Murder Every Monday: It Can't Be Over

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is the covers of the final novel in a series. Here is a small selection. I could have included so many more.

Busman's Honeymoon ~Dorothy L Sayers

The Lake Frome Monster ~Arthur W. Upfield

Curtain ~Agatha Christie [final Hercule Poirot]

(Please note that I do not count the continuation stories of Wimsey by Jill Paton Walsh and of Poirot by Sophie Hannah.)

Murder by the Book ~Frances & Richard Lockridge [final Mr. & Mrs. North]

The Tenth Life ~Richard Lockridge [final Inspector Heimrich]

The Old Die Young ~Richard Lockridge [final Lt. Shapiro]

The Edge of Doom ~Amanda Cross

Beverly Gray's Surprise ~Clair Blank

His Last Bow ~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

[Again, I am ignoring the many Holmes pastiches, etc.]

The Girl in the Cellar ~Patricia Wentworth

The Morning After Death ~Nicholas Blake

The Glimpses of the Moon ~Edmund Crispin

Cold Blood ~Leo Bruce

Dishonour Among Thieves ~E. C, R,. Lorac

Behold a Fair Woman ~Francis Duncan

The Bells of Old Bailey ~Dorothy Bowers

India Black & the Gentleman Thief ~Carol K. Carr

The Four False Weapons ~John Dickson Carr [final Henri Bencolin]

Bodies from the Library 5

 Bodies from the Library 5: Forgotten Stories of Mystery & Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection (2022; all stories pre-1989) by Tony Medawar (ed)

Tony Medawar has done it again. He's gone searching the highways and byways of Golden Age Detection fiction and authors to bring us another collection of little-known or never-before-seen mystery stories. In previous collections there have, actually, been more that I had read before (thanks, in part to some of the obscure little anthologies I've been able to get my hands on). But this time, there are only two that I vaguely feel like I've read before and I can't nail down where I would have gotten hold of them. This is a strong selection and almost all by authors I had already read. ★★★★

"The Predestined" by Q. Patrick (Richard Webb): Jasper, an orphan with a doting grandma, is sure he's meant for great things. But periodically an odd red weal appears around his neck, inhibits his breathing, and manages to to put him out of sorts in very important situations. We learn that he is predestined...but perhaps not quite in the way he anticipates. (one drowned; one hanged)

"Villa for Sale" by Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter): A wealthy widow offers a fabulous villa to a young couple for a mere pittance. There must be a catch somewhere and there is...but who is going to be caught? (one natural)

"The Ginger King" by A. E. W. Mason: An insurance representative calls on M. Hanaud, who is visiting in England, because he's not quite satisfied over an insurance claim. A fire that cleaned out the stock of a furrier has been investigated every which way and no one can see anything but an accident. But John Middleton will feel much better about paying the claim if Hanaud would take a look at the case as well. It could save his company 25,000 pounds.

"Sugar-Plum Killer" by Michael Gilbert": Probationary Detective Walkinshaw is determined to make the grade as a detective on the force. He gets his chance when D.I. Chapman is killed in a hit & run and the perpetrator winds up being someone Chapman had sent to prison. (one hit & run)

"Vacancy with Corpse" by Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White): Lt. Ben Latimer is asked by his fiancee, Liz (Felicity) Cain if he could arrange for protection for her grandfather, Judge Cain. Someone has been sending the elderly judge threatening notes. Soon there's murder done in the Cain house...but has the wrong man died? (one poisoned; one shot; one natural) [The whole time I was reading this one, I felt like I'd read it before. Like déjà vu--not enough that I knew the solution. But I have no idea where I would have read it.]

"Where Do We Go from Here?" by Dorothy L. Sayers: George is in a hurry to get his wife Laura out of the house. Why? Because he's expecting a blackmailer. Lucky for him, Laura sneaks in the back way and hears all about it. Or is it really that lucky? (two dead)

"Benefit of the Doubt" Anthony Berkeley: A young doctor is called out in the middle of the night to attend a man who has supposedly been in severe gastric distress. He can find little wrong with the man, so it is quite a shock when the man is dead by the next morning. (one poisoned)

"Scandal of the Louvre" by S. S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright): A gang of thieves (who specialize in getting the "ungettable" for collectors arrive at the Louvre in the guise of holidaymakers. They manage to steal the Mona Lisa, collect a hefty reward for the deed, and.... (well, that's the twist and I'd hate to spoil it)

"The Pressure of Circumstance" by J. J. Connington (Alfred Walter Stewart): The Lessingham family holds a promise as a sacred trust. So when Jack Lessingham leaves for an expedition to Brazil, he asks his father to see that "Claire [his wife] comes to no harm" while he's away, his father tells him, "Of course. That's a promise." And not even the man who's dangling after the lonely little wife will keep him from keeping his promise. (one poisoned; one from the "bends")

"The Riddle of the Cabin Cruiser" by John Dickson Carr: George Randolph, wealthy stockbroker, is found stabbed to death in his drifting cabin cruiser--found by his wife and Mr. Huntley Hurst. There have been rumors about Mrs. Randolph's "friendship" with Hurst. Was Randolph's death suicide as has been posited by Hurst and Mrs. Randolph? There's one telling sentence in this radio play that will give you the answer--if you catch it. [I didn't.] (one stabbed)

"Skeleton in the Cupboard" by Ianthe Jerrold: Corney Dew was sure he'd found the perfect spot to dispose of his brother-in-law's body when he buried him in the ancient mound on his property. But then the local Antiquities Club gets interested in digging the place up...and the club's sponsor doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer. (one natural; one hit on head) [Another déjà vu story...I'm sure I've read this one before, but not sure where.]

"The Year & the Day" by Edmund Crispin (Robert Bruce Montgomery): Two old school fellows meet at their club and one (a doctor) reminds our narrator (a barrister) of another school fellow who has recently died. The barrister begins to wonder why "X" (as he calls him) has brought the subject up. [And, quite frankly, so did I. Was there a point to implying that something nasty had happened when apparently no one suspected it? (one natural; one hit on head)

"Murder in Montparnasse" by John Bude (Ernest Carpenter Elmore): The disappearance of an artist coincides with the death of a paralyzed, drunken old man. Inspector Moreau must find the connection, (one drowned; one poisoned) [*I agree with Kate at Cross Examining Crime that this is much longer than it needed to be. A short story would have been sufficient. As a novella, it seems to have a lot of padding.]

"The Thistle Down" by H. C. Bailey: Reggie Fortune is asked (nay, commanded) to investigate the death of Sir Max Tollis's secretary. It's being put down as suicide, but Sir Max insists it isn't. (one shot)

"The Magnifying Glass" by Cyril Hare (Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark): A meeting between two men to settle up over a couple of cases of forged bank notes ends in death and tragedy. (one shot; one in fire)

"The 'What's My Line?' Murder" by Julian Symons: One of the panelists on the famed British version of the game show is poisoned in the studio. But it's soon proved that he poured his own drink and nobody went near it between the pouring and his drinking. So who poisoned him and how? (two poisoned) [Once again, I'm in agreement with Kate--I don't always get on with Symons' work. But I think I'm discovering that I prefer him in short form to his novels. This is quite good--not least because of its connection to "What's My Line?" (though I'm more familiar with the US version started in 1950).]

First line (1st story): It was Jasper's tenth birthday.

Last line (last story): "What a pity that [they were a murderer] too." (some or part has been changed to prevent a spoiler)

March Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

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Behold a Fair Woman

 Behold a Fair Woman (1954) by Francis Duncan (William Underhill)

Mordecai Tremaine, whose hobby is amateur detecting under the guise of people watching, decides that he needs a little break from bodies he seems to stumble over. His friends Mark and Janet Belmore had invited him to come stay with them at their cottage on the quiet little island of Moulin d'Or. Nothing much ever happens there on the sun-warmed beaches. Well...until Mordecai shows up. 

He makes the acquaintance of other holiday-seekers--those in cottages near the Belmores as well as those staying at the island's Rohane Hotel. What seems at first to be a nice group of young people (well--younger than Mordecai, anyway, who describes himself as elderly) soon prove to be otherwise. There are tensions running underneath the surface and Mordecai's curiosity is aroused by the interactions between hotel owner Hedley Latinam, his sister Ruth, and their guests, Nicola Paston, Geoffrey Bendall, Ivan Holt, Major Ayres, and Mrs. Burres. Every sentence seems to have a double-meaning, but he's got his work cut out to discover what those meanings are. And, although cottage-dwellers Alan and Valerie Creed claim not to know the Latinams, Mordecai chances to see a furtive meeting between Alan and Hedley. The only one who seems well out of it (besides the Belmores) is Ralph Exenley. 

Ralph is another neighbor of the Belmores and Mordecai gets on well with the tomato grower. He takes great interest in Ralph's gardening methods and the amateur detective finds it soothing to have a place where he can just talk about things (while he thinks over what he's observed in his people-watching). But his interest in Ralph's tomato production leads him to the discovery of yet another body. Ralph has an interesting water tank set-up to keep his plants watered and one morning Mordecai asks if he may climb the ladder and check things out. When he does, he discovers Hedley Latinam floating in the tank. 

Ralph knows of Mordecai's reputation as an amateur sleuth and mentions him to Inspector Colinet when he arrives to investigate the case. Soon Mordecai and the Inspector are discovering motives aplenty. And added to the mix is an escaped prisoner who has vowed revenge on the man whose testimony helped put him behind bars. The prisoner has made a beeline for the island...could that have anything to do with Latinam's death? And why do people keep milling about the old, abandoned mill...and then pretending that they weren't really interested in it?  

So...I started at the end of the series. Maybe not the best idea, but at least it doesn't spoil the plot for earlier ones, Generally speaking, I like Duncan's way with characters. Mordecai Tremaine is charming. I love that he secretly loves to read romantic, sentimental stories. He's a people person; genuinely interested in the people around him and his romantic soul would love to see them all happy. But his curiosity also makes him wonder what they're really up to. I have to say, though, he's not much of a detective. He stumbles into things. He overhears conversations. He just happens to be in the right place at the right time to see certain people together. He just happens to hear an odd sound late one night. And that's another thing...lots of coincidences and "just happens." The local church lesson "just happens" to be the very one that will explain a certain phrase to Mordecai just in time for him to figure out a key piece to the puzzle. It's all rather contrived and the wrap-up falls a bit short. 

On the whole, pluses in characterization and the setting balance out the minuses in plot and detection. ★★★

First line: The ship's passage through the water had transformed a light breeze into a chilling wind.

But it wasn't his fault that he seemed to have a remarkable propensity for discovering corpses. He didn't go around looking for the bodies of people who'd been murdered; they just happened, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. (p. 144)

When you were faced with such a tangle of problems you needed solitude and a place in which to think. Maybe, in the air and the sunshine, the solution would be easier to find. (p. 230)

Sometimes, though, things you thought were loose ends turn out to be very important indeed. (pp. 285-6)

Last line: Maybe he did know after all.
****************

Deaths = 3 (one hit on head; one shot; one fell from height)

Death in Shallow Water

 Death in Shallow Water (1948) by Miles Burton (Cecil Street)

Synopsis (from the book blurb): Three deaths by drowning within the space of a few weeks in one small English parish where nothing untoward has happened for many years are bound to set tongues wagging. One drowned body could have been an accident; two drowned bodies might have been coincidence; but when it comes to a third corpse found in shallow water, even the cautious village policeman began to think it was a bit of a rum go. Soon the experts are call in, and we meet again Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard and, inevitably, Desmond Merrion, his complement and friend, in an investigation that gets "curiouser and curiouser" as accident begins to look more and more like Murder.

Our first death is Sir William Watkyn, wealthy ex-shipowner. He was out fishing and, presumably, fell off the bank into the shallow water where he was found. He had a weak heart and it's argued that the shock of the fall made it impossible for him to get up. Next, his unpleasant wife Lady Watkyn is found drowned in her bath basin (no--not bath tub, a sink) while she was apparently washing her hair. And it's argued that the fumes from the chloroform included (for who knows what reason) in the hair lotion was enough to make her woozy enough to fall headfirst in the basin and drown. Next up is the handyman who did jobs for both Sir William and his former captain, Captain Barnham.Two more drownings follow (whoever composed the synopsis above evidently couldn't count) and even though they all could have been accidents, it certainly does look funny that so many in the area are drowning in so little water.

So far I've read three mysteries under the Miles Burton pseudonym and this is the weakest outing yet. The villain of the piece is obvious from the moment they saunter onto the page. The "investigations" by various policemen up to and including Inspector Arnold of the Yard are lacklustre at best. There certainly aren't heaps of clues stacked about for the investigators (or the readers) to pick up. And Desmond Merrion, Arnold's amateur detective sidekick, whips up the solution out of nowhere. It's lucky the culprit thinks that Merrion must have evidence to back up his assertive declarations and decides to confess, because I don't know how they'd get a conviction otherwise. And--I'm not entirely sure that the possible collaborator in the plot is really as innocent as they (Merrion and Arnold) make it seem. The wrap-up is pretty messy (it certainly wouldn't meet Poirot's standard for order and method).

I lost interest in the plot by the half-way mark and only kept plodding along so I could count this for the various challenges that I'd lined it up for. I've got two more of the Burton books on my TBR pile and I hope that they each provide a more entertaining mystery. ★★

In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel, Do You Write Under Your Own Name and the Grandest Game in the World have all reviewed this as well. Please check out their take on Burton's late entry in the annals of Arnold & Merrion. 

First line: The man was evidently no stranger to Winderport, for he found his way by the shortest route from the Central Station to Watergate Street without inquiry.

Last line: It was rumoured that he was to be married intended to settle with his wife and her child in New Zealand.
******************

Deaths = 6 (one natural; four drowned; one hanged)

Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel

 Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel story by Agatha Christie (1934)
~adaptation by Bob Al-Greene (2023)

If you would like an in-depth look at Agatha Christie's mystery novel, then please see my previous reviews: HERE and HERE.

This review is devoted to the graphic novel. I'm not generally the target audience for a graphic novel, but when I find one devoted to the mystery field I definitely cannot resist. So, when I discovered that this was out in the world, I immediately put it on my Christmas list for 2023 and one of my personal Santas delivered.

Al-Greene gives us a beautiful book. The artwork is stunning and, for the most part, I appreciated his rendering of the story. I'm not sure that he got Poirot's mustache quite right and I think that he was influenced by Kenneth Branagh's choice for the character. I also thought there was a bit of influence from the interpretation of the final scenes of Branagh's movie--though we have a reversal with Poirot seated at the table and all the suspects standing before him. And we have a slightly more diverse cast (again, as with the film) Just a couple of passing thoughts as I read. But, overall, I absolutely enjoyed Al-Greene's vision of the novel. Given the format, he couldn't give us all of the dialogue word-for-word, but he managed to capture the essence of Christie's work in fewer words without losing anything important. And, unlike screen versions, he also managed to work in all of the essential clues. The few cuts made are handled in such a way that those who have read the story before may notice them, but they certainly won't miss them. This would be an ideal way to introduce more modern readers to one of Christie's more iconic mysteries. ★★★★★

Kate at Cross Examining Crime has done a marvelous, in-depth review of the graphic novel and you couldn't do better than check it out.

First line: Well...today is Sunday.

Last lines: Then...having placed my solution before you...I have the honor of retiring from the case. Adieu.
*****************

Deaths = 4 (one shot; one fell from height; one stabbed; one in childbirth)

Deadly Is the Diamond

 Deadly Is the Diamond (1942) by Mignon G. Eberhart

The Chabot family are diamond importers. Henry Chabot brings home a fabulous gem dubbed the "Chabot Diamond" and in a joint deal with his sister, Hermione; nephew, Charles; and partner, Pieter Van der Hof, he plans to have the huge stone cut into gems worth two and a half million dollars. Hermione is opposed to having the stone cut. She just "feels" that the stone is cursed and if it is split then even more bad luck will follow it. Henry scoffs and says that the only reason she's fear-mongering is that she wants to wear the large diamond as is. 

But it seems that Hermione may have had a true premonition, for as soon as the expert stone cutter Albert de Burghe finishes splitting the diamond, he drops over dead...apparently poisoned. Was the poison in the milk brought to him by his own niece? Or perhaps in the coffee given to him by Van der Hof? Or the gum he chewed just before his task? When all three are given a clean bill of health it becomes quite a puzzle for the police. How was the man poisoned in front of eight witnesses in a locked room? When two more men in the building die by poisoning as well, the police must decide what the motive must be. They also need to find out what the mysterious dark man who has been shadowing the Chabot family has to do with it.

Another fun novella in the Dell 10 cent series. Eberhart likes to give us female narrators with varying degrees of amateur detective skills. Our narrator here is a writer (not entirely sure what type--journalist, novelist, poet [nah, most likely not a poet]--but I have to say she's not the most observant of women. However, she has an absolutely marvelous butler who loves playing amateur detective and seems to know everything about everything. Mr. Bland is, I believe, my second favorite mystery-related butler. Bunter, Lord Peter's manservant (butler, valet, chauffeur rolled into one), is, of course, number one. But Bland gives Bunter a run for his money. He notices little tidbits that escape his mistress. He follows villains with the best of them. And...he effects the rescue of the damsel in distress--just in the nick of time. Top marks to Eberhart for characterization and atmosphere and for creating a rather nifty impossible crime. ★★★★

First line: Hermione looked out the window, shrugged, and said quite unexpectedly, "It's the little black man that really worries me," and then refused to tell me what little black man; yet that was not really the beginning of the story.

...there's no getting around the fact that murder demands a certain intimacy between the murderer and, so to speak, the murderee. (p. 16)

It was, of course, physically impossible for [Bland, the butler] to put the car away, waft himself up the service elevator (besides almost certainly pausing to inform Mrs. Bland of the stirring events of the day), and appear in the library, tray in hand, in the few moments that had elapsed since I entered the apartment house, leaving him and the car at the door. But there he was, however, large as life. (p.21)

Last line: "I believe dinner is served."

****************

Deaths = 4 (one natural; three poisoned)

Inquest

 Inquest (1933) by Henrietta Clandon (Vernon Loder)

In Clandon's debut mystery we find ourselves at a county house part at Hebble Chace. Hebble Chace is home to Marie Hoe-Luss who is now the widow of a wealthy English businessman. About six months ago, the Hoe-Lusses held a house-warming party at their French chateau. The unfortunate ending to that party was the death of William Hoe-Luss, apparently from the accidental ingestion of poisonous mushrooms. As Mr. Hoe-Luss had gathered the mushrooms himself, there was no real investigatio made by the French authorities for foul play--despite the fact that the man also had a broken neck from tumbling down stairs and whispers by certain members of the party that Marie Hoe-Luss made out rather well after her husband's death.

The house party at Hebble Chace is made up entirely of members of that house-warming party in France. Well, except for our narrator, Dr. Soames. Marie has added him to the mix at what seems to be an informal inquest after the fact. And--since Soames obviously wasn't directly involved in the events six months ago, everyone decides to confide in him their thoughts about the death of Hoe-Luss. One of the guests, is a devoted botanist and he tells Soames that none of the poisonous fungi mentioned in the doctor's report were to be found on the chateau grounds. Not long after sharing this information, Simcox, falls to his death from an upstairs window. Another apparent accident. But the clues don't add up and soon the Chief Constable has called in Inspector Mattock of the Yard to unravel the case.

Now...perhaps I should step back a moment and post a disclaimer before going with my review. With life as it is in the Hankins household, I am a bit sleep-deprived and it's possible I'm a little grumpier than usual about these things. So, please take my review with a grain of salt. But--please also let me say that the intro by Curtis Evans is wonderful and gives lots of interesting information about Clandon (aka Vernon Loder) and background information on this debut mystery for the Clandon name.

First, I want to get a couple of minor things off  my chest. This isn't a long book--editions range from 193 to 209 pages yet it took me six days to read what would normally take one-two days. And it seemed much longer than that. I felt like I'd been reading it for about a month. Second, can anyone tell me what the yarn ball, knitting needles, and the hands making a rabbit shadow image have to do with anything, let alone the story inside??? It would make some sort of sense if we had a Miss Marple or Miss Silver character knitting away in the corner and playing detective. But nope. So, I have no clue. But befuddlement seems to be a running theme...

Color me baffled. I am at a loss to understand Dorothy L. Sayers' enthusiasm for this mystery. Sayers, who writes elegantly and with great care, doesn't seem to notice great swathes of dialogue that seem to make no sense. Sayers' Lord Peter piffles, it's true--but always with a point. And I never get lost in his speeches. Even when Sayers throws in Latin or French that I may not understand. The groundwork is so well-laid that I don't have to know the Latin or French to figure out what's going on. There are places in this novel where Dr. Soames (our narrator--more about him in a moment) has conversations with his fellow house guests that make little to no sense. I felt very much as I did when my husband had his most recent "brain event" last October. It's like two separate conversations are happening at once.

And..having mentioned Dr. Soames--for about half the novel he's about as swift as a dammed up river. He doesn't give us the best commentary on his fellow guests.  He doesn't really question any of the medical details until facts are waved under his nose repeatedly. He thinks everything said is just "gossip" and mean-spirited gossip at that. When he finally wakes up to the fact that murder has been done, he then starts roaming among the suspects letting out little bits of information that maybe the police didn't want communicated. "Oopsie." [Not a direct quote. But my interpretation of his realization.] He waffles terribly between thinking each of the men have done the dirty deeds and that they haven't--and, of course, none of the women did. Two of the women, he only thinks about in relation to the men they're attached to...how awful for the little ladies if their betrothed is found to be a murderer. 

Now, Inspector Mattock and Tobey, the Chief Constable, have more on the ball. Quite frankly, I think I would have enjoyed the mystery a lot more if we had followed Mattock about instead of Soames. Soames is meant to be our inside view into the country house party, but he just annoyed me for about half to two-thirds of the book. But--if we take out Soames and just follow the plot, it is fairly good. There is a nice bit of misdirection with a few of the clues and while the motive did strike me as a bit obvious (once I threw out the biggest red herring) the follow-up by Mattock on the trail was quite good.

My final quibble--and this is a bit of a SPOILER, even though I don't name the villain--

I don't like it (especially in older mysteries) when the culprit gets off completely. If the police manage to lock them up and send them forth for trial, then, by golly, I want the jury to do their duty and find the villain of the piece guilty. Yes, juries in real life can be iffy propositions and may let an obviously guilty person off for silly reasons. But don't do that in books, please. I'd like some justice in the world somewhere. And...the final quote (below) is an observation by the good doctor. Given how wrong he is about a great many things throughout the book, I wouldn't bet on our villain not trying their hand on more if the situation arose. ★★

First: During the last ten years of his life, I was medical adviser to Mr. Hoe-Luss.

It is amazing how suspicious people can become when their financial interests are threatened. (p. 17)

Last: But I am quite sure that [their*] two successful murders will not have inclined [them*] to try the charm of the third.  [*pronouns changed to prevent spoilers.]
*****************

Deaths = two fell from height

Thief Is an Ugly Word

 Thief Is an Ugly Word (1944) by Paul Gallico

Augustus Swinney, American refrigeration specialist (and ham connoisseur), is a bit mystified as to why he's been invited to a diplomatic, neutral gathering of Nazi, American, British, French, and Swiss representatives at the home of an Argentine millionaire to view the millionaire's latest art acquisition. Sure, he's a fairly high-flying businessman, but he's no art critic. And when he recognizes the painting on display as belonging to a Dutch gentleman of his acquaintance--a gentleman who at best has been displaced by the Nazi occupation of Europe and at worst.... Swinney knows good and well that the piece has been stolen from its rightful owner and, throwing caution to the wind, he says so to the company present and walks out the door with the painting. The Nazis, who are expecting financial assistance for their "glorious cause" in exchange for the painting, aren't too concerned. They are quite certain that Swinney won't make it out of Buenos Aires with painting. But Swinney comes up with a most ingenious method of sending the art piece to America...right under their noses. And even a beautiful Nazi sympathizer can't talk him out of his plan to return the painting to Mr. Jan van Schouven--if he can.

I enjoyed this short little mystery which apparently was originally written as part of WWII propaganda to get the word out about the Nazi war machine trying to fund itself through stolen artwork (see a mention of the story at H.V. Morton). Augustus Swinney is an appealing character and it's too bad that Gallico didn't write more stories about him. It's always nice to see Nazis outwitted and Swinney does it in such an interesting way. There's not a lot of mystery here. The single question is how Swinney plans to get the artwork out of Argentina. But it's handled so well that you don't really notice that there's nothing else to figure out. My only quibble with the story at all is below in my comment about the final sentence. Honestly, Mr. Swinney, I don't care how beautiful she is on the outside. ★★★★

First line: If one were to take a pencil, and upon a stereographic projection of a world map execute a series of straight lines connecting New York, Munich, and Buenos Aires, one would find oneself looking at a large isosceles triangle, the points of which are at a distance from one another that they might seem to preclude the coincidence of a certain day in early January 1944.

Last line: He reflected that only a fool bore a grudge against a beautiful woman. [Bev's take--if the beautiful woman is working with the Nazis, then a man would be a fool not to bear a grudge. Because the beauty is obviously only skin deep and she's rotten at the core.]

Murder Every Monday: Deal Me In!

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is Covers with Cards on them.

The Green Ace ~Stuart Palmer [The first Palmer I ever read--courtesy of Brad & Valentine's Day, I now own this Green Door Mystery edition.]

Death Plays Solitaire ~R. L. Goldman

Full House ~Rex Stout

The Right Jack ~Margaret Maron

The Red Widow Murders ~Carter Dickson

Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die ~Robert J. Randisi

Cards on the Table ~Agatha Christie

13 at Dinner [Lord Edgware Dies] ~Agatha Christie

The April Fools' Day Murder ~Lee Harris

The Case of the Crumpled Knave ~Anthony Boucher

Death in the Cards ~ Ann T. Smith

Cards on the Table ~Agatha Christie 

The Girl from the Mimosa Club ~Leslie Ford

Ambrose Bierce & the Death of Kings ~Oakley Hall

Death Cuts the Deck ~Robert L. Fish

Service for Two ~Kate Kingsbury

Man Missing ~Mignon G. Eberhart

The Man Who Held Five Aces ~Jean Leslie

Murder in Williamstown

 Murder in Williamstown (2022) by Kerry Greenwood

Phryne Fisher and her household are back in action. There are strange goings-on in Williamstown and Phryne is drawn in when she makes a short trip to the city. While strolling through the local park she discovers a discarded opium pipe. So far Australia has been spared the evils of opium smuggling, but perhaps that's changing. Especially since a police raid (searching for smuggled items) targets her long-time paramour Lin Chung. Since Lin is an honest man, there's nothing to find and the over-eager sergeant who led the raid receives a dressing down. Then when Phryne and her latest young man, Jeoffrey Bisset, are taking a walk along the beach they discover the body of a Chinese man who has been stabbed to death. Are all of these incidents connected? And if so, how? And why are her friendly policemen Jack Robinson and Hugh Collins, as well as Lin Chung warning her off?

Her interest in events is increased when she and Jeoffrey attend a party hosted by Hong, a white man born Thomas Browning who has a great affinity for all things Chinese. There's a definite tension in the air of the party. The girls of the dancing troupe brought in for entertainment most definitely don't want to be there. And then a figure dressed all in black rushes towards Hong, stabs him in full view of the party guests, and rushes out into the night. When Phryne tries to follow, a group of five men bearing weapons block her path and suggest (in Chinese) that she go back and "say nothing."

Meanwhile...Phryne's adopted daughters have, as part of their school assignments, been spending time at the Blind Institute. Ruth, with her love of cooking, is assigned to help out in the kitchen, but Jane, a math whiz, not only assists in the math lessons but is asked by Miss Thomas to give a hand in the business office. Miss Thomas believes that something is very wrong with the accounting, but isn't sure if Mr. Blake (the bookkeeper) is to blame or is being hoodwinked. She'd like Jane to see if she can get to the bottom of it without attracting the attention that a full audit would bring.

And...someone has taken exception to Phryne's lifestyle. She begins receiving anonymous notes mad up of words cut from newspapers labeling her the "Whore of Babylon" and indicating the fate of sinners such of herself. She's not too concerned until one evening she chases off a man who climbs up to her window. So she decides that some investigation is in order. She assigns Tinker the task of finding out as much as he can about the notes and their author.

It was great fun to step back into Phryne's world. I always enjoy visiting with the grown-up's Nancy Drew (as I think of her). I really like watching her adopted children (Ruth, Jane, & Tinker) take on the investigations in the side stories. They are turning into quite the sleuthing team and I can't wait to see where Greenwood takes them next. One small complaint, however--why are all the men (Jack, Hugh, & Lin) all freezing Phryne out? You'd think this was the first time they'd encountered her in a mystery and they didn't know how good she is at detecting. But they've all known her for quite a few years. I understand that the official investigation needs to be kept under wraps, but Jack and Hugh both know that Phryne can be trusted. They could at least be a little warmer in their "Sorry, Miss Fisher, but we just can't tell you anything this time" responses. The tone just seems really off for people who know each other well.

The mysteries are fairly straightforward--not much in the way of suspects and red herrings, so the reader should spot the villains in each case fairly easily. If I weren't so enthusiastic about the cast of characters and Greenwood's writing, I'd probably give this a flat three stars or possibly less if I were rating the mystery factor alone. ★★★ and 1/2

First line (Prologue): Little Bourke Street was silent.
First line (1st Chapter): The Honourable Phryne Fisher sat at her Bechstein grand piano, a frown marring her Dutch-doll features.

I know. Everyone thinks we scholars hatch out of magic toadstools. But I've had a satisfyingly chequered life. (Jeoffrey Bisset, p. 194)

Last line: Life could indeed be a lot worse than this.
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Deaths = two stabbed

The Last Resort

 The Last Resort (2023) by Michael Kaufman

Set in the near future (2034), Washington D.C. police detective Jen Lu and her sentient bio-computer implant Chandler are back in action in their second case. Months after the last case when Lu's partner Les (if he's given a last name, I managed to miss it) is nearly killed saving her life, she's down one human partner. Les is physically fit, but has retreated into himself and doesn't speak and only does things when told or reminded to do so. So, when Patty Garcia, a powerful lawyer on the side of the angels in the climate crisis battle, dies in what is officially filed as a freak golf accident on the eve of "an important announcement," Lu smells a rat and decides to defy her Captain's orders to leave things alone. 

She and Chandler start digging and discover that Garcia was on the hunt for the "smoking gun" in the oil industry--explicit proof that companies have known about the damage they've been doing to the planet since the 1960s. The lawyer had recently won a big case in the efforts to make oil companies pay reparations for the damage done. Proof of an earlier date would mean a bigger settlement--but the Supreme Court has put a time limit on the presentation of evidence and time was running out. Garcia's assistant claims that the lawyer had finally found evidence that the proof existed, but just hadn't gotten her hands on it yet. Did someone connected to big oil make sure she'd never find it? Or perhaps her ex-husband, who suffered professionally and financially in their break-up (he was connected to big oil as well), wanted to make sure he wouldn't suffer even more when she found the proof. With the added bonus of getting rid of the woman who had humiliated and ruined him once. [He's that kind of macho misogynist. Even has a podcast spouting ant-woman nonsense.]

But the more she and Chandler discover the more people die...of accidents. Chandler finds a way to reactivate Les's bio-computer and soon Les is back in the hunt as well. His patience for digging in old Senate reports comes in handy. And it isn't long before she, Les, and Chandler are close to finding what Garcia was after. But someone has killed to keep that proof out of the hands of climate activists and they don't mind adding a few more victims to their list.

So...let's start with my issues with the story. First, purely personal, it hits too close. Climate change is happening and here in American we just decided to put the lunatics in charge of the asylum and see if we can't make it happen even faster (not to mention all the other idiotic/awful/terrifying things that will be coming down the pike...but I'll get off my soapbox.). Second, I'm not keen on police procedurals where the protagonist is basically going rogue to solve what is obviously a crime and her Captain should be glad she wants to investigate. People are dying and Cap keeps telling her to mind her business and pretend it's not happening. (Sure, Chandler tells us it's really that he's encouraging her to break rules "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" while he plays it "by the book." But whatever.) This story would have been ten times better if we'd just had Lu officially on the case from the start and it had been handled like a standard investigation.

On the plus side, I really liked the new (to me, anyway) set-up with Lu having a sentient computer link in her brain. The narration toggles between Chandler and third-person...and of the two, I prefer it when Chandler tells the story. I got a kick out his observations and his efforts to sound like a tough-guy cop. And I enjoyed his conversations with his human partner. In fiction, this set-up works. In real life, I'm not sure how I feel about the implants. Character development overall is pretty good. I would have enjoyed more interactions between Lu and Les and if the series continues (and I read more if it does) I'd be interested to see how the four of them (Lu, Les, Chandler, and P.D.--Les's implant) work together on a complete case. Generally, a solid mystery--a bit violent (one of the deaths in particular seemed a little unnecessary for the story...), but enjoyable and entertaining. ★★★

First line: "I never killed anyone before."

Last line: The report with its pale-blue cover and a faded red ribbon binding the whole thing together.
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Deaths = 5 (two hit on head; two shot; one fire)