The Voice of the Crab

 The Voice of the Crab (1974) by Charlotte Jay (Geraldine Halls)

Synopsis from the book flap (with a few additions--in bold--by me): A man named To'ula returned home to Kipi Island (where only seven people had wrist watches) in the southeastern division of Papua-New Guinea after having three years in prison in Port Moresby for the murder of his wife.

He'd just come back when the Voice of the Crab burned in his body. He fell, foaming  at the lips, onto the sand--and when he regained consciousness he hurried to tell the village elders that he had a message.

There were very few whites who lived in Kipi. Among them was tall, handsome Bruce Harding, the district officer, and his restless though calm-eyed wife, Alice. there was Sam Creeby, who was bitter and suspicious, who kept tinned food locked in a closet, who'd been a partner of a man named Dutch Willy (an undesirable, who had been told to keep away from Kipi). There was Arthur Knox, who'd once been a Queen's conssul, and his proper wife, Elsie, who wore stocking attached to a tight corset--and who lived by the times and mores of proper society. And there was Father Paul and Dr. Maximillian Schramm, a doctor whose skills are rusty and who has spent his life on drink ever since his daughter was raped and murdered. A murder that was never solved...

There was also Ivan West, an anthropologist, who'd been the first to write about the Kipis and their ancient Kula rituals. and who, when he returned to the island, recognized that something was very wrong, and not only because the Kipi chief was mysteriously ill, perhaps dying.

Billed as a mystery/suspense novel written in the 1970s and set in the 1950s on the fictional Papua-New Guinea island of Kipi, this reads to me as really bad social commentary disguised as a really poor mystery. Is there a mystery? Sortof. Are there murders? Sure. But they seem almost incidental. Bruce Harding, the man who's supposed to represent the law on the island (as he likes to remind folks) doesn't really investigate them. Actually, pretty much nobody investigates much of anything. A few of the white inhabitants go searching when people don't show up when/where expected. But they don't look for much in the way of evidence. The one thing they save (saying the officials on the main island will want to see it) probably isn't going to keep very well...Even when we finally find out who did what and why, there is no evidence that justice is going to be served for those who died. I like my mysteries to be given with clues and for the detective (there isn't one here) to arrange for the villain of the piece to get their just desserts. Not happening.

As far as I can tell, the purpose of this novel is to talk about the social effects of the white invasion on the islands of Papua New Guinea. And to discuss the social structure of the native inhabitants and the white settlers. Fine. I'm all for social commentary in its place--especially good social commentary (again, this isn't). If the mystery were stronger and could be linked to the social commentary, then that could work. But don't wrap it up in a flimsy mystery coating and try to pass it off as a "Harper Novel of Suspense." 

I'm having difficulty deciding on the the rating for this one. I keep waffling between one and one & 1/2 stars. But there's no way I'd round it up to two, so I guess I'll just stick to ★.

First line: One evening, just before sunset, a native of the Southeastern Division of Papua-New Guinea, named To'ula, was walking along the water's edge.

Last line: And Alice felt that never, never in her whole life had she been so happy.
************************

Deaths = 8 (two hit on head; two natural; one of fever; two stabbed; one broken neck)

Murder Every Monday: What a Crowd!

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is Titles that have a word indicating a group of people.

Bony & the Kelly Gang ~Arthur W. Upfield

The Gelignite Gang ~John Creasey

The Will of the Tribe ~Arthur W. Upfield

The Obituary Club ~Hugh Pentecost

The Dante Club ~Matthew Pearl

The Marlow Murder Club ~Robert Thorogood

Murder at the Boat Club ~Lee Strauss

This Club Frowns on Murder ~Albert Borowitz

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club ~Dorothy L. Sayers

The Tuesday Club Murders ~Agatha Christie

The Club Dumas ~Arturo Perez-Reverte

Murder at the Diogenes Club ~Gerald Lientz

Family Affairs ~Jan Ellery

The Family Tomb ~Michael Gilbert

The Family at Tammerton ~Margaret Erskine

Family Affair ~Ione Sandberg Shriber

The Hunting Party ~Lucy Foley

Death of the Party ~Leela Cutter

Hallowe'en Party ~Agatha Christie

A Little Class on Murder ~Carolyn G. Hart

The September Society ~Charles Finch

The Ship Without a Crew ~Howard Pease

Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau ~Guy Adams

Fellowship of Fear ~Aaron J. Elkins

Grey Mask

 Grey Mask (1928) by Patricia Wentworth (Dora Amy Turnbull)

Over four years ago Charles Moray was all set to marry the love of his life, Margaret Langton. But on the eve of their wedding, she suddenly broke their engagement with no warning and no explanation. England had nothing left for him and with ample funds to do as he liked, he set out to travel the world and try to forget the past. But now his father has died and he has come home to his inheritance. The house of his youth (and his family's for several generations) has remained closed for some time, save for the caretaker and his wife. Charles collects the keys and initially tells his lawyer that he won't go to the house for a few days. But a sudden fancy strikes him and he decides to go that very evening--only to find the Latterys out and mysterious men in what was his mother's sitting room. He creeps into a hidden cupboard and listens, appalled, to what can only be meetings between various members of a criminal organization led by someone referred to as Grey Mask. He overhears plans that seem to threaten the elimination of an unknown person. He's all ready to go for the police when a final person and enters and he hears a voice that he hasn't heard for four years.

What on earth is Margaret doing being number Twenty-Six for this dreadful group? Charles realizes that he can't possibly go to the police until he knows what Margaret's involvement is and can figure a way to keep her out of jail. Even if there's nothing left between them, he can't let her be arrested. He soon realizes that the gang's next victim is a new heiress who has just lost her father to a boating accident. When he confides in his friend Archie Millar who advises him to consult a trained detective, a sleuthess, and thus we first hear of Miss Maud Silver. Miss Silver has been simply a wonder tracking down lost jewelry and other odd little mysteries amongst Archie's cousin's set. Charles isn't at all sure that a female detective is what he needs, but he goes along to meet her anyway.

Between Miss Silver's investigation behind the scenes, the work of Charles and Archie to save the heiress, one Margot Standing, and Charles and Margaret coming back into contact--the group manage to foil the evil plot. But not without danger to nearly one and all. Margot is nearly run over by a bus and Charles and Margaret are shoved into a soundproof secret cellar by Grey Mask. Fortunately, Margaret is clever enough to leave a trail that only Miss Silver and Archie can follow and the cavalry (so to speak) gallup in to save the day at the last moment. 

This is the first entry in the Miss Silver mysteries by Wentworth, appearing nearly ten years before the second novel, The Case Is Closed (1938), would be released. It has more in common with Edgar Wallace and the other thrillers of the 1910s and 1920s than it does with the more mystery-focused stories of the later installments. All of the Miss Silver mysteries have an element of suspense and danger, but this first one is focuses on those elements far more than on the identity of Grey Mask. And the Margot Standing character brings in a romantic gothic element as well--she thrills with the idea of being the romantic heroine with brave men to rescue her and suffering (but not too much) at the hands of the villain. Even when she briefly comes down to earth and realizes the very real danger she's in, she still pictures herself as the center of a romantic plot.

Very fast-pace. Lots of action and melodrama. It isn't difficult to spot the villain, but it is good fun to watch everything unfold. Knowing the later novels, I did miss seeing more of Miss Silver in this one, but I imagine that Wentworth was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her. I gave this ★★★ and 1/2 when I first read it about thirty years ago and I haven't changed my mind on that rating.

First line: Mr. Packer dangled the heave bunch of keys for a moment before laying them on the table.

Last lined: ...so she and Charles aren't really going to have a wedding--they're just going to be married. I call it frightfully dull...
*********************

Deaths = 2 (two natural; one drowned)

Six Nuns & a Shotgun

 Six Nuns & a Shotgun (1975) by Colin Watson

In the eighth book of the Flaxborough series, it looks like the English town is about to be overrun by US gangsters and scantily clad ecclesiastics. Flaxborough has its "big wheels" (as known in the United States)--businessmen with their fingers in several pies. And two of them have a bitter rivalry going on. Councillor Henry Crispin and Arnold Hatch, owner of the Floradora Club have been trying to outdo and sabotage each other every chance they get. If Crispin adds on to his house, then Hatch must build a swimming pool. If Hatch gets a sailing yacht, then Crispin must get a slightly bigger one. Snide remarks and subtle digs aren't in it. But then things ramp up. Hatch installs what we designate today as "smart" curtains. When the light dims outside, the curtains automatically close--and, of course, when things get bright, they automatically open.

So...one night when Hatch and a friend are entertaining a couple of young women in the master bedroom, some thoughtless person parks right outside and turns on their high-beam headlights. And the antics are on display for all the world to see. Not long after, during the Commodore's Muster, the annual opening of the boating season when all the boat owners sedately run their vessels down the river, Hatch goads Crispin into a bit of a race and Crispin's boat comes a cropper on a submerged log (that mysteriously has spikes sticking out of it--of which, we the reader are aware, but is never proven to our friends in the book).

When Inspector Purbright gets a warning that American gangsters and naked nuns are descending upon Flaxborough, he wonders if this is more of the feud between the two businessmen. But he can't find any evidence of nuns (either in habits or out) and the only likely candidate in the gangster department is a Sicilian-American importer of olive oil who has recently arrived. The feud comes to an abrupt end when Hatch is ruthlessly murdered with his own shotgun during his annual Medieval banquet at the Floradora Club. The good inspector must untangle the clues to see if the American or Crispin...or persons unknown have done away with businessman.

Once upon a time (back in about 1991), I read this one from the library. That was before blogging and writing up more detailed reviews. I simply recorded it as "This book is classic Colin Watson and very funny." Let's see how that holds up in 2025. Well, Watson is funny...but I think I'd knock the "very" off that statement now. The funniest bits are when Inspector Purbright is interacting with his Chief Constable, Harcourt Chubb. Chubb doesn't really seem to grasp police work and Purbright leads him ever so gently through the details of routine while Chubb tries to sit back and look wise. The give and take of these exchanges are quite amusing, but I wouldn't say the book is "very funny" overall. 

The prose is pleasant enough and the mystery is fairly good--and even fairly clued, though I didn't spot some of the clues early enough (SLIGHT SPOILER: I got a bit muddled over which pieces of furniture belonged to which character). I think at this point in my reading life I would have enjoyed this a bit more (and kept my original rating of four stars) if we had been in Purbright's company for more of the story. Crispin and Hatch annoyed me and I think I would have liked the murder to be more upfront and to have followed Purbright as he investigated the incidents rather than to live through them with Crispin and Hatch on the way to the murder. But--still an enjoyable mystery and a very quick read. ★★★ and  1/4.

First line: The cablegram was addressed to Hatch, Floradora, Flaxborough, England.

"Let's hope one of those nice people don't get knocked off," said Bast, leaving. "The species is nearly extinct." (p. 76)

Last lines: The inspector's [car] took some time to start. It usually did.
*********************

Deaths = one shot

Eyes That Watch You

 Eyes That Watch You (1952) by William Irish (Cornell Woolrich)

A short collection of Woolrich stories that emphasize the psychological nature of his work as well as the attention to detail. I was surprised that there were no repeats from an earlier collection that I reviewed and I enjoyed this collection very much. ★★★★

"Eyes That Watch You": A paralyzed woman who can neither speak nor communicate in any way (such as writing or sign language) overhears her daughter-in-law plotting with her lover to kill the woman's son. She can't save him but does manage to work with the detective on the case to bring the crime home to the culprits. (one gassed)

"Stuck": Two gangsters think they've found a fool-proof way to frame a man for a murder they commit. But they don't take into account the rule-breaking maid who works in the hotel where the murder takes place. (one stabbed)

"Charlie Won't Be Home Tonight": When a hold-up man known as the Phantom eludes the police for weeks, Captain Keene begins to suspect that the man has been hiding in plain sight--right in his own house.

"Murder with a U": Proving a man's death is murder instead of the apparent suicide the other police officers and the medical examiner declare it to be relies on Detective Bright's observation of an extra "U." [two shot]

"All at Once, No Alice" by Cornell Woolrich: Our narrator, Jimmy Cannon, fell head over heels in love with Alice Brown and his feelings were returned. So, after a very (VERY) short courtship, they elope--are married by a justice of the peace along the way and due to a shortage of hotel space in the town where they land for their honeymoon, have to sleep apart on their honeymoon. When Jimmy goes to collect his new bride the next morning, she's gone. And so is all trace that she ever existed. Only one man believes him...but will they find her in time?

"Damned Clever, These Americans": Frisco is a talented robber on the run from American authorities. He finds himself in a nice little Central American country with no extradition rights and thinks he's safe. But he's not happy that there isn't even a bank to knock off. Then he hears about Senor Zacata who has a nice, tidy haul of gold stashed at his hacienda. He thinks it will be easy pickings. He may be wrong.... [one shot]

"Flat Tire": Nick Demetrios, a Greek restaurant owner, is upset. Ever since Joe Markham opened his restaurant across the street profits are not only down, they're non-existent. So, he hires an expert in accidents to arrange a fatal one for his business rival. He's worried about the risk of being found out--but the experts assures him that he knows his job and absolutely nothing can go wrong. Famous last words.... [one hit on head]

First line (1st story): The house was a pleasant two-story suburban affair. set in its own plot of ground, not close enough to its neighbors to impair privacy and seclusion, but not far enough away to be lonely or isolated.

Last line (last story): The Greek had to be held back by all three of them from committing a second murder then and there.

The Mystery of the Merry Magician

 The Mystery of the Merry Magician (1954) by Ellery Queen, Jr.

Gulliver Queen comes to New York to spend a year with his famous uncle, Ellery Queen, and his grandfather, Inspector Queen. Currently, it's summer and Gully is looking forward to a week-long camping trip with Uncle Ellery. But Ellery gets called in by the government to investigate some strange goings on down on the New Orleans waterfront--reports of the sighting of strange creatures. So, he leaves his nephew with a notebook and tells him to taken notes from anyone who shows up wanting Ellery to take on a case. All he wants Gully to do is report the facts.

So, when Fisty Jones, a boy about Gully's age, is sent by Inspector Queen's old friend Captain Foster to consult the famous detective Gully sets out to do just that. But he soon becomes friends with Fisty--as well as Captain Foster's granddaughter Peggy--and the three can't resist doing a little investigating...er, fact-gathering. Fisty has seen what he can only describe as a space monster (all black, sleek, and one-eyed) and there are also odd thumping and pounding noises that seem to rise up out of the sea under Foster's barge. Gully can't resist getting more and more involved and runs up against a menacing tattooed man, the merry little Magnus Merlin (who is an extraordinary magician & his little dog Banjo, as well as the tall, slender man who lurks about watching Merlin. The teens make friends with Ryan, the nightwatchman, who takes their stories of late-night creatures and weird sounds seriously. And when Ryan is attacked, the three friends are even more determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Once they figure out what's really going on, they're going to need Inspector Queen and Sergeant Velie...and little Banjo...to round up the bad guys.

This is a fun, adventurous mystery from a much simpler and innocent time--or at least from a time when the books written for kids were more innocent. Gully is a teenager and just having fun solving a mystery with his friends. I've seen a review saying how "unrealistic" it is for a teenage boy to behave the way Gully does. But, honestly, it's kind of nice to not have Gully swearing like a sailor and trying to get it on with Peggy. And there is danger--the boys get tied up and threatened by the bad guys (not just once, but twice), so it's not quite as innocent as, say, the Bobbsey Twins. I enjoyed the visit with Ellery's nephew and I know that I would have enjoyed the book even more if I had discovered it when I was reading the Hardy Boys and the Three Investigators. ★★★and 1/2

First line: When Ellery Queen opened the door and walked into his apartment, his nephew was sprawled on the floor, hidden by a tall-backed easy chair.

Last line: And Gulliver Queen saw his famous uncle's sharp eyes grow even sharper with wonder and admiration, and his own eyes shone with sheer happiness.

May Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

May Virtual Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

May Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

May Vintage Scavenger Hunt Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Pilgrim's Rest

 Pilgrim's Rest (Dark Threat; 1946) by Patricia Wentworth (Dora Amy Turnbull)

When Judy Elliot's sister and brother-in-law are killed in air raid, she takes on responsibility for their daughter Penny. This means that she can't work in the war effort as planned and must find employment that will allow her to have a young child with her. So, she plans to take up a post as house maid at the country home called Pilgrim's Rest. Her old friend Detective Sergeant Frank Abbott (who suddenly realizes that he hopes to be more than friends) warns her against going. 

It seems that Abbott comes from that neck of the woods and, coincidentally, the current owner of Pilgrim's Rest is a friend from school days. Roger Pilgrim has asked Abbot's advice about a string of "accidents" that have occurred. Pilgrim's father died when a traditionally mild-mannered horse suddenly bolted. A thorn was later found under the saddle, but horse and rider had fallen in a thorny patch, so the authorities explained it away. But now Pilgrim has narrowly escaped two more accidents and he's sure that someone is out to murder him. When asked why, he says he believes that it is to prevent Pilgrim's Rest from being sold. His father's death occurred just after he had announced that he planned to sell the property. And now Roger has made the same announcement. 

Judy doesn't see why this should prevent her taking the post (after all, she doesn't want to sell the place) and positions aren't that easy to come by when one has a little girl in tow. Abbott's not happy, but he tells her that he's advised Roger to consult Miss Silver, the ex-governess turned private detective. If Miss Silver does arrive at Pilgrim's Rest and anything comes up, then Judy must turn to Miss Silver for help.  

Unfortunately, although Roger consults Miss Silver and arranges for her to visit Pilgrim's Rest under the guise of having been an old school friend of one his aunts, he doesn't take her most urgent advice--to announce that he's changed his mind about selling. Miss Silver wants to give him that bit of protection while she tries to uncover the culprit. But he refuses (and says he's a poor liar and wouldn't be able to bring it off anyway) and it isn't long before another "accident" happens, this time with deadly results. The death of her client makes Miss Silver even more determined to get to the bottom of things. She and Frank Abbott soon discover evidence that it all started much earlier than the elder Pilgrim's death...but with the disappearance of another Pilgrim on the eve of his wedding.

It's been quite some time since I read a Miss Silver novel. And I'm quite sure I read this one long ago and far away when I was making my way through every Christie-adjacent mystery that the Wabash Carnegie library had back in the early- to mid-1980s. But I didn't remember it all. I enjoyed meeting the aunt of few word, Miss Columba Pilgrim (Miss Silvers's supposed school friend), again. She doesn't care to mix with people much and would much rather be mucking about in her garden, but she's determined to see justice done for her family. Quite a vivid character. Her sister, Miss Janetta, is also vivid, but she's not nearly as congenial. She's gives me quite a pain, actually. I'm not keen on self-absorbed, hypochondriac drama queens. But Wentworth paints the type accurately. 

Miss Silver is, of course, her usual observant self and I was reminded of how much I like her--coughs aside.* She's a shrewd woman and accurately sums up the household very quickly. It's great fun to see her mildly put Frank Abbott and his superior, Randall March in their place when they're going astray and picking on the wrong clues and the wrong suspects. My only disappointment--and I don't know if I've just read too many mysteries at this point and have gotten wise to all the tricks--is that, once again, the culprit has seemed obvious to me. Or perhaps my memory from the previous reading just shoved that person at me. Either way, spotting the killer early, though a bit disappointing, didn't detract much from the fun. I definitely recommend this one to those who haven't read it or any Miss Silver mysteries before. ★★★★

First line: Judy Elliot stepped off the moving staircase at Piccadilly Circus, and felt a hand under her elbow.

Last line: "I hope so," she said.
********************

Deaths = 10 (four bombed; one broken neck; one POW casualty; one natural; two fell from height; one stabbed)

*Number of times Miss Silver coughs: 51 (an average of about one cough per every fourth page). I've always said that someone needs to get that woman a cough drop. So, I decided to count the coughs and see how prevalent they really are. She coughs multiple times per conversation, so the rate is more like 5 coughs per every chapter--usually in a space of a page or two. I enjoy the character in every other way, but her cough really does draw attention in a way that distracts from the story (especially once one gets focused on it LOL).

Dead Babes in the Wood

 Dead Babes in the Wood (Enrollment Cancelled; 1952) by D. B. Olsen (Dolores Hitchens)

Professor A. Pennyfeather, who has five previous mysteries under his belt, finds himself involved with serial killer on the Clarendon College campus. Someone has taken it upon themselves to permanently cancel the enrollment of students perceived to be immoral. The first young woman liked to play with young men's hearts--well, any man's heart. She's got a professor or two in her field of admirers as well. The second young woman was a petty thief; taking nice things because she'd grown up poor. When each stabbed body is found, there is an enrollment card attached stamped boldly with "Enrollment Cancelled." But is there more to the pattern than just immorality? Both women were carrying limited circulation books when they were attacked. Is there a connection? And why are the women missing their shoes? Professor Pennyfeather works with Captain Beems of the police to figure it all out. When a male student (who thinks he knows who the culprit is) is also attacked, the detectives have to adjust their ideas.

 So...I'm in two minds about this one. On the one hand, I love me an academic mystery. And I love finding a new academic sleuth. I've read several of Olsen's Rachel Murdock series and enjoyed them, but this is the first of the Pennyfeather books that I've managed to get my hands on. Pennyfeather is a nice, cozy amateur detective who fits right in with my academic sleuth collection. I enjoyed Pennyfeather and his interactions with Captain Breems very much. But the mystery is a bit darker and dangerous than the Murdock series tends to run. Then there is the fact that the culprit just seems too obvious. There's a bit of an effort to throw suspicion in a couple of other directions but, honestly, once a certain scene happens with the culprit I couldn't see anyone else in the role of chief suspect. But even with that I found it difficult to buy the motive ascribed. I can think of a couple of ways that immorality could have been tied to what was given as the actual motive which would have made it more believable.

SPOILER AHEAD 

Just one other small complaint: while we're given some reasoning on the whole limited circulation book thing and how it connects with the murders, we don't really get a clear explanation about the shoes. The shoes tell us why the third victim thought he knew who the culprit is--but Olsen never explains how the shoes fit in. We're never told whether the person the young man thought was the killer (spoiler that person isn't) came moseying along and saw shoes that he could add to his little fetish collection (and incidentally didn't report the murders he stumbled upon) OR if the actual killer had a reason to run off with the shoes. We wait for the other shoe to drop...and it never does.

END SPOILER

 Overall, I enjoyed meeting a new academic sleuth and hope to find more of the Pennyfeather books. This was quick read (finished last week--just couldn't find the time to review before now) and a good first experience with the series. ★★★

First line: She came into the warmth of the library, out of the windy twilight, her eyes sharp and sparkling under the smooth black brows.

Last line: "Thank you," said Mr. Pennyfeather
*****************

Deaths = 3 (two stabbed; one warfare)

Murder Every Monday: I Get Cold Chills

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is Titles with a word that suggests temperature.

Blow Hot, Blow Cold ~Ellery Queen

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow

Cold Light of Day ~Emma Page

Very Cold for May ~William P. McGivern

Stone Cold Blonde ~Adam Knight

Death in Cold Print ~John Creasey

So Young, So Cold, So Fair ~John Creasey

Cold Steal ~Alice Tilton

Fire Will Freeze ~Margaret Millar

A Toast to Tomorrow ~Manning Coles

Hot Tip ~Jack Dolph

A Cool Killing ~Stephen Murray

Keep Cool, Mr. Jones ~Timothy Fuller

Death Warmed Over ~J. D. Forbes

Death Warmed Over ~Mary Collins

Death on a Warm Wind ~Douglas Warner

Death Warmed Up ~Marian Babson

Fever Dream ~Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

The Case of the Fiery Fingers ~Erle Stanley Gardner

The Mystery of the Fiery Eye ~Robert Arthur

The Burning Court ~John Dickson Carr

Roast Eggs ~Douglas Clark

Cool Repentance ~Antonia Fraser

A Chill Rain in January ~L. R. Wright

The Melting Clock ~Stuart M. Kaminsky

Death Likes It Hot ~Edgar Box

The Castlemaine Murders

 The Castlemaine Murders (2003) by Kerry Greenwood

Phryne's sister the Hon. Eliza (Elizabeth; Beth) Fisher has arrived in Australia and there's an air of mystery about it. Phryne doesn't quite know what's happened to her and doesn't want to push her, but she does want her little sister back--and the young woman who has shown up isn't quite right. In an effort to help Beth settle in, Phryne, Dot, and the girls (Jane & Ruth) decide that a day a Luna Park will be just the ticket to loosen up this rather stiff visitor. They ride the carousel, visit the River Caves, and ride the Scenic Railway. They have ice cream. And then they decide to ride the Ghost Train--where an actual dead man awaits....

Inside the papier mache and dusty, ragged clothing of a "ghost" cowboy, is the mummified body of a man. A man who had been shot in the forehead. An examination reveals a tattoo in the shape of British heraldry. Phryne senses a mystery, but isn't too keen on digging up the dusty past until an explosive (literally) envelope arrives with a message "STAY AWAY FROM THE CORPSE OR BECOME ONE" and a motorcyclist tries to run down Dot. Obviously, someone from the present day doesn't want Miss Phryne Fisher poking her nose into the business of the past. And, just as obviously, Phryne is determined to find the miscreant who tried to deprive her of her dear companion. And when she does...she plans to make him pay.

Meanwhile, Phryne's lover Lin Chung is taking up the responsibilities as head of the family. His grandmother, the iron-willed matriarch, is reluctant to let go of the reins, but Lin Chung has made his first important decisions--seeking a feud settlement with the long-hated Hu family. The list of grievances is long, but the two family heads work their way amicably through them--carefully make reparations even so honor is retained and no face is lost. And then they get to the big one. In July 1857 couriers from the Lin family, carrying 400 ounces of gold, disappeared near the Hu holdings. It was always recorded that the Hu family had ambushed and murdered the couriers and stolen the gold. But the Hu family has no record of the even (unlike all the others...). Lin Chung must accept that his family history was faulty (after all, there was no proof, no eye witnesses)--but if the Hu family was not responsible, who was?

It becomes clear that Lin Chung must go to the gold fields area near Castlemaine and investigate. But after all these years, will he be able to settle his family's history? Phryne's mummified man leads her to the same area...and it begins to look like her mystery, her sister's secrets, and the Lin family's missing couriers may all be connected. But will Phryne be able to solve the mysteries before the person behind the explosive warning makes good on his threat?

There is an incredible amount of coincidences in this one, but that doesn't make it any less fun. I'm reading these (as my own copies) after having read them all when they came out. It's been a while since Lin Chung has made a substantial appearance and it was nice to reacquaint myself with Li Pen (Lin Chung's bodyguard who is left to guard Phryne's household). The mild-looking monk could take out a small army before they had time to so much as blink. It was also enjoyable to see Lin Chung do a bit of detective work of his own and satisfying to watch him ride to the rescue when Phryne is nabbed by the baddies--only to find her sitting on top of the hog-tied culprit and calmly smoking one of his cigarettes. Great fun and adventurous. It wasn't difficult to spot the bad guys--but puzzle plotting isn't the point. Action, adventure, and enjoyment is. ★★★★

First line: Phryne Fisher was watching and unprecedented spectacle.

Last line: From the papers in his pocket, the man seems to have been called Joseph Smith. (Continued on page 5...)
*****************

Deaths = 3 (one shot; one strangled; one fell from height)

Who Will Remember

 Who Will Remember (2025) by C. S. Harris (Candice Proctor)

Synopsis (from the book flap):  August 1816. England is in the grip of what will become known as the Year Without a Summer. Facing the twin crises of a harvest-destroying volcanic winter and the economic disruption caused by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the British monarchy finds itself haunted by the looming threat of bloody riots not seen since the earliest days of the French Revolution. Amidst the turmoil, a dead man is found hanging upside down by one leg in an abandoned chapel, his hands tied behind his back. The pose eerily echoes the image depicted on a tarot card known as Le Pendu, the Hanged Man. The victim—Lord Preston Farnsworth, the younger brother of one of the Regent’s boon companions—was a passionate crusader against what he called the forces of darkness, namely criminality, immorality, and sloth. His brutal murder shocks the Palace and panics the already troubled populace.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, learns of the murder from a ragged orphan who leads him to the corpse and then disappears. At first, everyone in the dead man’s orbit paints Lord Preston as a selfless saint. But as Sebastian delves deeper into his life, he quickly realizes that the man had accumulated more than his fair share of enemies, including Major Hugh Chandler, a close friend who once saved Sebastian’s life. Sebastian also discovers that the pious Lord Preston may have been much more dangerous than those he sought to redeem.

As dark clouds press down on the city and the rains fall unceasingly, two more victims are found, one strangled and one shot, with ominous tarot cards placed on their bodies. The killer is sending a gruesome message and Sebastian is running out of time to decipher it before more lives are lost and a fraught post-war London explodes.

Sebastian once again is on the trail--looking for the real culprit behind the killings so the crown (Lord Jarvis) won't just pick a suspect (any suspect--preferably nobody important) and hang him them just to make sure the populace doesn't get any more riled up than they already are. Since Sebastian's friend Hugh Chandler is a public outcast (despite being a war hero) because he ran off with Lord Preston's wife, everyone thinks he'd make a great scapegoat. It doesn't help that Preston refused to divorce her and that her dowry portion will revert to her now that Preston's dead. And, given that Hugh isn't telling Sebastian everything he knows, even Sebastian isn't sure the man didn't do it. But even the magistrate in Jarvis's pocket has to admit that Hugh doesn't really have a motive to kill the other victims...or to leave behind tarot calling cards.Of course, Sebastian does figure it all and assures that the innocent won't pay for the guilty person's crimes. 

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: This is my favorite (current) historical mystery series. It's the one series that I am on the edge of my chair waiting for the next one to come out and then read it as soon as I can get my hands on it. [And then I have to wait a whole year for the next one...] It's a bit darker and more brutal than I generally care for, but I like the characters so much that I don't mind. Sebastian's sense of justice and investigating on behalf of those who might suffer at the hands of the powers that be really appeals to me and I enjoy Hero's efforts at bringing social injustices to the public eye. Speaking of Hero--I'm not a fan of this mysterious person who seems out to get her and if (in a future book) Sebastian loses another person he cares about, I may just lose my mind. He and Hero are so good together that I will be very upset if something happens to her. [I'm still scarred by Elizabeth George and her treatment of Inspector Lynley.]

I'm also sitting here tapping my foot, waiting for Sebastian to finally find out for certain who his father is. There have been all sorts of hints and mentions of a certain person...but is it really him? Will we ever find out? I hope so.

This is a fantastic series. Great characters. Well-done research and I learn something new about the time period every time. Harris manages to teach her readers about history without info dumps and without detracting from the plot. Good mystery plots mixed with a learning experience is a win in my book. ★★★★ and 1/2

First line: The boy stood with his thin shoulders hunched against the cold, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his ragged coat.

Last line: But the French priest simply rested his forefinger beside his nose and winked.
*******************

Deaths = 12 (one hit on head; two shot; two natural; two stabbed; one beheaded; two drowned; one strangled; one neck broken)

 

 

Blood & Circuses

 

 Blood & Circuses (1994) by Kerry Greenwood

Things are quiet at 221B The Esplanade in St. Kilda. Too quiet. All of Miss Phryne Fisher's household are off doing things and Phryne has the house to herself. And she is bored and out of sorts. There's no mystery to be solved and no beautiful young men available as a pleasant diversion. And then....her friends from the traveling circus arrive at her door. Disturbing things have been happening. A prize horse in their trick-riding act has been poisoned. Various pieces of equipment have been sabotaged. Long-standing acts are starting to think about leaving the circus. The owner of the circus has brought in the mysterious Mr. Jones who seems to have a strange hold over Mr. Farrell. Samson and the others don't like what's going on and want Phryne to "run away and join the circus" with them and try to ge tto the bottom of things. One of the trick riders has fallen and hurt her ankle and if Phryne can learn to stand on a running horse, she'll be able to come along undercover.

Meanwhile, Inspector Jack Robinson has a murder on his hands. Mr. Christopher, a hermaphrodite with the circus, has been killed in the boarding house where he stays while near St. Kilda. At first it looks like a simple case. The door was locked and the only way in or out is through a window that only a trapeze artist could have accessed. And there just happens to be a former trapeze artist in the house. And she just happens to have murdered someone before... But the constable who was first on the scene doesn't believe she did it and the evidence seems a little too pat. Before long both Jack's and Phryne's mysteries are converging and it all ends with a grand finale under the big top....well, close enough.

I've often called Phryne Fisher the grown-up's Nancy Drew. Like Nancy, she has all the money in the world to do whatever she likes--take trips, have fabulous clothes, etc. She's a super-woman who can drive a fast car as well as Mario Andretti and can fly a plane like Charles Lindbergh. If she needs to learn a new skill, then, by golly, she can--in record time. This time we have Phryne in a very adult version of the Nancy Drew title The Ringmaster's Secret. There are a number of parallels. Both young women go undercover as bareback riders to investigate circus secrets. Both wind up locked in a wild animal's cage by the bad guys. Of course, Nancy would never wind up naked in the cage. Or nearly be raped by the chief bad guy. Or recover in a tent snuggled between two of her sometime lovers. That's where the very adult part comes in.

The odd thing about this entry in the Phryne mysteries is that it takes our super-woman and in the effort to make her seem less so, Greenwood strips away a lot of what makes her heroine so good. Her confidence--in shreds at the end. Her self-reliance--apparently she never had any. This is a fish out of water story where the fish is really gasping. Phryne has always, like a cat, landed on her feet. She handles bad guys with aplomb. She knows what being without and being on her own is like (according to her back story) because she grew up poor and had to rely on herself at various points when young and in the war. And suddenly in this story she doesn't have any of that backbone in her makeup? I'm not buying it. The mystery itself is good. I liked the solution to the locked room murder. I liked the way Lizard Elsie comes up trumps--saving not only the constable at one point but Miss Parkes, the unjustly accused trapeze artist. But I can't say I like what's been done with Phryne much. Let's get her back to her usual haunts so she can be more like herself. ★★ and 1/2

First line: Mrs. Witherspoon, widow of uncertain years and theatrical background, was taking tea in her refined house for paying gentlefolk in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

Sergeant Terrence Grossmith was huge. His expanse of blue tunic was as wide as a tent. He had thinning brown hair and large, limpid brown eyes, which seemed to hold an expression of such placid benevolence that hardened criminals had occasionally found themselves confessing to him out of a sense of incongruity. (p. 16)

Last line: "And I'm glad to be going home."
**********************

Deaths =  6 (one stabbed; one poisoned; one fell from height; two shot; one natural)

The 1952 Club

 

Twice a year Stuck in a Book and Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings sponsor a group book club where those who would like to read books from the declared year. This October, the chosen year is 1952-which will take me into Golden Age mystery territory (Pre-1960). As I prepare for next week's reading, I thought I'd take a look at what 1952 books I've already read and list those that are on the TBR mountain range and could be used for the event.

Here are the books from 1952 that I've read and reviewed previously on the Block:
 The Widow of Bath by Margot Bennett
Beverly Gray's Island Mystery by Clair Blank
Imagination Unlimited by E. F. Bleiler & T. E. Dikty
London Particular (Fog of Doubt) by Christianna Brand
Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac
The Youth Hostel Murders by Glyn Carr
The Nine Wrong Answers by John Dickson Carr
The Underdog & Other Stories by Agatha Christie
Night Train to Paris by Manning Coles
The Crimson Clue by George Harmon Coxe
The Blind Spot by John Creasey
Bartholomew the Beaver by Ruth Dixon
Top of the Heap by A. A. Fair
The Case of the Grinning Gorilla by Erle Stanley Gardner
Murder Rides the Campaign Train by The Gordons (Mildred & Gordon Gordon)
The Sunburned Corpse by Adam Knight
Dead as a Dinosaur by Frances & Richard Lockridge
Trial by Terror (Death by Association) Lockridge
The Sleep Is Deep by Hugh Lawrence Nelson
The King Is Dead by Ellery Queen
Black Widow by Patrick Quentin
The Swimming Pool by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Ambush for Anatol by John Sherwood

And once again, most of my reading is in mysteries. There are a few more mysteries and non-mysteries among the books I read pre-blogging (so no reviews). I may choose to revisit some of these:

The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
The Clock Strikes 13 by Herbert Brean
Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie
Murder with Mirrors (They Do It With Mirrors) by Agatha Christie
A Case for Mr. Crook by Anthony Gilbert
The Old Man & the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Mystery at the Ski Jump by Carolyn Keene
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Curious George Rides a Bike by H. A. & Margaret Rey
The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey
Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh
Ladies Bane by Patricia Wentworth
Charlotte's Webb by E. B. White

Below are the books on the TBR pile that may be up for inspection: 
Murder, Maestro, Please by Delano Ames
The Corpse with Sticky Fingers by George Bagby
Stranger on a Cliff by Josephine Bell
Downbeat for a Dirge by Brandon Bird
Death in the Fifth Position by Edgar Box
Timeless Stories for Today & Tomorrow by Ray Bradbury
We All Killed Grandma by Fredric Brown
The Scarlet Slippers by James M. Brown
Cold Blood by Leo Bruce
Alias Uncle Hugo by Manning Coles
A Town of Masks by Dorothy Salisbury Davis
The Gallows in My Garden by Richard Deming
Behind the Crimson Blind by Carter Dickson
Dead Men's Plans by Mignon G. Eberhart
Death Begs the Question by Lois Eby & John C. Fleming
Look Behind You, Lady! by Margaret Erskine
The Missing Link by Katharine Farrer
Wake the Sleeping Wolf by Rae Foley
The Bahamas Murder Case by Leslie Ford
The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink by Erle Stanley Gardner
The Court of Last Resort by Erle Stanley Gardner
A Hole in the Ground by Andrew Garve
The Danger Within by Michael Gilbert
The Body on the Bench by Dorothy B. Hughes
One Man Show (Murder Is an Art) by Michael Innes
Eyes That Watch You by William Irish
Death & Little Brother by Clifford Knight
The Dog It Was That Died by E. C. R. Lorac
Himalayan Assignment by F. Van Wyck Mason
Grow Young & Die by William O'Farrell
Dead Babes in the Wood by D. B. Olsen
Murder Doll by Milton K. Ozaki
A Shot in the Dark by Richard Powell
Double Jeopardy by Fletcher Pratt
Calendar of Crime by Ellery Queen
The Double Man by Helen Reilly
The Mamo Murders by Juanita Sheridan
The Haploids by Jerry Sohl
The Long Green by Bart Spicer
They Had a Glory by Davenport Steward
The Corpse That Refused to Stay Dead by Hampton Stone
Don Among the Dead Men by C. E. Vuilliamy
Pigs Have Wings by P. G. Wodehouse