John Macnab

 John Macnab (1925) by John Buchan

The great lawyer/politician Sir Edward Leithen is feeling a bit under the weather, so he goes to see his friend and doctor who gives him the worst news possible. There's nothing wrong with him--at least not physically. But if that's the case, then what's a man filled with ennui and who doesn't feel like doing anything to do? His friend jokingly suggests doing something a bit dangerous and slightly illegal...something that will get the old adrenaline pumping. Of course, that would be an absurd thing for such an eminent man to do...

Then Leithen goes to his club where he finds two of his friends, the banker John Palliser-Yeates and Charles Lamancha, a nobleman and fellow politician, in the same boat. They've all lost the zest of life. None of them feel like doing any of the things they're supposed to do. And then...a fourth friend, Sir Archie Roylance--war hero and rising aspiring politician--comes along and tells them about the legend of Jim Tarras, a man who was bored in the Scottish Highlands and sent anonymous notes to local landowners warning them that he planned to poach on their land on certain days. The thrill of doing what he wasn't supposed to do and trying to evade the gamekeepers provided him with enough excitement to knock him out of his ennui.

The men are thrilled with the idea and talk Rolance into inviting him to his Scottish estate where they will play the same game with some of his neighbors. They decide to send the challenges out under the nom de plume John Macnab. The rest of the book revolves around the antics of the men as they scope out the land and the response of the local landowners to their challenge.

John Macnab strikes me as a cross between Jerome K. Jerome (of Three Men in a Boat fame) and pretty much any P. G. Wodehouse book. We have three bored gentlemen doing a fair amount of fairly ridiculous things to achieve their ends. And on the other side we have equally determined landowners hiring navvies and going to other great lengths to prevent them  It's fun to watch. And along the way Buchan gives us the most amazing character sketches and charming interplay between the various characters. The characterization is the best part of this one. 

My previous experience with Buchan is The 39 Steps. And this definitely is not that. It's far more farce than adventure...and there's even less mystery. The biggest mystery is whether the men will be caught or not and, if so, how. But it is a lot of fun and a nice, comfortable read. ★★★

First line: The great doctor stood on the hearth-rug looking down at his friend who sprawled before him in an easy-chair.

Last line: Below four signatures were engraved--Lamancha, Edward Leithen and John-Palliser-Yeates, and last, in a hand of surprising boldness, the honoured name of Benjamin Bogle.

***************
Deaths = two natural

*Finished on 12/22/25

Reprint of the Year: The Yellow Room

 For several years, Kate at Cross Examining Crime has been rounding up the vintage mystery bloggers and having us perpetuate her brilliant brainstorm (one of many that she has had). In the wake of various publishing houses recognizing the virtues of Golden Age (and more recent) vintage crime novels through reprint editions of both well-known and more obscure titles, Kate thought those of us who love those vintage mysteries would like the chance to feature the year's reprints and make a pitch for our favorites to be voted Reprint of the Year. We loved the idea so much that we keep coming back for more.

My second contender for the 2025 ROY Awards Ceremony is The Yellow Room (1945) by Mary Roberts Rinehart. If you're not on the hunt for a vintage copy of your own, then Otto Penzler's American Mystery Classics will be your source for the 2025 reprint edition. Rinehart is most often associated with the Had I But Known school as well as "the butler did it" trope. Although she wasn't the first to have a murderous butler, she did, indeed, feature a killer manservant in at least one of her books. This one? My lips are sealed.

If you go by the blurb on the edition of this book that I first read (back in 2012), then you would expect The Yellow Room to be a more Gothic, Had-I-But-Known story. But it's really more of a twisty-turny mystery (and she delivers on the twisty-turny solution!). Shoot, if you read the blurb on that first edition, you'd think that some evil terror hangs out in the Yellow Room of Carol Spencer's family home in the country and that she goes in mortal fear of her elder brother.

See?:

As a child, Carol Spencer had always thought of Crestview as a place of light and laughter. But Carol was a young woman now, a lovely young woman, and a badly frightened one. The old mansion on the hill was no longer a refuge from the world. It was a prison from which even the man she loved could not rescue her...a nightmare from which she could not awaken...where every heart beat brought her closer to the strange menace of--The Yellow Room

And:

Brother and Stranger: It had been years since Carol Spencer had seen her brother Greg. Time and war had separated them, but Carol still could vividly remember his flashing smile, his easy grace, in the days when he had been a kind of a god to his younger sister. Now they were together again at Crestview--and it was as if Carol were facing a stranger...a stranger whom she knew she should help but could only fear...a stranger with bitterness curling his mouth...hate in his eyes...and blood on his hands....

Can we say melodramatic and over-the-top? Just a little bit. But Rinehart does this sort of thing so well when she's on the top of her game--which she is here.

Seriously, there are some mysterious goings-on at Crestview but not quite on this scale. Carol and her help (a housekeeper/cook and two maids) arrive at the family home to open it in time to receive her elder brother Greg who is home on leave from service in WWII. He's come back from the Pacific theater to receive a Medal of Honor and their mother wants him to have a chance to relax in the cool country air before returning to "that awful tropical heat." When the women reach the train station, there is no taxi to meet them as expected. When they reach the house, there is no caretaker to greet them with breakfast and a warm fire as expected. The gardener/handyman has disappeared. And what exactly is that odd smell?

Before the morning is over, they discover that the handyman is in the hospital with appendicitis and the caretaker has fallen down the stairs the previous Friday and is in the hospital with a broken leg. Oh, and there's a dead body in the linen closet. That somebody tried to burn to prevent identification. By the end of the book, there is another murder and a shooting. The local chief of police goes from having the usual respect (of the period) for the upper crust, to an all-out effort to make one of the Spencer family out as the guilty party. He's all set to lock up Carol but then finds out that Greg, the war hero, was maybe in the area at the right time and has secrets that he might do anything to keep hidden. He thinks he'll settle for the war hero. 

Carol doesn't know what to think. Did Greg do it? Did her sister Elinor, who has always been devoted to Greg, do it? Or is she just covering up for him? Or maybe it's somebody else altogether. She turns to her neighbor, Major Dane, for help. He just happens to be a recovering Army Intelligence officer of some sort...and soon he's uncovering all the evidence that the local police miss.

Rinehart has plenty of tricks up her sleeve and she uses the Major's investigation to provide all the surprises. Just when you think he's collected the final clue, along comes another to make you rethink the solution. Of course, with Rinehart, there is the standard romance and there are a few loose ends that don't quite get tied up in this one (not to mention a few vital clues that are kept just a little too ambiguous), but over all a fun outing and an example of Rinehart at her best. Another real contender for the Reprint of the Year. It's very enjoyable and fast moving--I read this one in just one day! 

First line: As she sat in the train that June morning Carol Spencer did not look like a young woman facing anything unusual.

Last line: And sat down abruptly on the nearest chair.
*********************

Deaths = 5 (three natural; one plane crash; one hit on head)

Reprint of the Year: Through a Glass, Darkly

  For several years, Kate at Cross Examining Crime has been rounding up the vintage mystery bloggers and having us perpetuate her brilliant brainstorm (one of many that she has had). In the wake of various publishing houses recognizing the virtues of Golden Age (and more recent) vintage crime novels through reprint editions of both well-known and more obscure titles, Kate thought those of us who love those vintage mysteries would like the chance to feature the year's reprints and make a pitch for our favorites to be voted Reprint of the Year. We loved the idea so much that we keep coming back for more.

This week's choice for the 2025 ROY Awards Ceremony is Through a Glass, Darkly by Helen McCloy. This classic from 1950 has been reprinted by Penguin Modern Classics (the cover which our voter is pondering to the right). My copy is a nice vintage Dell Mapback edition (pictured below). 

The story opens with Faustina Crayle being dismissed from her post as an art instructor at an elite girls' school. The headmistress, Mrs. Lightfoot refuses to give a reason beyond the fact that Miss Crayle "does not quite blend with the essential spirit of Brereton." She does, however, give the art instructor six months' pay after only five weeks of work. Evidence indeed that she wishes her gone and spare no expense. 

Faustina confides in her only friend at the school, Gisela von Hohenems, who suggests she consult a lawyer.  When Faustina demurs, Gisela tells her boyfriend, Dr. Basil Willing--famous psychologist and medical assistant to the district attorney, about it. He insists on meeting Faustina and convinces her to allow him to represent her with Mrs. Lightfoot.  His interview with the headmistress is very surprising.  It seems that Faustina has become the center of rumors about a doppelganger. Several maids and a few of the girls have claimed to see Miss Crayle in two places at once.  A few parents have pulled their girls out of the school because of the unhealthy atmosphere. The practical Mrs. Lightfoot could find no plausible explanation for the incidents and rather than investigate or allow the rumors to create even more havoc with her school's reputation she decided to ask Miss Crayle to leave.
 
As Willing investigates, he discovers that this isn't the first time Faustina has been dismissed from a school because of doppelganger rumors.  He will have to sift the supernatural from everyday villainy as he follows a trail littered with superstition and jewels; doubles and demimondaines.  There is a tale that says She who sees her own double is about to die...and despite Willing's efforts and his instructions to stay put in a hotel while he investigates, Faustina insists on making a trip to her beach cottage.  A trip from which she never returns.  Did she truly see her double? Or is there a more solid human agent behind her death?   Willing brings us the answer...but the ending is a bit unsettling nonetheless.

McCloy's powers to create atmosphere are at their strongest in this book.  Even though we're quite sure that there's some human deviltry behind Faustina Crayle's plight, Mccloy still manages to make the idea of a doppelganger seem almost possible.  And the ending leaves us just a little unsure that Dr. Willing has completely explained everything.  Yes, it all hangs together.  And, yes, I do believe that X really did orchestrate the whole thing and for the reasons given...but what if Dr. Willing is wrong?  There's a nice shivery feeling to that thought.  

A nicely done, atmospheric piece that also happens to be an excellent detective novel.  Often thought to be McCloy's masterpiece, Through a Glass, Darkly is certainly the best I've read by McCloy so far. She builds the tension around Faustina in a way that the reader is willing to believe that there just might be a supernatural answer to everything that has happened to her. But she also designs the plot in a way that the acute reader can spot the human agency involved. A fantastic read that is well-deserving of your ROY vote!

First lines: Mrs. Lightfoot was standing by the bay window. "Sit down, Miss Crayle. I'm afraid I have bad news."

Last line: "God knows what's up there anyway!"

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

Deaths = 4 (two natural; one hit head; one scared to death)

The Red Tassel

 The Red Tassel (1950) by David Dodge

Al Colby, an American private eye who lives in South America, is hired by the beautiful, 20-something Pancha Porter to investigate her late father's Bolivian mine. The lead mine had been putting out a hefty profit for years, but recently profits have dropped by nearly half and she wants to know why. Colby is always ready to work for good money--especially when the good money is being paid out by a lady as lovely as Pancha. But he warns her that the trip is going the be hard on someone who isn't used to the Bolivian heights. The mine is far up in the mountains where the air is so thin it's difficult to breathe. 

Saturnino, assistant to Simon Braillard who manages the mine for the Porter family, meets them with the mine's station wagon.The trip is made even worse by the fact that someone has directed the exhaust fumes to the back of the car where Colby is sitting. Since Colby was an unexpected addition to the party, he can only assume that the near-deadly experience was intended for Pancha. 

Upon arrival at the mine, they learn that the pack-llamas and necessary mining equipment and chemicals are being stolen on a regular basis--which eats into the profits and, of course, delays production which deducts even more. Rumor has it that Yatiri, the local witch doctor, cursed Pancha's father and that is the source of all the trouble. But Colby suspects a deeper plot. He's sure that Brailliard and his near-silent wife Lili know more than they've said. But when Brailliard is found with a knife in his back and a red borla (a woven ear tassel used to mark ownership of llamas) in his hand, Colby is forced to reconsider his suspicions. He needs to find out what's behind the Yatiri rumor before he and Pancha become the next victims.

So...I'm either not in the right frame of mind for this mildly-boiled private eye adventure or this is definitely a man's story. I say the latter judging from the reviews on Goodreads. Nearly all the men who bothered to write reviews gave The Red Tassel four solid stars (plus one short five-star review). But I...well, I felt like I was wading through thick molasses trying to make my way through the plot. The one saving grace is that Dodge actually plants a really nice clue that would allow anyone not absolutely mired in molasses to spot what's going on. (I was too busy trying to get the goo off...). Oh, and Colby is a good example of the type of private eye I enjoy--not nearly as hard-boiled. 

I was aiming to include this in my selections for the Reprint of the Year Awards (hosted by Kate at Cross Examining Crime), but I can't in good conscience beg for votes for a book I don't fell that strongly about. A weak ★★★

First line: Pancha Porter was a surprise package in more ways than one.

Last line: I told her about her redeeming features for a while, but then the moon came up over the cordillera, and the night was too beautiful to waste on talk.
*******************

Deaths = 4 (two natural; one stabbed; one hit on head)

Dropped Dead

 Dropped Dead (1984) by Jonathan Ross (John Rossiter)

Detective Superintendent George Rogers is called away from his golf game to view the body of a soman sprawled awkwardly beneath a huge tree on remote hillside. The body seems to have fallen from the tree, but when Rogers climbs up the tree in search of clues he finds evidence that the body fell from an even greater height. Perhaps from a plane? There are two flying clubs in the neighborhood and Rogers' investigation leads him to the Plattsburgh Aero Club. The description of the woman seems to fit Kirstin Mahir. Kirstin supposedly flew to France with one of the members--apparently she didn't make it that far. Did the pilot push her out of the plane? Is the answer that simple?

Of course not. The further Rogers digs, the more he learns about Kirsten's extracurricular activities. Her interests were in the pilots and not in their planes. There are ex-lovers who may have wanted Kirsten dead,; there's her husband who may have had enough of her philandering; and there are spouses and loved ones who may have resent her involvement with their men. It all comes down to who had sufficient motive and could pilot a plane at night.

The mystery is a good one and I enjoyed following Rogers through his interviews with suspects as well as his interactions with his right-hand man, the elegant Inspector Lingard. There are a few really good character studies-Kirsten's husband, Lisa Fromme--the lone female pilot in the club, and Wing-Commander Corbersley who runs the club, as well as a few others. But several of the club members receive short shrift in the character development department. It would have made for a much more satisfying read overall and would have made the suspect pool seem a little bit bigger. 

Overall, a solid police procedural (as one would expect from a former policeman like Rossiter) and an interesting plot. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: Were there to exist entities called Guardian Angels, then the one detailed for attendance on the dead woman had been unforgivably neglectful.

Last line: Late as it was, he couldn't believe that the door would remain closed against the urgent knocking of a goat-legged and horned George Rogers, private citizen, plausibly intent only on his need for a midnight cup of Lapsang Souchong tea and a discussion on the flight characteristics of a Tiger Moth biplane.
********************

Deaths = 3 (one asphyxiated; two plane crash)

Mystery for Halloween

 Mystery for Halloween (1991) by Cynthia Mason, ed

Well...the blurb says that these "modern masters of the chilling word whip up a witch's brew of mystery fiction" (emphasis mine) which would lead me to believe that this is full of mysteries. It's not--nearly half of them have no mystery to be solved even though there may be some element of the mysterious. But for the most part the stories that are true mysteries are very good. I count among those: "Kiss the Vampire Goodbye," "Fun & Games at the House of Whacks," "The Theft of the Halloween Pumpkin," and "Tony Libra and the Killer's Calendar." The last is probably the most classic of mysteries--although I don't think the average mystery reader would be able to correctly interpret the vital clue. And the vampire story does the best job of mixing mystery with the supernatural element. I enjoyed most of the other, more supernatural stories--but could have done without "The Sitter" and the "The Night Watchman." They didn't do it for me in either the ghostly or mystery category. ★★★

"The Haunted Portrait" by Lawrence Treat: A mild mannered museum creator is worried about a famous portrait that's supposed to reveal the name of the killer of the portrait's subject. But a painting can't do that...can it? (two stabbed)

"Clancy's Bride" by Terry Bacon: Clancy snags himself a beautiful bride--who most unexpectedly takes to farm life, particularly the slaughtering of animals. When animals start disappearing from the neighboring farms, the local poacher is blamed. But is he responsible? (two beheaded)

"Kiss the Vampire Goodbye" by Alan Ryan: Mike Kendall, LA private eye, and Danny Lavendar, his huge, albino Eskimo partner, investigate the mysterious death of a wealthy bank owner at the behest of his beautiful daughter. Mary Cantrell believes her father was killed by a vampire--and there were puncture wounds on his neck to prove it. But does Kendall believe it? (one stabbed; one burned by sun's rays)

"The Dog" by Pauline C. Smith: Aunt Bessie's husband swears that she'll never be rid of him--not even if he dies. He believes in reincarnation--even if she doesn't. And, just like Arnold, he'll be back... (one natural)

"House by the Road" by Janet O'Daniel: Jane thinks she's found the perfect little house where she can do her writing in peace. Until strange things start happening and the woman she hired to do odd jobs and gardening tells her that there's a spell on the house and that evil spirits want the place for their own...

"The Ghost of Monday" by Andrew Klavan: A man thinks he's committed the perfect crime when he does away with his blackmailing mistress. But then the ghost shows up in his bathroom... (one hit with axe)

"Sitter" by Theodore H. Hoffman: A neurotic teenager who has watched one too many slasher films scares herself silly while babysitting a couple of kids. Is she as neurotic as we think?

"Ghost in the House" by George Sumner Albee: Deborah is upset and Henry can't believe her reason. She's sure that their house is haunted--a man, apparently a realtor, appeared in the living room with a young couple and walked right through her. When they reappear and Henry tries to confront the man, the same happens. But since when do ghosts try to sell houses? (two car accident)

"Behold, Kra K'l!" by Richard F. McGonegal: George convinces his fellow student to help him raise a demon to prove the existence of God. The two young men get more than they bargained for when George's ultra-conservative Czech landlady breaks into their session. 

"Fun & Games at the Whacks Museum" by Elliott Capone: The kids of Bellerive love Berrigan's wax museum; the townspeople hate it. And when the mayor and city council pass an ordinance against taking money without giving a tangible product, it looks like Berrigan will be out of business. And then the mayor is run down by an out of control car...  (one hit by car)

"The Theft of the Halloween Pumpkin" by Edward D. Hoch: Nick Velvet is hired by a reclusive rich publisher's ex-mistress to steal the Halloween pumpkin off the man's front porch. To add a little spice...the last man to invade the publisher's privacy was shot and killed. But Nick always finds a way to deliver the goods. (two shot)

"The Night Watchman" by David Braly: Young Thomas Perkins is obsessed with the night watchman who walks the streets after dark. No one seems to know where he came from or when he was hired or by whom. He's just always been there. Perkins finally decides to find out where he goes after his rounds are done. But does he really want to know?

"Tony Libra & the Killer's Calendar" by Richard Ciciarelli: Tony Libra is hosting a Halloween costume party when his colleague, English Professor Jameson, arrives and asks for a private word. Jameson suspects that a faculty member has been running a drug ring but he doesn't have evidence--yet. He plans on getting it, but tells Tony that if anything should happen to him then Tony should "check up on the calendar." When Jameson is found murdered, Libra must figure out what that statement meant.(one stabbed)

"In the Morgue" by Dashiell Hammett: Walter Dowe's wife is missing and he learns that she went to the theater while he was busy writing away in his room. Oh...and the theater burned down that very night. He takes a friend along as he visits hospitals and, finally, the morgue in search of  her. A very different twist ending. (one fire)

"The Black Cat" by Lee Somerville: Our narrator's Cousin Rush comes into town just in time for the Heritage Festival. Cousin Rush is the black sheep of the family and is only interested in the funds that have been raised during the festivities. He might have gotten away with a robbery if he hadn't kicked that black cat... (two shot)

"This Is Death" by Donald E. Westlake: When a man who has attempted suicide in the past finally succeeds, his ghost wishes that he hadn't. (one hanged)

1st Line (first story): Sometimes I watch a guide bring his group into Gallery 18, in the East Wing of the museum.

...the more I listened, the more I realized that Mary Cantrell's spunkiness was definitely riding in the back seat today. She was scared, badly scared. And when a spunky girl gets scared, I get interested. ("Kiss the Vampire Goodbye")

I was looking at the second vampire I've ever seen. That's a lot of vampires when you didn't even believe in them thirty-six hours before. ("Kiss the Vampire Goodbye")

It's hard not to believe in ghosts when you are one. ("This Is Death")

Last line (last story): This is death.

Old Students Never Die

 Old Students Never Die (1962) by Ivan T. Ross (Robert Rossner)

Ben Gordon is a high school teacher who has just come to the end of one of "those" years. A year where there didn't seem to be a single student who wanted to learn or who showed a spark of interest in what Gordon had to teach. Nearly every year there would be some and there would be certain students who were just plain favorites. Not teacher's pets--but students who seemed to make a connection. Jackie Meadows was one of those students. He was brilliant in schoolwork, but he and Gordon connected. But, as with most students, Gordon had lost touch with him.

But this year fellow teacher Jay Gibbs asks Gordon if he remembered Meadows and did he know that he had turned out to be a very successful comedian on the night club circuit. Yes, he did...and, no, he didn't. Gordon had planned to set out early for a summer vacation road trip--to anywhere but where the school was, but Gibbs tells him that tonight is Meadows' last night at the local club and Gordon should catch the show. So, he does, enjoys the show, and meets up with Meadows after. He's surprised to find himself accepting his former student's invitation to spend the first part of summer vacation at the comedian's country place. Especially when he hears that it will be full of television types because Jackie is in the middle of negotiations for his own TV show.

What starts as a pleasant holiday in the country turns deadly when a local girl returns home and winds up murdered on the property of Jackie and his wife. The sheriff isn't too happy about the involvement of so many outsiders and takes it personally that a local girl was murdered after attending a party full of these people. He casts a suspicious eye on Jackie and Ben and all of Jackie's friends. Ben Gordon isn't above a little sleuthing of his own and it looks like he's found the killer for the Sheriff...or has he?

Of my most recent academic mystery reads, this one has been the best--though still not the strongest I've ever read. I like Ben Gordon and I enjoyed seeing this world through his eyes. His amateur sleuthing is good, though he does make some wrong turns. What I didn't enjoy was the fact that he only got to the correct solution after a disastrous incorrect one. I'm not sure that I like that particular twist that Ross gave to the plot. It just seems a bit bleak to me and I do like to see justice served at the end of a mystery. The other drawback is that Jackie, the "successful" comedian, just isn't funny. His jokes are either a bit cruel or just don't have a punch line worth waiting for. I would think it difficult to successfully portray a comedian on the page and Ross just doesn't quite bring it off. I did enjoy this enough that I look forward to reading the other Ross novel sitting on the TBR piles (Requiem for a Schoolgirl), I hope that the ending is a little more satisfying. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: They come into our lives as children--thirteen or fourteen years old, clumsy, boisterous, half-formed.

Last lines: The highway was empty. I pressed the accelerator all the way down.
*************************

Deaths = 5 (two natural; two hit on head; one shot)

[Finished on 11/29/25]

It Can't Be My Grave

 It Can't Be My Grave (1984) by S. F. X. Dean

Professor Neil Kelly is back in England. He's just written a spectacular scholarly book on John Donne (which has even sold movie rights!*) and his British publisher wants him to make a big splash in the London literary world as well. They want to throw huge parties and book him on the William Wisdom show (only the most-watched face on British TV). Neil really doesn't want any of it--though it would be nice if his book would do as well here as in the States. In the process he meets eccentric business tycoon Sir Gordon Fairly (who incidentally owns his publisher).

Sir Gordon is convinced that an anonymously attributed sixteenth-century tragedy was really penned by his ancestor, an obscure writer named Lucy Goodman. He plans on funding a production of the play, putting Neil's friend actor Hugh James in charge and featuring Hugh's wife, actress Sheila. All he wants from Neil is for him to prove Fairly's theories about authorship correct. Oh, and one other thing, maybe even prove that Shakespeare murdered Lucy while he's at it. Neil is skeptical about the first part and very certain there's no chance of proving the second. 

Neil finds himself liking Gordon and is willing to listen to more of his "proofs." In very short order, he spends a lot of time with this man he just met. He even gets invited for a ride in the the businessman's Daimler limousine--eccentrically decked out like drawing room with tapestry-upholstered antique armchair, Aubusson carpet, artwork, and fancy gold drapes. Sir Gordon also arranges to have his daily mail delivered straight to the Daimler via private courier. Scholarly mysteries turn into a murder case when a letter bomb (or three) is later delivered to Sir Gordon with fatal results.

It's hardly surprising that Sir Gordon has collected a fair amount of enemies (including within his own family) on his way to the top--single-minded men (and women) often don't mind who they tick off while they get on with their objectives. Neil is a little surprised to find that Scotland Yard seems to think he might be included on that list. But after all, it is a little suspicious how much time he spent in Fairly's company given that he says he just met the man...Neil even has his own personal shadow, Detective Inspector Thomas Bowie. The question is will Neil or Bowie discover the murderer first?

So...this book should be right up my alley. Professor as amateur detective? Check. Throw in an interesting literary mystery on top of the murder plot? Check. Set it in England? Check. Witty dialogue? Check. But. Other than the professor how many of these characters are interesting? Not many. Bowie is good and makes for really good dialogue when he's talking with Neil. Does Neil Kelly actually do much of anything in the amateur detective line? Not really. All the suspects (for no reason that makes any real sense) come and talk with him and clues get thrown at him, but does he actually put two and two together? Nope. We got Bowie for that--and kudos to Bowie! I hope Sinjin (his boss) gives him the appropriate accolades. Neil Kelly's sole purpose (as far as I can tell) is to receive confidences and serve as a sounding board for Bowie to bounce things off of. And Neil is the recurring character here, folks. The book blurb makes it sound like our dear professor is hot the trail and coming up with "brilliant solutions" but I'm afraid it just ain't so. One other minor complaint while I'm at it...what's with that title? If anyone can read this book and tell what the title has to do with the plot, then I'd be very grateful. It sounds spiffy. It sounds like a quote from something (if so, Google couldn't tell me what). But I just don't see the connection...

The plot is decent and I did like the the set-up of not one....not two...but three letter bombs being used. The consternation it caused among the lab boys and Bowie's description thereof was worth the price of admission. But I'd like to see our recurring amateur sleuth do a bit more detecting if I pick up another of this series. Especially since, when Scotland Yard does a bit of check-up on him, they find that his hometown police chief calls him "a goddam super-sleuth" and that he's been hobnobbing with the London Metropolitan  Police force and the Devon constabulary in previous cases. Surely to goodness he does more than just act as a conduit for suspects' conversations... Had high hopes for this one, but in the end it's just a middle-of-the road read for me.★★★

*This is how we know this is fiction. How often does that happen?!) 

First line: After more than a year away from it, London felt good.

Last line: She still wasn't smoking, and she was starting to enjoy it.
********************

Deaths = 5 (one natural; one letter bomb; two car accident; one gunshot)

The World's Best One Hundred Detective Stories Vol. Eight

 The World's Best One Hundred Detective Stories Vol. Eight (1910) by Eugene Thwing, ed

[I did, finally, manage to finish this collection--which I started before my husband was hospitalized. I only had three more stories to read, but had difficulty concentrating on much for almost two weeks.]

Billed as the "world's best," this collection is very hit and miss. Mostly miss in these later volumes. The best of this collection are "The Story of O Toyo" and "The Tragedy at St. Tropez." The Bramah stories are also good, but I have read them previously. ★★ and 1/2 for the collection.

"The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor" by Ernest Bramah: Features his blind detective Max Carrados in a mystery about the robbery from several safe deposit boxes in a Lucas Street depository known colloquially as "The Safe." The contents of the boxes are held safe behind multiple barriers--both real locks and bars as well as secret passwords known only to the owners. And yet...a large number of the boxes are plundered. Carrodos, whose other faculties have become stronger to compensate for the loss of his sight, is able to "see" the solution to the mystery very quickly.

"The Comedy at Fountain Cottage" by Ernest Bramah: Carrados is intrigued when his friend Louis Carlyle tells him about his niece's odd neighbor--a neighbor who tosses stewed kidneys over the fence at night. When he digs into the history of Fountain Cottage he learns some interesting facts about the previous owner and what the odd neighbor might have planned. [one natural]

"The Curious Circumstance of the Two Left Shoes" by Ernest Bramah:  When the Enderleigh's silver is stolen--apparently by the Monkey Burglar, Carrodos arrives to track down the real culprit.

"The Jeweled Casket" by Arthur Somers Roche: An "artist" in thievery, John Ainsley, steals from the thieves and gives...to himself. He loves outwitting the White Eagle, one of those supercrooks who thinks he's unstoppable. In this episode, Ainsley plots to get hold of a fabulous jeweled box that the White Eagle has just gotten his hands on. [two natural]

"The Club of One-Eyed Men" by Arthur Somers Roche: John Ainsley is at it again. He sees the White Eagle in close conversation with an American millionaire at a Parisian nightclub. Then sees the criminal mastermind the next day on a street full of men with only one eye. When he finds himself onboard a New York-bound steam ship with the millionaire and one of the one-eyed men, he finds himself set up to take advantage of another White Eagle criminal plot.

"The Pigtail of Hi Wing Ho" by Sax Rohmer: Hi Wing Ho becomes embroiled in a series of mysterious events that threaten his life and the lives of those around him. He is pursued by a group of criminals who are after a valuable artifact that our hero possesses.  

"The Story of O Toyo" by H. de Vere Stacpoole: When some con artists attempt an impersonation of a jeweler, the young Japanese woman who is his servant sees through their plot.

"The Tragedy at St. Tropez" by Gilbert Frankau: When a wealthy financier is poisoned everything points towards his secretary. But the man brought in to translate French for the investigators, can't believe his old school friend is guilty. [one poisoned]

These last two are like "minute mysteries"--the readers are given the story and then supposed to figure out the solution. The authors vary from the very obvious (the first) to impossible to tell how it was done even though the culprit is again obvious (the last).
"The Crawley Robbery" by Evelyn Johnson & Gretta Palmer: A wealthy couple bring home the family jewels so the wife can wear them to a special dinner. While she is dressing the emeralds disappear. Who did it?

"Finger Prints Can't Lie" by Evelyn Johnson & Gretta Palmer: The wife of a German spy is poisoned. The fingerprints on the bottles (poison and the wife's medicine bottle) belong to the maid. Is she guilty? If not, who did it and why aren't the fingerprints telling the truth? [one poisoned]

The Final Ring

 The Final Ring (1978) by Marcia Blair (Marc Baker)

Tory Baxter is awakened by a phone call from her best friend and fellow nurse Peg Moore. After a bit of unintelligible mumbling, she manages one full sentence: "Oh, I don't think so." And then, "Two...Mailman...Bell...Our Favorite." Tory realizes that her friend, a diabetic, must be suffering from a diabetic reaction and tells her to hang up so Tory can summon help. She calls the house where Peg had been serving as a day nurse and instructs the housekeeper to get some sugar into the young woman at once. She then calls Dr. Clarkson, the doctor associated with the house as well as Peg's love interest. But they're too late. Peg dies as a result of a diabetic coma.

The longer Tory thinks about that last phone call the more certain she is that Tory was trying to tell her something important. The two young women were both mystery book fans and she's sure that there's a dying clue in there somewhere. Her friend, Lieutenant Thorpe, is just as sure that Tory is letting her imagination run away with her and that everything is just what it seems. But Tory insists that Peg was too aware of the dangers of her condition to have missed an insulin shot or not eaten enough. So, when Dr. Clarkson asks if she wants to take over the job at the Harrington house, she jumps at the chance. And when more "accidents" occur, Tory is sure that Peg's death is just one part of a nefarious plot. But whose plot? And to what purpose?

Mrs. Harrington, a beautiful woman married to a rich man who adores her, is the patient. She is suffering from a broken leg which occurred when her husband accidentally backed into her with the car. Or was it an accident? When Eve Harrington suffers from gastric distress that looks a lot like arsenical poisoning, Tory begins to wonder. And then Ethel, a nosy little maid, takes a deadly tumble down the staircase. Did Ethel see or hear too much? Tory needs to find out soon...or she may be next on the killer's list.

This is the first of Blair's Zebra Puzzler books to feature nurse Tory Baxter and her sparring partner Lieutenant Jay Thorpe. These Puzzlers offer up mysteries with visual clues--on the cover and in illustrations within the novel. The plot is a good one; better, I think, than the first of Blair's that I read two years ago (review HERE). There still aren't a lot of suspects running around (a definite weakness in Blair's plotting), but I do think there's more doubt about which way the suspicion should fall to become certainty. It isn't until the last clue given that I became sure. There's supposed to be one clue on the cover and four more inside, but I can only point to two of the five. And one of the illustrations is down-right misleading--what it depicts is contradicted throughout by what we're told and the contradiction doesn't figure in the explanation. 

A nice, quick read. Interesting plot and a good chance for the reader to figure out whodunnit (especially if you're better than I was at picking up the visual clues). Well worth the afternoon I spent on it. ★★★ and 1/2

A final note: I'm still not a fan of Tory's tendency to shout at Jay. It gets on my nerves. She's such a level-headed young woman in all other respects. The poor man doesn't even have to be irritating for her to shout at him. Not that he can't be irritating--he can. And is at times. If the shouting were limited to those times, that might be okay. But, geez, Tory, give it a rest, can't you?

First line: The ringing telephone threaded its way into Tory's nightmare.

My my mind's like a superlative wastebasket, filled with both trivia and unexpected valuables. (Sandy Brockman; p. 41)

Last line: They were still at it when the waiter brought the check.
******************

Deaths = 2 (one fell down stairs; one diabetic reaction)

The Curse of Braeburn Castle

 The Curse of Braeburn Castle (2019) by Karen Baugh Menuhin

It's Halloween in 1921. Major Heathcliff Lennox's friend Jonathan Swift has married, retired from official detective work, and now lives with his wife's family at Braeburn Castle on an island in Scotland. He decides to do a bit of renovation in the section of the castle that holds their living quarters and while doing so makes a discovery within the wall. Lennox receives a message that Swift has found a skeleton wearing a crown and the former inspector wants Lennox to come to Scotland to help investigate.. The discovery has attracted archaeologists (whom Swifts suspects are really treasure seekers) and the head and crown have gone missing. 

The inhabitants of the castle believe the skeleton to be Black Dougal (an ancient enemy to the Braeburns) and that it comes with a curse and ghosts--very appropriate to Halloween. At the very least it comes with murder--because one of the archaeologists is shoved off the battlements to his death. And then someone burns the only boat on the island. Why does the murderer want them trapped? And why was the archaeologist killed? Swift and Lennox investigate and it seems that they will need to dig into the curse (which is a secret held closely by the Laird of the castle) and the history of Black Dougal. Then a second murder takes place and while Lennox has a suspect in mind, it seems impossible that they could have committed the crime. When he figures out how the person could appear to be in two places at once, he's ready to help Swift capture the killer.

Very atmospheric--Menuhin captures the castle setting very nicely. You are very aware of how drafty, yet claustrophobic the place can be. She also gives us good descriptions of the inhabitants and the archaeologist. Well-drawn characters that are clearly defined and work well in the setting. The only one I'm not sold on is Miss Fairchild, a psychic/medium who makes a beeline for the castle as soon as the skeleton is found. She's a nice enough lady and all, but she really isn't necessary to the plot unless the point is to validate the ghosts and whatnot for the Halloween theme. But she's doesn't add anything plot-wise that couldn't have been covered just as well by other characters. The plot itself is well done and I appreciate the way Menuhin has taken a device that provided a solid alibi in a particular Agatha Christie novel and turned it on its head. Very nice! ★★★★

First line: "Are you absolutely certain he said skeleton?" I asked, with a degree of scepticism.

Last line: I picked the little cat up, dropped him gently into my jacket pocket, called my dog and headed off for a long walk in the peaceful countryside.
*****************

Deaths = 5 (one war; one Spanish flu; one fell from height; one stabbed; one buried alive)

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.]

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]

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.

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."

The Nine Waxed Faces

 The Nine Waxed Faces (1936) by Francis Beeding (John Leslie Palmer & Hilary St. George Saunders)

In the absence of his chief, Colonel Granby, Bob Hardcastle was serving as head man at intelligence headquarters when an urgent message came in from an Italian painter who had provided information in the past. Ludwig Berthold needs to meet with a highly placed intelligence office, so Hardcastle goes himself--only to receive a coded message that directs him to another, more famous, painter and a secret society known as Edelweiss. Berthold is having difficulty getting out of Italy and the members of Edelweiss, who hide their identities behind wax masks, are experts at helping those who need to cross the mountainous Italian border without fuss. But when Bob and his guides ski into a trap, Bethold vanishes and Colonel Granby shows up to help Bob sort everything out. With Nazi spies and Italian agents hiding behind friendly faces, the two men are in a race against time to find Berthold and the vital information he carried.

The fate of Central Europe is in the balance in this spy thriller set on the eve of the second world war. Germany and Italy are jockeying for position in Austria in an effort to "secure their borders against France." Lots of intrigue and action in the Austrian snow! Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Hmph. I'm thinking that maybe I just wasn't quite in the mood for a spy thriller, because I feel like this is a better book than I think it is at the moment. Maybe I'm a bit depressed because of what's currently going on in the world (and the good ol' U. S. of A) at the moment. Either that or I was disappointed that this wasn't more of a traditional mystery (as my previous experience with the author's Murdered: One by One would lead me to expect). So, yeah, very little mystery here--other than are all the people we think are dead really dead? (SPOILER--no, in fact they aren't. Or--if they are, not when we think they are.) Mostly a lot of running about looking for people who get snatched and tied up or snatched and (maybe) killed. The writing is pretty snappy and fast-paced, so there's that. But I really would have liked a bit more mystery and less hole-in-corner business. Especially when the wrap-up at the end doesn't feel very wrap-up-ish. Probably because Beeding had no idea where world events would take everyone in just a few years.

This is one that I'm probably going to need to read again sometime, just to see if it really is better than I think right now. ★★★

First line: I was working, aloft in Battersea, in the high flat which is not a flat, and the butler, who is not a butler, had received orders that I was on no account to be disturbed.

Last line: As for Wilhelm Fuchs and his brotherhood of Edelweiss, for all I know, the nine waxed faces still move around the pleasant streets of Innsbruck or upon the wind-swept crags of the mountains around the city, helping those that fly from a tyranny still triumphant in a world heading ever faster for Armageddon.
***********************

Deaths = 4 (three shot; one executed)

Panic in Paradise

 Panic in Paradise (1951) by Alan Amos (Kathleen Moore Knight)

Julian and Serena Cornish live in Casa Paraiso, between the Pacific coast of Panama and the jungle. They live with their children Brian (with wife Rita), Maura (with husband Pierce Harding), and Pam (as yet unmarried). Their home also lies near the area where the fabled and fabulous treasure of San Juan de Salud was said to be buried. In 1945, when a group of soldiers was stationed at Punta Paraiso, Julian was encouraged to tell the story of the treasure saved and buried by priests in the early days Panama. Tragedy struck when a few of the soldiers succumbed to gold fever and went searching. One soldier died and another, Willie Trout, went mad and was sent to the local military insane asylum. 

Now that the war is over, an ancient sketch is discovered at Casa Paraiso which may lead to the whereabouts of the treasure. The treasure was supposed to have been buried by the priests and marked with an altar of rocks which has since fell into serious disrepair. The placement of the stones supposedly indicated the exact location of the treasure. The sketch shows how the stones were originally placed and if the clues can be deciphered then perhaps the cache will finally be found.  

Brian Cornish wanted to start a search immediately, despite the rainy season although his father insists they wait. While they wait, newspaperman and friend of the family Watson "Wat" Gilday volunteers to do some research at the city museum to see how the sketch matches up to the information in the archives. Also at Casa Paraiso is Oliver Bradley, who had wooed Maura Cornish during his wartime service in Panama, coincidentally appearing after Wat had printed a story about the legend of the treasure. And of course, there is Barry Toland who regularly visits from the city to see Pam. Meanwhile, Willie Trout, has made his escape from the asylum and may also be in the area.

Events move swiftly once Wat declares his research intentions and he's found shot near his car on the road leading to the Cornish home. The ancient manuscript with the sketch is missing and then Barry, who discovered Wat's body, disappears as well. The finger of suspicion points first Barry (naturally, since he disappeared before the police could question him), but then events make it clear that Barry couldn't be responsible. So suspicion falls first one member of the Cornish household and then another until a final showdown with the killer on a night when Casa Paraiso is cut off from outside help. 

First of all, the set up of this book is very interesting. It is one of the earliest mysteries to provide multiple viewpoints. Each of our main characters give us information on the mystery in diary-like chapters which have been written at the behest of Serena Cornish. The story is framed with opening and ending entries from Julian, giving background info (at the beginning) and wrapping it all up at the end. Some of the chapters which are also direct responses to earlier chapters--for instance, Barry Toland's entry directly addresses Wat Gilday's portion--especially taking issue with Wat's passages about Barry. 

This is the first mystery I've read by Knight (under either her own name or a pseudonym) and I did enjoy the closed atmosphere. Even before they were cut off by the bridge going out, it felt very isolated at the house caught between the cliffs and the jungle. So the entire mystery feels very much like a closed-circle plot even though, in theory, anyone could have done the first of the murders and there might possibly be a madman (or two) hiding out in the jungle throughout. 

I do take exception to the blurb on the dustjacket--it makes it sound like Wat Gilday might be our amateur detective here, but that soon proves impossible when he is killed almost the minute he starts researching. And, actually, that's probably my main quibble with the story: there really isn't a detective, amateur or otherwise. Apparently, the only detective is the reader. Various characters do try to find things out and relate their findings in their diary entries, but there doesn't seem to be a concerted effort to get to the bottom of things. I'm not quite on the level of Hercule Poirot, but I do like a little more order and method in my detective novels. Good characters, good setting, and an interesting format go a long way in this one. ★★★ and 1/2 

First line: Now that it is all over, and life at Punta Paraiso has once more become orderly and secure, I have been looking over the great heap of papers which Serena put for safekeeping in the lower drawer of my desk.

Last line: I wouldn't swap that moment for all the gold of San Juan.
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Deaths = 4 (two fell from height; two shot)