Bodies from the Library 5

 Bodies from the Library 5: Forgotten Stories of Mystery & Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection (2022; all stories pre-1989) by Tony Medawar (ed)

Tony Medawar has done it again. He's gone searching the highways and byways of Golden Age Detection fiction and authors to bring us another collection of little-known or never-before-seen mystery stories. In previous collections there have, actually, been more that I had read before (thanks, in part to some of the obscure little anthologies I've been able to get my hands on). But this time, there are only two that I vaguely feel like I've read before and I can't nail down where I would have gotten hold of them. This is a strong selection and almost all by authors I had already read. ★★★★

"The Predestined" by Q. Patrick (Richard Webb): Jasper, an orphan with a doting grandma, is sure he's meant for great things. But periodically an odd red weal appears around his neck, inhibits his breathing, and manages to to put him out of sorts in very important situations. We learn that he is predestined...but perhaps not quite in the way he anticipates. (one drowned; one hanged)

"Villa for Sale" by Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter): A wealthy widow offers a fabulous villa to a young couple for a mere pittance. There must be a catch somewhere and there is...but who is going to be caught? (one natural)

"The Ginger King" by A. E. W. Mason: An insurance representative calls on M. Hanaud, who is visiting in England, because he's not quite satisfied over an insurance claim. A fire that cleaned out the stock of a furrier has been investigated every which way and no one can see anything but an accident. But John Middleton will feel much better about paying the claim if Hanaud would take a look at the case as well. It could save his company 25,000 pounds.

"Sugar-Plum Killer" by Michael Gilbert": Probationary Detective Walkinshaw is determined to make the grade as a detective on the force. He gets his chance when D.I. Chapman is killed in a hit & run and the perpetrator winds up being someone Chapman had sent to prison. (one hit & run)

"Vacancy with Corpse" by Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White): Lt. Ben Latimer is asked by his fiancee, Liz (Felicity) Cain if he could arrange for protection for her grandfather, Judge Cain. Someone has been sending the elderly judge threatening notes. Soon there's murder done in the Cain house...but has the wrong man died? (one poisoned; one shot; one natural) [The whole time I was reading this one, I felt like I'd read it before. Like déjà vu--not enough that I knew the solution. But I have no idea where I would have read it.]

"Where Do We Go from Here?" by Dorothy L. Sayers: George is in a hurry to get his wife Laura out of the house. Why? Because he's expecting a blackmailer. Lucky for him, Laura sneaks in the back way and hears all about it. Or is it really that lucky? (two dead)

"Benefit of the Doubt" Anthony Berkeley: A young doctor is called out in the middle of the night to attend a man who has supposedly been in severe gastric distress. He can find little wrong with the man, so it is quite a shock when the man is dead by the next morning. (one poisoned)

"Scandal of the Louvre" by S. S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright): A gang of thieves (who specialize in getting the "ungettable" for collectors arrive at the Louvre in the guise of holidaymakers. They manage to steal the Mona Lisa, collect a hefty reward for the deed, and.... (well, that's the twist and I'd hate to spoil it)

"The Pressure of Circumstance" by J. J. Connington (Alfred Walter Stewart): The Lessingham family holds a promise as a sacred trust. So when Jack Lessingham leaves for an expedition to Brazil, he asks his father to see that "Claire [his wife] comes to no harm" while he's away, his father tells him, "Of course. That's a promise." And not even the man who's dangling after the lonely little wife will keep him from keeping his promise. (one poisoned; one from the "bends")

"The Riddle of the Cabin Cruiser" by John Dickson Carr: George Randolph, wealthy stockbroker, is found stabbed to death in his drifting cabin cruiser--found by his wife and Mr. Huntley Hurst. There have been rumors about Mrs. Randolph's "friendship" with Hurst. Was Randolph's death suicide as has been posited by Hurst and Mrs. Randolph? There's one telling sentence in this radio play that will give you the answer--if you catch it. [I didn't.] (one stabbed)

"Skeleton in the Cupboard" by Ianthe Jerrold: Corney Dew was sure he'd found the perfect spot to dispose of his brother-in-law's body when he buried him in the ancient mound on his property. But then the local Antiquities Club gets interested in digging the place up...and the club's sponsor doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer. (one natural; one hit on head) [Another déjà vu story...I'm sure I've read this one before, but not sure where.]

"The Year & the Day" by Edmund Crispin (Robert Bruce Montgomery): Two old school fellows meet at their club and one (a doctor) reminds our narrator (a barrister) of another school fellow who has recently died. The barrister begins to wonder why "X" (as he calls him) has brought the subject up. [And, quite frankly, so did I. Was there a point to implying that something nasty had happened when apparently no one suspected it? (one natural; one hit on head)

"Murder in Montparnasse" by John Bude (Ernest Carpenter Elmore): The disappearance of an artist coincides with the death of a paralyzed, drunken old man. Inspector Moreau must find the connection, (one drowned; one poisoned) [*I agree with Kate at Cross Examining Crime that this is much longer than it needed to be. A short story would have been sufficient. As a novella, it seems to have a lot of padding.]

"The Thistle Down" by H. C. Bailey: Reggie Fortune is asked (nay, commanded) to investigate the death of Sir Max Tollis's secretary. It's being put down as suicide, but Sir Max insists it isn't. (one shot)

"The Magnifying Glass" by Cyril Hare (Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark): A meeting between two men to settle up over a couple of cases of forged bank notes ends in death and tragedy. (one shot; one in fire)

"The 'What's My Line?' Murder" by Julian Symons: One of the panelists on the famed British version of the game show is poisoned in the studio. But it's soon proved that he poured his own drink and nobody went near it between the pouring and his drinking. So who poisoned him and how? (two poisoned) [Once again, I'm in agreement with Kate--I don't always get on with Symons' work. But I think I'm discovering that I prefer him in short form to his novels. This is quite good--not least because of its connection to "What's My Line?" (though I'm more familiar with the US version started in 1950).]

First line (1st story): It was Jasper's tenth birthday.

Last line (last story): "What a pity that [they were a murderer] too." (some or part has been changed to prevent a spoiler)