The Bell in the Fog

 The Bell in the Fog (1936) by John Stephen Strange (Dorothy Stockbridge Tillett)

Barney Gantt isn't too pleased. After being in hospital for several weeks because of injuries suffered from a train wreck and explosion, he thinks he's going back on duty at the Globe. But when the photographer shows up for work and promptly faints on his boss's floor, he's sent to the quiet island of Sowback where "nothing ever happens." All he'll be expected to do is fish. He expects to be bored stiff. But he winds up fishing for a murderer instead of cod.

The mystery begins with an odd postal robbery. Job Reardon, postman, grocer and ferryman for island, discovers that someone has slit a hole in the postbag he was carrying to the mainland and taken just one letter. He claims not to remember who it was to or from, but Barney doesn't believe him. Then the only other stranger who traveled by the boat to the island is found dead on the beach--stabbed in the back. Barney is the one who finds him and his nose for news has him taking pictures of the corpse and searching the clothes for clues to the man's identity. Not a paper or an ID card to be found--not even a return ticket. Which definitely strikes Barney as odd because he distinctly remembered the man mentioning that he'd be going back to the mainland. 

Barney's friend, Postal Inspector Tom Powell is on the island to investigate the mail bag incident, he's not the police, but until the police arrive from the mainland he takes up the murder investigation just in case it ties in with the missing letter. Neither he nor Barney can get Job Reardon to give any more details about the letter. Which is a shame...because if he'd told what he knew it's likely he wouldn't have been the next victim. Now Barney and Tom have two murders on their hands and they need to get busy finding the real killer. Otherwise, their old nemesis Jake Hewson of the State Police is bound to arrest an innocent man. 

This is the second Strange book that I've read--and also the second to feature Barney Gantt. Looking back at my previous review, I find that I've got the same minor complaint as before--I spotted the culprit too quickly. Not only is the plot fairly clued, I'd say that it's too fairly clued. The clues practically grab you by the hand and lead you down the correct path. Fortunately, Strange provides us with an interesting lead character in Gantt and I also appreciated his associates Postal Inspector Powell and Muriel, fellow newspaper staff member and his "heart throb." All three character are well-rounded--even though we don't see as much of Powell and Muriel. The fog and the island location make major contributions to the plot and Strange does a good job with setting the scene. She provides a good look at the small New England community in the years before the Second World War. ★★★ and 1/2.

First line: On a certain clear, cold day in February, Barney Gantt, a staff photographer for the New York Globe, was riding on a train through New Jersey. 

Barney admired pretty girls who chattered at dinner. He could bear it when they chattered at lunch, but a girl who chattered at four-thirty in the morning...He withdrew his pained gaze. (p. 11)

News spreads in a small place by some mysterious magic unknown in cities. (p. 40)

You'd think at my age, I'd have learned patience, wouldn't you? But I still think the hardest thing in the world to do is to wait. Especially, when you don't know what it is you're waiting for. (Mrs. Carney; p.65)

Last line: And went upstairs to get glasses and a bottle, humming cheerfully under his breath.

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Deaths = 8 (two stabbed; two drowned; two shot; one fell from height; one hanged)