It's gearing up outside for a real humdinger of a storm. Thunder rolling all over the sky. Lights have dimmed once or twice. And I've been reading Death's Old Sweet Song, a 1940s American Golden Age mystery. It's not bad...not exactly a "golden" Golden Age book, but typical. And, at least, it's not hard-boiled, even though there is quite a little murder-spree going on. At the moment, five victims and counting....
I always find it interesting when an author uses an old song or poem or nursery rhyme (or some such thing) to set up a string of murders. Agatha Christie used this method to good effect in several of her novels and short stories. The question, as always, is do we have a lunatic on our hands who just happened to go batty with this song in his head and now just "has" to go out and kill people to suit the song...or do we have a perfectly sane villain who is trying make the police think he's mad while he bumps off the key victim in the midst of the red herrings? Generally speaking, it's usually the latter--but it's a good writer who can keep you guessing till the end. I have my theory, but I'm still not certain at page 182 out of 239. Ol' Jonathan Stagge's doing a pretty good job so far.
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