Poison for Teacher

 Poison for Teacher (1949) by Nancy Spain

Miriam Birdseye (the Miriam Birdseye, former actress), has set herself up as a private investigator after a few episodes of mysterious adventures (Poison in the Play; Death Before Wicket; Murder--Bless It; and Death Goes on Skis). Business isn't particularly booming, but then her frequent partner in crime, Natasha DuVivien (ex-ballet dancer), leaves her husband and comes to live and work with her. She's barely arrived when the headmistress of Radcliff Hall School for Girls Miss Janet Lipscoomb arrives seeking detective services.

Someone is playing the most disagreeable tricks on the headmistress and the school. Flowerpots crash down near her when she's walking. Blackboards are wetted so they squeak horribly when written on. A hedgehog is put in her bath. The stairs are greased. Rude pictures drawn. And now, it's taken a more diabolical turn. Someone had frayed the gym ropes just before Miss Lipscoomb was to demonstrate "Flying Angels" to the fourth form girls. So, she wants Birdseye et Cie (Miriam's detective agency) to investigate. 

After hearing about how there is bad blood between Miss Lipscoomb and her ex-partner, Miss bbirch, after the latter left and took the elocution and dancing instructors with her, Miriam is sure that Miss bbirch is behind it all. But they need to find proof. So, Miriam and Natasha go undercover as the new elocution and dancing instructors with the hopes of discovering the trickster. What they don't anticipate is that they will soon be looking for a murderer as well. The first victim of the murderer is Miss Theresa Devaloys, the French mistress. She had a nasty, sly sense of humor and her nose in everyone's business...and little notebook with what looks like a list of blackmail victims. She's poisoned during the rehearsal for the school play (in which her character drinks from a fresh bottle) and the finger of suspicion soon falls on Peter Bracewood-Smith, who provided the bottle and whose name figured prominently in the woman's little notebook, as well as on Dr. Lariat, who has access to poisons and who had an affair with her. An affair that he wanted ended and she didn't...Of course, when they discover that Devaloys was behind the nasty tricks at the school then suspicion falls on Miss Lipscoomb as well. How far would she go to protect her school? The police choose their favorite and our detectives choose theirs, but which way will the evidence point?

This works much better as a period piece and study of standard character types than it does as a mystery. The culprit is obvious even though Spain tries very hard to give us red herring alternates. I never seriously considered the other contenders--especially when Sergeant Tomkins latches so firmly onto one of them.What Spain does do well is provide the reader with a solid look at what the reading public of the 1940s considered standard character types (whether they would pass muster today or not) and then lampoons them--she sends them over-the-top and manages to make readers (this one, anyway) believe that she didn't agree with the stereotypes at all. She also creates an atmosphere where sexual attraction of all sorts are represented and no one (well, nearly no one--Johnny DuVivien is a tad uncomfortable at one point) bats an eye. 

I hunted this down because it was an academic mystery and I do love those. I found it interesting because of the snapshot we get of the 1940s academic scene as well as the descriptions of the characters and the village where Radcliff Hall is located. But what I'm going to remember from the story is Natasha. She is a fervent little detective in the making and a delightful character all around. If anything makes me look for more Nancy Spain books, it will be Natasha. ★★★

First line: "Of all the stinking, boring, belly-aching tunes," shouted Johnny DuVivien passionately, "that one jest about takes anyone's cake!"

"A curious thing about champagne, madam," said Bracewood-Smith, "is that one can usually find someone who does not mind drinking it." (p. 44)

It is a curious fact that novelists, when presented with romantic facts in real life, usually refuse to believe them. (p. 74)

He was intelligent and hard-working, untroubled be high-brow considerations. He had four shaming pen-names to which he admitted...he even wrote love-stories, calling himself Mavis Clare, for the women's magazines. He wrote very fast and glibly straight on to the typewriter, in double spacing on quarto sheets. He sent his manuscripts straight to the publisher as he typed them. There were seldom errors in spelling, punctuation, or typing. P. Bracewood-Smith's errors were all errors of taste. He wrote excruciatingly badly. (p. 82)

[about borrowing books]
"Can I take two, please, Miss Fork-Thomas?" said Molly Ruminara. "I do read ever so fast. Although it is against your rules."
"If you like," said Gwylan vaguely, still looking out of the window. "which two do you want?"
"...May I take Strong Poison, by Sayers, and Death and the French Governess, by P. Bracewood-Smith?"
"Do," said Gwylan, even more vaguely. "The Bracewood-Smiths aren't in the same class as the Sayers, of course, though." (p. 120)

"But, Miriam, we are supposed to be detectives, darling. You too should be interested in the contents

of handbags. It is the very first thing." (Natasha; p. 142)

[about murders happening at the Radcliff Hall school] "Shouldn't let that put you off, dear, about Joan....I should think your daughter will love them. Children always love a good murder." (Henry, a waiter; p. 166)

Natasha's instinct always worked in this disorderly way, flinging up startling messages to her sensitive and receptive mind. I had now presented her with a gambler's certainty without a shadow of evidence or proof. (p. 189)

Natasha was suffering from a fever of conceit, based on her immediate past [involvement in previous mysteries]. She was sick of enforced confessions and spectacular and unresolved endings. She wanted no more murderers committing suicide or leapong screaming into Broadmoor. Nothing short of the Old Bailey and a darling judge in a black cap would satisfy her. (p. 191)

Last line: The violent, unmistakable rash of scarlet fever had risen there, and was still rising.
*********************

Deaths = 4 (one fell from height; one natural; one poisoned; one shot)

Murder Every Monday: When It Rains, It Pours

 

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 Cover with an Umbrella on.

The Female Detective ~Andrew Forrester (It's a tiny pink parasol, but it's there.)

Bad for Business ~Rex Stout

You'll Die Yesterday ~Marjorie J. Grove

Mrs. Jeffries Holds the Trump ~Emily Brightwell (...and the inspector holds the umbrella.)

Murder in the Mansions ~Sara Rosett

The Illusion of Murder ~Carol McCleary

13 Clues for Miss Marple ~Agatha Christie

The Pink Umbrella Murder ~Frances Crane (one of the most risque covers by Popular Library)

Maisie Dobbs ~Jacqueline Winspear

Miss Seeton Rocks the Cradle ~Hamilton Crane

Caught Dead in Philadelphia ~Gillian Roberts

Case Closed ~June Thomson

The Valley of Fear ~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Some Danger Involved ~Will Thomas

Coffin Scarcely Used ~Colin Watson

The Incredible Umbrella ~Marvin Kaye

Best Max Carrados Detective Stories ~Ernest Bramah

Dick Van Dyke: mini-review

 Dick Van Dyke (2025) by Christy Webster

My husband loves Dick Van Dyke. The Dick Van Dyke Show is one of his all-time favorites. So, when we saw that there was a Little Golden Book about Dick, I had to get it for him for an early Valentine's Day gift. And now we've both read it. It's a very cute biography just perfect for kids (or big kids) with excellent illustrations. A very enjoyable, quick read. ★★★★★

The Cloisters

 The Cloisters (2022) by Katy Hays

Synopsis (from the book flap): When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she hopes to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance art. There she is drawn into a circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, including Patrick Roland, the museum's mercurial curator who specializes in the history of tarot; Rachel Mondray, Patrick's beautiful curatorial associate and sometime muse; and Leo Bitburg, the gardener who nurtures the museum's precious collection of medicinal and poisonous plants.

Relieved to have left her troubled past in rural Washington behind her, Ann longs for the approbation of her colleagues and peers and is happy to indulge their more outlandish theories, only to find that their fascination with fortune-telling runs deeper than academic obsession. Patrick is determined to prove that ancient divination holds the key to the foretelling of the future. And when Ann stumbles across a breakthrough in the form of a mysterious and previously-believed lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards, she finds herself at the center of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship, and ambition.

Then there is an unexpected and devastating death and suddenly everyone becomes a suspect. As the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide if the tarot cards can not only teach her about the past, but also about her future.

So...books with an academic bent are my jam (or whatever the trending phrase is now). When I had to pick a book from one of three celebrity book clubs for one of the challenges I do and I saw the synopsis for this one I was thrilled. So many of the books that wind up on these lists just aren't appealing to me. But mysterious goings on amongst researchers at a museum? Cool. Count me in.

Except, the plot just isn't all that. And the characters--same. Having closed the book, none of them have really stuck with me. I don't know if the whole point of the book was to prove that you can't change what's meant to be and that Fate (with a capital F) controls everything, but it just felt like a cheat. That Ann just happened to find notes referring to what they're researching in the haphazard box of junk that her mom ships her from her (deceased) father's study? That the whole story circles back to the death of her father and THAT just happened to be the answer to how he died. [Can't tell you what THAT is because that would be a major spoiler.] The final twist should have been more impactful, but by that point it just felt anticlimactic. ★★

First line (Prologue): Death always visited me in August.
First line (1st Chapter): I would arrive in New York at the beginning of June.

Last line: But now, like Rachel, I'd rather not know how the story ends.

****************

Deaths = 6 (one hit by car; three drowned; one poisoned; one fell from height)

In Such Good Company

 In Such Good Company (2016) by Carol Burnett

Carol Burnett's book focuses on eleven year run of her fabulous Carol Burnett Show. She gives a brief introduction to her ventures on the Broadway stage and appearances on other shows before being given the chance to start her own, but the bulk of the book is focused on how she and her husband built the show, bringing in fantastic regulars Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, Vicki Lawrence, and eventually Tim Conway. It's difficult to believe that Tim wasn't a regular all along--his comedic presence seems to fill all of my memories of the show. But despite many guest appearances over the years, he wasn't a regular until season number nine. She shares memorable moments with some of her favorite guest stars from Lucille Ball to Bing Crosby, from Roddy McDowall to Rita Hayworth, and from Betty White to Dick Van Dyke. She gives detailed dialogue and descriptions of her favorite moments on the show--most of which were send-ups of the movies she and her grandmother would go see when she was growing up. 

I grew up on The Carol Burnett Show. It was shown in syndication and I adored it. A lot of the adult humor went over my head, but I recognized most the movies they were recreating and I thought Tim Conway and Harvey Korman were two of the funniest men on the planet. Tim's efforts to break Harvy up were incredible. The dentist sketch has got to be one of the all-time funniest moments on television. And I'll never forget seeing her come down the staircase as Starlett O'Hara in that outrageous green curtain dress.  It was such fun having Carol take me on a trip down the television memories of my younger years as well as reading some of the behind the scenes stories. It's a shame that the writers didn't make a good transition from Harvey Korman (who left at the end of season ten) to Dick Van Dyke (who came on board to take his place as a regular). Perhaps the show would have run a bit longer if the sketches had fit better with the regulars on board at the time. 

A really fun book. Not quite as laugh-out-loud funny as I expected. But definitely interesting to someone who watched the show back in the day. ★★★★

First line (intro): I recently had the extreme pleasure of accepting the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and in accepting the honor I talked about how much I loved going to the movies with my grandmother, Nanny, as a kid.

First line (Ch. 1): When I was growing up, theater and music were my first loves, so my original show business goals revolved around being in musical comedies on Broadway, like Ethel Merman and Mary Martin.

Last line: How lucky am I?

The Art School Murders

 The Art School Murders (1943) by Moray Dalton (Katherine Dalton Renoir)

This is the tenth installment in the Inspector Hugh Collier series. Collier and Sergeant Duffield are called upon to help the local police when an artist's model is stabbed to death at the Morosini School of Art. Althea Greville had once been a beautiful, in-demand model and a bit of a femme fatale. The first time she came to pose for the students, she had quite a following of men students and even the caretaker seemed to be taken with her. But when she returns to the Morosini School, she has lost her bloom, is down on her luck, and seems a bit desperate for money. Did her desperation drive her to do something that someone thought worth killing for? Perhaps blackmail? 

Collier is a bit discouraged at the beginning of the case. There are about fifty possible suspects--with students, the two instructors, Morosini himself, the caretaker and his wife, and the nephew of John Kent (one of the instructors). Kent's nephew, Arnold Mansfield, had attended the school during Althea's first stint as model and was one of her followers. He left the school--and town--and now has, coincidentally, arrived back home just when Althea has returned. Is there a connection? The Yard men are able to whittle the fifty suspects down to five, but not before another murder takes place. 

One of the young art students had gone back into the school to retrieve a scarf she had forgotten. When Betty Haydon and her friend Cherry Garth arrive at the school next morning to find the police in possession, Betty tells Cherry that she may have seen something important..."But it might not mean anything. I'm not going to talk until I know a lot more than we do now." She doesn't get the chance. Someone must have overheard the conversation and they made sure Betty would never tell what she saw with a quick stabbing in a dark movie theatre. 

Clues and evidence begin to pile up and John Kent becomes the obvious suspect with most of them pointing to him. Too obvious? Collier isn't sure, but he knows there are a few more leads to follow up before they will get their man.

So, last year I read the very first Collier book (One by One They Disappeared) and one of my small quibbles was that the suspect was so obvious. I certainly can't make that complaint here. The culprit was definitely not on my radar and I won't cry foul, because once Dalton reveals the solution, I could definitely think back to a few clues to the motive that I didn't pay attention to. I could have done with a better groundwork for how the particular motive connected to the particular suspect (if that was there, I missed it). 

I, as is generally the case, enjoyed the school setting, though it's not quite the going concern that most of the institutions in my academic mysteries are. The war is taking its toll and Morosini, a great artist, is not such a great businessman. He's too busy being a genius to attend to the details that would make his school continue to operate in the tough times. The war also plays a part in the plot--making it difficult to keep track of suspects in the blackout. Overall, a highly entertaining and quick-paced mystery. ★★★★

Kudos to Curtis Evans from The Passing Tramp for the very informative intro.

First line: At twenty minutes past eight, Mrs. Pearce came out of the cottage at the entrance to the school grounds and trudged up the cinder path to the main door.

If there is any place more dreary than an empty theatre, it is an empty school. (Inspector Collier; p. 23)

You know how it is in cinemas. You go straight in through the vestibule, plunk down your money, and the darkness swallows you up. If there's a queue the commissionaire is too busy throwing out his chest in his fancy uniform to notice the component parts. I really wonder more people aren't bumped off at the flicks. (Sgt. Duffield; p. 96)

It don't do to shoot off your mouth when superior officers are about. They do the telling and we jump to it. (P. C. Griffiths; p. 99)

Last line: They shook hands again, and then Wbua naq Pureel* climbed onto a bus, and Collier walked on to the Yard. [*ROT13 encoded to prevent spoilers]

*****************

Deaths = 4 [two stabbed; one pushed down stairs; one hanged]

Murder Every Monday: Puzzling Developments

 

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 a crossword on the cover. I had way fewer of these than I have of some of the items. At first, I didn't think I had any. Several books that I own that have words indicative of crosswords (from E. R. Punshon's Crossword Mystery to Write Murder Down by Richard Lockridge) didn't have appropriate images on them. Here's what I came up with...

Close Quarters ~Michael Gilbert

The Marlow Murder Club ~Robert Thorogood

The Seventh Crossword ~Herbert Resnicow

A Six-Letter Word for Death ~Patricia Moyes

The Clue in the Crossword Cipher ~Carolyn Keene

Write Me a Murder ~Amanda Carter

The Deadly Truth

 The Deadly Truth (1941) by Helen McCloy

Honesty is the best policy. At least that the way the saying goes. But is it really? The guests of Claudia Bethune find out the answer when the wealthy beauty throws a dinner party with drinks laced with truth serum. Claudia is a fabulously wealthy socialite with a vicious sense of humor. She thinks it will be great fun to get her "friends" together and have them blurt out the truth and nothing but the truth. But she gets more than she bargained for and before the next morning comes, she's discovered strangled to death with her own platinum and emerald necklace.

Dr. Basil Willing, psychiatric consultant to the New York district attorney's office has been renting the "Hut" (a small cottage on the Bethune country estate) and he's soon asked by the local authorities to give them some help on the murder case. There's a houseful of suspects. Claudia's husband, Michael, was still in love with his ex-wife and after the beans got spilled at dinner about that little secret it may have been prudent for him to kill Claudia before she had time to cut him out of her will or divorce him. Phyllis Bethune (the aforementioned ex-wife) may have had the same thought. Charles Rodney, manager of Claudia's textile mill, has been playing games with the labor force and working on buying up stock cheap--he's almost got enough to hold the majority vote on the board. When that came out over drinks, Claudia threatened to put a stop to his anticipated future purchases. Maybe he thought it would be easier with Claudia completely out of the way. Dr. Roger Slater is the man who developed the new scopolamine derivative--and the man from whom Claudia stole the doses she dropped in the drinks. If the news of his carelessness (he left the tubes right there in front of her after all), he'll lose his job--and maybe never work again as a scientist. Peggy Titus was under a cloud of suspicion for theft and Claudia held the trump card that would prove her innocence. Peggy kept hanging around and searching the premises for the proof, but maybe she got tired of looking and decided to get rid of the source of the rumors. 

The interesting thing for me about this one is that even though motive is a driving force, it's not the important part of the investigation. The true motive is only revealed in the final pages of the story, but you don't need it to get to the solution. A lot of emphasis is placed on auditory clues and I am pleased that I can say I picked up all the correct ones (there are a few red herrings about--as you would expect in a nicely plotted mystery). I will say that if we consider the characters as real people then I am a bit surprised that the culprit fell into the trap laid for him in the semi-reconstruction-of-the-crime scene. Willing has just finished emphasizing one of the auditory clues. If I'm the killer, I'm certainly not going to follow that up by making my connection to that clue blazingly obvious. Did the culprit not hear a thing Willing just said? Maybe s/he subconsciously wanted to get caught and just couldn't help themselves.... Oh, well. Other than that, a nicely plotted and very interesting mystery.  ★★★★  

First line: A butterfly in a beehive could not have looked more out of place than Claudia Bethune in the vestibule of the Southerland Foundation.

The trooper seemed to think the fact that he had arrested Basil constituted a bond between them. In the circumstances, it was just as well. [p. 112]

No one every expects to fall in love. Perhaps no one ever really wants to. [Dr. Roger Slater; p. 136]

Last lines: "Only afterward did I realize that killing her was even more foolish than kissing her. She wasn't worth it..."
*******************

Deaths = 4 (two natural; one strangled; one shot)

Murder Every Monday...on Wednesday (Same Story, Different Cover Take 2)

 

So...as I mentioned on Monday, Kate's theme for Murder Every Monday this week was "same book, different editions." And I playfully said that I could have done a whole post with my Lord Peter Wimsey Books by Dorothy L. Sayers. But I didn't. But then I thought, Well, why not do a whole post on Sayers? So, here it is. I hope you enjoy it. This doesn't quite cover (see what I did there?) my whole collection--I don't have all of the covers scanned in yet. But this does represent a large portion of it.

2024 My Year in Books

 

Anne at Head Full of Books has revived the old meme, My Year in Books from 2017. Just use book titles from 2024 and try to fill in the blanks. Here are my answers:

1. In high school I was The Cat Who Saved Books  (Sosuke Natsukawa)

2. People might be surprised [when] Murder Rides the Campaign Train  (The Gordons--Mildred & Gordon Gordon)

3. I will never be [a] Wicked Uncle (Patricia Wentworth)

4. My fantasy job is Only in Books  (J. Kevin Graffagnino)

5. At the end of a long day I need [to be] Twice Retired (Richard Lockridge)

6.I hate it [when I have a] Nightmare at Noon  (Stewart Sterling)

7. Wish I had The Phoenix Crown  (Kate Quinn & Janie Chang)

8. My family reunions are [a] Gaudy Night  (Dorothy L. Sayers)

9. At a party you'd find me Making It So  (Patrick Stewart)

10. I've never been to Scarhaven Keep  (J. S. Fletcher)

11. A happy day includes Reading Up a Storm (Eva Gates)

12.Motto I live by Never Cross a Vampire  (Stuart Kaminsky)

13. On my bucket list is A Vacation to Kill For  (Eunice Mays Boyd)

14. In my next life, I want to have The Midnight Library  (Matt Haig)

Murder Every Monday: Same Story, Different Cover

 

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 same book, but different editions. Of course, I could have done a whole post about my Lord Peter Wimsey books by Sayers. Or my Lockridge books. But I thought I'd mix it up a bit.

Whose Body? ~Dorothy L. Sayers (three of my many editions of this title)

And...three more.

Strong Poison ~Dorothy L. Sayers (I don't have as many editions of this one)

The Norths Meet Murder ~Frances & Richard Lockridge

  (aka Mr. & Mrs. North Meet Murder)

Curtain for a Jester ~Frances & Richard Lockridge

The Thin Man ~Dashiell Hammett

Call for Michael Shayne ~Brett Halliday

Murder With Southern Hospitality ~Leslie Ford

A Shilling for Candles ~Josephine Tey

And Then There Were None ~Agatha Christie

The Mountain Cat Murders ~Rex Stout

The Mystery of Hunting's End ~Mignon G. Eberhart

Card Deck Reading Challenge

I really need to stop (but if Jamie will keep posting new challenges on the Facebook challenge site, what's a girl to do?). Erin @erin_likes_books on Instagram has devised the Card Deck Reading Challenge and, having checked my massive TBR mountain range, it looks like I can cover this with books I already own. So...here I go. One more challenge! Some tentative choices listed below.

Joker (wild card/any book): The Deadly Truth by Helen McCloy (1/15/25)

Ace (in title OR book about cards/tennis): The Green Ace by Stuart Palmer OR Death in the Cards by Ann T. Smith

Two (in title): A Thief or Two by Sara Woods

Three (in title): Look Three Ways at Murder by John Creasey

Four (in title): Look Four Ways at Murder by J. S. Fletcher

Five (in title): Bodies from the Library 5 by Tony Medawar, ed

Six (in title): Six Nuns & a Shotgun by Colin Watson

Seven (in title): Seven Chose Murder by Roy Vickers

Eight (in title): The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin

Nine (in title): Nine Strings to Your Bow by Lee Thayer

Ten (in title): Bloody Ten by William F. Love

Jack (in title OR author's name): The Right Jack by Margaret Maron OR Jack O'Lantern by George Goodchild
Queen (in title): The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (2/1/25)
King (in title): The King of Diamonds by Louis Tracy OR Jeeves & the King of Clubs by Ben Schott
Heart (in title): The Malignant Heart by Celestine Sibley
Diamond (gem in title): Deadly Is the Diamond by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Spade: ("dig," "bury," or "spade" in title): Dig Me a Grave by John Spain OR Dig Another Grave by Don Cameron
Club (in title): The Girl from the Mimosa Club by Leslie Ford
Red (in title/dominant cover color): The Corpse with the Red-Headed Friend by R.A.J. Walling
Black (in title/dominant cover color): The Clue of the Black Keys by Carolyn Keene