tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84959615305401288012024-03-13T14:56:05.861-04:00Philly ReaderReviews of early and Golden Age mystery novelsLinda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-43868010477864547532022-05-24T14:08:00.000-04:002022-05-24T14:08:40.819-04:00The Ha-Ha Case by J. J. Connington<p>Right off, you are wondering what a ha-ha is. It is a construction in very large British grounds such as those which surround stately homes which permits an undisturbed view of the scenery but prohibits animals from wandering out or in. A ditch is dug and a wall is constructed to the top of the ditch on the side from where the viewer would be looking. Thus the view is uninterrupted. An approaching animal from the other side of the ditch is prevented from entering the grounds by the wall.</p><p>Now to the mystery. It involves a dispute among the members of the Brandon family over what will be their inheritance from their father when he dies. Their father was a very reckless spender so that the only thing left for them is an entailed estate which they are not sure that they want. There are three brothers. Jim Brandon seems to be the level headed one. Johnnie, who is younger, is a wild careless man who is currently studying management with Mr. Laxford on his estate Edgehill. The older brother is Oswald who has been working on tourist ships sailing around the world. Initially Jim has come to Edgehill to have a meeting with his brother and to discuss what should be done about the estate.</p><p>Mr Laxford decides a shooting party in the morning would be good start to the day. Early in the morning, Laxford, Jim, Johnnie and Mr Hay who is also staying at Edgehill, and who seems to be a business man of some sort, start out on the hunt for rabbits. During the course of the hunt, one of these four men will be dead and his body will be found near the ha-ha.</p><p>This will bring in the most curious character in the book, Inspector Hinton. He is completely sure that he is smarted than everybody else. He is sure that he will find the right solution to the identity of the murderer. He is sure that his sergeant is incompetent. Sir Clinton Driffield. the chief constable of the district recognizes Inspector Hinton's ego problems and treats him in a very kindly manner. In the course of the book, Sir Clinton will demonstrate his own skills in crime solving.</p><p>The solution of the crime involves a great deal of research into inheritance and insurance and other financial matters. There is also much investigation into the ballistics involved in the murder. In other words, it is very detail oriented. </p><p>J. J. Connington was the pseudonym of Alfred Walter Stewart (1880 - 1947). He received a degree in Chemistry, and went on to become a chemistry professor at the University of Glasgow. During World War I, he worked for the admiralty. He retired in 1944 because of heart problems. The Ha Ha Case which is also known as The Brandon Case was published in 1934. Connington wrote 17 mysteries featuring Sir Clinton Driffield. He also wrote novels, and books on chemistry.</p><p><br /></p>Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-78618547169270177892021-04-05T08:47:00.000-04:002021-04-05T08:47:22.967-04:00The Circular Staircase by May Roberts Rinehart<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qW4uFXRBb5E/YGHUQ9lp6CI/AAAAAAAACjg/yNcW_uNN5tAneO71-KXCoKN8IsW5Rv2hwCLcBGAsYHQ/s641/imgcircular.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="423" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qW4uFXRBb5E/YGHUQ9lp6CI/AAAAAAAACjg/yNcW_uNN5tAneO71-KXCoKN8IsW5Rv2hwCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/imgcircular.jpg" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: small;"> I am taking a new look at Mary Roberts Rinehart. She was a very popular and successful mystery writer in her day. She published many of her novels as serials in magazines. The Circular Staircase which was published in 1908 was her first book to be published in book form. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">She wrote in a time when most mystery stories dealt with a serious male detective who studied a crime which had been already been committed and then found a solution. This is the Sherlock Holmes format. She wrote about characters who were in the midst of crimes being committed. They were frightened, possibly even terrified, but then gathered their wits together and tried to figure out what was going on. This allowed the reader to identify with the characters and follow the steps which would lead to the solution. Frequently the main character was a woman. and she became friends with the police detective who was working on a the case. Possibly she was a bit sharper that the policeman. If you are familiar with the cozy mystery novels being written today, you will see that this a format which is still being followed today.<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Verew5Yky7s/YGsEBN9Ct2I/AAAAAAAACjs/FZgddTeI6Ms3IIoX0Xe5seVDqcYB49JPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s641/imgcircularbk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="415" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Verew5Yky7s/YGsEBN9Ct2I/AAAAAAAACjs/FZgddTeI6Ms3IIoX0Xe5seVDqcYB49JPQCLcBGAsYHQ/w129-h200/imgcircularbk.jpg" width="129" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">This book begins with the sentence "This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newpapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous". This wonderful sentence does provide a summary of the frightening summer experienced by Rachel Innes, a very well to do spinster who rents a house from Paul Armstrong, a successful banker, for the summer. This is not a summer cottage. It is a very large house with many rooms, and requires her to employ a number of servants. She will be sharing the house with her niece Gertrude Innes and her nephew Halsey Innes</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"> The house had a reputation for mysterious noises even before she rented it. but things became more frightening when Arnold Armstrong, the son of Paul, was shot to death in the house. Then Rachel became involved with secrets involving the murder, and the relationship of Gertrude and Halsey to members of the Armstrong family. Gertrude was also romantically involved with Jack Bailey who had worked at the bank, and had been accused of stealing a large amount of money. Rachel Innes became very aware that members of her family were keeping secrets from her. Then the Armstrong bank crashed losing a lot of money. The plot is certainly thickening, and Rachel has a lot of things to figure out. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">To avoid making this description of the book overly long, I will tell you that Rachel undertakes her own investigation of the goings on in her rented house. Inspector Jamieson from the police assists but Rachel is the one who will solve the murders and finds the causes of the mysterious events. The ending is quite dramatic and makes enjoyable reading. </span><br /></p>Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-88982044636200751122020-07-30T10:34:00.000-04:002020-07-30T10:35:50.460-04:00The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Rinehart<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lZafYECib4I/Xx7aJOMy__I/AAAAAAAAChQ/U-0m2WUHiogLkhz7hsYkutRV8uu3odiDACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/redlamp.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="422" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lZafYECib4I/Xx7aJOMy__I/AAAAAAAAChQ/U-0m2WUHiogLkhz7hsYkutRV8uu3odiDACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/redlamp.jpg" width="131" /></a>Many people enjoy getting away in the summer to a pleasant rural setting. This was the plan that professor William Porter had in mind for his summer vacation, but what he found was murder and strange and mysterious happenings which made him strongly suspect that he had made a very bad decision. What we have in this book is his journal of his summer with a record of all of the happenings and his comments upon them.<br />
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He and his wife Jane and daughter Edith were going to the country house of Twin Hollows which he had inherited from his recently deceased uncle Horace. Jane, who had visions and premonitions, believed that something was wrong with the house and wouldn't stay there. His dog Jock wouldn't go near it. It was decided that they would stay at the lodge on the grounds of Twin Hollows and <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-onWH8KoLbyw/XyF-ppLr43I/AAAAAAAAChg/wismZ8IyE4A5EIFxdfeoLsoFk6NXHiQdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s649/redlampback.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="433" height="205" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-onWH8KoLbyw/XyF-ppLr43I/AAAAAAAAChg/wismZ8IyE4A5EIFxdfeoLsoFk6NXHiQdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w136-h205/redlampback.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>that Edith's boy friend, Warren Halliday, would stay in the boathouse. They rented out the main house to Mr. Bethel who was a sick old man who was writing a book, and his assistant Gordon who used too much pomade on his hair.<br /></div><div><br /></div>
Uncle Horace had died, the doctor said, from a heart attack which caused him to fall down in the hall and hit his head, and he died there in the hall. When professor Porter went through Horace's desk he found a threatening letter which Horace had been writing which had a bloody thumb print on it. If Horace died as suspected how did the blood get on the letter?<br />
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Then somebody began killing sheep at the farms in the community and leaving a symbol of a triangle inside of a circle at the site of the dead sheep. This upset the local residents to an extreme degree. I am afraid that the professor does not really consider the locals to be very bright. He does not have much respect for the police either, especially when Inspector Greenough begins to believe that Professor Porter is killing the sheep himself. When these events occur, a red light is seen burning in the empty house at Twin Hollows. There is no red lamp in the house.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Then things grow worse. Murders occur and people disappears The whole community is frightened as are Professor Porter, his family and his neighbors. They even have a seance to try to connect to spirits which could be causing all of these dreadful events. They invited Professor Cameron who is a member of the Society of Physical Research to attend the second seance that they held. His students do not like him and call him "spooks". It is at this second seance where everything was revealed in this complicated novel. This book is a combination of realistic attempts at detection by
Professor Porter, and Warren Halliday, and spiritualism by Jane and her
friends. I do not believe that everything was successfully resolved.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>How much did Mary Roberts Rinehart believe in psychic phenomena? It is hard to tell from this book. She seems to take it quite seriously. If you are interested in her take on spiritualism and psychic phenomena, read <i>Sight Unseen</i> which she wrote in 1921. It tells the story of the Neighborhood Club which conducted experiments in these type of things. It is available free at Manybooks.net as are many other Rinehart books.<br /></div>
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This book was first published in 1925. It is available from Amazon in a variety of formats. I read the Dell Mapback edition (pictured above) number 131 in the series which was published in 1946. The front cover illustration is by Gerald Gregg. The map may be by Ruth Belew but I an not positively sure about this.<br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-1962726180266335232020-07-19T09:52:00.001-04:002020-07-20T18:53:07.796-04:00The Cases of Violet Strange by Anna Katharine Green<br />
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In this collection of stories published in 1915, Anna Katharine Green presents a new detective to the mystery reading public. This detective is a young woman in the upper levels of society who is employed by a private investigator to investigate mysteries involving women. Her motivation for doing this are not clear to him. She seems to have money, yet she is strongly tempted to take a case which she does not want in order to acquire money. Her employer "knew that she wanted money - that was her avowed reason for entering into this uncongenial work. But to want it so much." She is described as a "small, slight woman" and as "vivacity incarnate ... light as thistledown in fibre and in feeling", but there were moments when "a woman's lofty soul shone through her odd, bewildering features."<br />
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I will describe only three cases, but these three do show the range of Violet's detection. In her first case, <i>The Golden Slipper" </i>she is employed to investigate what are supposed to be thefts of various items from homes and stores by a young woman from a upper class family. This is what we would now call kleptomania. Violet is quite successful in this because her young age allows her to get to know the young woman and her friends. She is also successful because of a clever trick which enables her to find the real thief.<br />
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Her second case, <i>The Second Bullet, </i>is much more serious. A man is said to committed suicide by shooting himself. When he fell down, he fell upon his very young child and killed him. The man's wife does not believe that it was suicide, and also would not receive any insurance if it were. Violet's ability to observe closely and reason well leads to a reasonable conclusion.<br />
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Her fourth case, <i>The Grotto Spectre</i>, seems to me, to sheer melodrama. She is approached by a man who seems to be terribly distraught. His distressed appearance attracted her attention immediately even in a crowd. His name is Roger Upjohn, he is upper class, and his story has caused him to be looked down upon by his friends. He tells her his story of how he fell in love with an extremely attractive woman. He was totally fascinated with her and married her even though his father did not approve. I believe that in stories of this period if the family does not approve of a marriage, that marriage will lead to disaster. And indeed it does. The man and his wife shared a love of gambling even though his father did not approve. Their gambling lead to even more dire consequences and to the death of his wife. Roger feared that his father had murdered his wife and he wanted Violet Strange to find out what really happened. <br />
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It is easy to see how Violet Strange could be an influence upon the development of Nancy Drew. I have not found any link and this could be impossible to do because there is no one person writing the Nancy Drew books. The first Nancy Drew book was published in 1930. It was written by ghostwriters and published under the name of Carolyn Keene by the Stratemeyer Publishing Company. There is only 15 years between the publication of these two books. These stories were written late in Green's writing career. She was born in 1846, and died in 1935. The Violet Strange stories were published in 1915, and Green wrote little after this. She married Charles Rohifs in 1884. They had three children. Even if she wrote little more after 1915, she exerted a strong influence in the development of the mystery novel.<br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-4490706354346363312020-07-13T09:11:00.002-04:002020-07-13T09:11:59.810-04:00That Affair Next Door by Anna Katharine Green<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anna Katharine Green has been called the mother of
American detective fiction, and she did do a lot to influence the
fiction of the authors who came after her probably including the Miss
Marple stories by Agatha Christie. <i>The Affair Next Door</i> was published in 1897. It was the 8th in a series of books written by Anna Katarine Green about the police inspector Ebenezer
Gryce. The first book in this series was <i>The Leavenworth Case</i>
written in 1878 and which has been called the first American mystery
novel written by a woman, but it was not. The first book was <i>The Dead Letter </i>written
by Metta Victoria Fuller in 1866. There are two more Amelia Butterworth books in this series.<br />
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Amelia Butterworth is the narrator of this book, and it is through her eyes and her opinions that we will see the persons and the events. Amelia thought of herself as "Miss Butterworth, of
Colonial ancestry and no inconsiderable importance in the social world". Her age is given as "middle aged" or sometimes as old. She lives alone in a house in an affluent neighborhood. She does not hesitate to share her opinions of others. She found the coroner's jury to be composed of "ninnies". She finds young people to be irresponsible. She looks down on the lower classes. She is sharp minded and thinks clearly, and is instrumental in finding a solution to the crime. In spite of her prejudices, I liked her for her honesty about herself.<br />
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Amelia Butterworth had gone to bed, but when she heard a carriage stop at the Van Burnam's house next door, she sprang to window to see what was going on because the house was supposed to be empty. A man and a woman got out of the carriage, the woman paid the driver, and they entered the house after some difficulty with the key. Ten minutes later she saw the man leave the house and start hurrying away. The woman was not with him. Amelia wondered why he had left the woman in what appeared to totally dark house.<br />
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The next morning, her curiosity got the better of Amelia, and she went next door and knocked on the door. Nobody answered. The shutters all seemed to securely locked. Amelia went to a passing policeman and told him her suspicions, but he said he could do nothing. Then a cleaning lady approached them. She said that the Van Burnams would be returning soon and she was to open and air out the house. She used her keys to open the door, and all three entered the house. What they found was the body of a dead woman. The body lay under a heavy cabinet which had been overturned on top of her which seemed to be the cause of her death. They asked a passerby to summon a police detective and the coroner.<br />
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In this way, Amelia made the acquaintance of Mr. Gryce of the police department. He was a man in his seventies and a veteran of the police department. As Amelia's curiosity drew her into investigating the case on her own, her conversations with Gryce grew more spirited. Then Amelia tried to keep her findings about the case from Gryce for they had developed a competition for determination of the murderer.<br />
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The Van Burnams were a wealthy family of a leather manufacturer. There
were two sons in the family, Franklin and Howard, and two daughters,
Carolina and Isabella. Franklin was the good son, upright, well behaved,
and suitably married. Howard, on the other hand, was the black sheep of
the family. He had married a woman whom the family had decided was
beneath their station in life. Howard, because of this, was drummed out
of the family and the business. Initially, the dead body was thought to be the body of Howard's wife, but he would not look at the body to determine if it was or not.<br />
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Both Amelia and the police continue their investigations. On the whole, Amelia is the most successful. Bare in mind that this was a book which was written at a time when women were trying to gain the vote, and better opportunities. Amelia is against the vote for women, but she enjoys getting out of her restricted life in the upper class and doing her investigations. The clothing the characters are wearing plays an important part in the
story, and Amelia is a much better judge of clothing than is Gryce. It was also a time of the desire for upward mobility in the lower classes, and this desire would play a prominent part for some of the characters in this novel. This mystery novel contains episodes of mistaken identity, and family disputes which were similar to other novels written at this time. I think that reader of this book will find it interesting for its own sake and interesting to see how it fits into the development of the mystery genre.<br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-81522763951151206672020-07-06T09:57:00.000-04:002020-07-06T09:57:18.710-04:00The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by Catherine Louise Pirkis<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0uxhb3L6tW0/XwMsFCFYp6I/AAAAAAAACgM/jBrfQODKLUQHuo42OttT1gbf4xKDbHq2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/imgbrooke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="537" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0uxhb3L6tW0/XwMsFCFYp6I/AAAAAAAACgM/jBrfQODKLUQHuo42OttT1gbf4xKDbHq2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/imgbrooke.jpg" width="127" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Catherine Louise Pirkis was the first woman author to write mystery stories about a woman detective, Loveday Brooke. These were published in 1894 in <i>Ludgate Monthly</i>. There had been earlier women detectives such as <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="a138" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">William Stephens Hayward's</a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>publication of <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i style="color: black; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Revelations of a Lady Detective</i><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in either 1861 or 1864. and </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="a139" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Andrew Forrester</a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>published<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i style="color: black; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Female Detective</i><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in 1864. Anna Katharine Green wrote a novel featuring detection by Amelia Butterworth, <i>That Affair Next Door,</i> in 1897, and a series of short stories featuring detection by Violet Strange in 1915. It is handy to remember here that Conan Doyle published <i>The Study in Scarlet</i>, his first Sherlock Homes novelr in 1887.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">A career in detection was an unusual choice for a woman at this time. The Dover edition of this book has a very informative essay by Michele Slung, and she provides the information that the first women joined the Metropolitan Police in 1883 and they acted as guards of female prisoners. In America, Kate Warne was a operative in the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1860, but rarely did detective work.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Loveday Brooke began her career in detection as a result of a stroke of ill fortune which left her penniless. She choose the unusual career in detection and did poorly at it until she was hired by Ebenezer Dyer who was head of a flourishing detective agency. He stated that "I don't care twopence - half penny whether or not she is a lady. I only know that she is the most practical and sensible woman I ever met." Loveday was a rather nondescript person. She was hardly one to attract attention because she was neither tall nor short and was "neither handsome nor ugly". She was about 30 years of age, and usually dressed in black.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">When a case arose for which Mr. Dyer thought her talents were demanded, she was given the details of the case which she put in her notebook. She called these her "sailing orders" In these seven stories, she tackles a variety of cases. She prefers to work with the upper and middle classes. She has a marked prejudice against unattractive people as belonging to the criminal classes. Her cases entail finding lost jewels and lost persons, coping with murder, and discovering the real activities of a strange orders of nuns. Her ability to quickly observe the most important features of a case and the relevant clues lead her find remarkably rapid solutions.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Catherine Louise Pirkis (1893 -1910) wrote a total of 14 novels in her lifetime although she is best know for the Loveday Brooke stories. She was also a champion of animal rights, and she and her husband founded an organization to protect animals. It is still active today as the "Dogs Trust"</span></span></span></span><br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-89743647630624208932020-07-02T09:49:00.000-04:002020-07-19T09:54:06.578-04:00Four Frightened Women by George Harmon Coxe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In 1943, Dell began publishing a series of paperback novels, mainly mysteries, which would come to be called the map backs because of the map on the back cover. The first four book in the series had no map on the back. The fifth book in the series was the first book to have a map on the back, and that book was <i>Four Frightened Women</i> by George Harmon Coxe. Strictly speaking this book is the first map back. Later, the fourth book, <i>The American Gun Mystery </i> by Ellery Queen, would be reissued with a map on the back.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJMg-znHl_g/XvyciBOF1qI/AAAAAAAACf4/UHonbVC9K9AW5fNGusT6M0nENjuAIK10gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/coxe2back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="424" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJMg-znHl_g/XvyciBOF1qI/AAAAAAAACf4/UHonbVC9K9AW5fNGusT6M0nENjuAIK10gCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/coxe2back.jpg" width="130" /></a>Photographer and amateur detective Kent Murdock has accepted a new assignment which will take him into the world of entertainment. He has agreed to make photographs of movie and radio comedian Ted Bernard and goes to Bernard's home where he meets several people who are either being supported by Bernard or who are keeping track of Bernard. His adopted son, Lloyd Bernard, seems to do nothing except run up gambling debts. There is Bernard's old vaudeville partner, Bert Remington, who now writes Bernard's jokes. Private detective Jack Fenner is there for some reason which is not clear, and neither is the presence of George Craik who plays a jazz piano and wears a shoulder holster..<br />
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Since women are mentioned in the title, I should include a naming of them. There is Bernard's ex-wife, movie star Irene Alexander who is staying in the guest house. Linda Vincent is Ted's niece and she is apparently in love with Jerry Gordon who is a member of a wealthy west coast family. Helen Sanderson is an attractive movie actress, and Pauline Norman is a dancer at a local club, and a girl friend of Lloyd. <br />
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All of these have dinner together in the evening and then gather around the pool. They seem to drink constantly. There is enough alcohol flowing in the initial scenes of this book to make the reader wonder how any of them could do anything at all. Kent Murdock has agreed to do photographs of Irene, and after dinner he goes to the guest house, and, of course, they have a few drinks. He takes the photographs, leaves, returns to his room, has a few more drinks and goes to sleep. He wakes up in the guest house, has no idea how he got there, finds Irene dead, strangled, on the floor, and makes a very hurried exit back to his room.<br />
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The body is finally discovered and the local police are called in. The police, of course, interview everybody. Kent meanwhile sneaks through everybody's rooms and discovers a key piece of evidence which he smuggles out and takes to a medical examiner in Boston. Kent is the prime suspect in this murder, yet the police seem to give him a lot of freedom. As the story progresses, Kent Murdock becomes good friends with the detective, Jack Fenner, until by the end of the book they are almost partners.<br />
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The plot thickens and another murder occurs Murdock and Fenner find the murderer and uncover other crimes which had been going on in the book. I found the book to be interesting and readable. Kent Murdock is likeable and good looking. He is OK in a fight, but can be beaten up. He is not especially good with a gun, but Fenner is. There are some descriptions of the many steps Murdock takes to develops a picture which will make you very happy that you can take one with your phone.<br />
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This book is the fourth book in the Kent Murdock series of 23 books in all. The front cover of this map back edition, at least, was done by Gerald Gregg. Coxe published 63 novels and had several series with different heroes. Wikipedia tells me the books with Flashgun Casey are the most popular. Amazon has a number of Coxe books available in Kindle format. If you want a book which has a detective with a different occupation you will find the Kent Murdock series interesting.<br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-33520225274986227852020-03-23T08:40:00.000-04:002020-03-23T08:40:41.155-04:00Lord Mullion's Secret by Michael Innes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a mystery but there is no murder so be prepared for a witty, well written mystery novel by Michael Innes who is a real master of the genre. When Henry Wyndowe and Charles Honeybath were young, they were friends at a private school. But now that they are adults, Henry Wyndowe is Lord Mullion, and Charles Honeybath is an artist of some renown and a member of the Royal Academy. They had met a few times through the years, but his time Lord Mullion had come to Honeybath with a commission to paint a portrait of his wife, Mary. Lord Mullion invited Honeybath to come to his castle to do the painting, and Honeybath accepted.<br />
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Charles found that Mullion castle had been changed into a stately home, and that Lord Mullion had found it necessary to have guided tours of the home twice a week. Charles met the Wyndowe family which consisted of the charming wife Mary, son Cyprian who was not very ambitious, and daughters Patty, who was interested in gardening, and Boosie (real name Lucy) who was quite interested in politics. Then there was Great Aunt Camilla who was apparently losing some of her mental faculties as she aged. She had been very interested in becoming an artist when she was young, had traveled to study in Europe, and had met Monet. Some of her paintings were hanging in the Castle, but nobody was quite sure where. She was given to wandering the castle halls at odd times of the night. She was mainly visited by her minister, Dr. Atley, whose hobby was the history of the Mullions and the castle. <br />
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On his first evening, Charles Honeybath was taken to see the real artistic treasure of the Mullion family. In the library were three miniatures by Hilliard. (Note - Nicholas Hilliard, 1547 - 1619, was noted for the miniature portraits of the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I). It was here that Honeybath found his mystery for two of the miniatures were probably by Hilliard, and one, undoubtedly was not. It seemed to be a photographic reproduction of one.<br />
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On the next day, Honeybath took a stroll through the castle gardens, Here he met an undergardener named Swithin Gore who was a very bright and energetic young man. Swithin and Patty seemed to be quite friendly, indeed so friendly that Patty had begun to wonder if marriage with a gardener could be possible. Honeybath also strolled the castle halls and found some watercolors by Aunt Camilla hanging in the hall which led to the kitchen. These raised questions about Camilla's stories of her youthful travels.<br />
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Here we have set the scene for the solution of the mystery of the Hilliard miniatures, and the location of Aunt Camilla's watercolors. Other mysteries will arise in the course of the book, and all will be resolved in this literate and witty book.<br />
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Michael Innes was a university professor and and under his read name J. I. M. Stewart wrote both nonfiction and fiction. With the name of Michael Innes , he was best know for his inspector Appleby mysteries. He only wrote four of the Charles Honeybath mysteries, and I do wish that he had written more. Readers who want art in their mystery novels will enjoy this book.<br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-41432677832158253192019-09-11T13:50:00.002-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.516-04:00Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A most mysterious murder occurred during a bridge party given by Lady Haddington at her house in London. Of course, it was a very large bridge party - forty people or so were attending. Dan Seaton-Carew was strangled with a length of wire while seated in a room by himself and talking on the telephone. There were those at the bridge party who were very important for the narrative. There was Lady Haddington and her very beautiful, spoiled and selfish daughter Cynthia. It was said that Seaton-Carew was very interested in Cynthia. There was Beulah Birtley, Lady Haddington's secretary, who had some mysterious connection to Seaton-Carew. Beulah did indeed have a secret, and was not in the upper levels of society, but she was in love with Timothy Harte who was in an upper level and who was in love with her.<br />
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Also present was highly strung Sydney Butterwick who really seemed to mourn the death of Seaton-Carew, hardly anybody else did. It seems that Sydney was gay, but this term is not used in this book. There was Lady Poulton-Nest who also seemed to have a connection to the dead man. One which her husband, Lord Nest, did not seem to know any thing about. There were also the servants who were present. The butler always seemed a bit suspicious to me.<br />
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Chief Inspector Hemingway and his assistant Inspector Grant were called to investigate the case. First they had to figure out how the murder was done since nobody was seen to enter the room where Seaton-Carew was using the phone. Then they, of course, had to question a large number of people in order to find out who the murderer was. Then another murder took place in just the same manner as to duplicate the first. In a way, this narrowed down the list of suspects, and Chief Inspector Hemingway determined the identity of the murderer.<br />
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This book was published in 1951. I have always enjoyed Georgette Heyer's mystery novels. They are well written and have a good bit of wit. It is a shame that her regency romances were preferred by the reading public. I do wish that she had written more mystery novels. <br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-75668855899816335032019-09-01T13:56:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.523-04:00Inspector French and the Box Office Murders by Freeman Wills Crofts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A young woman named Thurza Darke came to Scotland Yard to tell Inspector French about some very suspicious events in her life. She worked at a box office of a cinema in London and really didn't earn a lot. A new friend had told her about a way she could earn some extra money. It was a small gambling scheme in which Thurza would bet a small amount and her friend told her that she was sure to win. At first Thurza did win and then she started losing money until she was in debt to the gambler. Then she borrowed money to pay off the debt and got deeper and deeper into debt. Then she was told there was a way, that she could earn money to pay off her debts. This last method made her really suspicious, and that was went she decided to talk to someone at Scotland yard.<br />
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Inspector French was interested in her story, and decided to investigate. After a few days, he wanted to talk to her again, but found that she hadn't shown up for work and was not at her lodging. Then the body of a young woman was found in the ocean. The local police considered it a suicide, but French looked at the body and found it was Thurza. French believed she had been murdered. He believed that the people she was in debt to had found out that she had gone to Scotland Yard, and decided to kill her before she could tall more.<br />
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Inspector French began a very methodical investigation and found other deaths of young women who had worked in cinema box offices. He had a very difficult time figuring out just what kind of crime was being committed. I will admit that he used some unethical methods (no search warrant, breaking and entering) to investigate the crimes, and even enlisted the young son of a police officer in his pursuit of evidence. If you happen to have a map of London, you will be able to follow along.<br />
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This is a very detailed investigation of a rather complex criminal activity. Freeman Wills Crofts was a master of the police procedural, and the reader is taken along every step of the investigation. This book was published in 1929. It has an alternate title <i>The Purple Sickle Murders. </i><br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-18332636210272419512019-08-19T14:00:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.506-04:00Crossword Mystery by E. R. Punshon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Young detective-constable Bobby Owen believed that he had received a very nice assignment. Mr. George Winterton, a retired stockbroker, believed that someone was going to kill him. His twin brother Archibald, had recently drowned during his morning swim, and George believed that he had been murdered although there was no evidence that this was the case. Bobby Owen was assigned to spend a month or six weeks with Mr. Winterton to determine if someone was really trying to kill him. Bobby was to pretend to be a young protege of Mr. Winterton, and never to admit that he was a policeman.<br />
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Upon his arrival, Bobby met the occupants of Mr. Winterton's house on Snuffby Cove. There was his nephew Colin Ross who had a fondness for gambling on horse racing. Winterton had another nephew Miles who was not presently staying there. There were Mr. and Mrs. Cooper who cared for the house and the grounds. Mrs. Cooper appeared to be a very intelligent woman who managed both the house and George Winterton. Her husband did not seem to be very clever. There was also Miss Raby who was George's secretary. George Winterton was writing a book on maintaining the gold standard. He and Miss Raby were quite keen on crossword puzzles - both in solving and writing them.<br />
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Bobby became acquainted with the neighborhood and with Winterton. It seemed that someone had come up with money making plan to convert some of the area into a summer recreation site. Both Archibald and George were opposed to the idea, but this seemed to be the only motive that Bobby could find for killing them. Then one night, Bobby became very worried about George Winterton's safety. He made sure that Winterton locked his bedroom door and window. Bobby was so worried that he slept in the hall way outside of Winterton's door. The next morning, George Winterton was found dead outside on the lawn underneath his bedroom window. It seemed like a locked room, but it proved to be easy to explain.<br />
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Then Bobby took a serious look at the crossword puzzle which George Winterton had been writing. The puzzle and the clues are included in the book in case the reader wants to try his hand at it. Bobby found that the solution of the puzzle proved a great help in providing the solution to the reason for the murders and from the reason, he deduced the identity of the murderer of both George and Archibald Winterton.<br />
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This book was published in 1934 and is the third in the series of 35 novels in the Bobby Owen series. <br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-82627939343238817802019-07-27T13:43:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.526-04:00Three Women in Black by Helen Reilly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Naomi Shane was impatiently waiting for her divorce from her cruel husband Doctor Gilbert Shane. She had spent part of this time with Pamela Crewe who was the fiance of Michael Bonnard, the son of well to do socialite Irene Bonnard. During that time, Naomi fell in love with Michael. She told no one including Michael because she did not want to upset her friend Pamela. Then Naomi found out that she was expected to attend a fund raising event hosted by Irene, and her husband, Gilbert would be there and would be performing magic tricks to help raise money. When Naomi encountered Gilbert, he told her that he was no longer willing to give her a divorce, and that he intended to send her to a sanitorium until she came to her senses. Gilbert also had photographs of Naomi and Michael together. Naomi was panicked, and afraid of Gilbert, and she could see no reason at all why Gilbert had changed his mind about the divorce.<br />
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Then the fund raising performance began, and Gilbert was on the stage alone doing his tricks when he was stabbed in the back and died. The stage lighting for the tricks was set in such a way that anyone wearing black could not be seem. Gilbert had been wearing a white suit, but his assistant was dressed in black. Anyone wearing the assistant's costume could have killed him. Naomi knew that Gilbert had put the envelopes with the photographs into the pocket of his suit jacket. When she got a moment alone with his body, she removed the envelope from his pocket, and found it to be empty.<br />
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Inspector McKee was given the case, and he set about interviewing the people present during the magic show. One he could not interview was Gerard Ferris, Naomi's lawyer, who seemed to have completely disappeared. Naomi had been staying with the Bonnards, but she felt that she should return to the apartment she and Gilbert had been living in. Possible here, she could find the photographs. Instead she found another dead body. Inspector McKee would succeed in finding the murderer in this rather tangled plot.<br />
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The book was published in 1941 by Helen Reilly. She was a prolific writer who emphasized police procedure in her books, and was an early writer to do so. Her characters are well off financially and she does mention how all of the women dress. Although this book has a young woman in distress as a main character, the book is not really a had-I-but-know novel. There is some romance but it is not overwhelming. I found the book to be interesting, and I really liked the rather surrealistic cover of this Dell Mapback. <br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-10135453729471291262019-07-20T13:45:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.496-04:00Dr. Sam Johnson, Detector by Lillian de la Torre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lillian de la Torre wrote a series of short stories which featured detection by British lexicographer, Dr. Sam Johnson. These stories were, of course, recorded by his biographer, James Boswell. These stories would have taken place during the later years of the 1700's. de la Torre published the stories in <i>Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine</i>. The first collection of nine of these stories was published as Dr. <i>Sam: Johnson, Detector</i> in 1946. These stories would be part of the very early development of the historical mystery story and the mystery story in which a famous person acts as a detective which are still being written today.<br />
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In these stories, Dr. Sam Johnson tackles a variety of crimes. In the story of the "Flying Highwayman", Johnson and Boswell join the blind magistrate Sir John Fielding and together they catch an elusive highwayman. Dr. Johnson proves that a woman who claims to have second sight really doesn't. Lord Monboddo finds a wild boy who has been living in the woods on nuts and berries. Dr. Sam Johnson proves that he is no such thing. In "Prince Charlie's Ruby" they meet bonnie prince Charlie. In "The Stolen Christmas" box they find a Christmas gift which had been stolen and make a young woman very happy. In the story "The Great Seal of England" Johnson and Boswell recover the great seal which has been stolen from the Lord Chancellor. de la Torre ends the book with a description of how she combined history and fiction with each story.<br />
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<br /><br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-292603490963545532019-07-17T14:09:00.001-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.513-04:00Murdock's Acid Test by George Harmon Coxe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Kent Murdoch and his wife were visiting the island of Barotique while he was taking time off from his job as a newpaper photographer.They were guests of Sir Stanley Bannister, a retired Colonial Service official who had purchased the island after his retirement. They had been invited by Margaret Grant who was Sir Stanley's daughter. The island had a large house for Sir Stanley and his wife, and six smaller cottages for visitors.<br />
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Kent and his wife were soon to find that their fellow guests were some really annoying people. There was Carl Anderson and wife flo. Carl was hiding out after carrying out a kidnapping five years before. With them was Joe Endicott, who was wanted for shooting a policeman. Essentially he was acting as Anderson's body guard, and was pretending to be Flo's brother. There were good looking Nigel Porter and his wife Lucy. It was believed that Nigel abused Lucy. Bruce Porter, Nigel's brother, was also there. Hubert
Coleman and his wife Nina were in one of the cottages. He was
jealous about Nina, and she was afraid on him. Kay Joslin, the niece of
Bruce, was there and was in love with Ralph Coleman, the son of Hubert.
There were also the Macphersons, a father and daughter, who were East
Indians. Sir Stanley didn't like then because he felt that they had
rented their cottage under false pretenses. Only whites should have the
name Macpherson.<br />
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Murdock's visit started off with a bang when Nigel Porter was shot dead in his cottage. When Murdock arrived there he saw Lucy kneeling over the body with a gun in her hand. Sir Stanley Bannister asked Murdock to take over the investigation of the case which he declined pleading a lack of experience. Eventually Murdock accepted, and carefully interview all those on the island. Another death occurred, and Murdock continued his investigations until the solution of the case was found.<br />
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This book was published in 1936 and was the second mystery to feature Kent Murdoch. This is not really my favorite kind of mystery novel, and I may be too critical because of this. Murdoch interviews everybody so much that I found the story got rather tedious. The men are tough guys or are weak and wimpy. The women in the story really do not do much and are judged on how attractive they are. They are taken away from the crime scene because it may too much for their womanly eyes. In other words, I do not recommend this book<br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-12726706982904990132019-07-08T13:25:00.001-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.503-04:00My Late Wives by Carter Dickson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Roger Bewlay appeared to be a serial killer. He had married Angela Phipps, and a short time later, she disappeared. Two years later, he married Elizabeth Mosnar who later disappeared. Then he took up residence with Andree Cooper who had little money so they did not marry. She also disappeared. Bewley took different name for each of the women he was attached to so he was know as Roger Bewlay, Roger Bowdoin, and Richard Barclay. Chief Inspector Masters was in charge of the investigation but he never found Bewlay and he never found the women either. The police could not investigate any farther if there were no bodies. Then Mister R. Benedict and his wife moved to Torquay. One month later, R. Benedict left Torquay, and Mrs. Benedict disappeared. This time there was a witness who saw R. Benedict and his wife. Miss Lyons was a typist who had done some letters for Benedict, and he had paid her with a bad 10 shilling note. When she returned in the evening to get a good one, she saw the dead body of Mrs. Benedict on the couch through the window. Miss Lyons turned away and left. She told all this to Chief Inspector Masters who thought they would immediately find Roger Bewlay, but after ten years, the police still had not done so.<br />
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Now after 10 years, a new approach is taken to this story. Dennis Foster, a young lawyer, goes to see a play and to see his friend, the director, Beryl West. This play was due to close shortly, and the star of the play, the handsome actor Bruce Ransom, was planning to take a month off for rest and relaxation. However, Ransom had received a copy of a new play which seems to present a fictional version of the Roger Bewlay murders. Ransom would not reveal the name of the author. Beryl says that the ending is just not believable, and she does not want to present it. Ransom comes up with the idea of using his month off to go to a small village, pretend to be Roger Bewlay, and make love to a young woman. Beryl and Dennis tell this idea to Chief Inspector Masters and Sir Henry Merrivale. At first, Masters is opposed, but Sir Henry Merrivale says he will not help with the Bewley case unless Masters agrees to Ransom's imposture.<br />
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So now it really does get complicated. There are those who believe that Bruce Ransom is carrying out his plan to pretend to be Roger Bewlay, and there are those who believe that Bruce Ransom really is Roger Bewlay and has written the play himself. A dead body shows up and is carefully hidden in a place where people will look at it and not see it. Then there will be a rather dramatic ending which will really tell you who the real Roger Bewlay is.<br />
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This book was written in 1946 which makes it one of the later John Dickson Carr books.Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-50643377249047479312019-07-01T08:45:00.002-04:002020-07-19T09:55:29.599-04:00Prescription for Murder by Hannah Lees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Caroline Faine, director of nursing at City Hospital, lay seriously ill from her diabetes. The best doctors in the hospital were at her bed side. They had done the best that they could do, but it seemed impossible to control her blood sugar level. When a new type of insulin was given, the blood sugar would go down, but then it would go up again. Finally nothing seemed to work, and Caroline Faine died in a diabetic coma. All of the hospital staff was quite upset by this death.<br />
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Young intern, Cyrus Harvey was quite perturbed by this case. He acquired a bottle of the insulin which was last given to her. He tasted, it and it had no taste. He took it to the hospital laboratory for tests. The bottle they tested proved to be insulin, but Cyrus found that the bottle that he had given for the test had been removed and another had been substituted in its place. Cyrus went to Dr. Elliott, the director of the hospital, with his suspicions about Caroline's death, but the director would not listen to him. Cyrus also had suspicions about Dr. Willoughby, his chief at the hospital and a doctor whom Cyrus really admired.<br />
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Cyrus tells his suspicions to Sally Pepper, who is the Social-Service investigator for the hospital, and rather good looking. Together they carry out an investigation of Caroline Faine's death. As they came closer to the truth, there was even an attack on Sally's life. They arrive at the identity of the murderer through their own investigation. No police in this book. The reader may find the ending of the book rather controversial.<br />
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Overall I found this to be a very interesting book. Hannah Lees is the pseudonym for Elizabeth Head Fetter. She lived in Philadelphia and was the wife of a doctor. She wrote articles on health, and was a freelance writer. She taught writing at Bryn Mawr College, and she wrote five mystery novels. This book was published in 1941. Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-25099901270984636402019-04-19T14:13:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:16:59.510-04:00The Crooked Wreath by Christianna Brand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There was a going to be a gathering of the family at Swanswater to commemorate the death of Serifita who was the first wife of Lord March. Lord March had been very much in love with her because she was so beautiful and charming. The family didn't want to be there for this dreary event, but they wished to stay in Lord March's will so they came. There were the cousins, Philip, Clare, and Pita March. Philip was married to Ellen, however Philip had decided that he was really in love with Clare and wanted a divorce. Then there was the troublesome cousin, Edward. Edward was the grandson of Belle who was the second wife of Lord March. She had been his mistress while Serifita was alive, but they married after Serifita's death. Edward Treviss was 18 years old and was convinced that he suffered from mental illness. He had seen a number of psychologists and was convinced that he suffered from fugue states in which he did things which he did not remember doing. The family was also convinced that something was wrong with Edward because he enjoyed telling them about his problems.<br />
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The family gathered at dinner. Unfortunately they launched into a discussion of their various complaints and marital complications. Lord March grew so irritated by their arguments that he announced that he was going to change his will that evening, and disinherit most of them. With his present will, Pita would inherit almost every thing with some money amounts going to the others. Lord March said that his new will would leave everything to Belle and Edward and nothing to the others.<br />
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Needless to say, the next morning, Lord March was found dead in his study, and the new will, if it had been made, could not be found. The family called upon their friend, Inspector Cockrill, to help them find the murderer. Edward thought that he had done it in one of his fugue states, and the family members seemed to believe that he had done it even if they didn't admit it out loud. What follows are a number of guesses, and hypotheses and suppositions about who in the family had committed the murder. Another murder will occur which further confuses things. The book ends on a very dramatic note with the discovery of the murderer.<br />
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book especially the interactions by the family members. It was published in 1946. I have read it for the 2019 Golden Mystery Challenge in the category of When - Timing of crime is crucial.<br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-86236743355238154522019-04-19T13:33:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:17:30.750-04:00Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Harriet Vane, a noted mystery writer, was on trial for causing the poisoning death of her lover, Philip Boyes. He had died from arsenic poison and Ms. Vane had procured arsenic which she said was research for the mystery novel which she was currently writing. The trial went to the jury. The jury could not come to a decision, and the judge decided that another trial would be held in one month's time.<br />
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Lord Peter Wimsey was in the audience at this trial and he was determined to find the killer of Philip Boyes during that month, because he was in love with Harriet Vane and was going to marry her. She, however, did not know this, and did not really believe Lord Peter when he told her of this.<br />
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Lord Peter received a lot of help in finding the murderer from the secretarial bureau which was managed by Miss Climpson. This bureau, otherwise known at the Cattery, did indeed do secretarial work but some of its employees did undercover work for Lord Peter who was the real owned of the Cattery. First Miss Murchison was employed as a secretary for Mr. Norman Urquhart who was the cousin of Philip Boyes and the legal representative for their rich great aunt. <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span> Miss Murchison also received special training in lock picking from a reformed burglar who had found religion.<br />
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Then Lord Peter sent Miss Climpson on an especially delicate mission to find the will of Philip Boyes' aunt, because Lord Peter felt that the identity of the murderer was directly related to the terms of this will. Miss Climpson engages is a very humorous subterfuge in order to succeed in her mission. It should also be noted that Bunter, Lord Peter's man does a bit of investigating himself.<br />
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This book was published in 1930 by Dorothy Sayers and was her fifth mystery novel. It was on the list of the 100 best mystery novels of all time by the Mystery Writers of America. <br />
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-62878051877321410522019-04-05T13:59:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:17:30.743-04:00Beast in View by Margaret Millar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Beast in View is a very disturbing novel. It deals with people with very disturbing mental problems which alter their views of reality. Helen Clarvoe was a very irrational person. She had money, or so people said, but she lived in a second rate apartment in a second rate neighborhood. She did not leave her apartment or have any friends because she was afraid of everybody. Then one day she received a phone call from Evelyn Merrick whom she said that she did not remember. Evelyn said that she could assist Helen with the management of her money and then made threatening statements when Helen refused her help. The call ended and Helen was terrified. She called upon the only person whom she thought could help her. She wrote a letter to Paul Blackshear a lawyer who had handled her father's estate. He was nearing retirement and was bored, and he agreed to assist her. It is through Mr. Blackshear's eyes that we see the story develop.<br />
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He started investigating Evelyn Merrick who was trying to become a famous model and who was not doing very well, and who enjoyed phoning strangers and planting untrue gossip about their family members in their minds. He went to visit Helen Clarvoe's mother and brother whom Helen had not visited in a very long time. He found that they had no money, and the mother was extremely worried about how they would get along. Helen's brother, Douglas, had dabbled in various careers and had not continued with any of them and lived off his mother. He was currently studying photography or so he said. He had a problem which his mother did not know about, but which Evelyn Merrick did, and which she did not hesitate to use against him.<br />
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At this point, I will leave you to read the book on your own. This book has a very surprising and ominous ending, and I do not wish to ruin it for you. There is a topic in this book which was forbidden in 1956 which is now seen in a different light, and it may be useful for the modern reader to see how it was handled sixty years ago. <br />
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The <i>Beast in View </i>won the Edgar Award for best novel in 1956, and is still regarded as one of the best psychological mysteries ever written. Ms. Millar was born in Canada but moved to the United States after marrying Kenneth Millar who changed his pen name to Ross MacDonald to avoid confusion about names since they were both writing mystery novels. She was named a Grand Master of Mystery in 1983.<br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-46504920083526487582019-04-02T08:57:00.002-04:002020-07-06T10:17:30.737-04:00Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Jonathan Royal was going to observe a drama to be enacted in his home at Highfold Manor. He explained it to his friend Aubrey Mandrake who was a very modern dramatist. Jonathan's drama would feature real people who were not aware that they had been invited to Highfold Manor for the amusement of their host. There was Mrs. Compline and her two sons who competed for their mother's attention as well as for the attention of young Chloris Wynne. Mrs. Compline's face had been seriously damaged by a failed plastic surgery and Jonathan had invited the plastic surgeon, Dr. Hart, who had done the damage. The guest list included two women who were competing owners of beauty salons. The first meeting of these seven people challenged them to do nothing else than restrain themselves from attacking each other.<br />
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The snow began falling on the second day. Aubrey Mandrake was pushed into a freezing swimming pool, and the guests starting forming hypotheses about who had done this and why. Later that evening, another guest was almost killed by a falling statue of a Buddha. The members of this hostile group continued with their suspicions as the snow fell heavier and heavier. Then the murder occurred. They were trapped in a house which they could not leave because of the snow, and the telephone lines were down because of the storm. Everyone slept in locked bedrooms and that evening the snow changed to rain and the next morning, travel was possible.<br />
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Aubrey Mandrake drove through the snow, ice, and slush to a neighboring town where he knew that Inspector Roderick Alleyn was visiting friends. He and Alleyn came back to Highfold Manor where Alleyn questioned all of the guests and investigated the crime scene before he found the solution to murder. This book does keep the reader guessing, because although most of the people in the book had reasons to kill others in the group, the person who was actually murdered was one whom nobody seemed to dislike. It should be noted that the footman who was dancing in the hall does play an important part in the solution to the murder.<br />
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This book was published in 1942, and was Ms. Marsh's 12th mystery novel.<br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-88221335024522492452019-03-20T10:36:00.001-04:002020-07-06T10:17:30.753-04:00The Whistling Hangman by Bayard H. Kendrick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Doncaster House was an excellent and expensive hotel in New York city. until death marred its peace and tranquility. Its manager, Rudolph Bleucher, and his assistant, Thomas Fralinger, worked very hard to ensure that this luxury hotel ran efficiently. Mrs. Colling-Sand who was head of house keeping was tremendously proud of the hotel. A large amount of this novel is told through her eyes which adds human interest to the story.<br />
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It began when Dryden Winslow and his entourage arrived. Winslow was a very rich man who had made his money outside of the United States, and who had not been in the country for many years. In the hotel, he would be meeting with his daughter, Gertrude, and his son Baxter whom he had not seen since they had been babies. Gertrude's fiance, Paul Holden, O.B.E. was also there along with the two aunts who had raised the children, Marcia and Prunella Forrest.<br />
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It was obvious from the moment of his arrival that Dryden was not a well man. Illness and age had taken their toll, and he had returned to see his family before he died. But his death arrived sooner than expected when he fell from his balcony on the 15th floor of the hotel and landed on a balcony on the 6th floor. It was assumed that it was an accident until private investigator Duncan Maclain examined the body and declared that Dryden had been hanged. The remarkable thing about Duncan Maclain was that he was blind, yet still pursued his investigations with great skill.<br />
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During the investigation of Dryden's death, Duncan Maclain demonstrated the skills which he had learned to overcome his blindness, and these skills were quite impressive. He was also accompanied by a skilled dog, and two sighted assistants. Maclain did determine how the murder was committed in quite an unusual manner, and named the killer.<br />
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Baynard Kendrick had met a blind soldier during world war I and had become quite interested the abilities which blind people acquired. He wrote 14 novels featuring Duncan Maclain. The Whistling Hangman written in 1937 was the second of the series. Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-33928760188576588192019-03-13T13:55:00.000-04:002020-07-06T10:17:30.728-04:00Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The president of St. Anthony's college, Josiah Umpleby, had been murdered one November evening. He had been shot, and the body was surrounded with unusual artifacts. Beside the president's head lay a human skull, and little piles of human bones were scattered about.<br />
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Young Scotland Yard inspector John Appleby had been called from London to investigate the murder. Upon arriving, he met with Inspector Dodd who told him about the unusual aspects of the building where the president's lodging was located. Fortunately the reader is supplied with a map of the college. The lodging was only accessible after ten o'clock by those members of the college who had a key, and the number of these were limited. Furthermore, the locks and keys had been changed the day before the president had been murdered which ruled out anyone with an old key.<br />
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Appleby's investigation involved numerous interviews with the academics involved which uncovered hostilities which they held for each other. In addition, he located odds and ends of physical evidence and observed one professor painting spots with ink on his carpet. This story is intricate, and the solution involves keeping track of the numerous statements which are given in the interviews. <br />
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This book was published in 1936 and was the first book to feature Inspector John Appleby. Michael Innes is the pen name of John Innes Macintosh Stewart who was an English academic and writer who wrote nonfiction and novels in his own name. It was a first effort and, I thought, rather too complicated. I enjoyed it anyway because of the depiction of the academics involved.<br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-41249325009199974552019-03-05T09:15:00.001-05:002020-07-06T10:17:30.734-04:00Groaning Spinney by Gladys Mitchell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dame Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley decided to spend the Christmas holidays with her nephew Jonathan Bradley and his wife Deborah at their newly purchased home in the Cotswolds. Jonathan drove her to his manor house, and along the way pointed out sites of interest. There were two cottages on his property. One belonged to Will North, the gamekeeper, and the other belonged to Abel and Harry Wooten who did gardening for Jonathan and for a local college.<br />
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The next day which was rather cold, they took a walk around the property and arrived at a narrow spinney with a gate at one end. It was local folklore that the ghost of a parson, who was murdered in 1850, hung about this gate in what was now called the Groaning Spinney. Then their walk took them to the home of Tiny and Bill who would be having Christmas dinner with them. Tiny Fullalove was the local agent for Jonathan and for the college. Deborah did not like him because he made advances to her in the past. Bill was nice and honorable, and was suspected of punching Tiny in the eye when he found out about the advances.<br />
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There were more guests for Christmas dinner. There was Miss Hughes, the college principal, Miles Obury, an expert on British mammals, and Gregory Mansell who was an archaeologist. Dinner went well even though the weather turned colder.<br />
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The snows arrived after Christmas day was over. and the snow was heavy and deep. The postman did manage to get through, and brought a very disturbing, and anonymous letter to Jonathan which he showed to Deborah. It dealt with the advances which Tiny had made and she was perturbed that anyone knew about this. The snows continued and they were house bound, but eventually it stopped, and Jonathan dug them out. Then he made his way through the drifts to the college to see if Miss Hughes was doing well. Later he went to the house of Tiny and Bill, but nobody was home. Then on his way home through the piled up snow, he passed the Groaning Spinney, and found the dead body of Bill Fullalove draped over the gate. Returning to the Fullalove cottage, he found Tiny on the floor with painful, injured knee. Their housekeeper, Mrs. Dalby Whitier, had disappeared. She had planned to go to London for the Christmas holidays, but she never arrived.<br />
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Mrs. Bradley's visit lasted much longer than she had planned. She was intrigued by the identity of the author of the poison pen letters which had been sent to many of the local residents. Then there was the mystery of the death of Bill, and the mystery of the diappearance of Mrs. Dalby Whitier. Then it get even more complicated. <br />
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Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-26386935217502019872019-03-03T07:49:00.000-05:002020-07-06T10:17:30.723-04:00There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>And now there came both mist and snow,</i></div>
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<i>And it grew wondrous cold:</i></div>
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<i>And ice, mast-high, came floating by,</i></div>
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<i>As green as emerald.</i></div>
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----The Rime of Ancient Mariner</div>
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by Samuel Taylor Coleridge</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rY05iTEfTBc/XHbdiU2Wn1I/AAAAAAAACTg/AWoE3Pel_qo9jRXok9JDzCTa7qqlDPzCwCLcBGAs/s1600/mistsnow002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="523" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rY05iTEfTBc/XHbdiU2Wn1I/AAAAAAAACTg/AWoE3Pel_qo9jRXok9JDzCTa7qqlDPzCwCLcBGAs/s200/mistsnow002.jpg" width="128" /></a>Arthur Ferryman was paying his annual Christmas visit to the home of his cousin, Basil Roper, the seventh baronet, at his home at the estate of Belrive. Belrive had a one time stood alone, but now the manufacturing town was moving towards it. From Belrive, it was possible to see the very large sign of Cudbirds's brewery. Basil was a mountaineer, and had spent a good part of his life engaged in this pursuit. Arthur met the various members of his family who were attending. (I would advise the reader of this book to make a family tree in order to keep them straight.) Also attending this Christmas was Sir Mervyn Wale, an elderly physician. They would later be joined by Horace Cudbird, of the brewery, and Ralph Cambrell, owner of the local mill. Basil said that he had invited an interesting young man to dinner, and that interesting man turned out to be John Appleby, a young detective.</div>
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In the evening, the shooting occurred. Wilfred Foxcroft, Basil's nephew, was shot in the right side of his chest as he was seated at Basil's desk in Basil's study. The police were called in and right from the start young Appleby took charge of the investigation. Arthur Ferryman took the position of Watson and narrated the following events and conversations. It is the conversations of the group of family members which bring out the suspicions which they have of each other. It seems that Basil was entertaining the idea of selling Belrive to one of the industrialists, Cudbird or Cambrell, in order to finance an expedition to Antarctica, and the family members divided into two camps about the sale. It should also be noted that the family had engaged in target shooting with revolvers earlier in the day, and guns were easy for anyone to find.</div>
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This is a very literate mystery with well educated family members and a well educated inspector Appleby. They engage in a round of recalling Shakespeare quotations as a form of amusement. The mist and snow in the title is not just a literary jest, but is a important clue to the shooting of Wilfred. Think about that as you read the book. This book was also given the title of A Comedy of Terrors ( in America, I believe) but this change is rather silly considering the importance of the title to the story).</div>
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This book was published in 1940 and was written by Michael Innes which is the pen name of John Innes Macintosh Stewart who was a professor of English, and who also published works of literary criticism and novels under his own name.</div>
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I have read this book the the 2019 Golden Just the Facts, Ma'am mystery challenge, and it will be entered in my detective notebook in the category of What - Title with a literary illusion in it. </div>
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<br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495961530540128801.post-21946623860624063892019-02-25T13:33:00.001-05:002020-07-06T10:17:30.717-04:00The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This novel was written in the form of letters and statements written by the occupants of 15 Whitington Terrace, Bayswater to their relatives or significant others. On the first floor of the building live Mr. and Mrs. George Harrison and Agatha Milsom who is apparently a companion for Mrs. Harrison. In addition to his regular job managing construction, Mr. Harrison is an enthusiastic cook, an amateur artist and has hopes of publishing his book on woodland plants and fungi. Mrs. Harrison would like to get out of the house and get a job, but George does not approve, so she seems to spend her time reading novels. Agatha writes to her sister, Olive Farebrother, giving her views on personalities and events. George Harrison writes to his son, Paul, who is building a bridge in Central Africa.<br />
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On the second floor live an artist, Harwood Lathom, and a writer, John Munting. Munting is the correspondant on this floor. He writes letters to his fiance, Elizabeth Drake, who is a successful author. Munting has hopes of achieving a similar success. Lathom is very friendly with residents of the first floor and even paints portraits of Mrs. Harrison and Ms. Milson. He considers the portrait of Mrs. Harrison to be one of the best things that he has ever done. Munting is not gregarious, and the residents of the first floor are rather suspicious of him.<br />
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A rather peculiar incident occured when Ms. Milson accused Munting of trying to accost her, and Munting moved out of the building. Lathom remained and eventually Ms. Milson moved on to an asylum because she was becoming more and more irrational. Lathom and Harrison remained friends, and they went for occasional short trips to Harrison's cabin in the woods. On the last of these trips, Lathom brought Munting along. When they arrived they discovered Harrison dead in the cabin. It was assumed that he died from eating a stew made with poisonous mushrooms, but this was rather peculiar because he was such an expert on the various types of mushrooms. An investigation was undertaken by Paul Harrison and Munting. A gathering of men discussing the origin of life brings the glimmer of light to Munting of how a murder was committed.<br />
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This novel was published in 1930 by Dorothy Sayers and Robert Eustace. Robert Eustace is the pen name of Eustace Robert Barton who was an English doctor who collaborated with with mystery writers by supplying scientific and medical information. Sayers is a great name in Golden Age mystery fiction, and it is an enjoyable read. She does include some snide comments about modern novelists.<br />
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<br /><br />Linda Bertlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04268237256843283848noreply@blogger.com0