Dance of Death

 Dance of Death (1938) by Helen McCloy

This is McCloy's debut novel as well as the debut of her detective, Dr. Basil Willing whose specialty is psychology. Oh...and the crime setting is the debut party for a debutante. Debuts all over the place. 

The story begins with Butch and Buddy, two street repair workers who have been enlisted to help in the removal of the drifts of snow lining the streets of New York. They get the shock of their life when their shovels uncover a frozen corpse. Or...a corpse they expect to be frozen. And as we find out...

"B-But it ain't froze!" Buddy choked. "It's--hot!"

Not only is the body very warm, the face is stained a bright yellow. So, that's the puzzle that confronts the New York Police Department: how can a girl's body be hot to the touch when it's been buried in snow all night? And by the time the Commissioner tells the story to Willing, who is a consultant for the District Attorney's office, they have little hope of finding out. They haven't even been able to identify the girl. Despite the Commissioner's belief in solid clues over psychology, it's Basil Willing who is able to put a name to the face and put the medical examiner on the track of the murder method. 

Catherine "Kitty" Jocelyn had recently appeared in ads for Sveltis, a slimming concoction containing an ingredient which raises the basal temperature...and which can be quite deadly, even in small doses. And the corpse has Kitty's face. Willing tells the Commissioner who his hot corpse is. There's just one problem--Kitty has been seen out in public after the corpse was found. Then...Ann Jocelyn Claude, Kitty's cousin, comes walking into Willing's office seeking his help. She says that her cousin has disappeared. Ann resembles her cousin so much that she could have been mistaken for Kitty. And that's just what happened.

The night before the body was found was Kitty's debutante ball. Just before the party, Kitty falls ill and her stepmother--who cannot afford to cancel and hold another party for the girl--comes up with a brilliant plan. Since Ann looks so much like Kitty, they ask Kitty's maid to style Ann's hair to match her cousin's and to use the art of make-up to complete the look. Ann will pretend to be Kitty and then, once Kitty has recovered, she can make the circuit of other debutante activities. All goes well until after the party is over and they discover that Kitty is gone. Ann's step-aunt insists that she continue the masquerade until Kitty has been found, but Ann senses that something is wrong. Having heard of Basil Willing, she comes to him to ask him to help find Kitty. He's certain that he already has....Now all he has to do is figure out who slipped Sveltis into Kitty's drink and killed her.

I really enjoyed this introduction to Basil Willing. McCloy does an excellent job of laying the background in short descriptive passages. Even though we dive right into the plot, she still manages to give us enough information about the characters that we feel like we know them. The setting, method, and motive are all interesting. I will say that as soon as one particular clue was brought on stage, I pinpointed the culprit. But even though that was fairly early in the story that didn't detract from my enjoyment. It was interesting to see McCloy reveal the psychology behind the motive--which went a little deeper than what I was able to pick up on. Overall, a very nicely done debut. ★★★★

First line: The snow began to fall Tuesday, about cocktail time--huge flakes whirling spirally in a north wind.

In half our murder cases we have no way of identifying the body at the beginning. It isn't like detective stories where a man gets murdered in his own library while there are a dozen convenient suspects in the house (General Archer; p. 6)

BW: How did she die?
GA: Heat stroke.
BW: But--that's impossible!
GA: That's the trouble with police work. The impossible is always happening.
(Basil Willing; General Archer; p. 7)

The laboratory fellows can always tell you what a thing isn't. But they can't always tell you what it is. (General Archer; p. 8)

"But, I warn you, we can't do anything without more evidence."
"And how are you going to get more evidence if you don't do anything?" asked Basil sweetly.
(General Archer, Basil Willing; p. 20)

MS: If you'd only begin at the beginning!
AJC: But that's so hard, isn't it? Because nothing ever really has a beginning. There's always something before that and something before that and so on.
(Morris Sobel; Ann Jocelyn Claude; p. 26)

GA: It can't be murder!...Because--well, really! Edgar Jocelyn belongs to my club!
MS: I'm afraid that's not evidence.
(General Archer, Morris Sobel; p. 54)

[about the slimming product's beautiful lady on the label]
A skull and crossbones would be more appropriate. But the modern buccaneer doesn't sail under the Jolly Roger. He would regard it as the wrong kind of publicity. (Basil Willing; p. 120)

Last line: There was a howl of static, and then came a clear, resonant voice: "...you have just been listening to Stravinsky's 'Fire Bird" through the courtesy of Sveltis, the reducing method of the sophisticate. Science says..."
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Deaths = 4 (two poisoned; two natural)