust. It seemed that Nicolls was not working fast enough to settle one important issue. One of the beneficiaries of the trust was missing.

The Schneider trust had been established in 1932 by Klaus Arthur Schneider for the benefit of his grandchildren. The initial ten thousand dollars invested had now grown to three hundred thousand dollars. (This was in 1961). The trust was payable to the grandchildren when the last of Klaus Schneider's children died. The last child was now on her deathbed with not much longer to live. On her death, Arthur Schneider, Jr. and Grace Walworth, his sister, would each receive fifty thousand dollars. Martin Henderson would receive one hundred thousand, and C. Robert Schneider would receive one hundred thousand. The big problem was that Robert Schneider had disappeared several years before and nobody had heard from him since. If Robert Schneider was dead with no children, his money would be distributed to the other three family members. So far Ken Nicolls had failed to find out what had happened to him.

Thatcher found the needed information at a lunch with a friend who urged the Sloan to invest in Buffalo Industrial Products. Thatcher found out the clever person who had come up with a new and valuable technology at this company was none other than C. Robert Schneider. Then Thatcher and Nicolls found out that  C. Robert Schneider had been murdered shortly before they had started looking for him.

Thatcher cannot resist his urge to get involved in a murder investigation which will take him to Buffalo where he found that Robert was a generally irritating person who was disliked by his coworkers, and separated from his wife who was quite short of money. Robert did have two children who would come under of the supervision of the trust department of the Sloan since they would each inherit fifty thousand dollars from the trust which gave Thatcher even more reason to involve himself in finding the murderer of Robert Schneider.

Though this all may seem rather complicated, it all works out in the end, of course. I am a great fan of John Putnam Thatcher and these financial mysteries of Emma Lathen. He is a sane, rational detective and pursues his investigations in a reasonable and logical manner.

This book was published in 1961, and it was the first book in the John Putnam Thatcher series. Used copies are still available.

The Bay Psalm Book Murder by Will Harriss

Will Schofield was murdered in the garage of his apartment building. He was apparently stabbed to death by two young hoodlums. No one could understand why Will, a librarian for forty years, had been murdered for fourteen dollars, and or why the thieves had left an extremely valuable manuscript of The Bay Psalm Book on the floor of the garage by Will's body.

Cliff Dunbar had been a professor at Los Angeles College, and was a good friend of Will's. He was approached by Will's daughter, Pearl, who asked him to investigate the murder of her father. Will didn't see what he could find that the police had not already discovered, but he agreed anyway. First off,  he discovered that the primary witness to the crime had been lying about several important points in her testimony.

Then Cliff began to examine The Bay Psalm Book itself. This book was the first book to be published in the colonies in 1640. This copy had been presented to the Los Angeles College library by Perry Winthrop who was currently running for senator in California. Winthrop said that this book had been in  his family's library in Massachusetts, and that he had brought it with him when he moved to California. This gift not only gained him publicity for his campaign, but also a three hundred thousand dollar tax deduction. The book had been verified by two experts, but Will had his own doubts about its authenticity. Will hired Mona Moore who was an expert proof reader to compare this copy of The Bay Psalm Book with a photocopy of genuine copy of the book. Mona almost immediately found points in which the copies differed.

Will's investigation had two different paths.  He and Mona continued with trying to determine the authenticity of The Bay Psalm Book. Will also started looking into the election campaign of Perry Winthrop. Something uncovered in these investigations resulted in a two attempts on Will's life before the murderer of Will Schofield was found.

This book was quite a good read, but I must admit that I found the analysis of The Bay Psalm Book to be the most interesting part of it. Bibliophiles will certainly enjoy this part of the book. This book was published in 1983, and won an Edgar award for the Best First Novel. Harriss wrote one more book featuring Cliff Dunbar, and one more mystery novel. Harriss was a senior research editor of the Rand Corporation. He also wrote short stories and scripts for television and movie scripts.

Death of a Mystery Writer by Robert Barnard

Sir Oliver Fairleigh-Stubbs was a very successful author of mystery novels. In his personal life, Sir Oliver was a difficult person for both his family and for other people whom he came in contact with. He was snobbish, overbearing, and insulting. He tried to control the members of his family with a stern hand, but was not very successful. His wife Eleanor had put up with his tantrums for many years. His older son Mark was an alcoholic who was unable to keep a job. Recently, Mark had declared in the local pub that his father should be shot. His younger son Terrance was into popular music. His only daughter Bella was his favorite child. She worked for a magazine, The Gardening Gazette.

The family had gathered to celebrate Sir Oliver's birthday, and Sir Oliver had promised Eleanor that he would be on his best behavior. In addition to the family, Ben Woodstock, a young author, and his wife had been invited for the occasion. Ben was hoping that Sir Oliver would help him to find a good publisher. The meal had gone well except for Mark who got drunk. Actually, Mark was drunk when he arrived at the dinner table, and proceeded to get drunker.

After the dinner was finished, the family moved to the study for coffee and drinks while Sir Oliver opened his gifts. Mark only moved because Terrance and Bella took firm hold of him and practically carried him to the study, and when Mark got there, he sat in a chair and went to sleep. Sir Oliver offered his guests his favorite liquor, lakka, which was made from Finnish cloudberries. Eleanor described it as disgustingly sweet and everybody turned it down. Sir Oliver drank his lakka, and fell down dead.

An autopsy showed that Sir Oliver had been poisoned. Chief Inspector Meredith arrived to solve the mystery of how poison could have been put in the lakka when the liquor cabinet was kept locked all the time because of Mark's drinking habit. The reading of the will created new hostilities in this disfunctional family. One son inherited just about everything while Lady Eleanor and two of the children each inherited the rights to one of Sir Oliver's mysteries. Lady Eleanor had the rights to a mystery titled The Black Widow. The curious thing was this novel had never been published, and nobody could find a copy of it.

I very much liked Chief Inspector Meredith. He has a pragmatic approach to solving the crime, as he interviews the family, their employees, members of Sir Oliver's publishing company, and even people from Sir Oliver's past.  This methodical approach paid off in finding the murderer and The Black Widow.

This book was published in 1978. In Great Britain the title was Unruly Son. Robert Barnard published his first mystery novel, Death of an Old Goat, in 1974, and wrote over 40 more mystery novels. He was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers Association in 2003 for lifetime achievement.

Murder Against the Grain by Emma Lathen

It was 1968, and Russia and the United States, hoping to overcome the tension of their relationship, had agreed to a deal in which Russia would buy wheat from the United States. The Sloan Guaranty Trust was involved in handing the financial transactions of this agreement.  The Russians would deposit the money for the wheat in a bank in London for the wheat. The bank in London would then send the money to the Sloan, and the Sloan would pay the grain broker in the United States. When the chief of the Commercial Deposits Division, Victor Quentin, received the Russian bills of lading for a shipment, he issued a check for $985,000, and sent it by messenger to Stringfellow and Son who were the grain brokers for the deal. Four days later, Quentin received a note from Stringfellow asking where the payment was. It was then that Quentin realized that the initial invoice and documents which he had received were  remarkably good forgeries and that the Sloan Guaranty Trust had been robbed of $985,000.

This, of course, was brought immediately to the attention of John Putnam Thatcher, a vice-president of the bank, and Thatcher immediately started investigating. He started by following the trail of the messenger who had delivered the invoice and who had taken the check to Luke Stringfellow at the Registry of Deeds. This messanger was the chauffeur of Abe Baranoff, a wealthy impresario who arranged cultural visits between the US and Russia. This chauffeur was Gus Denger who worked for a private limousine service, and who only worked for Baranoff half a year. Denger said that he had taken the envelope with the check to the Registry and had given it to a man who implied that he was Stringfellow. Denger would later be murdered on the steps of the Russian Consulate.

Thatcher's investigation led to a tangle of paths through the world of US and Russian relations. He visited Abe Baranoff who was arranging a tour of a group of performing Russian otters through the United States. He received a visit from Hosmer Chuddley, a farmer, who wanted to send US farmers to Russia to improve agriculture there instead of sending wheat. He conducted a tour of New York for Mikhail Maseryan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who wanted to see the protesting youth of the US. Then there was the potato chip delegation, and the Cuban Navy barricading New York harbor. Thatcher became aware that he was spending very little time in the relative peace and quiet of his office at the Sloan. His investigation with the help of  Mikhail Maseryan and Inspector Lyons of the New York Police Department eventually resulted in the discovery of the thieves.

This is a serious book, but it does have moments of humor resulting from the state of Russian American relations at the time when it was written. Thatcher is an intelligent and sympathetic detective.  Anthony Boucher said of Thatcher that he was "a completely civilized and urbane man whose charm is as remarkable as his acumen." This book was written in 1967, and only used copies are now available.

A Stitch in Time by Emma Lathen

Pemberton Freeman had been a wealthy and childless widower living a comfortable old age until it was found that he had cancer. Freeman put his affairs in order, and named the Sloan Guaranty Trust as the executor of his estate. He then got into his car and drove to a wooded area of Long Island which he had enjoyed as a child. He took out his gun and shot himself.  The driver of a passing truck heard the shot, rushed into the woods, carried the still living Freeman to his truck, and drove to the Southport Memorial Hospital. There, Freeman was operated on by Dr. Wendell Martin who removed the bullet which was nowhere near Freeman's heart. Freeman lived for 4 days more and died.

Freeman had left the bulk of his estate to the Institute of Cancer Research at Hanover University. Included in the estate was an insurance policy for one hundred thousand dollars (this is in 1968) with the Atlantic Mutual Insurance company. Atlantic Mutual refused to pay because of the suicide clause in the policy. Sloan Guaranty Trust took Atlantic Mutual to court because they believed that the death did not result from the gun shot. Sloan hired the outstanding lawyer Paul Jackson to represent them and Jackson insisted on an autopsy. The autopsy showed that seven hemostatic clips had been left in the body. Expert medical witnesses were called in to testify to the effect of these clips.

Dr. Wendell Martin was one of the top doctors at Southport Memorial Hospital, and Dr. Martin was extremely outspoken in his own defense. The hospital's reputation was now on the line. The nurses in the operating room at the time of this operation were told to tell nothing during their cross examination. One young nurse got panicked and gave more damaging testimony.  After her testimony, Martin wanted her fired, but the head of nursing got her transferred out of surgery to an obscure corner of the hospital.  Another doctor, Harley Bauer, who had been fired from the hospital by Dr. Martin on the evening of the operation returned to the hospital one evening to find out the latest gossip. It was on this evening that Dr. Wendell Martin was murdered near the basement exit of the hospital. His body was discovered by the young nurse who had testified against him.

John Putnam Thatcher was senior vice-president of the Sloan Guaranty Trust and head of its trust department. Thatcher also was rather skilled in solving mysteries. He was, of course, quite interested in the legal proceedings against the Atlantic Mutual Insurance company, but events after Martin's death also made him curious. Martin's widow Lucille claimed that Martin had left no money. How could a man who had been a surgeon for twenty years have no money? Surely it was hidden somewhere. After the death, the hospital had become quite subdued about the Freeman case. Why? Also some strange dealing about drug prices came to Thatcher's attention. Thatcher's careful investigation unravels all of the tangled financial dealings and also finds the identity of the murderer.

Though this book was written in 1968, the modern reader will find topics which are timely and still of interest. I thoroughly enjoy the financial mysteries of Emma Lathen. John Putnam Thatcher is a very attractive and sophisticated detective. Emma Lathen was actually two people who had met when they were in graduate school at Harvard. Mary J. Lathis was a lawyer and Martha Hennissart was an economic analyst.  There are 24 books in the Thatcher series.They also wrote books as R. B. Dominic; there are 7 books in this series. Some of the Thatcher books are available as ebooks.

Death's Bright Dart by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley

Dr. Davie, a Cambridge professor, was attending a conference which was being held at his college. There were a wide variety of people in attendance. There were explorers and physicians and scientists who came from England, the United States, and Eastern Europe. The actual subject matter of the conference was a bit vague but Mostyn-Humphries, an undergraduate at the college believed that it had something to do with poisons. The star speaker at the conference was Dr. Brauer who was doing scientific research on something or other. He was not a popular man with all of the conference attendees who had professional envy of his position or who just did not like him.

The attendees enjoyed the beginning meeting of the conference, and the beauty of the college of St. Nicholas. Many of them also found time to visit the Missionary exhibition at a local museum. There were the expected exhibits of native crafts and utensils. Most of the visitors were most interested in the exhibit of native weapons and especially the blow guns.

Dr. Brauer asked Dr. Davie to visit him in this rooms before Brauer gave his speech to the conference. Brauer told Davie that he was extremely worried that someone was trying to kill him. He told Davie that he had named Davie as the executor of his estate. He also told Davie about medical activities that he had been forced to carry out at Auschwitz with the notorious Dr. Pavik during World War II. Brauer was sure that he had seen someone from those days who would remember him.

At the conference, Dr. Brauer went on the stage to deliver his speech. He had just begun to speak when he put his hand on his neck as though he was warding off a mosquito. Then he fell forward on the platform and died.

Dr. Davie was intensely interested in Dr. Brauer, his death, and his activities during the war. There had been a theft of a blowgun from the Missionary exhibition at the museum, and several of the conference participants were knowledgeable about the preparation of the poisons which the natives had used on blowgun darts.  Following Brauer's death, there would be a suicide, and the puzzling death of a mild mannered conference participant who appeared to have no link to Brauer at all.

This Silver Age mystery is in the best tradition of the Golden Age. Much depends on the position of the conference attendees at the time of the murder. Fortunately there is a map of the conference location included in the book. Also,  much depends on a timetable of events following the murder. I like Dr. Davie as a detective. He is thoughtful, intelligent, and quite charming.  This is the first book in the series of five that V. C. Clinton-Baddeley wrote in the years from 1967 - 1972. This book was published in 1967 and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

No Case for the Police by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley

Dr. R. V. Davie had returned to the village of Tidwell St. Peters where he had grown up with his good friend Robert Cassillis. They had played together as young boys, and kept in touch in later years even though Davie was a professor in Cambridge, England, and Robert was off exploring sites around the world. Now Robert was dead, and Davie was returning for the funeral. Sir Robert Cassillis has designated Davie as his literary executor and as such he visited Sir Robert's home. He met Robert's much younger wife, Irene, and the family chauffeur, Donald, who was in his twenties and quite good looking. Davie would later observe them having a rather intimate moment.

Among Robert's papers, Davie found a small notebook in which Robert had made a few notes about the death of Adam Merrick, a local man, who had fallen to his death in a local quarry. The police assumed the death to be an accident or possibly suicide. Dr. Davie showed this notebook to Irene and Donald. and Irene seemed to be rather upset about it and told Davie to destroy the notebook. Later when Davie was editing Robert's biography, he found more notes about Merrick's death tucked inside the manuscript. Could Irene or Donald be involved in the death?

Davie met Giles Gifford, a young man who had been a student at Cambridge, and who also had doubts about Merrick's death. They decided to work together to find out more information about the day when Merrick had died. Davie met Merrick's wife and found out that she was having an affair. He also spoke with Ernest Stubbings who had purchased the property bordering on Merrick's. Stubbings had diverted a stream which ran through Merrick's land in order to construct a very unattractive water garden to go with his unattractive flower garden. Merrick was quite upset about this and they had had a shouting match. Also there was Arthur Parsley who collected snowstorms (those glass globes containing a scene where a snow storm is produced by shaking) and who lived quite near the quarry where the death occurred.

Davie and Giles found the solution to Merrick's death, and the police are never involved in the investigation. This is a charming classic mystery in the best style of the Golden Age of Mystery. Davie is a delightful man. The village is quaint as are the inhabitants, but underneath the surface there are many motives for a murder. It is unfortunate that this book did not include a map of Tidwell St. Peters, which would really have helped the reader to understand the geography of the neighborhood.

This book was published in 1970. V. C. Clinton-Baddeley was an editor, an actor, a writer of radio scripts and the owner of company which produced recordings of poetry. He took up writing mystery novels in the last four years of his life and wrote five mysteries which featured Dr. Davie.

Sweet Death, Kind Death by Amanda Cross

Patrice Umphelby was believed to have committed suicide by putting rocks in her pockets and walking out in the lake near Clare College where she was a professor. Kate Fansler, professor and amateur detective, had met Patrice only once at an airport where they had discussed God. After Patrice's funeral, Kate was approached by Archer and Herbert, the two men who were writing a biography of Patrice. They wished to know more about Kate's meeting with Patrice, and Archer questioned whether Patrice had committed suicide.

Patrice was a professor of history at Clare College. She had been married but her husband had been murdered; she had two children who dearly loved her. She had published works of history, novels, and stories, and had been a frequent speaker at other colleges and universities. She was forty nine when her husband died, and fifty eight when she committed suicide.

Kate Fansler agreed to take a closer look at the life and death of Patrice after Professor Norton, president of Clare College, called her and expressed her worries about the death of Patrice. It seemed that people on the campus were beginning to raise questions about the death, and Dr. Norton wanted to put an end to the questions. This mission to the college was a secret. Kate's appearance on campus was to appear that she would be on a committee to discuss the formation of a department of gender studies at Clare.

Kate interviewed many of the faculty members at the college. Since Patrice had a stong personality and did not hesitate to express her views, there were faculty members who were strongly opposed to her just as there were those who really like Patrice. Kate was faced with two problems. Who among these people had a strong enough motive to kill Patrice, and what means was used to force Patrice to commit suicide.

This is a very literate and witty novel. There are many allusions to writers and literature, and many mentions of Virginia Woolf who died in the same manner as Patrice. I highly recommend this book. If you like fast moving mystery novels with lots of action, this is not the book for you.

Amanda Cross was the pen name of Carolyn Heilbrun. She was a professor of English at Columbia University and was the author of fourteen non-fiction books and fourteen Kate Fansler mysteries. When she was seventy seven, she committed suicide because she felt her life had been completed. Sweet Death, Kind Death was published in 1984 when Heilbrun was fifty eight. This book contains many meditations upon suicide by Patrice, and the reader can only wonder if Heilbrun was already seriously thinking about suicide when this book was written.

The Emperor's Snuff Box by John Dickson Carr

Eve Neill had divorced Ned Atwood. The charge was that he had committed adultery, but Eve had also found him cruel and uncaring. Ned, however, said that she would always love him. Eve lived in the French town of La Bandelette which was one of the most fashionable watering places in France. Across the narrow street from Eve's house was the home of the Laws family. The son, Toby Laws, invited her over for tea, and she immediately felt comfortable with the Laws and especially with Toby who was a banker. The father, elderly Maurice Laws, was a collector of small but valuable art objects. Maurice was an advocate for many humanitarian activities by the British government, but he lived in France to avoid paying British taxes. As time went by Toby asked her to marry him, and Eve accepted.

One evening Ned Atwood used the key to her house which he had lied about losing. He went to Eve's bedroom and begged her to not to marry Toby Laws. Ned said that the Laws family only wanted the marriage to get Eve's money. During their argument, Ned turned to look out the window, and across the street he could see into the study where Maurice Laws worked on his collection. Ned and Eve could see that someone had attacked Maurice Laws and brutally murdered him. Eve insisted that Ned leave before the police arrived at the Laws house. He returned her key and started down the dark staircase. He tripped over a lose stair and fell down the staircase. When Eve reached him at the bottom she found him alive, very dazed, and bleeding. Some of the blood got on her hands and the white negligee that she was wearing. She got Ned up and out of the backdoor which then closed locking her out. She had Ned's key to the front door in her pocket so she had to sneak around her house to get in the front door because the police had arrived across the street.

One week later, the police decided to arrest Eve for the murder of Maurice Laws. Her servants had shown the police the blood stained negligee and had witnessed her sneaking back in the front door. The police had also found on her negligee a tiny fragment of Napoleon's snuffbox which had been smashed on Laws' desk. Ned Atwood, the one person who could back up her story, was unconscious in the hospital with a concussion due to his fall down her steps.

At this point, I will leave you worrying about how Eve got out of this dilemma. Adding anything else would be a spoiler. I will say that she did receive a great deal of help from a distinguished  English doctor named Dr. Dermot Kinross who was very instrumental in finding the murderer.

This book is by the great master of mystery John Dickson Carr. It was published in 1942, and is still available in paper format and as an e-book.

Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin

Gervase Fen, Oxford professor and amateur detective, had been invited to present the prizes on Prize Day at the exclusive Castrevenford High School. On the day when he arrived, he learned that a sixteen year old student, Brenda Boyce, had gone missing. She had gone to the rehearsal of the school play and was supposed to secretly meet her current boy friend in the chemistry lab afterwards, but now she has just disappeared. Also two teachers were murdered in the evening. Young Michael Somers was found shot in the teacher's workroom, and  Mr. Love, an older teacher was shot in his home.

Gervase Fen could not resist helping inspector Stagge to find the murderer in this crime wave which hit the school right before Prize Day when all the parents would be at the school. Fen's investigation took him to the run down home of Mrs. Bly What he found there would perhaps lead to a very significant discovery of a rare and very valuable literary treasure. Unfortunately Mrs. Bly could be of little help, because she also was murdered.

This is a delightful read. The characters are eccentric, and the dialog is witty. Edmund Crispin is the pen name of Robert Bruce Montgomery. He did, at one time in his career, teach at a secondary school for two years.  In addition to mystery novels, Montgomery wrote classical music and movie scores. He wrote nine mystery novels and two collections of short stories. Love Lies Bleeding was published in 1948. His novels have been reissued by Felony and Mayhem press.

Watson's Choice by Gladys Mitchell

Wealthy Sir Bohum Chantrey was giving a Sherlock Holmes dinner at his home, and he had invited psychiatrist and detective, Dame Beatrice Bradley, her secretary, Laura Menzies, and Laura's fiance Inspector Robert Gavin to attend. All of the guests were supposed to be in appropriate costumes. Laura would go as Mrs. Grant Munro, Gavin would be going as Inspector Lestrade, and Dame Beatrice as Mrs. Farintosh. (If you do not remember a Mrs. Farintosh in the Holmes stories, it will be explained).

Others attending this event would be Charles and Ethel Mildren, impoverished actors, who would be Sherlock Holmes and Mrs. Hudson. Manoel Lupez who Sir Bohum's illegitimate son, and a bull fighter by profession, would be attending as Arthur Holder. The prime feminine role of Irene Adler would be taken by Linda Campbell, the governess of one of Sir Bohum's adopted nephews. Toby Dance and his wife Brenda would be attending as Dr. Watson and Miss Mary Sutherland. Sir Bohum would be portraying Professor Moriarty, and his secretary, Tony Bell, would be Duncan Ross. Others in the party were suitably dressed.

The party started with a dinner and then progressed to the evening's entertainment. Some of the guests did not like their costumes and changed places with each other. There was a scavenger hunt to find Holmes related objects which Sir Bohum had hidden. There was supposed to be a dance which had to be delayed because the musicians had lost their way in the heavy fog. What did appear from the fog was a large and shaggy dog which the members of the house party promptly named the Hound of the Baskervilles. Even Sir Bohum had not know that the Hound would arrive.

Shortly after the party, Sir Bohum announced that he would be marrying Linda Campbell who was much younger than he was. This rather shocked the people who attended the party. Especially Manoel Lupez who worried that a legitimate heir to Sir Bohum's wealth might be born. It was apparent to many that Sir Bohum did not love Laura nor did he even seem to like her.

Laura Campbell was murdered, and her body found at a deserted train station in the neighborhood of Sir Bohum's house. Lady Beatrice and Laura Menzies were drawn into the finding the solution along with Robert Gavin as a representative of Scotland Yard.

Gladys Mitchell started writing mysteries in 1929. This book is the 28th in the series and was published in 1955. The book starts off with the interesting premise of the Sherlock Holmes party which is a rather long introduction to the characters. After the party the story seems to wander around a bit.

The Reader is Warned by Carter Dickson

Do you believe that there are people who can read the thoughts of others? This is the question that was to be answered by the six people gathered at the Fourways house in Surrey. There was Dr. John Sanders, an expert in forensic medicine. Also present were Lawrence Chase and Hillary Keen who were lawyers. Of course, Sam and Mina Constable were there because they were the owners of the house. Mina was the author of suspense and detective stories. Her husband Sam was twenty years older than she was, and they seemed to be an unlikely couple because Mina was so active and lively while Sam was rather stodgy and conservative. One more guest, Sir Henry Merrivale, was due to arrive later.

Also present was the object of their investigation Herman Pennik who presented himself as a reader of other people's thoughts. He demonstrated his abilities right away by reading the thoughts of Dr. Sanders about the women in his life as soon as they met. The five guests began to worry that he did have this ability.

The weekend got off to a bad start. The servants who were supposed to arrive for the weekend did not arrive on time because of a difficulty with their train. Herman Pennik volunteered to prepare an edible cold meal, and he went to the kitchen after making the prediction that Sam Constable would not be alive at eight o'clock that evening. Sam Constable insisted that everyone dress for dinner even if it was only a cold meal so the guests retired to their rooms on the first floor at 7:30.

At two minutes to eight, Mina opened the door of her bedroom, and saw Sam collapse and die near the stairs down to the ground floor. The doctor and the police were called in. Forensic analysis on Sam's body showed that there was no cause for his death - no wounds or poison. Chief Inspector Masters arrived on the scene, and Pennik confessed to the murder. He had not however left the kitchen during the time period between 7:30 and 8 and he had a witness to this.

Sir Henry Merrivale now arrived on the scene and his first comment was "phooey" which was the attitude that he maintained even when Pennik predicted another murder and it occurred. The newspapers got hold of this story and started writing about a Teleforce which could murder from a distance. People started to wonder if it could be used on Hitler. Pennik's notoriety grew and he was giving interviews to newspapers and radio stations. The police could not arrest him because there absolutely no evidence against him except for his confessions.

Sir Henry Merrivale did find a solution to how the murders were committed in this impossible manner. The very diligent reader will see the clues laid along the way to the solution of these two complex murders.The solution is intricate and I found it a bit hard to believe.

This book was published by John Dickson Carr under the pen name of Carter Dickson in 1939.  I have read this book for the 2016 Golden Vintage Cover Scavenger Hunt in the category of a book with a mask on the cover.

And So To Murder by Carter Dickson

Monica Stanton was a delightful 22 year old. She was the daughter of the Rev. Canon Stanton, and she had rarely left East Roystead. Monica was bored to tears with her life in East Roystead and with her duties as a clergyman's daughter. So Monica wrote a novel which contained all of her passionate daydreams, and it turned out that the book was a great success. Her father and her Aunt Flossie were pleased with her success and the check which she received until they actually read the book. They were shocked. Aunt Flossie sincerely wished that Monica had written a "nice detective story" instead.

When Monica received the offer to be a screenwriter for Pineham Studios, she jumped at the chance to turn her novel into a screen classic. However when she got to the office of Mr. Hackett, the producer, she found that she was supposed to write the screen play for the mystery novel And So to Murder by the author Mr. William Cartwright, and he was to write the screen play for Desire, her novel. She immediately conceived an intense dislike for Mr. Cartwright.

Monica was still thrilled to be at the movie studio, and incredibly excited to meet the actress Francis Fleur who had been the inspiration for Monica's heroine. Monica received a message to go to another part of the sets where she was almost blinded by sulphuric acid, but was rescued by the actions of William Cartwright. Later Monica would be shot at, and would escape another apparent attempt on her life.

The mystery for everybody at the studio was why any one would try to kill Monica who did not seem to have an enemy in the world. William Cartwright wrote a letter to Sir Henry Merrivale  at the War Office because Cartwright believed that that a German spy was involved in the activities at the studio. Cartwright was amazed when he received an invitation to meet HM at the war office where he was the head of the Military-Intelligence department in these days of the start of World War II. HM said that he was too busy to intervene but, of course, HM couldn't stay out of this puzzle.

I enjoyed this book very much. The first few chapters describing the effect of Monica's book on her family and her first day at the Pineham studios are hilarious. The problem of why any one would want to kill Monica is a very intriguing one.

This book was written by John Dickson Carr under the pen name of Carter Dickson. It was published in 1940 and is currently available as an e-book.

No Coffin for the Corpse by Clayton Rawson

Do you believe in ghosts? Dudley Wolff did. He was a self-made man and head of Wolff industries which made the explosive powders for bombs and other materials necessary for the war. Young reporter Ross Harte had written an unfavorable story about Wolff which made Wolff very, very angry. The trouble for Ross Harte was that he was in love with Wolff's daughter Kathryn, and Wolff refused to let Ross anywhere near her. Wolff had bought the paper for which Ross worked and fired the young man.

Wolff supported two researchers because of his great and overwhelming fear of death. Dr. Sydney Haggard was doing scientific research into longevity, Francis Galt was doing research on the supernatural. They were both present on the night when Dudley Wolff received a visit from the very mysterious Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith was sitting at the desk in Wolff's office, and later, nobody seemed to know how he got into the house. Mr. Smith was thin with dark eyes and a mustache and a close cropped beard. He had come to blackmail Wolff with photocopies of checks which Smith was sure that Wolff would not want the Senate's munitions committee to see. He was asking one hundred thousand dollars for these checks. Wolff grew very angry at this blackmail attempt and struck Smith. The chair with Smith went over backwards and Smith struck his head. Dr. Haggard was called to the study and said that Smith was dead. Dr. Haggard wanted to call the police but Anne Wolff, Dudley's wife, stopped him, and Dudley threatened to cut off his funding and take away his laboratory. Dr. Haggard gave in. Wolff, Haggard, and Albert Dunning, Wolff's secretary, took the body to a private graveyard close by and buried it.

The Great Merlini, magician extraordinaire, was preparing to put on a show, The Hocus Pocus review. Ross Harte, hoping to get a job went to see him, and found, to his amazement the Kathryn Wolff was also working for Merlini. She appealed to Merlini to come and help her father because he was seeing a ghost and was deathly afraid of it.

Merlini and Ross Harte did go to the Wolff home, and found that Wolff was seeing a ghost which bore a striking resemblance to the man which Wolff had murdered. This was followed by the murder of Dudley Wolff in what appeared to be a locked room. Merlini and the police investigate, the dead man seems to appear again and dies again which was confusing because he had also died several years before the book began.

Merlini explained how all the murders were committed, and a lot of the explanation depended on methods used by professional magicians and mediums. (Spoiler alert) Part of the method of committing one of the murders depended  on a technology which 21st century readers may not know about but which was used in the 1930's.

Clayton Rawson was a professional magician, an editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and was one of the founders of The Mystery Writers of America. He wrote four Great Merlini mysteries. This book is the last and was published in 1942. His books have been reissued as e-books by Mysterious Press.

The Estate of the Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham

Two deaths occured within a short time in a peaceful region of Suffolk. William Makepiece Faraday, a distinguished writer of librettos died an apparently natural death at the age of 82. Another man died and was dumped  beneath a bridge where his body would lie for eight days until he was discovered.

Albert Campion, his wife Amanda, and son Rupert were in the neighborhood of these deaths because they were preparing for the Midsummer Day party given by their good friends, Minnie and Tonker Cassands. Minnie was a well known artist under the name of Miranda Straw. Tonker always seemed to be busy although I never was quite sure what he did. Minnie and Tonker lived in the beautiful estate of the Beckoning Lady which was a very charming house in the the lovely Suffolk Countryside. Also in the neighborhood was Divisional Detective Chief Inspector Charles Luke who was convalescing in the nearby village of  Pontisbright from a recent injury incurred on his job. The Chief Inspector seemed to have fallen in love with a young lady named Prune and she with him.

Albert Campion examined the pills that Faraday was taking and discovered that they contained a drug which would be fatal to someone who drank as much as Faraday did. After the other body was discovered, it was found to be that of Leonard Terence Ohman, a retired tax collector. He had been helping Minnie and Tonker with their tax problems,  and his advice was that the only solution was to get a divorce. The whole situation was complicated by the nearby Pontisbright Estates which really wanted to own the Estate of the Beckoning Lady.

How the two men came to die was explained at the end by Campion. The emphasis in this book is not on the solving of the crimes. Rather there is a rather detailed description of the Midsummer party which may give the reader much more information about it than they want. Many characters in this book are called by their nicknames such a Old Harry, Prune, and Pinkie which made reading a bit difficult, and the use of dialect also adds to the difficulty. I do not think that this is one of Allingham's better books.

This book was published in 1955 and is available currently as an e-book.

The Skeleton in the Clock by Carter Dickson

"What would be the most dangerously haunted place in the world?" This was the topic of conversation of Ruth Callice, an attractive young woman, John Stannard, K. C., an older man, and Martin Drake, a thin young man. The three eventually agreed that it would be the execution shed of a prison. They would go to Pentecost prison and spend the night. Pentecost had been an active prison until 1938 when it was closed and was currently being used for storage purposes. Stannard would use his connections with the prison commission, and get the keys for a night or two. Then Stannard recalled that Pentecost prison was near Fleet House, a Georgian house with a flat roof. Twenty years before, Sir George Fleet fell over from the roof and died on the ground forty feet below. There had been witnesses who swore that there was nobody on the roof at the time of his death. It was suicide or something else.

The next day Martin Drake attended an auction with his jovial, rotund friend Sir Henry Merrivale. Here Drake saw his long lost love, Jenny,  from two years before. They had fallen deeply in love on a short train journey and then had become separated as the train departed. He had been searching for her ever since; a search which was complicated since he didn't know her last name. Jenny in that time period had become engaged to Richard Fleet who was the son of Sir George Fleet, the man who fell from the roof. Chief inspector Masters had asked Sir Henry Merrivale to assist him in reinvestigating the death of Sir Henry because Scotland Yard had received letters implying that the death was not an accident.

Meanwhile at the auction, while the lovers were finding each other, Sir Henry had managed to poke Lady Brayle, Jenny's grandmother, in the rear with a halbard. Sir Henry and Lady Brayle then engaged in a bidding duel for something. Sir Henry was determined to obtain the object, whatever it was, and outbid her. He did succeed and found himself the owner of a grandfather's clock with a skeleton inside.

Thus, after all of these preliminaries, the reader finds all the characters assembled at either at Fleet House or in the pub across the road from Fleet House. Inspector Masters and Sir Henry to investigate a twenty year old crime and Martin Drake, John Stannard, and Ruth Callice to experience the vibrations from the execution shed. The latter trio were joined by Jenny and Richard Fleet because it was an exciting thing to do. The clock with the skeleton was in the pub because Sir Henry had given it the pub owner.

These two strands of the story merge after a scary night in the prison and another death.  Sir Henry Merrivale will discover the method of the old murder, and announce the rather unexpected name of the murderer.

Carter Dickson is one of the pen names of John Dickson Carr, a prolific writer of mystery novels. Especially mystery novels which deal with impossible crimes. Carr intended to add some humor to the Sir Henry Merrivale books, and the battles between Sir Henry and Lady Brayle certainly do this. This book was published in 1948 and does not seem to be in print, but used copies are available.

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn was making his way back by ship to England from a trip that he had made to New Zealand. On this voyage, he encountered the artist Agatha Troy, and their initial encounter did not go well. Privately, both felt rather upset about this.

Once back in England, Alleyn encountered Agatha Troy again; this time a murder was involved. Agatha Troy had been holding a school for budding artists at her home at Tatler's End House in a pleasant rural setting. The students were an assorted bunch. Garcia, a sculptor, was tremendously gifted, rude, and could not keep his hands off the ladies. Valmai Seacliff was was quite beautiful, Basil Pilgrim was upper class and was engaged to Valmai. Watt Hatchett had been discovered by Troy. He was not upper class, had a strong Australian accent, and did not really fit it. Cedric Malmsley had an impressive beard, and possibly a knack for copying works of others.

All the students seemed to agree on one thing. They did not like the professional model Sonia Gluck who did not seem capable of holding the rather difficult pose which Troy had set for her on the first day.  The students began their drawings, and then all took a weekend off. Garcia planned to use this weekend to move two commissioned sculptures to London. When the students returned and were setting up their easels, Sonia resumed her pose with some help from Valmai Seacliff who helped to push her shoulders down. Unfortunately, Sonia went down on a knife which had been inserted in the platform on which she was posing and she died.

Inspector Alleyn was called upon to investigate and his assistant detective-inspector Fox also came along with Nigel Bathgate, a journalist and friend of Alleyn. Everyone who there on the day that Sonia died were interviewed except for Garcia who seemed to have disappeared over the weekend and had not returned. Troy was quite upset about the whole thing, but the relations between Troy and Alleyn improved as the investigation continued.

Garcia seemed to everybody to be the obvious murderer, and the hunt for him widened. Indeed when Garcia was finally located, all the facts were in place to enable Alleyn to definitely name the murderer.

This book was first published in 1938, and introduced Agatha Troy who become a very important character in later Marsh books.  Very much of this story progresses through interviews, and the modern reader will wonder why Alleyn's friend Nigel Bathgate was allowed to listen in on these interviews.  It is an enjoyable read and the budding romance between Alleyn and Troy adds to the story. It will also appeal to readers who like mysteries set in the art world.

I have read this book for the Golden Vintage Cover Scavenger Hunt in the category of a cover with a artist/art equipment. There is an easel on the cover if you look closely. Personally, I think that this is a rather dreadful cover for this book. Once you have read the book, you will understand the cover, but I do not see how it would appeal to the potential reader.

The Deadly Truth by Helen McCloy

Doctor Roger Slater was a chemist who was developing a truth drug for the Sutherland Foundation. This drug, novopolamin, was designed to be used by the police and had fewer side effects than other similar drugs on the market. He was working on this when beautiful Claudia Bethune stopped by his lab to invite him to a weekend party at her home. Roger was quite smitten with Claudia and could not resist telling her about his new discovery and showing her the pills. After Claudia had left, Roger discovered that one tube of pills was missing and that Claudia must have taken it. He went chasing after her.

Claudia was noted for her unusual parties. For this weekend, those present were Michael Bethune, her husband, and Phyllis Bethune, Michael's previous wife. Charles Rodney was there. He was the head of a textile mill of which Claudia was a majority shareholder. Young Peggy Titus was also invited. Basil Willing was there for a short time. He was a psychiatrist who was renting a summer cottage, the Hut, on Claudia's property. Basil left before the evening party began.

Roger Slater begged Claudia to give the pills back to him. If the Foundation heard that she had taken the drugs, Roger would lose his job. Claudia denied knowing anything about the pills. When cocktails were served to the guests, Roger knew that they had been drugged. He and Claudia didn't drink anything but the other guests did. The truth serum began to take effect and some really disturbing truths came out over dinner.

Much later that evening, Basil Willing noticed one light on in Claudia's house, worried that something was wrong, and walked over to take a look. When he looked in the window,  he saw Claudia sitting dying at the table. Basil could see nobody else, but heard footsteps in the room. The murderer was still in the room, but when Basil accidently made a noise the murderer fled. Basil entered and saw that Claudia had been strangled with her very valuable necklace.

Basil Willing's position as psychiatric consultant to the Attorney General's office and his proximity to the scene of the murder led to him being closely involved in the hunt for the murderer. It was apparent that the murderer was one of the people at the party, and Basil investigated their present activities and also their pasts. He found that some of the suspects had worked hard to cover up their past activities.

At the end of the book, Basil gathered all the suspects together, and presented his findings, and named the murderer. The reader will see that all of the clues have been given in the course of the book so the author has played fair with the reader.

I found this to be a very enjoyable and well written book. Helen McCloy published this book in 1941. It was the third in the series of 13 books which featured Basil Willing. E-book editions of her books have been published by Orion.

Speak No Evil by Mignon G. Eberhart

Major Robert Dakin was a drunk. He was a powerful, wealthy man, but he was a drunk. He was married to his second wife, Elizabeth, who was at least 25 years younger than he was. Her friends sincerely wondered why she had married him. She had money of her own so that was not the reason.  She knew that it was on the rebound from her rejection of Robert's cousin's son Dyke Sanderson whom she thought was merely after her money. She still loved Dyke.

Elizabeth and Robert Dakin were in their house in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Also present were Robert's secretary Charlie Hawes, and the servants which included the butler Leech who had been with Robert for many years. Soon, Dyke Sanderson,  who was still managing Robert's business interests, and Ruth Reddington, his business associate, arrived to discuss business matters. They went to a party that evening where Elizabeth met Charmian Daken, Robert's first wife, for the first time. By the time they got home from the party, Robert was drunk, argumentative, and violent. He struck Leech so hard that the man was knocked unconscious. Robert locked Elizabeth in her bedroom which was in their private suite where she could hear him mumbling to himself.

Elizabeth decided to flee the house and was packing her clothes when she heard shots. She found that her bedroom door to the study was now unlocked, and she rushed to Robert's study. She found him dying, shot in the head. The others in the house arrived but could not get in the study because the door to the hall was locked. Elizabeth unlocked the hall door and let them in. By now Robert was dead. They could not find any gun in the room. They called the police, and Inspector Paul Friker arrived. He was an intelligent, but rather cold man, and he immediately assumed that Elizabeth had murdered her husband.

All of the following events are seen through Elizabeth's eyes. More and more evidence seems to indicate that she committed the murder. She is surrounded by people who may or may not be lying to her including two men who say that they love her but who may be lying. More murders follow until Elizabeth learns who the real killer is. I found this book to be an interesting read mainly because the follow up to the murder was seen through the eyes of the major suspect rather than from the viewpoint of the detective.

This book was published in 1940, and there is a subplot about materials for the war. Mignon G. Eberhart wrote over fifty mystery novels. In 1971, she was received the Grand Master of Mystery award from the Mystery Writers of America.

The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay

What a wonderful time of year Christmas is. Family and friends come together to celebrate the holiday. Maybe this is what Sir Osmond Melbury thought when he invited family and friends to his estate in Flaxmere. There were his four daughters. Hilda the oldest was widowed and was accompanied by her grown daughter Carol. Edith, the second daughter, had married Sir David Evershot. They had no children. Eleanor, the third daughter, was married to Gordon Strickland and had two small children. Lastly, there was the youngest daughter, Jennifer who was still single. There was one son George who was married to Patricia. They had three children.

Also invited were Oliver Witcombe and Philip Cheriton. They were potential suitors for Jennifer who wanted to marry Philip and disliked Oliver. Sir Osmond really did not want her to marry anybody, but who would settle for Oliver. Miss Mildred Melbury was invited. She was Sir Osmond's sister and had raised the children after his wife's death. She no longer lived with Sir Osmond. Lastly, there was Miss Grace Portisham, Sir Osmond's secretary. She was so competent and efficient that the family members worried that she might be after Sir Osmond with marriage in mind. She, however, seemed more interested in the chauffeur Henry Bingham

Christmas day arrived. Oliver Witcombe had agreed to dress up like Santa Klaus and distribute gifts to the young children and to the servants.  After the children received their gifts, Santa Klaus gave them crackers and there was much noise as they pulled their crackers. Santa Klaus then went to give gifts to the servants. After this, Oliver returned to the study to report to Sir Osmond that all was completed, and found Sir Oliver dead with a bullet through the brain.

Colonel Halstock was called to the house. He was the Chief Constable of the area, and a very old friend of the family. He was joined by Detective Inspector Rousdon of the police, and by Kenneth Stour, a successful actor, an amateur psychologist, and an old suitor of Edith. Kenneth felt that he had the skills to investigate the murder along with the others. Of course, Sir Osmund's will was considered as a motive for murder, and nobody knew the contents of the will, but they somehow assumed that Sir Osmund had been fair. The family spent the next few days eyeing each other suspiciously.

This is a classic country house British mystery. It is an enjoyable read and the solution is carefully worked out. The structure of the book is interesting in that the first five chapters detailing events leading up to Christmas day are narrated by five of the characters. Later chapters are written by Colonel Halstock.

Mavis Doriel Hay has been one of the overlooked writers of the Golden age. This book has been republished as one of a recent issue of books by the British Library Crime Classics. It was initially published in 1936.

 It should be noted that the picture on the cover of the book bears no relation to what went on in the book. There was no snow that year, and the Christmas tree was in the library, not in the front yard.

The Lost Gallows by John Dickson Carr

If you are a lover of melodramatic detective stories with foggy London streets, old decaying London clubs, and mysterious Egyptians, then this is the book for you.

Henri Bencolin was visiting London to see the opening of a play and was staying at the notorious Brimstone Club with his friend Jeff Marle. Bencolin was the head of the Paris police. This brilliant detective is described as being a Mephisto with a face that was "moody, capricious and cruel". Also staying at the  Brimstone Club was Sir John Landervorne, a retired assistant commissioner of the London Metropolitan police and a very old friend of Bencolin's. A mysterious third guest was the Egyptian Nezam El Moulk who occupied an apartment on the forth floor with his peculiar staff. He employed Smail, a very large black man, as his chaffeur, Jayet as his valet, and most oddly, his secretary, Graffin, who was a drunkard who seemed incabable of doing much of anything.

This novel opens with the story told by a Mr. Dallings who met a mysterious woman and tried to accompany her home in a cab. She took the cab and left Dallings standing on the street. He tried to find his way home on foot in the fog and saw miraculously before him the shadow of a gallows projected on the wall of the building in front of him.

The next mysterious incident occurs when Bencolin, Marle, and Sir John were leaving the theater that evening. Out of the fog, came a car careening through the street outside of the theater. Marle had a brief look at the face of the driver, and realized that the driver was dead. They took a taxi to follow the out of control car as it made its way through the streets until it finally stopped in front of the Brimstone club. When the door was opened, the body of Smail, El Moulk's chaffeur, fell to the pavement. His throat had been cut.

Police inspector Talbot arrived at the Brimstone Club because the police has received a message that Nezam El Moulk had been hanged on the gallows on Ruination Street.  El Moulk had been threatened by someone who called him Jack Ketch, the London hangman. There was however no Ruination Street in London. Bencolin, Marle, Sir John, and Talbot set about to solve the mysteries of the dead chaffeur who drove through London,  and the disappearance of El Moulk

I have always been a fan of John Dickson Carr and have very much enjoyed his Gideon Fell and Henry Merrivale mystery novels. This was the first Bencolin mystery that I have read, and, for my taste, it was too melodramatic, too full of inflated adjectives, and with so much fog about that it is a wonder that anybody could find anything. I will say that everything was neatly tied up and explained at the end in a very satisfactory manner. This book was published in 1931 and was one of Carr's earliest works.

Hag's Nook by John Dickson Carr

Rats - rats were scurrying about in the darkness of the old Chatterham Prison. The prison had been built around Hag's Nook which is where they used to hang witches. Prisoners were not kept for a long time in the prison. They were soon hanged and their bodies were dropped in the well. The prison was located on the property of the Starberth family and for two generations, the head of the family was the warden of the prison. It was a tradition that the head of the family died of a broken neck. The prison was closed in 1837, but the prison was still on the Starberth land, and it was entailed so they could not sell it. On his 25th birthday, the eldest Starberth son had to go to the Governor's room in the prison, open the safe, and read what was in it. He is not allowed to tell anyone what is in the safe. He is required to remove one object from the safe and present it to the family lawyer to prove that he has opened the safe. Now it was the turn of Martin Starberth to carry out his ritual.

Tad Rampole was just out of college and was visiting England from America. He had been encouraged by one of his professors to visit Dr. Gideon Fell, a lexicographer with a vast store of "obscure, useless, and fascinating information". He was now sitting in Fell's home in Chatterham and Fell told him all about the Starberth tradition which was to take place shortly. Rampole had already met Dorothy Starberth and was quite taken with her.

Martin Starberth was greatly fearful of the trip to the Governor's Room in the tower of the prison. He fortified himself with a bit too much alcohol in the afternoon. His younger brother, Herbert, and Dorothy took him home in hopes of sobering up before the evening. The evening did come and Dr. Fell, Rampole, and Mr. Saunders, the local rector, watched from a distance the progress of Martin's light as he made his way to the prison. They waited for the light to reach the Governor's Room at the top of the tower. Then the light went out. Rampole panicked, and raced toward the prison. When he arrived, he found the body of Martin Starberth at the foot of tower dead with a broken neck.

Dr. Fell believed that his death was murder, and set about finding the murderer. Herbert Starberth had disappeared which made him a prime suspect. The tower room was visited, a cryptogram was decoded, and what seemed to be an impossible crime was solved in this book which is the very first Dr. Gideon Fell mystery. This book was written in 1933 and many more Gideon Fell mysteries would follow. If you prefer to read series in order, this is the place to begin. The book has been reprinted by Mysterious Press.

I really enjoyed this book, and could not put it down until the mystery was solved.