The Clue of the Leather Noose: Review

It was not only the actions of the two women which worried him. Mystery stalked grimly amid the shadows of the old house. (p. 62)

Watson Gregg is found murdered on a public boardwalk during a quite busy hour of the day. In fact, no less than four people approached him in his rolling chair near the time of his death. His death is an odd one--strangulation with a yellow, leather "necklace." And he is a man that will be mourned by few--a cruel man who has wooed and discarded women as it suited him and who had no problem using men such as his doctor with no regard for them as human beings. But which of his associates hated him enough to kill? Was it the young woman who sprang from his chair distressed and crying? Or one of the other women who paused to talk with him on the boardwalk? Or maybe it was the tall man who seemed to share a joke with this humorless man? Or perhaps there was someone who wasn't noticed at all? Captain Jerry Blake has his hands full tracking down motives and suspects and the young lovers in the case, Larry and Lannon, aren't sure whom they can trust.


This one has a very pulpy, very B-movie feel to it--that doesn't prevent it from being a lot of fun.  You have the evil man done to death--with plenty of people with motive to wish him dead--from Larry and his jealousy to Gregg's current women (who may realize that Gregg is starting to tire of her) to his discarded wife to his overworked, underpaid doctor to his tormented servant to the hardened criminal-type with shady connections. You've got a blackmailer and an inscrutable Japanese servant and a slightly wacky "coloured" maid who seems to have a thing for spirits and "debbels" (although her devils are of a more human nature). 

You've also got the menacing tall man who threatens Lannon--who in standard B-movie fashion can do nothing practical about her predicament but screech loudly, freeze firmly in place so the villain can grab her, and wait for her handsome hero to come to her rescue.


Lannon looked about her wildly. There was something about this man that was utterly terrifying. She did not know what to do. (pp. 137-8) 

Which, of course he does--and once he realizes that Lannon really does love him and is rooting for him to knock the baddie's block off, he really sets about it properly. This pleases Lannon to no end...

After all, one can get a mighty big kick out of having two men fighting over you! Particularly when one is only twenty. (p. 147) 

So...you've also got a lot of action and fist-fights and sneaking around in the dark and under the boardwalk and through spooky, old house. And to wrap it all up, you've got Captain Blake rounding up all the suspects and witnesses and pointing the finger of suspicion at each one before finally Revealing All. Is it original? No.  Does it play fair? Not particularly--the good captain has a few clues stuffed up his sleeve which we never got a peek at. But it is good clean fun and a pleasant hour or two of reading. 2.75 stars.

This fulfills the "Murder Method in the Title" square on the Golden Vintage Bingo Card and was actually finished on March 31, 2014.