2022 Reprint of the Year: The Conjure-Man Dies

In 2018, Kate at Cross Examining Crime came up with brilliant brainstorm. In the wake of various publishing houses recognizing the virtues of Golden Age (and more recent) vintage crime novels through reprint editions of both well-known and more obscure titles, Kate thought those of us who love those vintage mysteries would like the chance to feature the year's reprints and make a pitch for our favorites to be voted Reprint of the Year. We loved the idea so much that we have mande it an annual event.

So, this Saturday and next, I and my illustrious colleagues Aidan, Brad, Hayley, Janet,  Jim, John (Pretty Sinister Books), John (Countdown John), Puzzle Doctor, Karen, and Kate will feature our picks of the 2022 reprint crop and make our best bid for reprint stardom.

My first pick is The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher. It was first published in 1932 (reprinted this year by Library of Congress Crime Classics) and is remarkable for the time period. Fisher was an African American author of the Harlem Renaissance and his mystery features an all African American case of characters--from the victim to the suspects to the doctors and the police offiers. Set in Harlem, Fisher gives us an insider's view of Harlem in the early 1930s. The story centers around the death of Frimbo, a conjure-man or fortune teller. But Frimbo was more--he was an African king who came to America, earned a degree from Harvard, studied philosophy and was proficient in science. He had a gift of observation (almost Holmesian) that allowed him to pick up little details about his clients--making his pronouncements about them and their circumstances seem magical. He makes his predictions in a room shrouded in darkness save for a bright light focused on the client. Frimbo is killed while he is in the middle of a consultation with Jinx, a somewhat surly man who refuses to tell the truth about anything on general principle. 

His best pal, Bubber, runs across the street to summon Dr. John Archer who finds the victim with a head wound. But upon close examination he determines that the blow was not the cause the death. By this time the police, with Detective Perry Dart in the lead, have arrived and the first task is to determine exactly how the conjure-man was killed. And then they will have to sift through seven suspects to find the culprit. The plot is full of red herrings and twists. We have everything from the mysterious servant who has vanished, somewhat hidden passageways, a disappearing corpse, a man who comes back from the dead, a possibly not-so side plot with vengeful gamblers, and the burning of evidence in the middle of the night. And--an exciting finish to wrap it all up.

This is an absorbing book and well worth your attention. Not only is it important historically to the Golden Age of American mysteries, but it is a cleverly constructed mystery with enough twists and turns to satisfy mystery readers of all sorts. I figured out part of the twisty plot--but the final reveal was a definite surprise. I've read that, had he not died much too soon after this was published, Fisher planned to write at least two sequels and I believe the mystery field is much poorer for his loss. This is quite a good book for a debut mystery and one can only believe that the follow-up stories would have been even stronger.  

Though it has seen reprints since its first appearance in 1932--including the copy I read printed by the University of Michigan Press--The Conjure-Man Dies has not yet been included in our annual ROY awards. I hope the judges will give great consideration to this important early mystery.