Death Draws the Line

 Death Draws the Line (1949) by Jack Iams

Mark Wallis is the young manager of the Whitcomb publishing syndicate, having taken over the reins when the legendary founder Bill Whitcomb died after a sudden illness. Another sudden death puts Wallis in the middle of mystery and mayhem. Zeke Brock, the morose and drunken cartoonist who created the little ray of sunshine known as Little Polly Pitcher, is found dead at the drawing board by his assistant Mary Bradley. Mark and Zeke were expected at the annual Whitcomb dinner held in remembrance of Big Bill. Mark stopped by the cartoonist's place to try to get him in shape for the event--but Zeke passes out. So Mark had asks Mary to check on the cartoonist about an hour before the dinner to make sure he's presentable (sobered up) for the occasion. But nothing would ever make Zeke lively enough for the occasion....and Mary calls Mark for help when she finds the body.

The Whitcomb family doctor is all set to pronounce death due to alcoholic over-indulgence, but Mark and Mary notice a few oddities that make them suspect that someone had been in Zeke's rooms after they left. Mark calls on his friend in the DA's office to see if a preliminary investigation can be made on the down-low. It doesn't stay low for long...because an autopsy proves that Zeke was drowned using a little basin of water. The fact that the basin had been moved between Mark's visits was one of the oddities Mary and Mary had noticed. Now that the investigation has become official...and officially a murder investigation...the police want to know who benefits from the death of the man behind the money-making cartoon. And curiously enough, the clue needed will be found in the last cartoons Zeke ever penned. Once they can be found.

The book has an interesting premise for the conclusion. That Zeke knew something about someone and was set to reveal it in a lightly disguised story line in Little Polly Pitcher. What was fascinating was watching Mark and Mary figure this out and find a way to recreate the missing cartoons. It sets up a nice gotcha moment at the end where they can help the police catch the killer without forcing a confession. Iams gives us good character studies in the Whitcomb family menage and throws in a very weird scene with a woman who was infatuated with the cartoonist--just to add a bit of spice. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: The street in the plush Eighties, was dark with a late September rain.

Last line: "Let's wander off hand in hand and get our Wassermann tests."
*******************

Deaths = 2 (one drowned; one poisoned)

Ten Pins Game: 2026-2027

 Rick at the Mystillery has the bowling lanes waxed, the bowling pins polished, and the bowling shoes all lined up for those who don't have their own. Your reading challenge goal is to knock down all ten pins using books with numerals in the title. You can use any book read this year. For full details click on the link above.

I've got my bowling shoes on and am on my way to knocking all ten pens down:

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (3/2/26)

Two Bronze Pennies by Chris Nickson (7/20/26)

"Two Out of Three Rule" by Patrick J. Hurley (5/2/26)

The Fourth Policeman by Craig Rice (2/25/26)

"Nineteen Sixty-Four Ford Falcon" by Tim Foley  [Wild Card] (5/2/26)

 The Six Iron Spiders by Phoebe Atwood Taylor [2 deaths] (5/30/26)

 "The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly" by Fred Senese (5/2/26)

"The Poisoned Dow '08" by Dorothy L. Sayers (1/31/26)

  

And Then There Were None (Audio Version Redux)

 And Then There Were None (1939) by Agatha Christie
[read by Hugh Fraser

For those who would like a more in-depth look at my views on the story itself, please see my previous review under the previous title: Ten Little Indians

And Then There Were None (1939) is one of Agatha Christie's most famous mysteries and the plot is well-known among mystery fans. It regularly makes "Best Of" lists--from Best Crime & Mystery Novels to Best Books of the 20th Century to PBS's Great American Read. One would think that everyone would know the story by now. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, I regularly find people in my life who don't--who have never read it. Or seen one of the adaptations. Or listened to it on audio. And every time I convince one of them to give it a try, I make the same offer. If they can read it and honestly tell me at the end of the book that they figured it out before the grand reveal...then I will buy them dinner at any restaurant of their choosing. Over 30 years of periodic offers and I have not had to pay up once. Dame Agatha was that good at what she did.

This time it was my own son who hadn't experience this particular Christie masterpiece. Whenever he and I make a car trip together (usually to go visit my parents), he indulges me and listens to audio mystery novels. I prefer to listen to audio novels for books I've already read in print form (especially in the car so it won't matter if I don't hear every detail). It is always fun to listen to his commentary as he hears a story for the first time that I already know what happens. When we got to the afterword portion of ATTWN, I stopped the CD and asked if he knew who did it. He didn't--I will say that he (like a few of my friends) had his eye on the correct culprit until certain events made him revise his guess. By the time everyone was dead, he was just as baffled as everyone else I've known. (Including me--I didn't figure it out when I first read it either). 

Christie's story is always a five star read for me. If I could give double-points this time I would--just because I had such a good time listening to it with Kyle. ★★★★★

First Line: In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the Times.

Last Line: And they will find ten bodies and an unsolved problem on Indian. Island. 
************************

Deaths = 21 total [eleven by the island murderer (four poisoned; one strangled; one stabbed; two shot; one drowned; two hit) and ten+ caused by our current murder victims (two run over; three neglect/medical malpractice; one shot (war); two drowned; one hung; one overdose [and a bunch of unnamed natives that Philip Lombard left to die in the jungle])

The Clue of the Broken Locket

 The Clue of the Broken Locket (Original text 1934/Revised text 1965) by Carolyn Keene

Once again I have returned to the revised text which I read when growing up. This book was my all-time favorite Nancy Drew novel and I wanted to see if it held up when read in my mid-fifties rather than during elementary school. I thought that I might read both versions of the text, but I think I'll put off the original text for another time. I was more in the mood for nostalgia than I was for a different version.

Here, Nancy, Bess, and George make a trip to Misty Lake. Carson Drew has asked Nancy to meet a young woman by the name of Cecily Curtis and give her the key to a cabin on the lake. The job was originally assigned to Mr. Winch, the cabin's caretaker, but Winch has cried off the job. He swears the place is haunted and that a ghostly launch appears out on the lake. Nancy, of course, can't resist the mystery. 

And then once the girls meet Cecily, Nancy is faced with two more mysteries. Cecily's fiancé, popular singer Niko Van Dyke, is missing royalty payments for all of the records sold of his latest hit single. He's sure that the record company is cheating him, but there may be more to the story. In addition, Cecily is on the hunt for a treasure that belongs to her family. According to a note in a locket passed down in the family, a clue is supposed to be hidden in "an iron bird" on the family's estate--but the estate was sold long ago and records have been lost. Cecily believes that Pudding Stone Lodge on Misty Lake previously belonged to her family and longs to investigate. 

The lodge is currently being rented by a surly man by the name of Driscoll and his brother--and his wife. After an uncomfortable encounter with Mr. Surly Driscoll, his brother comes to apologize and offers the girls the opportunity to search for Cecily's iron bird. But strange events start happening--Nancy gets locked out on the roof: there are a pair of twins that don't look very much like the Driscolls; there's a flashing light from a little round window in an inaccessible part of the house; and there are odd humming noises coming from the beach near the lodge. Before Nancy is done, she will have solve the mystery of the iron bird and the mystery of twins and the light...and the mystery of Niko's missing royalties. 

Well...I enjoyed my trip down memory lane. The story is still thoroughly enjoyable and I love the adventures that Nancy and company get up to. I know a bit about the original text and it's both interesting and a bit baffling how the original storyline of the children is used. Other than adding one more mystery to the already full plotline, I'm not sure how much it adds. There are always coincidences involved in any Nancy Drew story, but we do push the limits a bit on this one. I'm not going to change my rating, though. I loved this book as a child and I'm giving it the full ★★★★★ that I originally handed out.

First line: As Nancy Drew seated herself at the breakfast table, she noticed a door key beside her plate.

Last line: "I'll never, never forget you or the clue of the broken locket!"
********************

Deaths = one auto accident 

Random Killer

 Random Killer (1981) by Hugh Pentecost

Most days, everything runs like clockwork at the Hotel Beaumont in NYC. That's thanks to Pierre Chambrun, manager extraordinaire, and his loyal army of hotel employs. But today is different--in the morning, in Suite 3406, the breakfast table was set for two, but Geoffrey Hammond, one of the world's best and sometimes most hated television journalists, doesn't get to sample the culinary delights from the kitchen. When the waiter returns to retrieve the serving cart, he finds Hammond strangled to death...with picture wire. Chambrun and Mark Haskell, Chambrun's right-hand man, are just getting things calmed down when another guest is found strangled. Joanna Frasier, women's lib advocate, had laid out all the accoutrements for a cocktail tête-à-tête but who as her unexpected guest?

In each case, the victims' secretaries had no record of an expected breakfast or cocktail partner. And there was no struggle, so Hammond and Frasier must have been comfortable enough with the other person to turn their backs on him or her. At first, it looks like the Beaumont just has a psycho roaming the halls, killing famous acquaintances at random--and the Beaumont is full of famous personages. But as Chambrun, Haskell, and Lt. Hardy begin digging, they find a connection to a similar murder a couple of years ago at a ski lodge in Colorado. Sharon Dain had been accused and convicted of strangling her lover with picture wire. There were many who thought Dain was innocent and both Hammond and Frasier were approached to lend their influence to help the defense. Both turned the suggestions down for difference reasons. When others are killed in connection with the Dain case, it becomes clear that someone has taken it upon themselves to eliminate those who didn't help Sharon "enough" (whatever that means in the killer's mind). 

Chambrun is convinced that someone in the hotel must have seen something...but will he find out who and what before it's too late?

I have to say--I don't care how exclusive, how nice the Beaumont is. It's one of the last fictional hotels I'd want to stay in. Considering how many books are in this series, the odds of getting knocked off are about as high as if you were visiting Jessica Fletcher in Cabot Cove (or anywhere in her vicinity wherever she is). Probably higher, because the Beaumont tends towards multiple murders and Jessica seems to run to one per episode. Why on earth you'd want to stay at a hotel where the guests drop like flies is beyond me. But...setting aside that little thought...is this a good mystery?

Yes. It's actually one of the better clued and better plotted mysteries in the Chambrun line-up (not that I haven't enjoyed the others I've read). You have to fill in some blanks and work off of things that are implied--but you absolutely can get there from what Pentecost gives us on the page. Just remember...you've got to mistrust what people tell you. The one quibble I have is how Pentecost tends to recycle plot points. The ending of this one and Murder in Luxury (my most previous read--though it appears two books further in the series) are almost identical: Killer knows Chambrun is on to them. Killer takes hostages and insists on escape vehicle. Chambrun comes up with plan to nab the killer on the way to the escape vehicle that will keep the killer from killing the hostages. But that's a small quibble for an other-wise very good mystery. ★★★★

First line: I suppose if you were psychotic and you wanted to kill famous people at random, you couldn't find a better hunting ground than the Hotel Beaumont.

Last line: "We still have a hotel to run."
*****************

Deaths = 5 strangled

[Finished on 9/25/26]

Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion

 Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion (1941/1971) by Carolyn Keene
[originally published in 1941; I have read the revised edition first published in 1971]

Apparently there is a substantial change in the storyline between the original and revised texts. I do have an original text copy around here somewhere (haven't found it on the TBR mountain range yet). The revised version is what I grew up with. In this edition, Mr. Billington, a client of Carson Drew's (with interests in New York, though a resident of Florida) has been charged with hiding explosives within the oranges sent in the latest batch for the Cape Kennedy Space Center. He swears he had no idea that explosives had been stuffed in the oranges and has asked Carson to help his Florida lawyer find out who has framed him and why. 

Carson brings Nancy along to help with the detective work and, of course, she invites Bess and George to join them as well.  And later Ned, Burt, and Dave come to Florida as well.There's all sorts of mysterious goings-on at the orange farm and the spooky old neighboring moss-covered mansion--from the odd behavior of Billington's packing plant manager and wife (who serve as houseman and housekeeper as well) to the men who live at the mansion to the wild animals that roam the mansion's fenced-in grounds. Someone sets fire to the orange grove, Nancy and Ned are locked in another old house, and the motorboat (in which they traveled) is stolen. Someone wants the Drews and company to leave the matter alone...but Nancy can never leave a mystery unsolved--especially when the entire space program may be at risk!

The reread of the revised version hit me about the same as it did when I read it back in the mid- to late-seventies. It's a decent story with a good amount of action and it was nice to see Ned have a fair amount to do as a partner in Nancy's investigation. But the story just didn't grab me. I had a difficult time with the explosive oranges (did the bad guys really think that would work?). The back-up plan with the laser seemed to be a much better idea. A fun afternoon's read and walk down memory lane. When I find my original text copy, I'll be interested to see how it compares. ★★★

First line: The Drews' living room was in semidarkness as Nancy walked in.

Last line: "But I'm terribly proud of you!"
*********************

Deaths = one natural

[finished on 9/23/26]

October Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

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The Man Who Killed Fortescue

 The Man Who Killed Fortescue (1928) by Dorothy Stockbridge Tillett [originally under the name John Stephen Strange]

Synopsis from the back of the book: Charles Anstruther, a popular mystery story writer had long been interested in the unsolved murder of the millionaire John Fortescue. He had spent much time and effort sifting all the available evidence and tracking down various clues. And he was near a solution to the case.

One warm summer night Anstruther left his uptown club and took the Fifth Avenue bus home. Double-decker buses were quite common in New York in the 1920s and Anstruther chose to sit well up forward on the upper deck. At the end of the run, at Washington Square, the conductor mounted the stairs for a last survey of the upper seats. Anstruther's crouched figure made no answer to the conductor's polite "End of the run, sir" because sometime during the course of the bus's run his throat had been neatly cut.

It was now up to Van Dusen Ormsberry, a great but very human detective to take charge of this baggling case and determine if the man who killed Fortescue was indeed responsible for Anstruther's death....

Ormsberry suspects this to be very much the case. And he's determined to find out--especially since the Fortescue case was one of his failures. Fortescue's stepdaughter Joan Archer had been accused and tried for the crime, but it wasn't Ormsberry's brilliant detective work that kept her from being found guilty. The jury managed that on their own. But the "not guilty" verdict hasn't saved the young woman's reputation and polite society feels very strongly that there isn't smoke without fire. If only Ormsberry had been able to discover the true villain, then Joan's reputation would have been saved and she might be married to the young man who still loves her. Instead, she has removed herself from society and broken her engagement to Brian Channing.

And...in an awful twist, the police now believe that Brian Channing may have killed both Fortescue (with or without Joan's help) and now Anstruther. Ormsberry is certain that there is something deeper than a lover's wish to free up Joan's inheritance. He follows several clues and finally comes to the conclusion that if he can just discover who the man was whom Anstruther was talking to in the club prior to his fateful bus trip that all will become clear. But how can he identify a man who nobody else saw?

This has a brilliant beginning--with the discovery of the body on the bus and a nice scene where certain witnesses see things that could be interpreted in a variety of ways. If the entire plot had remained as interesting, I would have given this a solid four stars OR if Ormsberry's sidekick "the Admiral" (a young boy who idolizes the amateur detective) had been onstage for more of the proceedings. He does a great deal of good detective work offstage and we just get told about it. It would have been much more enjoyable to join the Admiral in his exploits. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: Despite the oppressive sultriness of the night, the bus that rattled down through the curtained Thirties about half-past nine was almost empty.

Joan cast at him a blighting look expressive of woman's innate conviction at the ineradicable stupidity of man. (p. 275)

Last line: "You bet, sir!" cried the Admiral heartily, as man to man, and on these terms they parted for the night.

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

Deaths = 3 (two stabbed; one shot)

Death Likes It Hot

 Death Likes It Hot (1954) by Edgar Box (Gore Vidal)

The third in a trio of mysteries written by Gore Vidal under the name of Edgar Box. After his novel The City and the Pillar (1948) which featured descriptions of homosexuality that caused him to be blacklisted by The New York Times, Vidal donned the Box pseudonym and used it to produce the three novels for cold, hard cash. His series stars Peter Cutler Sargeant III, a publicity man turned amateur detective when his business lands him in the middle of three murder cases.

Although I have all three of Vidal's mysteries, I've been tackling them in a somewhat random order. Having previously read Death Before Bedtime, it looks like our author has a fondness for Golden Age-style country house mysteries. Bedtime was focused on the political scene in 1950s Washington D.C. while the current mystery is set at a lavish beach house in the East Hamptons. Sargeant is hired by Rose Veering to give her the right kind of publicity for an upcoming party. Rose is "new money" and has found it difficult to be accepted in the exclusive Hamptons. She hopes that making a nice splash with a party full of society's best and brightest will help boost her standing. 

So, Sargeant is invited to an advance weekend gathering where he and the hostess can discuss plans for the upcoming event. Also on hand is Veering's niece Mildred and her painter husband Brexton; Allie and Fletcher Claypoole, a brother and sister pair who seem more like a married couple than siblings; and Mary Western Lung, a garrulous author and book columnist who sticks to Sargeant through the weekend like a limpet. It looks like Sargeant's toughest job will be to escape Lung's clutches. Until...

The group goes to the beachfront and has a front row seat to watch Mildred Brexton drown. Fletcher Claypoole and our hero try to reach her in time, but are just too late. Initially, it seems to be a tragic accident caused by the powerful riptide--but then an autopsy proves that Mildred had a handful of sleeping pills before entering the water. Did the unhappy wife choose a very public suicide or did someone spike her breakfast drink? When Sargeant is slugged over the head upon his late-night return to the house, it begins to look a lot like murder. The PR man has had some previous encounters with murder and decides to lend a helping hand to Detective Greaves, the policeman assigned to investigate. But they won't gather sufficient evidence before another death occurs...will they be able to prevent one more?

This one appealed to me more than my previous Gore Vidal outing. Vidal gives us a better portrayal of the country house mystery. There are plenty of suspects and he muddies the waters well. I also liked Sargeant more than in Bedtime. He seems much more engaged in the mystery and more dedicated to detective. He still wants to show up the local detective but he's more consistent this time around. And--Vidal wins points for keeping me mystified until the end. I definitely did not spot the murderer. ★★★★

First line: The death of Peaches Sandoe the midget at the hands, or rather the feet, of a maddened elephant in the sideshow circus at Madison Square Garden was at first thought to be an accident, the sort of tragedy you're bound to run into from time to time if you run a circus with both elephants and midgets in it.

Last line: "Well, you see this elephant..."
*********************

Deaths = 3 (one trampled by elephant; one drowned; one throat cut)

[Finished on 9/17/26]

Murder in Luxury

 Murder in Luxury (1981) by Hugh Pentecost (Judson Philips)

Murder takes over the exclusive Hotel Beaumont once more and its legendary manager Pierre Chambrun and Mark Haskell, his publicity manager and right-hand man, are going to have to stop it in its tracks. When a drug pusher/pimp is found shot to death in the apartment of Valerie Summers, her lawyer (a friend of Chambrun's) presumes upon his old friend to give the lady a place to stay. Valerie had come to New York to escape publicity and bad memories after her beloved husband had died in a fire. She's the lonely, rich heiress of the McCandless fortune who just wanted a place where she could be anonymous and forget the past. But now she finds herself suspect number one in the murder of a man she says she's never seen...and she's beginning to think she carries a load of deadly bad luck for anyone she comes in contact with. Her mother died giving her life. Her husband died in a fire. A friend and her son died in a plane crash after Val gave them the money to fly. And now this. And the man in her apartment isn't the last. Another man is found dead in her hotel room and then the policeman assigned to guard her room is killed. Lieutenant Keegan, the police detective in charge of the case, is sure that Val is mad killer behind that beautiful face. The only problem is--he and another officer and her lawyer were all with her when that police guard was killed. And if she didn't kill him then maybe she didn't kill the other two. But if not...then who did? Chambrun and Haskell are determined to find out.

*************Slight Spoiler Ahead***************

The entire time I was reading this I had a feeling of déjà vu. I can find no indication that I have read this one before (not even in the days before blogging), but the ending felt especially familiar. Maybe I read it and just forgot to log it. Anyway...the ending spectacular--mostly due to Mrs. Victoria Haven, the 81-year-old permanent resident of one of the three penthouse suites at the top of the hotel. She comes bursting into the grand finale and does everything she can to get the killer to break his hold on Valerie and Mark. Her time on the stage is well worth the price of admission. The mystery is pretty middle of the road--the culprit isn't well-hidden because, quite frankly, there just aren't many suspects to be had. Especially if you know (as anyone who reads even one of the series will know) that if Chambrun and Haskell are protecting someone in one of their hotel rooms, then that someone didn't do it. But the build-up to the finale is good and I thoroughly enjoy Chambrun and his world. So, overall a good solid read. ★★★ 

First line: Looking back at the many stories I've written about murder and violence at the Beaumont, New York's top luxury hotel, people might get the notion that that gracious and elegant establishment is not a place to stay in safety.

Last line: "I'm sure as hell going to try, ma'am," I said.
*******************

Deaths = 8 (four shot; one natural; one fire; two plane crash)

Property of a Lady

 Property of a Lady (1983) by Anthony Oliver

Margaret Garland came into a fair inheritance when her mother died. She'd spent her time taking care of her mother and hadn't really had much of a life outside the home. She opts to stay in the cottage in Flaxfield rather than the flat in London. One evening when driving home, she spies a young man hitchhiking along the road. Everything she's been taught tells her she shouldn't stop--but seeing his pale face in the rearview mirror, she finds herself braking and giving him a lift. He's in such a bad way that she takes him in and her doctor tells her that it would be best if he weren't moved, but it could be arranged if Margaret would prefer not to have a stranger in the house.

Lizzie Thomas is the nosey parker older woman in the village. Her binoculars (a gift from her friend, retired police inspector John Webber, sees Mark Carter helped into Margaret's house. All her inquisitive instincts are on the alert, but she has a difficult job finding out anything about him at first. It's revealed, however, that he was on his way to visit his mother who is a resident at Henworth Hall--a health spa for wealthy ladies in need of dieting, relaxation, or just some time out of the spotlight. He's also the son of  the (now deceased) well-known antiques dealer who was half of Carter & Monmouth...and he has quite the flair for antiques himself. It soon becomes apparent that Margaret is quite smitten. 

Lizzie on the other hand is bothered by the young man and an incident involving her cat Bunter makes her even more uneasy. Then Mark just up and disappears--and so does his mother. Lizzie can't leave that alone and, so, with the help of Webber and her son-in-law Jimmy "Betsey" Trottwood, a local antiques dealer she sets out to find out everything she can about Mark Carter. Some of it is unsettling indeed, but, as Webber points out, none of it is actionable. They are left in a wait-and-see mode until an explosive grand finale which takes place in the middle of a very tense round of bidding at a local auction.

As I've mentioned in reviews of other titles by Oliver, his strong suit is his characters.  John and Lizzie are well-defined, interesting, and, most importantly, believable people. As are most of the supporting characters. Lizzie is the queen of the art of gossip.  And we know this because Oliver makes it plain in her interactions with the other characters. She manages to find just the right tone to take with each person she talks to and succeeds where more official inquiries fail. I've read mysteries before where a certain character supposedly just had this "quality" that made others confide all sorts of secrets to them...but I never got a real feel for why that was.  I certainly never thought that I'd be spilling the beans to them myself.  With Lizzie, it's different.  I could see her plopping a cup of tea and some biscuits down if front of me and in no time at all she'd know everything I had to tell. I thoroughly enjoy the way Lizzie and John interact and form a team.

Several reviewers have mentioned how humorous Oliver's stories are. I don't think I could say that the mystery itself is humorous; it's really quite dark at times, especially in the finale. But the relationship between Lizzie & John--hysterical. Just the picture of her convincing him to sit in his underpants in front of the coal fire to soothe his arthritis is enough--let alone her running commentary on the matter. 

This really isn't a whodunnit. We know very early on who the suspect is. It is more of a what-exactly-has-he-done and are-we-going-to-be-able-to-prove-it? When it comes to the mystery, I much prefer that there be a definite crime to solve and trying to figure out who did it rather than knowing that somebody is up to something (or has been up to something) and can we figure out what and pin it on them when we do. But as a character study, it's brilliant. ★★★  primarily for the characters.

First line: Everyone said it was dangerous.

Last lines: I must find someone to look after my cat. Someone kind.
*********************

Deaths = 6 (two natural; one drowned; one hit by train; one beheaded; one shot)

Who Killed Me?

 Who Killed Me? (1979) by Joan Allan

Valerie Lambert is an account executive for an advertising agency that is producing commercials for a new perfume named for Meri Milton, film star. Setting up filming schedules for ten one-minute commercials shot at various London landmarks was a feat in and of itself, but dealing with the bickering between Meri and the film's director, Hans Richmond, and the hostility between Meri and Nelson Bishop, the rising star executive for Associated Cosmetics (home of the new perfume), and the resentment between Hans and Nelson was enough to drive Valerie to distraction. And just when she's successfully smoothed the ruffled feathers of the movie star and her director, two policemen show up at her hotel room at one o-clock in the morning and ask her to come with them. At the end of their journey is the dead body of Nelson Bishop--a knife in his chest and a note pinned to his suit jacket that says:

WHO KILLED ME? ASK VALERIE LAMBERT. 836-4343

It follows that Inspector Haverstock is curious to know why Valerie's name is on the note. She gives him all the background info she can and, once the time of death is established, is cleared of suspicion. So, of course, she wants to lend a hand in the investigation. 

She and Haverstock will have to sift through the suspects. There are the obvious ones--Meri and Hans. But were their disagreements with the executive deep enough to result in murder? There is also the head of Associated Cosmetics, Perry Nash, who may have found that his anticipated successor had a few too many skeletons in the closet--or had too great an interest in Nash's daughter Adrienne. Which brings us to Adrienne--she and Bishop had a fling but then she transferred her affections to an older actor by the name of Clifford Frampton. Maybe Bishop didn't want to take no for an answer? As our two detectives keep digging, they discover that Bishop had a little side-line of blackmail going on. Maybe he pushed one of his victims just a little too far?

This another of a series of Zebra Mystery Puzzler Books that I got in an assortment for Christmas a couple of years. As indicated on the cover, the set-up for these books is that all the clues necessary for the reader to solve the mystery before the final reveal are given in the cover photo, various illustrations within the story, and, as with good mysteries clues given in the text. I obtained and read one of this series a very long time ago (over 30 years) and enjoyed it (thus the request for my hubby to order up the Zebra books on Ebay). Since then I've read three of the lot of fifteen or so with mixed results. 

In general, this series consists of pretty solid but somewhat lightweight mysteries. And even when I thought the clues given in the pictures weren't especially necessary to solve the mystery(because there weren't enough red herring suspects or whatever) at least the clues were there in case you needed them. However--for this mystery, nearly all of the clues make sense only after the solution is revealed. I didn't pick up a single one before the reveal and I can't for the life of me figure out what the extra clue is on the cover. Everything you see--from the knife to the message--is explained in the text. 

I also find it really difficult to believe that Haverstock would allow some random American to flit about in his Scotland Yard investigation AND that she would have better ideas about tracking down the knife and the pen used for the note than an experienced police detective. He acts like her discoveries are just brilliant and who would have thought? Yes, there are all sorts of amateurs barging into official investigations in detective fiction and I happily go along with most of them--when there's a good mystery plot payoff. Unfortunately, I'm not buying it this time. ★ and 1/2 (I almost gave it two, but I don't think it's as good as another Zebra Puzzler that I did give two stars, so...)

First line: Valerie Lambert's knife sliced through a pâté of fresh duck livers, truffles, and pistachio nuts.

Last line: Whoever was calling Valerie Lambert was going to have to wait.
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Deaths = 2 (one stabbed; one drowned)