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

The Cipher Garden

 The Cipher Garden (2005) by Martin Edwards

Warren Howe was a ladies man as well as being a difficult man to get along with. One afternoon he was surprised by a person in a hood while working in a garden in Old Sawrey--a village in England's Lake District. But at the end of the day, the police are unable to pin the murder on anyone. There are plenty of suspects from jilted lovers to the wife he was cheating on to the men in the lives of the women he seduced. Even his own son hated him. The day of the murder was a miserable, rainy afternoon and the killer left no forensic evidence behind. So, the case was abandoned.

Then years later, an anonymous tip comes in to the Cold Case Review Team and DCI Hannah Scarlett gets interested. The anonymous tipster points the finger of guilt at Warren's wife Tina even though she had an alibi. 

Tina Howe was jealous of her husband Warren, so she murdered him.

That isn't the last of the anonymous letters. Various members of the Howe family and their friends are all favored with poison pen missives. When Scarlett starts investigating, she realizes that her sergeant, Nick Lowther, seems disturbed by her determination to open up this particular cold case. He was part of the investigation the first time around, did he discover something at the time and not share it with the team? 

Meanwhile, Daniel Kind, celebrated historian who considers the work of the historian to be akin to that of the detective, is looking into a mystery of his own. He has been working on the garden at his newly-acquired cottage--a garden that seems at first to be a random mess of plants. But he soon learns that the garden has a history and is referred to by local folk as the "Cipher Garden." What is the secret of the random planting? And what happened to the original owners of the cottage? His mystery leads him to the cold case investigation when he hires Peter Flint to help him renovate the garden. Flint was Warren Howe's business partner at the time of the murder--and is now involved with Howe's widow. Was he involved with her while Howe was still alive? And is there a motive for murder in that? By the time Scarlett and Kind follow their respective trails they will find a shocking conclusion...one that changes a number of the suspects' lives forever.

As I mentioned in my review of the first book in the series (The Coffin Trail), I'm not a huge fan of protagonists with baggage. We all know that Hannah and Daniel's respective relationships are not the most solid. We know where things are heading eventually. And, while I know that real life is messy, I don't really need my escapist mystery literature to measure up to real life. How much cleaner if we could skip the angst and doubts and the mess of getting out of relationships that aren't working and just have Hannah and Daniel meet up (single) in the debut novel and work their way towards a relationship of their own. Then we could all just focus on the main point of a mystery novel--the mystery, the clues, the suspects, and looking for a solution. This would be my main complaint about more modern mysteries, so many "mystery" authors bury their plot so far beneath the drama and angst in their detective's life that it's difficult to care about the actual mystery. 

Sorry, Martin, I didn't mean to get on my soapbox.

Fortunately, Martin Edwards, doesn't bury his plot. And he writes a darn good mystery. So I can more easily forgive the baggage that Hannah and Daniel are dragging about. It also helps that Martin completely pulled the wool over my eyes this time. In the first novel, I spotted the culprit thought I didn't get the motive right. This time I was totally at sea. And sometimes that's a very good place to be. I don't mind being fooled when it's done by an expert and Martin is certainly that. ★★★ and 3/4 (getting closer to a full four-star mystery!)

First line (Prologue): "I thought you were dead."

First line (1st Chapter): Welcome to Paradise.

Last line: This time she left it longer before easing her hand away from his.

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

Deaths = 7 ( two stabbed; two fell from height; two poisoned; one auto accident)

The World's Best 100 Detective Stories: Volume Ten

 The World's Best 100 Detective Stories: Volume Ten (1910) by Eugene Thwing (ed)

A very mixed bag of stories. I've read the Malcolm Sage stories before and enjoyed them. The Barney Cook mysteries are pleasant "boys own adventures," and the Old Man in the Corner is quite entertaining, but the post-World War I soldier stories by Detzer really aren't all that. Very little mystery or detection going on--and, as mentioned with the final story, I do see the moral of his stories. I just don't think he develops them very well. Over all, a mid-range entry in the "world's best" series. ★★★

"The Stolen Admiralty Memorandum" by Herbert Jenkins: Malcolm Sage is summoned to a country mansion where the Prime Minister, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Secretary of War are all in a panic.  A very sensitive memorandum has gone missing and a great deal of damage could be done if it finds its way into the wrong hands.  There is a houseful of weekend guests and servants.  Who is the guilty party?

"The Holding Up of Lady Glanedale" by Jenkins: A jewelry-loving cat burglar seems to be on the loose.  Five weeks ago, Mrs. Comminge was the victim of a burglar who crept into her bedroom and threatened to shoot her if she didn't hand over her jewel case and keep quiet until he could make his escape.  Now, it appears that he has struck again at the home of Lady Glanedale.  The Twentieth Century Insurance Corporation Limited calls in Sage to verify the particulars--and he reveals the surprising identity of the Glanedale cat burglar.

"The Missing Heavyweight" by Jenkins: Charley Burns, the British champion is set to fight Bob Jefferson (whose name changes to "Joe" towards the end of the story) for the heavyweight championship of the world.  But then he disappears two days before the match.  It's up to Sage to find the clues that will produce the fighter in time for the bout.

"The Blackmailers" by Harvey O'Higgins: Barney Cook is a sixteen year old telegram delivery boy who wants to be a detective. When he delivers an ad from a detective agency looking for an "intelligent, trustworthy [boy] for confidential office work" he uses his initiative to wangle an interview with the chief  of the operation. He's immediately put to the test in a little matter of coded telegrams and blackmail.

"Barney Has a Hunch" by O'Higgins: Barney Cook has established himself with the detective agency and has been assigned the job of trying to find a certain man. While disguised as a newspaper boy, he notices another man's abrupt reaction to the headline about a missing society girl. Barney's hunch leads him on a chase that will make or break his standing with the Chief.

"The Mystery of the Pearl Necklace" by Baroness Orczy: The ladies of London donate money to buy a fabulous pearl necklace for a woman who is a heroine in their eyes. They choose a trusted man and his wife to act as courier. When the man disappears as well as the necklace, the rumors fly. Eventually, the man and the necklace are found and the necklace reaches its rightful destination. But really happened? The Old Man in the Corner has an unusual theory.

"The Music of Robert the Devil" by Karl W. Detzer: A French village is periodically terrorized by the ghost of a blacksheep nobleman who looted their town and stole their women in the days of William the Norman. In the days after the first World War, it seems he come back again. But an American soldier (our narrator) plays detective an discovers what's really going on. (one stabbed)

"Through Bolted Doors" by Detzer: Our American soldier plays detective again--this time investigating who shot both a fellow soldier and an old woman found killed behind bolted doors. (two shot)

"Neglect of Duty" by Detzer: Once again our narrator is called upon to solve a mystery. A large sum of money held in trust by the officer with a certain company has disappeared. The soldier/detective must discover who took the money & why.

"Number 52 Rue Nationale" by Detzer: American soldiers are stealing food and goods from a village and surrounding countryside. Our narrator looks into the reasons why these normally law-abiding men are taking things at gunpoint.

"The Guilty Party: by Detzer: A hodge-podge of various military cases. A bit of a mess really. I appreciate the point behind the mini-stories within the story--to ask who's really to blame in certain situations. But I think it could have been better illustrated. (one shot)

First line (1st story): "Wel!" cried Tims, one Saturday night, as he pushed open the kitchen door of the little flat he occupied over the garage.

Last line (last story): Which proves again that even in the best of wars the guard-house did not always claim its own, and the Guilty Party went on blithely about his or her affairs.

Murder Every Monday: A Bonnie Case of Murder

 

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 crime fiction set in Scotland. I didn't expect to find as many as I did for this week's round. 

Murder at Midnight ~C. S. Challinor

Mystery on the Island of Skye ~Phyllis A. Whitney

The Hunting Party ~Lucy Foley

The Portcullis Room ~Valentine Williams

After the Armistice Ball ~Catriona McPherson

Five Red Herrings ~Dorothy L. Sayers

Fish & Kill (Cork on the Water) ~Macdonald Hastings

A House Possessed by Charity Blackstock

John MacNab ~John Buchan

Murder of a Lady ~Anthony Wynne

All Men Are Murderers ~Lee Blackstock

A Study in Death ~Anna Lee Huber

A Relative Act of Murder ~C. F. Roe

The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes ~Carolyn Keene

The Edinburgh Mystery ~Martin Edwards, ed

The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle

 The Strange Case of the Eliza Doolittle (2021) by Timothy Miller

Synopsis (from the back of the book): Sherlock Holmes has retired to the Sussex countryside...that is, until a most formidable puzzle is dropped upon his doorstep by a certain Colonel Pickering.

One Miss Eliza Doolittle, once nothing more than a cockney guttersnipe, has been transformed into a proper lady of London--perhaps even a duchess?--as if overnight. When Colonel Pickering recovered from a bout of malaria, he was astounded by the woman before him. Is it possible this transformation is due to nothing more than elocution lessons and some splendid new hats? Or has Professor Henry Higgins surreptitiously traded one girl for another? And for God's sake, why?

As the case unfolds, Holmes and Watson find themselves in ever stranger territory. Who are the four identical "Freddies" pursuing Miss Doolittle? What part do the respected Dr. Jekyll and his malevolent associate, Mr. Hyde, long thought dead, have to play in this caper? And who the devil is the devilish Baron von Stettin?

So--why mess about with one author's characters when you can mess about with three? So, we have Holmes and Watson taking up a case that not only brings in characters from My Fair Lady but also shadows of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Oh, goody! How much damage can we do in 248 pages to other people's characters since we don't really want to develop main characters of our own? Well...quite a bit, actually.

First of all--Holmes and Watson. They aren't really. Holmes doesn't really sound like Holmes even if he does spout standard Holmes phrases (The game's afoot! Do you have your service revolver? Good old, Watson! etc.). And Watson has been turned into a sort of grown version of a Baker Street Irregular with Holmes ordering him to follow people and whatnot. If Holmes were truly Holmes, I can't imagine how the incoherent babblings of Pickering would have interested him so greatly that he would abandon his bees in Sussex and go back to London to investigate the mysterious transformation of Eliza Doolittle. Especially considering the list of cases he's turned down since retirement--according to Watson. Pickering's story makes very little sense as he tells it and not one phrase stands out to me as something that would pique Holmes' interest.

Then we have Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. George Bernard Shaw through the lens of the 1964 film has been done a great disservice. Eliza bears little resemblance to the original in either form. The only time she's "delightful" (as she is often described) is when she is under the influence of Dr. Guest, which isn't necessarily a good thing. And, finally, there is the way we shoe-horn the Jekyll/Hyde story into the whole thing. I can't say more about that without spoiling the story--and, judging by the ratings on Goodreads--there's a possibility that some of you will enjoy this WAY more than me (lots of people did and apparently think the depictions herein are just dandy). So, I won't spoil it for you. As for me, not a huge fan.

Oh--and lest I forget--suddenly, at the end of the story, our logical Mr. Holmes seems ready to follow in his creator's footsteps (Doyle) and wants Watson to join him in investigating the supernatural and what lies "behind the veil." Seriously? 🙄 Not my favorite Holmes pastiche by a long shot. ★ and 1/2

First line: I have perhaps left the impression among my readers (such stalwarts as remain) that when Sherlock Holmes retired to his villa in Sussex to pursue his avocation as a beekeeper, his extraordinary career as the world's first consulting detective came to a lamentable end.

Last line: There is only one mystery left to explore, and as always, Holmes is one step ahead of me.
*******************

Deaths = 4 (three hanged; one beaten)

A Slash of Emerald

 A Slash of Emerald (2025) by Patrice McDonough

London, 1867. Dr. Julia Lewis and Inspector Richard Tennant are back in a second historical mystery. This time the focus is on the artistic community and links to pornography and other illicit trade "goods." 

While it is perfectly acceptable for Victorian women to dabble in watercolors and painting as an innocent pastime, women who try to make a living as an artist face ridicule and worse. And the women who pose for artists (male or female)? They're even worse. Julia is called to examine a young woman suspected of prostitution (to make sure she's not spreading disease) even though the girl insists that she's a shop girl and an artist's model at times. The police only became involved because two men were harassing her--though it's obvious they think she attracted their attention on purpose. Then, a new artistic friend of Julia's, Mary Allingham, suffers a break-in the studio on the grounds of her home. A large "W" (for whore) in emerald green paint is left behind. Local officers aren't too keen to investigate the "goings-on" at an art studio, but Julia asks Richard to speak with her friend about other incidents in the female art world.

When young female models become the target of a killer, both Richard and Julia are sure there's more behind this than just spite against females who don't know their place. Mary's brother Charles, an admirer of all sorts of art, has also died of poison. It looks like and is ruled a suicide, but then the family doctor and a member of Charles's club also dies of poison. The club has been tied to another line of investigation involving young girls--are the two threads connected? And if so, how?

McDonough has provided another absorbing Victorian mystery (one of my favorite historical periods). We learn more about Julia and Richard and we get to watch them learn about each other. The supporting characters are also interesting and given depth--even those who aren't on stage long. I enjoyed the look at the artistic world of the 1800s and McDonough deftly weaves real artists into the story in a very believable way. Like Richard Tennant, I wasn't happy that justice wasn't served up to all of the deserving. At the end of the book he takes a leave of absence from the force and is off to France in search of one of those responsible. I hope he catches them...but since the official justice system isn't interested, I do wonder what he's going to do when he does find them. ★★★★

First line: Annie O'Neill peered into the January mist and thought, Why didn't I hail a cab?

"What rational person wants to plow through eight hundred pages of a three-volume novel only to be left heart-sore and depressed by a sad ending?" (Mary Allingham, about Great Expectations; p. 199)

Last line: "Godspeed," she whispered, and walked back to the path.
*********************

Deaths = 10 (one beaten; two natural; three poisoned; two stabbed; two drowned)

Tarantula

 Tarantula (1971) by Bob Dylan

A short and sweet review: I like Dylan a lot as a singer, song writer, and musician. I don't care much for stream of consciousness writing in poem or fiction form--especially when more than 50 percent of the random (but topical for the time) references fly on by me. I recognize a fair number--from "comin' through the rye" to "huntley & brinkley," from the play on the tell-tale heart to Jimmy Cagney (who rates capitals though huntley & brinkley don't). There are lines here and there that do sing and make some sense and the one theme running through is aretha (Aretha Franklin, who also does not rate capitals for whatever reason). I'm not quite sure what aretha represents, but I'd definitely make Aretha a running theme as well. But there's too much that I don't recognize which makes the full-on mind dump even more gibberish than stream of consciousness normally is. If you like that sort of thing, then you may like this a lot--and maybe it's brilliant. I wouldn't know. No rating because I just don't know what to do with this.

First line (preface): In the fall of 1966, we were to publish Bob Dylan's "first book."

Poets and writers tell us how we feel by telling us how they feel. They find ways to express the inexpressible. Sometimes they tell the truth and sometimes they lie to us to keep our hearts from breaking. (xiii)

First line: aretha/ crystal jukebox queen of hymn & him diffused in

let it be understood that she owns this melody along with her musical diplomats
& her earth & her musical secrets (p. 1)

Last line: "Life--Death & the lumberjacks are coming"

Murder Every Monday: Opposites Attract

 

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 Paired Opposites. Link up a crime fiction title which contains one word with a second crime fiction title which contains a word with its opposite meaning.

Death of an Angel ~Frances & Richard Lockridge

The Devil Drives ~Virgil Markham

The Case of the Unhappy Angels ~Geoffrey Homes

The Happy Highwayman ~Leslie Charteris

A Sleeping Life ~Ruth Rendell

The Men in Her Death ~Marie Blizard

Happiness Is a Warm Corpse ~as edited by Alfred Hitchcock

Cold Light of Day ~Emma Page

And Then Put Out the Light ~E. C. R. Lorac

Death Haunts the Dark Lane ~A. B. Cunningham

The Big Clock ~Kenneth Fearing

A Genteel Little Murder ~Philip Daniels

Beauty Marks the Spot ~Kelley Roos

Beast in View ~Margaret Millar

Such Friends Are Dangerous  ~Walter Tyrer

My Foe Outstretch'd Beneath the Tree ~V. C. Clinton-Baddeley

Out of Order ~Phoebe Atwood Taylor

The Body in the Volvo ~K. K. Beck