Shadow of Madness

 Shadow of Madness (1950) by Hugh Pentecost (Judson Philips)

Dr. John Smith, a criminal psychologist, decides that what he really needs is a fishing trip. He hasn't been fishing and camping since he was young and so he gathers camping gear and his fishing gear and decides to head out into the woods.  And gets lost. And gets captured by a madman with a Thompson submachine gun. When someone asks him later how he got into the dangerous position he finds himself, he responds:

Because I am an idiot. I haven't been fishing for twenty years, Mr. Cornwall. I got the urge for the great outdoors. Do I fish off a bridge near my own comfortable lodgings? No. Do I mosey along a pleasant winding stream through the farm lands in the neighborhood? No. I strike out for the great outdoors. I am a woodsman. I am going to camp out--an idea I haven't had since I was twelve years old, a frighteningly long time ago. I strike out into the woods. I have all the modern camping gadgets from Abercrombie and Fitch. After one hour of fishing I cannot find my camp or my equipment. After four hours I find myself confronted by a young man with a machine gun. That, Mr. Cornwall, is the history of my idiocy.

Yes, Dr. Smith is taken prisoner by Mark Douglas. A madman with a mission. Someone has been blackmailing Mark over a crime worthy of the District Attorney's attention and Mark has had enough. He's been pushed over the edge. He knows the blackmailer must be one of eight people--his wife or one of seven "friends" he's known all his life. He brought them all to this secluded lake where they spent their younger days swimming, boating, fishing, and sleeping in the large cabin. Then he wrecked the cars and told them if the blackmailer didn't confess...or they didn't work together to expose him/her...then he would kill them all rather than endure anymore demands. Now that Dr. Smith has wandered into the party, he's expected to play by the same rules. Can the man who works with criminal insanity on a regular basis defuse the ticking time bomb that Mark has begun? And when murder strikes among the party can he solve that little problem as well?

This was one of the most interesting mysteries/thrillers/suspense stories that I've read in quite a while. The opening chapter is amazing. The set-up intriguing. The way the doctor goes about interviewing the captives and working on Mark is fascinating. Pentecost does a brilliant job in building the tension and bringing in the back ground that the doctor needs to understand the currents running under the surface among these people. Did I spot the blackmailer and/or killer? Not exactly. I was kind of leaning their way, but didn't get there before the reveal. Speaking of the reveal, that was the most disappointing part of the story. After the big build-up, I expected a bit more oomph in the finale. It's not that it wasn't good--it just wasn't great. So I couldn't quite bump the star rating all the way to the top. ★★★★

First line: The small gray man pushed his way through the brush and came out into the clearing.

Last line: "Why not?" the Doctor said. "Why not?"
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Deaths =  5 (one shot down in war; one stabbed; one natural; two car accident)