The Singing Sands

 The Singing Sands (1952) by Josephine Tey (Elizabeth MacKintosh)

The last of Tey's Inspector Grant novels (and her last novel altogether as this one was published posthumously) finds Grant on sick leave. His doctor advises a holiday with a hobby--fishing in Scotland will be just the thing. He's suffering from overwork and panic attacks which exhibit themselves primarily in claustrophobia and the train journey north to stay with friends is excruciating. The only thing that takes his mind off his troubles is a brief encounter with a man presumed passed out drunk. The conductor had tried to rouse him and asked Grant's help. Previous experience tells Grant that the man is dead and when the conductor wails, "What shall I do?" Grant tells him to call the police. The conductor is dismayed (he'll be delayed getting off to his elevenses), but Grant is glad that the affair is none of his business.

Except...he can't get the man out of his mind. The young man had an interesting face, even in death, and when Grant finds that he has absentmindedly walked off with a newspaper from the man's compartment...a newspaper that has an odd bit of verse pencilled in the margin...

        The beasts that talk,
        The streams that stand,
        The stones that walk,
        The singing sands
        .........
        .........
        That guard the way
        To Paradise...

he wonders what kind of man the deceased was. Who was he? Where was he going? What business would bring such a man to the rural area of Scotland? This puzzle helps Grant to recover far more quickly than any fishing for trout. to 

He writes to his office to confess to having abstracted the newspaper (and telling of the odd bit of marginalia) but finds they aren't interested. The man has been identified as a Frenchman who had had one too many and stumbled backwards against the washbasin in a deadly blow. Except Grant just can't believe it. He places an advertisement in the papers asking if anyone can identify the bit of verse. The advert produces one Tad Cullen, a flyer with a company that delivers to Arabia. Cullen is in search of a missing friend....a friend who just happened to quote that bit of poetry one night when a little drunk. Soon Grant and Cullen are off on a quest to prove that one deceased Charles Martin, Frenchman, is actually the missing Bill Kenrick. But who wanted to kill Kenrick and why stuff his pockets with the identity papers of a Frenchman? By the end of the story, Grant will know that answer and will also be cured of his claustrophobic anxiety.

I was much more enamored of this one when I read it the first time (30-ish years ago). I was just getting myself firmly planted in the vintage mystery world after flirting heavily with it about ten-fifteen years before that. Reading this now, there are two things that keep this from being a four-star mystery. First, it takes a very long time for the investigation to get moving. Grant keeps thinking about it and makes a trip all the way to the singing sands in the Hebrides (but doesn't really find anything there), but things don't start hopping until Tad Cullen shows up (at just about the half-way mark). One hundred pages out of a two-hundred page mystery is a fair way to go for the investigation to take off when the dead body has appeared in chapter one. And second, Grant doesn't exactly solve the case (yes, there is fingerprint evidence working its way to him, but...). The murderer sends him a nicely written confession before doing him/herself in. If the first half of the book hadn't been unsatisfying in its lack of detective action, then I might have been more amenable to the confession as wrap-up. But having both just didn't work so well for me. ★★★

First line: It was six o'clock of a March morning, and still dark.

Last line: What a most extraordinary idea.
*****************

Deaths = 3 (one hit on head; two airplane crash)

A Murder Is Announced

 A Murder Is Announced (1950) by Agatha Christie (read by Emilia Fox)

I was looking for something I had read before to listen to while I worked and also as a palate cleanser after the last two mysteries. I thought  that the fifth Miss Marple book would be just the thing. I was right. Since I've read and reviewed this her on the block before (HERE), I'm not going to rehash the plot or focus much on my reaction to it.  I'm going to give my attention to the narration/performance of Emilia Fox and my thoughts about listening to Christie's story again. 

Fox does such an excellent job providing a variety of voices for a fairly large cast of characters. There is never any doubt about which character is speaking and for the most part I think she gets the characters right. My two quibbles are with Miss Marple and Diana "Bunch" Harmon. The first quibble is more arbitrary--I will probably always hear Joan Hickson's voice in my head when it comes to Miss Marple and Fox's version of our elderly sleuth just doesn't match it closely enough. As for Bunch, she captures her muddled logic very well, but the voice qualities are just a little too precious. But these are minor issues in a performance that is so good overall.

Possible Spoilers Ahead! If you haven't read the story (or haven't seen one of the TV productions), then proceed with caution.

I was struck again by how very awful the murders in this story are and how despicable the murderer really is. Of course, murder is always awful, but these fictional murders seem to hit me in a different way from others. Miss Marple says that the grief shown over Bunny's death was real. But I don't believe that it's really grief over having committed murder--merely grief on the murderer's own behalf that they are so very alone now. No one left who knew them. Grief over their loss, not the loss of the actual person of Bunny. Murderers are so very selfish. There is a great depth of feeling in these characters--from Hinch's loss of Murgatroyd to Edward's devotion to Phillipa. This is one of my favorite Miss Marple mysteries for good reason. ★★★★

First line: Between 7:30 and 8:30 every morning except Sundays, Johnnie Butt made the round of the village of Chipping Cleghorn on his bicycle, whistling vociferously through his teeth and alighting at each house or cottage to shove through the lette box such morning papers as had been ordered by the occupants of the the house in question from Mr. Totman, stationer, of the High Street.

Last line: "How else would they know what's going on around here?"

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

Deaths = 9 (one shot; one poisoned; five natural; one hit by car; one strangled)

An April Shroud

 An April Shroud (1975) by Reginald Hill

Superintendent Andrew Dalziel has seen his right-hand man, Inspector Peter Pascoe, happily married and off on his honeymoon. Dalziel is off himself on a vacation--a rarity for the superintendent. He has no definite plans, just aims to drive off and see where it takes him. The mild rain that started with the ceremony soon turns into full-blown showers...and eventually into floods. Dalziel finds himself stranded near a small river and rescued by a floating funeral procession. The family of the deceased man take him to their home, Lake House, until things dry up enough to rescue his car.

There are a number of odd things at Lake House: a "medieval" restaurant--not quite fully constructed; a frozen rat in the freezer; the lovely mistress of the house who has now lost two husbands to death under mysterious circumstances--the latest (and subject of the funeral procession) stabbed by a drill to the heart; anonymous phone calls; insurance fraud; and a general air of secrecy and deception about the place. Two more deaths put Dalziel's detective skills to the test, but he won't figure things out until the restaurant has opened and Pascoe returns from his honeymoon.

Reginald Hill is another author with whom I have an on-again, off-again relationship. We're more off than on for this outing. Blurbs I've read here and there indicate that this is supposed to be filled with humor. I just don't see it. There's vulgarity and sex for the sake of vulgarity and sex (as far as I can tell). There's rather inexplicable conversations between Dalziel and the inhabitants of Lake House. There's a mystery that Dalziel doesn't really seem to want to solve and when he does, he doesn't give the local law enforcement the full story. It's a pretty unsatisfactory book all 'round. But, hey, it's got a near four-star rating on Goodreads and other bloggers seem to have enjoyed it more than I did--so your mileage may vary. ★★

Side-note on the title: Unless I missed it, we're not told explicitly (other than on the book's flap), but I'm guessing that all the action happens in April. Otherwise there's no reason for the title except it gives Hill the chance to quote John Keats:

...the melancholy fit shall fall 

Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud

That fosters the droop-headed flowers all

And hides the green hill in an April shroud

Honestly, I just figure he had a burning desire to use that quote because I don't really see a connection to the plot at all.

First line: No one knew how it came about that Dalziel was making a speech.

Last line: with a sigh he turned over on his side, reached out to the bedside table, picked up The Last Days of Pompeii and opened it at his place.
******************

Deaths = (3 one stabbed; one beaten to death; one drowned)

[Finished on 10/19/25--just haven't felt like reviewing it.]

Murder Every Monday: Where There's Smoke....

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/or titles  from books we own that match the prompts she posts in advance (see link).

This week's prompt is crime fiction with a cover that depicts smoking. Some of the pipes/cigarettes may be a little difficult to see (kind of a "Where's Waldo" in smoking). I could have done a whole post of just Sherlock Holmes books and Holmes pastiches. But--given the size of my collection and the fact that in vintage mysteries it seems that everyone smokes--we really don't seem to want to depict smoking on the covers of my editions. And especially not women--not even the "bad girls."

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes ~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Two Bronze Pennies ~Chris Nickson

Treasure Up in Smoke ~David Williams (this week's winner for most bizarre cover)

Death in the Quadrangle ~Eilis Dillon

Holy Disorders ~Edmund Crispin

The Scottish Decision ~Alan Hunter

Blotto, Twinks & the Rodents of the Riviera ~Simon Brett

Case for Sergeant Beef ~Leo Bruce

Twice Dead ~John Buxton Hilton

Murder on Delivery ~Spencer Dean

Inspector West Kicks Off ~John Creasey

Strong Poison ~Dorothy L. Sayers

Death at the Bar ~Ngaio Marsh

The Amazing Adventures of Father Brown ~G. K. Chesterton

The Velvet Fleece ~Lois Eby & John C. Fleming

A Three-Pipe Problem ~Julian Symons

More Holmes for the Holidays ~Greenberg, Lellenberg & Waugh (eds)

Watson's Choice ~Gladys Mitchell

Why Kill Arthur Potter ~Ray Harrison

A Bullet in the Ballet ~Caryl Brahms & S. J. Simon

The Murder League ~Robert L. Fish

Puzzle for Fools ~Patrick Quentin

Innocent Blood ~P. D. James

The Dead Man's Knock ~John Dickson Carr

An African Millionaire ~Grant Allen

What's in the Dark? ~Ellery Queen

The Case of the Untidy Murder (Untidy Murder) ~Frances & Richard Lockridge

The Witch's House

 The Witch's House (1963) by Charlotte Armstrong

Academics are running amuck in Armstrong's book. Professors Pat O'Shea and Everett Adams disappear from their university one fine afternoon. The police think it's a coincidence and that both men are just off on a bender or visiting "friends" (for which read women other than their wives). Adams's wife doesn't seem concerned, but Anabel O'She knows her husband. He'd never go on a bender; there's no other woman; and if something came up and he could make it to a phone, then he'd call her to tell her what's up. So, she's convinced that something awful must have happened to him. Since the police won't search for him, she decides to find him herself. She teams up with Adams's daughter Vee to hunt for the missing men.

So, what became of the missing men? O'Shea was horrified to discover that Adams was responsible for the theft of a valuable piece of university equipment. A theft that has been blamed on the student who was last known to be in the lab where the equipment was kept. When he sees Adams pocket the expensive lens, he rushes after him for a showdown. But Adams isn't just a thief; he seems to have become deranged and after an altercation in which Adams leaves O'Shea for dead, Adams goes into hiding. O'Shea regains consciousness in a run-down house near an old dump. At first he thinks he's been rescued, but he quickly realizes that he's a prisoner. Mrs. Pryde swears he's her son Johnny who has finally come back to her. [Spoiler alert: Johnny was executed many years ago. He's not coming back.] And she has no intention of "Johnny" ever leaving her again. She sets her guard dog to make sure he doesn't. Meanwhile, Anabel and Vee are following a trail of evidence that will dig up family secrets in the Adams household, but will those clues be enough to lead them to the missing men? 

So....I know why I picked this one up--it has academics in a mystery plot. Love those. But Charlotte Armstrong and I have an on-again, off-again relationship (mostly off, looking at my previous three reads) and so far nothing has come close to Lay On, Mac Duff! which at 3 1/2 stars has been the highest rated (and that didn't exactly knock it out of the park). Ironically, her books with any sort of an academic bent have done little for me. I think part of the problem with Armstrong is I'm not a fan of knowing pretty much everything up front. There's not much mystery left with most of hers--except how and when will the villain of the piece get caught. I like a real mystery with proper clues and a chance to figure it out before the sleuth does. If you like an inverted mystery, then you'll probably like this one a lot more than I did. ★★ and 1/2

Side note with a SPOILER warning:

The plight of Pat O'Shea made me think of Misery by Stephen King. Not that the "witch" is O'Shea's biggest fan or anything like that. But we've definitely got a delusional woman keeping someone hostage in an isolated setting. All of O'Shea's injuries come from an altercation with Adams, so Mrs. Pryde doesn't inflict more on him (as in the King book) but she also refuses to get him a doctor--insisting on nursing "her boy Johnny" back to health herself. I wonder if King was aware of this book when he decided to write Misery?

First line: He happened to be standing perfectly still, considering what, if anything, he ought to take home.

Last line: He took the starched one firmly away.
******************

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

[finished 10/15/25]

Murder Every Monday: Can't See the Forest for the Trees

 

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/or titles  from books we own that match the prompts she posts in advance (see link).

This week's prompt is crime fiction with a forest or woods on the cover. Any that I have read have reviews linked.

Trixie Belden & the Gatehouse Mystery ~Julie Campbell

The Babes in the Wood ~Ruth Rendell

The House of Care ~W. J. Burley

An Owl Too Many ~Charlotte MacLeod

Murder Misread ~P. M. Carlson

The Betrayal of Trust ~Susan Hill

The Markenmore Mystery ~J. S. Fletcher

The Sleeping Tiger ~D. M. Devine

What Beckoning Ghost ~Douglas G. Browne

Gownsman's Gallows ~Katharine Farrer

Gently Through the Woods ~Alan Hunter

Murders in Outline ~Anne Morice

Death Walks the Woods ~Cyril Hare

No Wind of Blame ~Georgette Heyer

The Dark Place ~Aaron Elkins

Miss Zukas & the Stroke of Death ~Jo Dereske

The Secret of the Old Clock ~Carolyn Keene

The Clue of the Screeching Owl ~Franklin W. Dixon

Hunt with the Hounds ~Mignon G. Eberhart

Season of Snow & Sins ~Patricia Moyes

The Deathless & the Dead ~Anna Clarke

The Arsenic Labyrinth ~Martin Edwards

When Maidens Mourn ~C. S. Harris 

The Youth Hostel Murders ~Glyn Carr

Transit of Earth

 Transit of Earth (1971) by Playboy Press

An anthology of stories that originally appeared in Playboy Magazine. Though most of the stories are by big names in classic science fiction, I wouldn't say these are their biggest and best stories. The title story is a good one that I've read before. "It Didn't Happen" gives a nice twist to crime fiction as does "Let There Be Light." But for downright science fiction, I believe "Control Somnambule" is the best of the lot. ★★★

"Transit of Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke: A doomed astronaut on Mars fulfills his mission by recording the rare transit of Earth across the sun. He knows that he will be the last human to witness it for a century.

"Button, Button" by Richard Matheson: A couple receive a mysterious package. They learn that if they just press the button on the gadget inside they can earn $50,000. The catch? Someone, somewhere will die if they do. They're told they won't know the person who dies. The husband is horrified at the thought, but the wife is intrigued. 

"The Machineries of Joy" by Ray Bradbury: Priests argue over the idea of space travel and whether there ever was a papal encyclical on the subject. An interesting study on the reluctance to accept change...as well as a character study of people who know each other well enough to get under each other's skin.

"The Invasion" by Avram Davidson: When aliens take over the Earth it may not be as obvious as monsters showing up in spaceships. A young woman soon learns the terrifying truth from the man she meets in a bar and takes home with her....

"Bernie the Faust" by William Tenn: Featuring the only man to sell the Earth...and buy it back again. And the reason why it happens.

"Cephalotron" by Thomas M. Disch: Written in the style of a press release, this is about the release of a brand new toy--post-atomic, mutant humans in miniature form. Lots of fun! And a way to (maybe) make these poor creatures less miserable.

"It Didn't Happen" by Fredric Brown: A wealthy playboy fancies a lovely stripper and is sure she'll be glad to give him a private performance--for money, of course. When she refuses, he doesn't take rejection well...and shoots her. But the rest of the story just goes on to prove that all may not be what it seems. (one hit by car; two shot)

"The Man in the Rorschach Shirt" by Ray Bradbury: A psychoanalyst has a moment of truth about his profession. 

"Waste Not, Want Not" by John Atherton: At the rate humans fill up the dumps, is it any wonder that one day there will be no more room for the non-biodegradable waste? Future leaders come up with an ingenious solution--not once, but twice.

"Control Somnambule" by William Sambrot: The first man to circumnavigate the moon goes "missing" on  Earth's tracking system for almost six hours, but he says he never lost a minute of contact with Earth. What really happened during those missing hours?

"Let There Be Light" by Arthur C. Clarke: When an astronomy buff becomes aware that his much younger wife is having an affair, he devises what he believes to be the perfect (perfectly undetectable) murder method. (one fell from height)

"Speed Trap" by Frederik Pohl: A man just knows that if he could find the time that he could devise the perfect way for everyone to have plenty of time to do all the things they need/want to. But just as he thinks things are coming together, they fall apart. Someone had told him that "the world conspired against anybody who'd ever done anything." But what if that force conspiring against us wasn't of this world? (one fell from height; one drowned)

"Souvenir" by J. G. Ballard: This is a weird one. The body of a giant washes up on the shore. That's it. It's basically about the impermanence of life and the short life span of any newsworthy item. But I have so many questions. Scientists show up to examine the body and measure it and whatnot--then go away and are never heard from again (in this story). And that's it? Nobody really seems to think that it's particularly odd that this humongous man has just appeared on the beach. No apparent worry that there might be more giants out there somewhere--giants who might be alive when they show up next time. 

First line (1st story): Testing one, two, three, four, five...Evans speaking.

Last line (last story): In the winter the high curved bones are deserted, battered by the breaking waves, but in the summer they provide an excellent perch for the sea-worrying gulls.

The Ghost & Mrs. McClure

 The Ghost & Mrs. Mcclure (2004) by Alice Kimberly (Cleo Coyle)

More than fifty years ago, a tough private eye by the name of Jack Shepard was murdered while trying to track down the killers of his pal Freddie. He walked into a bookshop in Quindicott, Rhode Island and was never seen again. And in the present day, Penelope Thornton-McClure and her Aunt Sadie, current owners of the bookshop, are set to host Timothy Brennan for an author's talk and book-signing. Brennan writes a series of private eye thrillers based on Jack Shepard and his real life cases. During the talk, he drops the bombshell that Shepard was last seen in the bookstore where he now stands and that he plans to abandon his fictional tales to write the real crime story about Shepard. He plans to investigate the murder fifty years later and unmask the killers. But before he can finish his talk, he himself drops dead. Penelope has hopes that the older man has died of natural causes (a heart attack, maybe?) but it's soon discovered that someone who knew Brennan well enough to know about his allergies doctored his water bottle with peanut oil. A big enough dose to send him into anaphylactic shock.

But who could have wanted him dead? Well...as it happens, just about anybody who knew him. He was an insufferable man who treated his daughter and son-in-law like slaves. Insulted his friends and publicist and wasn't above being rude to his hostesses. And...if Jack Shepard were still in his physical body, he would have gladly strangled the man who was getting rich off of his old case files--especially since Brennan claimed that Shepard wasn't nearly as bright as the fictional detective he had created. 

What's that, how do I know that Shepard wouldn't mind killing Brennan himself. Well...he said so. You see, Shepard is hanging out in ghostly form among the books in the shop. And he has these lovely conversations with Penelope McClure. She's the only one that can hear him. She swears she doesn't believe in ghosts, but when he keeps talking in her head what's a girl to do? He comes in pretty handy when it initially looks like the "Staties" (State Troopers) are fitting the struggling bookshop owner for the picture of a murderer. So, Jack starts teaching Penelope how a real P.I. goes about detecting. After a few false starts, Jack and Penelope finally spot the villain and manage to serve them up to local Officer Eddie Franzetti so the Troopers won't get the glory.

A few years ago, I read The Ghost & the Dead Deb, the second book in the series, and I wasn't all that impressed (see link for the review). I'm pleased to say that the debut novel of the series is a much stronger offering. I enjoyed the initial set-up and watching Penelope adjust to the fact that ghosts do exist and she's the only one who can hear and see this one. The interactions between her and Jack are fun, though I am still weirded out by the attraction between the two (see previous review for more on that). I also enjoyed the peek at the mystery behind Jack's death. As I mentioned in the other review, I really think I'd like to see a book that focuses on when Jack was really alive (reading about his cases). It would also be interesting to see a proper investigation of his murder. There's a hint at the end of this one that he and Penelope are going to look into that, but it hadn't happened in book two. Maybe it comes later in the series.

The plot here is, I think, more intricate than that of book two. There are some good red herrings and clues to follow up. A solid beginning to the series. ★★★

First lines (Prologue): Cranberry. What kind of cornball name was that for a street?

First line (1st Chapter): "We killed him!"

Last line: Then he faded temporarily away, back into the old fieldstone wall that had become his tomb.
*******************************

Deaths = 6 (one poisoned; one suicide; two hit by car; two shot)

Murder Every Monday: Location, Location, Location!

 

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/or titles  from books we own that match the prompts she posts in advance (see link).

This week's prompt is crime fiction with a place in the title (state, region, county, country, etc. but NOT a city). Any that I have read have reviews linked.

The Cornish Coast Murder ~John Bude

The Beacon Hill Murders/The Back Bay Murders ~Roger Scarlett

The Shortest Way to Hades ~Sarah Caudwell

Decision at Delphi ~Helen MacInnes

Murder in Burgundy ~Audrey Peterson

Captain Nash & the Honour of England ~Ragan Butler

The China Sea Murders ~Van Wyck Mason

The Singapore Exile Murders ~Van Wyck Mason

Death in Zanzibar ~M. M. Kaye

Zanzibar Intrigue ~Van Wyck Mason

Death in Cyprus ~M. M. Kaye

Murder on the Orient Express ~Agatha Christie

The Saint in Europe ~Leslie Charteris

Murder, London-South Africa ~John Creasey

Wings Above the Diamantina ~Arthur W. Upfield

Secret Mission to Alaska ~Rober Barlow

The Cape Cod Caper ~Margot Arnold

The Cape Cod Mystery ~Phoebe Atwood Taylor

Trixie Belden & Mystery in Arizona ~Julie Campbell

The Secret of Skeleton Island ~Robert Arthur

Basil in Mexico ~Eve Titus

Seven Great Detective Stories

 Seven Great Detective Stories by William H. Larson (ed)

One should be careful when choosing titles for books. For instance, if you're going to say that you've got seven Great detective stories, then you ought to be sure that the majority of readers are going to agree with you that all seven really are great...and really are detective stories. As in, there is actually some detecting going on. Of the seven stories in this collection, I'd agree that three are great (the Wade, Futrelle, and Doyle) and one is almost, but not quite (the Chesterton). And I'd agree that most, but not all, are detective stories. The Cooper story has a detective--but we really don't see him detecting. Here we see him trapping the guilty man, but we don't the gathering of clues. Futrelle's story, while be a great look at how Van Dusen thinks, also isn't really a story about detection. And neither is the Kemelman. In fact, Kemelman's story doesn't really hang together all that well. I'm not buying that the professor could just string together all those "logical" inferences and, hey, presto, actually solve a crime he didn't even know had been committed. 

My favorite story of the bunch (on this reading) is "The Missing Undergraduate." It was the first short story I've read by Wade (although I have enjoyed several of his novel-length mysteries) and I'm always happy to find a good academic mystery. I've read both the Futrelle and Doyle stories so many times over the years that I know them pretty well backwards and forwards. So, they don't make quite the impression they did when I first discovered them. ★★★ for a decent collection.

"Suspect Unknown" by Courtney Ryley Cooper: The FBI Inspector was certain he knew the identity of the man responsible for the Tilliver murder. But there is no hard evidence. How can he get the man to reveal himself as the suspect unknown? (one shot)

"The Blast of the Book" by G. K. Chesterton: Father Brown teaches a scientist interested in the paranormal and psychic phenomena how to distinguish between what is really there and what isn't when a clergyman comes along with a story about a cursed book which makes people disappear.

"The Missing Undergraduate" by Henry Wade: Inspector Poole is called back to Oxford, his alma mater, to look into the disappearance of an undergraduate known for his practical jokes. The solution is a bit macabre--reminding me of an Edgar Allan Poe story or two....

"The Problem of Cell 13" by Jacques Futrelle: Futrelle's most famous story. Professor Van Dusen insists that nothing is impossible to a thinking man. His friends wager that he can't think his way out of a prison cell...but he proceeds to do just that.

"Silver Blaze" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson are off to Dartmoor to investigate the disappearance of a famous race horse and the murder of the horse's trainer. Inspector Gregory & company have been on the case, but have made no headway. Holmes is in the area for a mere afternoon and soon has all the threads in his hand. [one hit on head]

"The Nine-Mile Walk" by Harry Kemelman: Our narrator, a candidate for district attorney, is challenged to provide a sentence of ten words or so to his professorial friend and the professor guarantees that he can come up with a logical chain of inferences that are correct--even if they aren't the true inference the narrator intended. What begins as an pedantic exercise soon turns into the solution of a daring murder on a train. 

"The Man in the Velvet Hat" by Jerome & Harold Prince: Reynolds, a journalist, spurs Inspector Magruder to hunt an apparent serial killer who targets victims from all social classes in deaths that pass as accidental. The culprit is said to be a man in a velvet hat and a brown overcoat. Magruder just wants to be sure he finds the one really responsible.... [one fell from height; one registered as pneumonia; one car accident

First line (1st story): Inspector Jessop of the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been expecting the call.

Last line (last story): "But that was this morning, Reynolds; that was this morning."

Murder Listens In

 Murder Listens In (Arrow Pointing Nowhere; 1944) by Elizabeth Daly

Someone is tossing crumpled papers out of the window at Fenway House--the home of a rather secluded family. At first, the postman just thinks someone has dropped a bit of trash on the way to the dustbin. But when the papers keep coming just in time for him to find them, he begins to think there's a purpose behind it. A little bit of sleuthing on the part of the his office soon determines that the messages written on book dealer envelopes are meant for that book sleuth cum amateur detective Henry Gamadge. But the messages are, by necessity, so vague that Gamadge isn't quite sure what his pen pal wants him to do.

The first thing is to arrange to get in the house. He learns from his wife's Aunt Clara that Blake Fenway, head of the house, is a book collector and asks her to effect an introduction. Once in the house, Mr. Fenway makes it easy for him to make his presence known to "the client" by introducing Gamadge to everyone. Everyone includes Blake's daughter Caroline; Belle Fenway, wife of Blake's younger, deceased brother, and their son Alden who is mentally handicapped; Mott Fenway, Blake's cousin; Alice Grove, Belle's companion; and Craddock, Alden's attendant. Alice Grove's niece Hilda should be one of the party, but she is currently at Fenway, the family's country estate, sorting books and papers to be brought into town. Through various hints (a book carried around with him, for instance), Gamadge attempts to let "the client" know that he's on the case. And he finds another crumpled ball that he unobtrusively manages to take with him.

Both Blake and Mott approach him separately about solving a little mystery. An illustration in a book about the Fenway family history has been torn out. It's the only surviving picture of the family's first estate--long since sold. And they want Gamadge to find it. He's happy to add that to his to do list, but he also knows that neither of these men are his client--they move freely from the house and have no qualms about talking to him about their trouble. Whoever brought him to the house obviously can't move about freely--otherwise they could have sent him a more straightforward message. But it soon becomes apparent that there is more to the missing illustration than meets the eye and Gamadge begins to wonder if any of these people are exactly what he thinks they are.

This is a cleverly plotted (particularly for the time period) mystery with a somewhat shaky hook at the beginning. Depending on cryptic notes written on crumpled envelopes to be delivered to Gamadge and just tossed out as trash is a pretty poor method of communication. And I realize "the client" was in a desperate situation with little choice. But how on earth the post office knew to hand it to someone who would know that it needed to go to Gamadge....and then how on earth Gamadge made heads or tails out of the cryptic messages is beyond me. Once we get Gamadge on the spot, it's all good. He dives in and figures out where the missing illustration is and why it's so important to his client and who the villain of the piece is and it all makes perfect sense from there. [Not that I spotted the final twist before it came, mind you.]

I read this once upon a time [long before blogging] and had a nice time getting reacquainted with Gamadge. Good solid mystery. Creepy old house (make that two--if you count the country estate). Mysterious goings on at night. All good fun. ★★★ and 1/2 

First line: Schenck pushed the ball of crumpled paper across the table.  

Last line:  Perhaps mine told her that I always answer my letters.
*******************

Deaths = 5 (two natural; one fell from height; two shot)

[Finished on 9/30/25] 

October Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

October Virtual Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

October Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

October Vintage Scavenger Hunt Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Murder Every Monday: Lights, Camera...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/or titles  from books we own that match the prompts she posts in advance (see link).

This week's prompt is crime fiction with a Film or TV studio Setting.

The Murder Game ~Steve Allen

The Case of the Angry Actress ~E. V. Cunningham

The Four of Hearts ~Ellery Queen

Final Cut ~Eric Wright

Cold Poison ~Stuart Palmer

Murder, Murder, Little Star ~Marian Babson

The Five Assassins ~Owen Fox Jerome 

And So to Murder ~Carter Dickson

Falling Star ~Patricia Moyes

Bullet for a Star ~Stuart M. Kaminsky

Swing Low, Sweet Harriet ~George Baxt

A Death for a Darling ~E. X. Giroux