Beverly Gray's Return

 Beverly Gray's Return (1939) by Clair Blank

This is the ninth book in the series by Clair Blank. Unlike the Nancy Drew series, Clair Blank was a single author who wrote all 25 books in the series. The books begin with Beverly's freshman year in college and follow her from there through various adventures, work for the government, and finally as a newspaper reporter. Her "Return" finds Beverly and company preparing to board the Susabella at Hawaii for the return trip to New York. Along the way on their cruise around the world, they have picked up a new friend in Nikki Abbott. Nikki asks for the boat to wait just a bit longer because she needs to run a last-minute errand and she asks Beverly to go with her. They set out for a perfume shop where Nikki had heard she could get a very special perfume made. The girls are asked to wait in a side room while it's being prepared but Nikki thinks it's taking a bit long and goes out of the room to check on things--closing the door behind her. When Nikki doesn't return, Beverly tries the door and finds it locked. And when she finally gets out and gets to the dock, she finds that the Susabella has left without her. Why did Nikki lock her in? How could her friends have left her? Finding out what has happened will take Beverly on an adventure that involves impersonation, royalty, stolen jewels, a kidnapping, and the beginnings of another adventure....

I've mentioned before that Beverly Gray is another heroine that I wish I had met when I was young. I would have loved reading about a detective with my own name! She's resourceful and independent and a good role model for young girls. On the one hand, she's a bit more realistic than Nancy Drew--going to work and living away from home in the big city. But then, I think she gives Nancy a run for her money in the number of close scrapes she has. She also has way more adventures than most of us do in everyday life, but the stories wouldn't be nearly as exciting without them.

This one is quite full--with mysterious princesses on the run from an evil government official from their home country, jewel thieves who are selling stolen property and replacing the real jewels with fakes, the kidnapping of one Beverly's friends when the jewel thieves thinks she's holding out on them over some of the jewels, and a new, unsolved (in this installment) mystery surrounding another girl from their school days who was in an accident and has lost her memory. Of course, the immediate mystery of why Nikki left Beverly behind in Hawaii and how (and why) she fooled Beverly's friends is explained. And the jewel thieves are caught. 

These stories are fairly simple mysteries, aimed at young readers. But they are fun and I always enjoy reading about my namesake's adventures. ★★★

First line: "Why do I have to get up at such an hour?" Lenora Whitehill grumbled as she followed Lois Mason and Beverly Gray to where other the other members of the yachting party were at breakfast.

Last line: We will leave the Alpha Delta girls and their friends at this juncture, but we shall pick up the thread of their story again in "Beverly Gray, Reporter" when they manage to involve themselves in more amazing adventures.
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Deaths = two in a revolution

Death of a Harvard Freshman

 Death of a Harvard Freshman (1984) by Victoria Silver

Lauren Adler has spent most of her time in her freshman Russian Revolution seminar at Harvard looking at Russell Bernard. Russell is a very handsome, very brilliant young black man who has just about everyone interested in him. Lauren wonders if she'd ever have a chance with him...and then, after a seminar session in which classmate Melissa Wu describes the rather brutal death of Rasputin, she finds herself scheduled for a coffee date with the dreamy man. She can hardly believe her luck.

But...she waits at the coffee shop for an hour past the appointed time and still no Russell. She can't believe she's been stood up and she goes back to the dorm hoping for a phone call with an explanation. What she gets is her roommate Carol, a staffer on Harvard's Crimson newspaper, coming home late to tell her that Russell has been murdered. And the method of his murder seems to mirror that of Rasputin in some ways. When Lauren talks with the police and tells them about the seminar session and how, like Rasputin, multiple methods of murder were used on Russell (a bash on the head, gunshots, and the body thrown in the river), the police seem totally uninterested. They're sure that it was some thug along the river...the river's not a safe place be at night, you know.

Lauren is convinced that she's right--someone from the seminar has killed Russell. But who--and why? Was it Scott Duchaine or Brian O'Donnell...two Southerners who may have a racist streak in them? Or maybe it's Katherine Butler, a militant revolutionary who didn't think Russell was black enough. She believes in violent revolution for racial equality and thought Russell and others like him were too soft in their black protests. Others from the seminar may also have had a reason to kill Russell--like Sandy Grayson whose jealousy may have driven her to murder. Or Tracy Nicholson who carries a gun and may not have accepted that her affair with Russell was over even though she has taken up with Bert Rosen. And maybe Bert Rosen, the blond surfer boy from California, doesn't like playing second fiddle to the brilliant black man. Or Melissa Wu who may have taken the story of Rasputin too literally. Or Andrew Stein who is very unbalanced and seems very fixated on murder of any sort. Parker Kendall runs at night...very often down by the river. He could be the murderer for reasons unknown.

Lauren and her best friend, Michael Hunt, decide to team up as amateur sleuths to see if they can solve the mystery that seems to be too much for the local police. But they need to be careful. Someone has killed once...and will soon kill again. They don't want to find themselves next on the killer's to-do list.

A fairly straight-forward amateur sleuth mystery. It has a nice, classic mystery tone--with a closed circle of suspects and plenty of red herrings to follow up. And I didn't catch on to whodunnit until a certain sentence is spoken in the final chapters. I'm just pleased I realized its importance before Lauren did. The big drawback is that Lauren and Michael spend way too many late-night sessions rehashing everybody's motives and coming to the conclusion that pretty much any of them could have done it. Since these two aren't professional detectives, they can't really do much except talk and talk and talk to the suspects. I'm surprised that those who didn't do it don't get a little fed up with all the questions and accusations....

I do really like Lauren and Michael though. They have a good solid friendship and it's nice to see how their circle builds over the course of the story. And Silver provides us with a nice tense denouement.
★★★ and 1/2  

First line: Melissa Wu was just finishing her presentation on Rasputin.

Last line: "I feel an inexplicable but all too familiar craving for vanilla ice cream and hot fudge."
**********************

Deaths = 3 (one poisoned; two shot)

The Charteris Mystery

 The Charteris Mystery (1925) by A. E. Fielding

Rose Charteris, daughter of Professor Charteris (more on him in a moment), is found dead from a broken neck at the bottom of a sand pit on the estate of Colonel Scarlett. Scarlett has given over one wing of his home to the Charteris family to use whenever they are in England. The professor is off in Italy somewhere in pursuit of backers for his latest project (synthetic emeralds). Rose was engaged to Count di Monti, an Italian with fascist ties. Also on hand is Scarlett's daughter Sibella (who seems jealous of Rose); his housekeeper, Mrs. Lane; Mr. Thornton, a writer and family friend; and Arthur Bond & John Cockburn, who seem to come as a set and are apparently hooked up to the Foreign Office. There's some mystery over a letter Rose received from her father with an enclosure that has disappeared. And, while the local police and doctor seem to think Rose's death an accident, Thornton feels that there's something not quite right about the scene in the sand pit and calls up Scotland Yard off his own bat.

Enter Chief Inspector Pointer. The Yard can't come unless the locals request it (they haven't), but Pointer is currently on leave and can do whatever he likes on his holiday. So, he decides to come down under the name of Brown, posing as a man in the book business so his connection to Thornton won't be questioned. He immediately finds signs that indicate murder. Now all he has to do is figure out who did it and why? Was di Monti jealous of Rose's sittings for a local artist? Was Sibella so jealous of Rose that she'd do away with her? And why was Mrs. Lane behaving so oddly the night of murder--cloaking herself in veils and driving off late into the night? And who was the man who slept in an empty room and left traces in the summer house--and where did he go? Then someone searches Rose's room as well as her father's London apartment. All correspondence from the professor goes missing. Was Rose killed for possession of the professor's enclosure? And what connection is there fascists and the Russians?

Pointer takes off for Italy in a search for the Professor...and hopefully some answers. But the trail leads him into fascist territory and straight to a couple more bodies. And what starts out as a simple whodunit rapidly takes a leap into political intrigue and the spy/thriller adventure story. Our Scotland Yard detective is apparently a James Bond in disguise (who is adept at actually disguise, by the way) with a Q of his own in the background to supply him with all sorts of nifty gadgets to use when in tight spots:

Leisurely he extracted his cigar case. A thick podgy case, looking none too well made. He touched a spot with his thumb and lifted out a shallow tray...Inside was a flat glass bottle, a file not much longer than a nail-file, but of the stoutest steel, a skeleton key, and a few other interesting and equally useful oddments.

Chief Inspector Pointer has everything he needs for a quick jail-break from the evil fascist's dungeon of doom. The only question is...Is the evil fascist responsible for the deaths in the story?

Despite the fact that this plot takes a sharp turn from traditional mystery to spy/thriller with a detective who behaves more like a secret agent or a Sexton Blake hero and I find it rather unbelievable that Pointer has an endless supply of cash to hire as many private detectives as needed to watch all the suspects and to take a tour of Europe and pay off all sorts of people to tell him what he needs to know....despite all that, I found this to be a quite enjoyable read. It's my first mystery by Fielding and I look forward to reading the other title I have waiting on the TBR shelves here on the Block. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: The conversation, judging by what he heard of it as he sauntered to the east lounge, did not threaten any great demands on his brain.

Last lines: "When he discovers the truth, I shouldn't wonder if there was quite a storm scene." And there was.
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Deaths = 5 (one broken neck; one stabbed; one hit by car; one poisoned; one plane crash)

Dandy Gilver & an Unsuitable Day for Murder

 Dandy Gilver & an Unsuitable Day for Murder (2010) by Catriona McPherson

Synopsis from Publisher's Weekly: When Mirren Aitken, a department store heiress goes missing, Mirren's mother asks well-to-do sleuth Dandy to track her down. Aitkens' Emporium ("Tailors, Mantle Makers, Silk Merchants, Domestic Bazaar") is in bitter competition with another store in the town of Dunfermline, House of Hepburn ("Hosiers, Glovers, Clothiers, and Milliners"). The Aitkens fear that Mirren has eloped with Dugald Hepburn, a scion of the rival family. Before long, Dandy must tackle a related homicide, only to become a suspect herself.

Actually...Mirren is found during the Emporium's fifty anniversary party. And she hasn't eloped. In fact, she's not going anywhere except to a resting place six feet deep. And her intended, Dugald, isn't far behind. And, while Dandy does spend an uncomfortable few hours in the police station answering questions, I can't say she's every seriously suspected. But Dandy does tackle the investigation and, finally--after quite a tangled trail--discovers the truth of the matter.

Count me baffled. I'm baffled about the ending. It has got to be one of the most complicated solutions to a mystery out of all the mysteries I've read. I read the ending a second time because I couldn't wrap my head around it the first time. I'm still not sure I understand all of the family connections going on here. I'm also baffled as to why on earth this won an Agatha award for Best Historical Mystery. I'm baffled about why Dandy is described in a blurb as "an enthralling heroine; part Dorothy Parker (in her dreams), part Miss Marple (Christie's elderly sleuth is about 100 times sharper)" and why we would mention any of this in the same breath as Agatha Christie.

I thought the debut novel (After the Armistice Ball) was a decent first book in the series. And, despite a few misgivings, I thought the third novel (Dandy Gilver & the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains) was a fun book and did the historical side of things well with bonus interesting premise. Unfortunately this one has none of those good points. In fact, the longer I think about it, the more I wonder if the ★★ that I'm assigning isn't a bit generous....

First line: Whatever I was expecting when I decided to take a turn around Dunfermline--I was early for my appointment and it was a particularly pleasant day--it was not this air of jubilance.

Last line: I was very glad indeed that out of everyone around, I was me.
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Deaths = 2 (one shot; one fell from height)

Girl Waits with Gun

 Girl Waits with Gun (2015) by Amy Stewart

Based on the forgotten true story of one of the nation's first female crime fighters. Synopsis from the book flap: Constance Kopp doesn't quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters from city to country fifteen years ago. When a powerful, ruthless factory owner runs down their buggy, a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their farm. The sheriff enlists her help, and it turns out Constance has a knack for outwitting (and disarming) the criminal element which might just take her back out into the world and onto a new path in life. Quick-witted and full of madcap escapades, Girl Waits with Gun is a story about one woman rallying the courage to stand up for and grow into herself--with a little help from sisters and sheriffs along the way....Constance Kopp catapults from forgotten historical anecdote to unforgettable historical fiction heroine--an outsized woman not only ahead of her time, but sometimes even ahead of ours.

My take: Historically important. It was interesting to learn about this woman who became the first ever female sheriff's deputy. But I have to say as a story, it just didn't grab me and I didn't find Constance (or her sisters) interesting characters at all as presented. And I didn't really see the "madcap escapades" anywhere. It was one long parade of harassment by Henry Kaufmann's gang of ruffians. It took quite a long time to get to where he actually is charged with harassment and assault and it sticks. The most interesting part, for me was when Constance shows herself to be a detective-in-the-making and manages to find a lost little boy. The boy was taken from his mother (a woman seduced by Kaufmann, by the way) and sent to an orphanage. It's Constance who puts two and two together and figures out where the boy was taken. Hands down--best part of the book and it didn't even make the book blurb. It's possible, if they feature Constance actually investigating mysteries, that future books may be better...but I'm not sure I'm going to spend time finding out.  ★★ and 1/2

Others on Goodreads seemed to enjoy this more, so your mileage may vary.

First line: Our troubles began in the summer of 1914, the year I turned thirty-five.

Last line: "I'm offering you a job, Miss Kopp."
*********************

Deaths = 2 natural

A Catered Book Club Murder (Spoilerific)

 A Catered Book Club Murder (2021) by Isis Crawford (Barbara Block)

Synopsis (from the book flap): Sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons run a catering business in their upstate New York town and they're delighted for the chance to provide tasty desserts for the local mystery lovers' book club. But when fiction spills into a reality and the sisters find themselves investigating a suspicious death, it's up to them to figure out whodunit...

If anything can be said about the endearingly predictable Margo Hemsley, it's that she always serves elaborate desserts at her mystery book club meetings. That's why everyone fears the worst after she doesn't pick up her order from Bernie and Libby and skips out on the monthly gathering. The Simmons sisters can't imagine their acquaintance vanishing like a character from one of her favorite novels, at least not willingly.

When the search ends with the discovery of a dead body, Bernie and Libby agree to help the nine remaining book club members prove their friend was murdered. But a speed read through Margo's background reveals there was more to the victim than harmless hobbies and frumpy cardigans would suggest. As the sleuthing sisters unearth scandalous secrets about the book club members, they'll have to determine who was connected to Margo's shady dealings--and who sent her to an early grave...

So...I cannot discuss this without spoiling things left, right, and center. You have been warned!

Here we have a "cozy" mystery--amateur sleuths, small town setting, catering with baked goods, and recipes at the end of the book. And the solution is about as cozy as a rabid pit bull whose owner has trained it for dog fights. No, seriously. The solution to this cozy little mystery is a contract killer. What?? I mean, yes, I pointed my finger at the correct suspects (contract killer has a girlfriend...now there's a cozy little novelty)--mainly because contract killer guy kept appearing here and there when the sisters were investigating and the girlfriend kept insisting on how she "tried to warn Margo." I didn't have any real clues to go on. And how we were supposed to figure out that the suspect was a hired gun is beyond me--unless we were just supposed to assume that if a woman had a secret identity all lined up with fake passport and a stash of cash then, of course, somebody would want to hire a killer to do her in.

Another thing that niggles at me--the title centers this on a catered book club murder. The book club really doesn't come into it all. Sure, that's what this group of people have in common--they're all part of the book club. But do we actually see them in the book club? Does the murder happen at a book club meeting?  Do books get more than a passing mention? No, no, and no. For all that the book club figures in, this could have just been focused on any group of friends or neighbors. 

Oh and incidentally, once the culprits are apprehended and the dust settles, life just goes back to normal. All of the book club members were really ticked off at Bernie and Libby during the investigation (because the sisters kept discovering their little secrets and saying that each of the members had motive for murder). But all is apparently forgiven--we change the day the book club meets (to avoid bad vibes??) and change up our pastry order and that's it. We're all friends again. 

Last thing--not important to the mystery, but the recipes at the end of the book? They have no connection to the story whatsoever. I was really hoping for the recipe for the chocolate croissants.

The best part of the plot? Bernie and Libby are the daughters of a former cop, so they immediately turn info over to the police instead of keeping it to themselves. It doesn't keep them from running into trouble with the killers at the end and barely escaping being murdered--but at least it isn't because they haven't kept the authorities up to date on their discoveries. Overall, this wasn't my cup of tea--it didn't help that the book opened by dissing one of my favorite mystery authors of all time, Dorothy L. Sayers. ★★

First line: Lydia Baskerville cleared her throat, "I dreamt about you last night, Margot," she said, her voice loud against the air conditioner.

Last line: It was time to go.
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Deaths = one drowned; one shot

Two Bronze Pennies

 Two Bronze Pennies (2015) by Chris Nickson

It's Christmas Eve 1890 and DI Tom Harper is looking forward to his first Christmas with his wife, Annabelle. They'll spend an hour with her sister and then the rest of the time will be all theirs. But...murder has other ideas. When a young Jewish man is found stabbed to death with his body arranged in the form of a cross and two pennies on his closed eyes, Harper is called out on the cold night. He grew up in the area where the victim was found--an area that has slowly filled with Jewish immigrants from all over Europe. The climate had remained calm for many years, but now "No Jews" signs are popping up throughout the area and a group of young Jewish men are forming a society to push back. After all--they were born in England and are just as British as anyone else, why shouldn't they be treated equally? Harper's superiors want him to find the killer/s quickly and prevent the massive outbreak of violence that may come if tension is not relieved.

But before Harper and his men can make much headway, a young firebrand Rabbi is also murdered and left in the same fashion. In an effort to get a lead, Constable Billy Reed agrees to go undercover in a group of "England for the English" ex-military officers. Having served in Afghanistan himself, Reed fits right in. Through his covert operations, he soon learns of a shadowy leader known only as "Alfred" (most obviously not his real name) and even gets to meet him. But before he can learn Alfred's real identity, his cover is blown. He's found unconscious and severely beaten in a woods near the Jewish district. It isn't until Reed finally awakens and there is a chance spotting of Alfred in the hospital that Harper can begin connecting the dots between the killings...the killers...and Alfred. And he still has to get hard evidence that Alfred was on the spot in order to put the man away for good. Can it be done?

A nicely atmospheric, fairly solid Victorian police procedural. It leaves a bit to be desired in actual clues/evidence (the way Harper uses Reed to make the charge stick to Alfred is a bit unsettling) but overall a good look at police procedure near the turn of the century. What I most appreciated about this one is that I got the hoped-for character expansion (which I expressed in my review of the series debut). We learn quite a bit more about Harper and Reed and the women in their lives which gives a new depth to the characters. ★★★

First line: "Have you heard a word I said, Tom Harper?"

Last line: "You'll just have to wait and see, won't you, Tom Harper?"
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Deaths = 5 (two stabbed; two natural; one strangled)

Blotto, Twinks & the Dead Dowager Duchess

 Blotto, Twinks & the Dead Dowager Duchess (2010) by Simon Brett

Blotto and Twinks are off on another mad-dash adventure in the 1920s--where secret societies are plotting to upend the status quo and our particular secret society is planning on wiping out all of the aristocracy. Or at least all of those who will be sitting in the House of Lords at Christmas time. Our heroes must track down the man behind the scheme and thwart his plans before the lords of the realm go the way of the first victim of the book. The adventure begins with the death of the Dowager Duchess of Melmont at her own country house party. Since the interfering woman was determined to see her daughter wed to Blotto (a plan Blotto did not agree with...), he wouldn't mind that she were dead so much if his own chauffeur hadn't been hauled off as chief suspect at the instigation of one of those "know-it-all polymathic amateur sleuths" (see quote below) who always show up at 1920s country house weekends. After all, good chauffeurs don't grow on trees. 

So, Blotto and Twinks decide to hunt down the real killer themselves. And that determination leads them on a trail through opium dens, third-rate pubs, and tea shops. It finds them parachuting in to an unknown estate and rescuing the very girl that Blotto would give anything to not rescue (lest she want to fulfill her dead mama's plans) and finally leads them to a decrepit Scottish castle which just happens to serve as the headquarters for the League of the Crimson Hand (the aforementioned secret society). They promptly wind up as prisoners. The clock is ticking towards zero hour and it will take all of Twinks's ingenuity to get them out of the dungeon and on their way to save lords who are sitting ducks back in London.

Apparently I was in a much better mood for this, the second in the Blotto & Twinks series, than I was for the one featuring the Ex-King's Daughter (see link for review). While everyone still does go on a bit too much in the hearty English manner ("Twinks, me old bloater;" "Blotto, me old gumdrop,"  "Tickey-tockey" and so on...), it didn't grate on me quite so much. And I really did enjoy the brother/sister team's adventures in the 1920s. Brett seemed intent on making this outing a combo of Boys' Own Adventure and Sax Rohmer style thriller with a hefty send-up of the mad villain out to end civilization as we know it. Brett's strong point in these stories is his slam-bang finishes. We have Blotto taking out dozens of bad guys with his "second-best cricket bat" and lovely dogfight with Twinks at the second gunner's position in an early airplane. Lots of fun and shenanigans...and of course our heroes come out unscathed.  ★★★ and 1/2

First lines: If there was one thing Blotto (properly known as the Honourable Devereux Lyminster) didn't like about weekend house parties, it was the inevitable gathering-together of a large number of people with dark secrets in their past, along with the tiresome near-certainty that one of them would get murdered. Not to mention the unavoidable presence of a know-it-all polymathic amateur sleuth who would happen to be staying for the weekend. And the obligatory moment when the aforementioned know-it-all polymathic amateur sleuth would dragoon everyone into the library to tell them whodunit.

Last lines: And Blotto? Oh, he went hunting.
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Deaths = 5 (one stabbed; two shot; one fell from height; one plane crash)

DeKok & the Somber Nude

 DeKok & the Somber Nude (1967) by A. C. Baantjer

Inspector DeKok of the Amsterdam police and his right-hand man Vledder are pulled into a search for a missing young woman. Nanette Bogaard's cousin Kristel van Daalen comes to report her as missing. Nanette is Kristel's partner in a flower business with Nanette creating beautiful arrangements while Kristel handles the business side of things. At this point the beautiful young woman has been missing less than twenty-four hours and Vledder can't understand why DeKok feels such an urgency about it. The cousin insists that Nanette has never stayed away overnight before and that she is certain that something awful has happened. As the two men begin their investigation, they find that they aren't the only ones looking for the flower-arranger. There's her morphine-addicted cousin, Frank Bogaard and journalist Barry Wieler who says he loves her but seems more like a reporter in search of a hot story, and Mr Staaten, a fiftish art collector and stockbroker who insists that the seventeen-year-old Nanette had agreed to marry him. In the background, there is Staaten's son Ronald who definitely did not care for the idea of a stepmother--especially one about his own age. There is is also the mysterious Brother Laurens, who may or may not have been Frank Bogaard's supplier, and  Pierre Popko, who painted a portrait of Nanette nude on the late Mrs. Staaten's couch.

The painting showed up at an art dealer's shop near the canals and seems to be very much in the center of the mystery. Once it's discovered, things move very quickly with Nanette's dismembered body found by the men at the Municipal Garbage Dump. A dirty one-legged doll helps lead DeKok to the location of Nanette's murder...and eventually to the culprit in this fairly grisly and cold-blooded murder.

I have such a mixed reaction here. On the one hand, I thoroughly enjoy Baantjer's style and the excellent translation work by H. G. Smittenaar. The read is smooth and fast-paced and the descriptions of Amsterdam make for a terrific background for the story. The murder is a little more violent than I tend to like, but we don't dwell on the imagery too long. And I thoroughly enjoy the relationship between DeKok and Vledder. My main frustration (which I share with Vledder) is that DeKok keeps things close to his chest--like Holmes. I guessed part of the solution. But the key word there is guessed. There are a number of observations that DeKok makes (to himself) that we're not privy to. He can't believe that Vledder (and we) didn't catch those things. But how could we? But for that I would be giving this four stars instead of ★★★ and 1/2.

First lines: It was raining. It had been raining for days, endless long July days.

Last line: "Yes," he said, "a snake in the shape of an angel."
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Deaths = 2 (one natural; one strangled)

Winds of Evil

 Winds of Evil (1937) by Arthur W. Upfield

A strangler is at work at Wirragatta Station in the far reaches of the Australian outback. The killer operates during violent windstorms that last more than one night--all the better to cover any traces he may have left behind. Enter Joe Fisher (aka Detective-Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte) who offers his services to Martin Borradale, owner of the station, as a hired laborer. Though the last murder took place a year ago, Bony is convinced that he can track the killer--after all, he's not left a crime unsolved yet. When there is another attack--this time leaving the victim alive, but with a dangerous head injury, Bony finds himself next on the killer's attack list. Fortunately, the wily detective is able to escape with only a bruised throat. 

He starts with a list of eleven men as possible suspects and with patient questioning he's able to whittle the list down to five. He believes he knows who the man is and why he behaves as he does, but there's no proof. Meanwhile, a clueless detective from the nearest city has arrested a man whom Bony is sure is innocent. He decides to prepare a trap that will be sprung during the next violent windstorm....but will it catch the right man?

Another excellent mystery from Upfield--full of excellent descriptions of the outback and details enough of the windstorms to make you feel the sand stuck to your skin. Bony is good at slipping into the skin of an itinerant laborer (with Borradale's full knowledge of his true identity), though he doesn't manage to fool the landowner's sister for long. I was quite pleased with myself that I spotted the killer and his backstory well before Bony did--at least before Upfield allowed us to know that Bony did. I don't often get to the solution before the good detective. 

If you want a mystery that will give you a run for your money with great descriptions of place as well as a real feel for Australia in the 1930s, then you can't go wrong with Upfield. Just remember when these were written and that folks weren't exactly PC at the time. ★★★★

First line: It was a wind-created hell in which the man who called himself Joe Fisher walked northward towards the small township of Carie.

In, general, murderers are the most stupid of criminals, prone to commit a hundred mistakes. They are more stupide than embezzlers. I believe that it is the fear of the rope which upsets the average murderer and makes him make mistakes. Even the really clever murderer, the odd one in the hundred, will make at least one vital mistake. Not always, however, does the investigator see, or recognize, the mistakes, so that it is always the investigator who fails to sheet home a crime and not the cleverness of the criminal to get away with it. (Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte; p. 45)

Last line: "And you," loudly asserted Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, "are another!"
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Deaths =  7 (two strangled; four natural; one shot)

Book Challenge by Erin 25.0

 

BCBE 25.0 

It's the Silver Edition of the book challenge sponsored by Erin. So, a lot of the prompts have suitable themes, as you can see.

First and foremost, have fun. Don't stress. No one is being judged, graded, or penalized. Even if you finish only one book the entire challenge, if you enjoy it and it's an accomplishment for you, then that's awesome.

The challenge runs from July 1, 2026 - October 31, 2026. You submit your book list prior to beginning the challenge. Exchanges are accepted for the first round, but not in the bonus round (announced later). No books started before 12 a.m. on July 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on October 31 will count. (We live in different time zones--follow according to your own time zone.) Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audio books are fine too. Read one book for each category. For full details see Erin's page on Facebook (link above). You will need to join the private group to view.

Freebie: Winds of Evil by Arthur W. Upfield [256 pages] (7/7/26)

Book set in country different from one you reside in:

Dekok & the Sombre Nude by A. C. Baantjer (Netherlands) [232 pages] (7/10/26)

Book #2, #5, #20, or #25 in a series:

Blotto, Twinks & the Dead Dowager Duchess by Simon Brett [211 pages] (7/15/26)

A book with the word two or five or twenty-five in title:

Two Bronze Pennies by Chris Nickson [215 pages] (7/20/26)

Book with author whose name is Silver, cover font is silver, or "silver" is in title:

Death of a Harvard Freshman by Victoria Silver [232 pages]

Award-winning book from the last 25 years: 

Dandy Gilver & an Unsuitable Day for Murder by Catriona McPherson (Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel 2012) [290 pages] (8/8/26)

Book where main character is 25 years old/early adulthood

Beverly Gray's Return by Clair Blank [251 pages] (9/5/26)

Book originally published 1925 or 2025 or 25 years ago (2001):

The Charteris Mystery by A. Fielding (1925) [232 pages] (8/18/26)

Read one of 300+ books Erin has read for BCBE: 

Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart [408 pages] (8/5/26)

Book about a book club:

A Catered Book Club Murder by Isis Crawford [336 pages] (8/3/26)

An Affair to Remember

 An Affair to Remember: The Remarkable Love Story of Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy (1996) by Christopher Andersen

(From the dust jacket): She was a living legend, a symbol of fierce independence who defied convention to live life on her own terms. He was the greatest screen actor of all time, the personification of the rock-solid American male. During their twenty-six years together, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy mesmerized the world with their famous on-screen chemistry like no other couple. Yet their private love affair--which ended only with Tracy's death in 1967--remained shrouded in secrecy. Now, as Hepburn turns ninety, international best-selling author Christopher Andersen draws on his own extensive conversations with Kate--as well as those who knew the legendary duo intimately--to paint the first full, inspiring portrait of these beloved American icons and the life they shared. As Andersen did in Jack and Jackie, in An Affair to Remember he reveals the strength, wit, and dignity that characterized that historic partnership--and offers new revelations, including: 

New information about Hepburn's pre-Tracy affairs with Howard Hughes and others./The five family suicides that haunted Kate her entire life--and ultimately shaped her approach to the man she loved./Tracy's Other Women--from Joan Crawford to Loretta Young to Gene Tierney and Grace Kelly; why Kate never forgave Ingrid Bergman for having a secret romance with Spencer./The true, shocking extent of Tracy's alcoholism and undiagnosed depression; his erratic, often violent behavior, and how Kate bravely tried to tame the demons that drove him./How J. Edgar Hoover came close to destroying their careers./Never-before-told details of their physical relationship--including how Kate helped him to overcome impotency./The real reason why Tracy would not divorce his wife Louise, and marry Kate--and what Kate would have said had he asked her.

An Affair to Remember is, first and foremost, a poignant love story--the often funny, sometimes heartbreaking, always captivating portrait of a Great American Romance.

My take: While I learned a great deal about Spencer Tracy and a little bit about Katharine Hepburn (I've read two previous biographies about Kate)--and those things were very interesting, I didn't feel like the book lived up to its billing. Nearly the entire first half is spent giving us the biographies of these two fascinating people. Then the real focus on the on the relationship begins. But even then, a fair number of the remaining pages are devoted to them separately (Kate off on the East Coast working in Shakespeare or in the Congo filming The African Queen; Spencer fretting away on the West Coast or working on his separate projects...or more often off on a drunken bender). 

I'm not sorry I read this--as I mentioned I learned a lot about Spencer Tracy that I didn't know and I did learn more about their relationship than I already knew. But...it's not quite the book as advertised. I expected more of a spotlight on the love affair than we got. Spencer and Kate have quite an interesting dynamic--and looking back on the relationship from 2026, there are many aspects that are troubling. Particularly when you consider what an independent woman Kate was in all other aspects. Quite an interesting book for those who are fans of either (or both) star or who are interested in the golden age of movie making. Just know that the love affair does not really get top billing, despite the credits. ★★★

First line: Lying on the floor, her head resting on the down pillow she had brought in from her bedroom, Katharine Hepburn pulled the blind back, slid the patio door open a crack, and breathed in the California night air.

Last line: Theirs was an affair to remember.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998) by Alexander McCall Smith

When Precious Ramotswe's father dies, she sells his cattle (with his life-time-given blessing) and buys two things--a house and a building in which she can set up a detective agency. She is gifted with an incredible memory (fostered by the cousin who helped bring her up when her mother died) and a deep understanding of people--two qualities that will serve her well when she begins her work. Her cases cover everything from errant husbands to wayward daughters to fraudulent insurance claims to deceitful doctors. She deals with each case with quick efficiency and a kind heart (for those who deserve it). But one case follows her through the book--the case of a missing eleven-year-old boy, feared dead, but perhaps taken by a witch doctor. If Mma Ramotswe can find the boy alive, she will consider herself a real detective.

Though there are mysteries here and Mma Ramotswe does solve them, this is less a detective book than a commentary on life in Botswana. McCall Smith gives the reader a sweeping look at life in the small towns and countryside in this part of Africa. As we follow our detective on her cases, we meet everyone from the local shopkeepers to school-age children to mechanics and gangsters. We are shown at once that people are the same everywhere, even as we see the differences that come with life in Botswana. The appeal of the people and the descriptions of place compensate for the simplicity of the mysteries Mma Ramotswe solves. The best of them is the one that takes the longest to unravel--the missing boy. [SPOILER]  And I'm pleased to say that she's successful. Not necessarily the kind of mystery I prefer, but quietly satisfying in other ways. ★★★

First line: Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot Kgale Hill.

"We are the ones who first ploughed the earth when Modise (God) made it," ran an old Setswana poem. "We were the ones who made the food. We are the ones who look after the men when they are little boys, when they are young men, and when they are old and about to die. We are always there. But we are just women and nobody sees us." (p. 34)

Last line: "Of course I will," said Mma Ramotswe.
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Deaths = 5 (three natural; one hit by train; one eaten by crocodile)

The Fourth Postman

 The Fourth Postman (1948) by Craig Rice

"Please, Mr. Postman, look and see

Is there a letter, a letter for me..."

John J. Malone finds himself representing Rodney Fairfaxx when a procession of postmen get themselves killed in the alley that runs beside the Fairfaxx house. Rodney is a small, mild-mannered man who just likes to collect stamps while waiting patiently for a letter from his sweetie, a woman whose name appeared on the Titanic passenger list and whom everybody (except Rodney) has accepted as lost at sea. The police (in the person of Captain Daniel von Flanagan) believe Rodney has been driven crazy by the non-appearance of letters and has decided to take it out on the innocent postmen who are not delivering the goods. But when Malone takes a look at the scene of the crimes and considers the circumstances, he knows his client didn't do it...and what's more, he knows that von Flanagan knows it too. So....

Who would want to kill a postman? [A question posed by several of our characters.] And...who would want to kill three postment? These are questions that John J. Malone and Captain Daniel von Flanagan are trying to answer. But to my mind, the more burning question is why on earth, after two of your fellow postmen have been bashed on the head while going down an alley short-cut, would you--as the third postman to take this route--go down that alley? If I'm the third postman, I'm going to take the long way round and avoid that alley like the plague.

Another observation, as soon as one of the characters announced to all and sundry that he was changing his will--and definitely not in y'all's favor; in fact, none of you are gonna get anything now--I fully expected another murder/attempted murder. And, by golly, I was right. But not in the way I thought. 

Anyway, Malone, von Flanagan and Helene Justus spend the rest of the book running around town looking for hammers, making mysterious phone calls, tracking down motives for either killing postmen or seeing that Rodney Fairfaxx takes the rap, feeding their newfound doggy friend beer, and trying to keep Jake Justus, currently suffering from a bad case of chicken pox, safely at home in bed. Malone discovers that Rodney's family (a brother and a niece and nephew) and neighbors (who are the wife and daughter of one Rodney's dearly departed friends) all might have a motive to keep postmen and Fairfaxx from seeing one another. But who wanted it enough to kill? 

Malone's antics with his new booze-hound side-kick and the interactions with Helen and Jake (and the doctor who keeps popping in and out to attend to the chicken pox) are well worth the price of admission. The quirky motive behind the murders adds a bit of spice to the proceedings and it all makes for a fun, fast-paced mystery. ★★★★

First line: The sound of a dead body falling is like no other sound on earth, as any effects technician who has tried to create it in a radio studio will tell you.

"I can't arrest all of 'em," von Flanagan muttered. He added, "Besides, butlers don't commit murders."
You'd be surprised what butlers will do," Malone said. (p. 151)

Last line: Then he leaned his head back and went to sleep.
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Deaths = 8 (three hit on head; two natural; one shot; two car accident)

Frederica

 Frederica (1965) by Georgette Heyer

Vernon, the Marquis of Alverstoke, is at the top of the ton; the highest  levels of fashion. He is wealthy and handsome and the hope of every mother determined to make an excellent match for one of her daughters in the Marriage Mart. But...Alverstoke is easily bored by the ladies of the ton and never spends longer more time than a brief flirtation or discreet liaison on any of them. Then along comes Frederica Merriville with her three younger siblings. He's never met a woman like her.

The Merrivilles are distant cousins and Frederica is determined that Cousin Alverstoke will launch her sister Charis into ton on her come out. There is nothing that Alverstoke would less--as he's already explained to his sisters who have wheedled and schemed and everything in between trying to get him to host a ball in their daughters' honor. Hosting balls bore him and he hates being bored. But there's something about Frederica that appeals to him--she's not pretty and she's "on the shelf" (an elderly twenty-four [!], no longer seeking a entree into society for herself), but she can talk to him without resorting to coquettish ways and (gasp) even argue with him. Her sister Charis is a beauty, a diamond of the first-water, and he suddenly realizes that helping Frederica to bring her out into society will put his sisters' noses so far out of joint that they (the nose) may be facing backward. And what great fun that will be! 

What he doesn't bargain on is becoming fond of Frederica's two younger brothers--Jessamy and Felix and serving as a father-figure/guardian stand-in. But at least with Felix, he is never bored. Felix is a scientifically-minded young fellow who gets into the most extraordinary scrapes all in the interests of science--from disappearing overnight on a steam packet (to get an up close and personal experience of the steam engine) to going up in a hot air balloon and then falling out of it when it had a bad landing. Jessamy isn't far behind, having a run-in with some Londoners when he tries out the latest conveyance (an early form of the bicycle). No, boredom has never been so far away. And...he also doesn't bargain on becoming fond of Frederica. She interests him more than any woman of the ton ever did. But does she interest him enough to make this confirmed bachelor settle down for life?

So often bookish quizzes and challenges either want to know your "guilty pleasure" reads or have a prompt asking you to read a "guilty pleasure" book. I generally say that I don't really have any guilty pleasure reads: If I like reading a thing, then I like it and will own up to it. There's no feeling guilty about it. That said, if I have to choose a guilty pleasure read then I will claim historical romances for that category simply because I'm not a big romance fiction reader. And if I'm going to read romance then there's nothing better than one of Heyer's Regency romances. I love the research Heyer has put into getting the period right; I love making my way through the colloquialisms of the time--everything from "top-lofty" to "making a cake" of oneself to "ninnyhammer." [As an aside, it's a shame that there is not even a hint of a mystery in this particular Heyer--some of the romances do have a bit of mystery as well--because it's chock full of words and phrases that could have been used as the GAD Word of the Day.]

This is another of Heyer's best. Frederica makes for an admirable love-interest for Alverstoke. She's able to give plenty in their verbal give-and-take and she has enough force of character to stand up to him. The subplots involving Felix and Jessamy are well-done, incorporated nicely, and most interesting. I find Charis and Harry (the eldest Merriville--mostly off at Oxford) a bit disappointing, but I suppose the whole family can't be interesting. The one thing that keeps this from being a full five stars is the fact that, despite being a Regency romance, the romance is very definitely flying under the radar. In fact, for most of the book, Frederica doesn't even realize that romance is in the works for her. But the finely-drawn characters and the various storylines carry the day and make this a compelling historical fiction read. ★★★★

First line: Not more than five days after she had despatched an urgent missive to her brother, the Most Honourable the Marquis of Alverstoke, requesting him to visit her at his earliest convenience, the widowed Lady Buxted was relieved to learn from her youngest daughter that Uncle Vernon had just driven up to the house, wearing a coat with dozens of capes, and looking as fine as fivepence.

Last lines: "If I promise faithfully not to blow the house up? If you please, Cousin Alverstoke...?"

Dangerous Crossing

 Dangerous Crossing (2017) by Rachel Rhys

It's 1939 and as Europe heads towards another world war, Lily Shepherd is headed for a new life in Australia. Leaving her parents and brother behind (sadly) as well as memories she'd rather forget, Lily is taking part in a program that gives her passage to the land down under and an opportunity to find employment. But during the weeks spent aboard ship she finds a different sort of opportunity--the chance to sample a world full of adventure, new friends, dancing, visits to some of the wonders of the world, and a taste of life among the upper classes. But that world is also full of danger--men with only one thing on their minds; men with grudges against certain groups of people--including some of Lily's new friends; and women who are so bored with life that they will try anything at least once. Lily thinks she may find romance with a young law student who is traveling with his sister...but when a friend disappears one night (apparently lost overboard--or was she pushed?) and another death occurs, she finds herself in the middle of a terrible situation and nowhere to go.

First thought: I am not a fan of present tense--especially when it seems to be done in such a weird way. It's like it's trying to be partially first-person present tense and mostly omniscient present tense and not quite successful at either. This, I'm sure, colored my reading somewhat. There was all the makings of a really good mystery, but somewhere it went a bit off course and we wound up with a middle-of-the-road story. The background was good. And the beginning started well. But once we settled in onboard ship, we spent way too much time on the weird interpersonal interactions between Lilly and the Campbells. And, honestly, wound up with very little mystery. It's obvious what happened to Maria (the friend who disappears overboard) and the second death happens right before our eyes, so we know immediately who did it. If Rhys had simply wanted to write a historical story set aboard a ship, that would have been one thing. But--she states plainly in her afterword that she thought the journal written by a friend of her mother's about doing just what Lily did would make a marvelous basis for a "historical crime novel." And the blurb led me to expect just that, so I think it natural that I felt a bit let down. 

As a historical novel, it is a good solid read (especially if you don't mind or can get past the present tense). But if you're looking for a great historical crime or mystery novel, then I don't think it quite meets the case. ★★★

First line: Sandwiched between two policemen, the woman descends the gangplank.

Last line: GREETINGS FROM THE NEW LADY CULLEN STOP MARRIED TWO WEEKS STOP SETTING OFF FOR NYERI KENYA TOMORROW STOP IF EATEN BY LIONS MY PEACH SILK IS YOURS STOP ELIZA
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Deaths = 4 (one drowned; one stabbed; one bled to death; one suicide)

Aristotle Detective

 Aristotle Detective (1978) by Margaret Doody

Synopsis (from the back of the book): When a violent murder leaves a prominent citizen dead and a falsely accused suspect in exile, a master philosopher turned part-time sleuth is drawn into the baffling mystery. The scene is Athens, 332 B.C.; the murder weapon is a bow and arrow; the investigator, an in inexperienced young boy. There is only one mind capable of putting together the puzzling pieces--that of the great and wise Aristotle. Stephanos does the legwork, exploring the ins and outs of the city, and the master ponders the clues and weighs the evidence in a splendidly dramatic trial before the supreme tribunal of Athens. Aristotle unmasks the villain in a dazzling display of deductive logic.

My take: This was just a snooze-fest for me. We have Aristotle set up as a Holmes wanna-be with Stephanos acting as his active Watson. Though Stephanos has more of a stake in the mystery since the wrongly accused man is his relative. I'm afraid that I didn't find any "splendidly dramatic" moments nor "dazzling display[s] of deductive logic." The villain of the piece is pretty obvious very early in the book and viewing all of this through the eyes of Stephanos was excruciating. He may be filling the shoes of Watson in this story, but the original Watson is far more appealing. 

Others on Goodreads have rated this much more highly--so perhaps one needs a more philosophic mind to really appreciate it. I guess I'm just not a philosophic girl. ★

First line: It was in the month of Boedromion in the waning of the third moon after the summer solstice that the terrible deed was done that was to have so long and arduous a consequence.

Last line: "Polygnotos commanded the best rhetoric of all."
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Deaths = one stabbed

High Marks for Murder

 High Marks for Murder (2008) by Rebecca Kent (Kate Kingsbury)

Meredith Llewellyn is the headmistress at the Bellehaven Finishing School. A place that is known for transforming the "most incorrigible tomboy into a refined young lady." It's also a bit progressive for the beginning of the 20th Century--encouraging their refined young ladies to think for themselves and allowing exploration into other ways to find fulfillment beyond the role of wife and mother. The teachers may teach deportment and household management, but you just might find them chanting "votes for women" along with their students. You never know what you might see if you arrive unannounced. But I don't think anyone expected to see a ghost...

That's just what Meredith does see after her friend Kathleen Duncan, the home management teacher, was found bludgeoned to death with a tree limb. The local bobby doesn't want to waste precious time investigating too deeply into the demise of a woman out wandering in the garden at night alone (where no respectable lady should be...) and decides it's a death by tramp. A very convenient tramp who is long gone with no way to trace him. Meredith is upset that her friend's death is so easily dismissed and thinks about investigating on her own. But she has no idea how to go about it. Until she starts seeing Kathleen's ghost who seems to be trying to tell her something through various signs. If she can just figure out what Kathleen's motions in the garden mean, she just might have the clues to get an investigation started. 

Pure cozy mystery. No blood to speak of. No traumatic or complicated goings-on in our amateur sleuth's life. And, honestly, not a whole heaping lot of detection. So--if you're looking for a standard mystery with clues to follow and deductions to make, then this might not be your thing. If you like a gentle mystery with a hint (just a hint, mind you) of the supernatural and likeable characters, then this might well be your thing. 

I like the setting at a girls' school. I like our main characters--Meredith and her two, somewhat reluctant, Watsons, Felicity and Essie--though I'm not quite sold on Meredith as a Sherlock just yet. This was a pleasant read but the mystery wasn't too difficult. I knew exactly what Kathleen's ghost meant when she kept pointing at the garden and I'm not quite sure why Meredith was so baffled. Perhaps her grief got in the way? I have the second book in this series and hope that we will see more detecting than trying to communicate with spirits (though I already know there is a ghost involved in that one as well). ★★★

First line: Under normal circumstances Meredith Llewellyn enjoyed the Sunday services at St. Edmund's.

Last line: "Now what's your story?"
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Deaths = one hit on head 

Old Bones

 Old Bones (1943) Herman Petersen

 Marian Wayne, wife of our narrator Ben Wayne, is on the hunt for local-sourced, vintage pine board for a redecoration project. She's hunted high and low in abandoned barns and farmhouses with no success. But then she remembers the grist mill on the property of the area's power family--the Wights. She finds what she's looking for there...and a bit more. While looking around she happens to look in the stand pipe, a well-like opening with water in the bottom, and sees a jumble of bones lying at the bottom. When her husband hears her story, he brings in Doc Miller, the county coroner, who in turn calls upon the D.A. Even before they try to retrieve the bones, Miller is convinced that they've an old murder to solve because someone dumped in old timbers as well in an effort to hide the remains. 

Since it is after dark and there's no lights in the mill, they decide to return in the morning to drain the stand pipe and bring up the bones. But when they get there, they find that someone has beaten them to it and the bones are gone. 

Bones, bones, who's got the bones? 

by grandeduc on Getty images

Fortunately, the person who snatched them in the night wasn't so great at the "hiding" part of hide-and-seek and the bones are rediscovered fairly quickly. The Wights, however, immediately use their influence to try and railroad the D.A. into calling the death an "unfortunate accident to John Doe." But as soon as Doc Miller gets a good look at the bones, he isn't having any. He recognizes healed bones representing injuries that he treated himself and declares that the bones belong to Nate Wight, the black sheep of the family who supposedly slunk off to New York City a few years ago. All clues seem to point directly to the Wights--no wonder they wanted things hushed up. And one of them will go to any length to keep the secrets of the past unseen. Now Doc Miller with Ben acting as his leg man must race to identify Nate's murderer before more people are hurt...or killed.

Lots of action--from a chase through the swamps to a midnight rescue from the stand pipe to blazing (literally) grand finale. Ben Wayne endures some very pulpy private eye encounters--all in the dark, so we don't know who the villain is till the end. Doc Miller spends a fair amount of time tending to Ben's injuries and you have to sympathize with Marian who is afraid that her husband won't survive the next go-round with the culprit. There is also a good amount of good old fashioned deduction on Doc Miller's part, making for a good detective story on top of the pulp action. The characters are great from the interactions between the good doctor and Ben, the good doctor and all the Wights. I especially enjoyed the two younger Wights--Peg and Lightning. They made good sleuthing sidekicks for Ben.

There are a few drawbacks--like the overall motivation of the killer. The initial murder and cover-up I get. But the follow-ups are bit tenuous--especially if the Wights and their entourage stick together as they've always done. It might have helped if there had been a bit more attention to the background of the characters (delightful as most of them are, we don't learn a lot about them). And I don't see the point of the fire at the end--not even with the murderer explaining it. But the pluses outweigh the minuses and I thoroughly enjoyed Petersen's story. I'll definitely pick up the first two in the Doc Miller series if I come across them.  ★★★★

First line: I had spent most of today in the city; a business demand had been satisfied, and I had managed to call on my tailor too.

Last line: What became of the cat?"
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Deaths = 5 (one natural; one hit on head; one shot; two burned to death)

The Division Bell Mystery

 The Division Bell Mystery (1932) by Ellen Wilkinson

Ellen Wilkinson was one of England's first female MPs and gives readers an intimate look at the hallowed halls of Parliament in this, her first...and only detective novel. Her debut novel introduces Robert West, private secretary to the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, who finds himself playing amateur detective when a violent death happens during his Chief's private dinner with reclusive American financier Georges Oissel. 

Initially, the death of Oissel looks like suicide. The Home Secretary (who seems to be nameless...unless I missed it somehow) had to leave his guest a bit before the division bell (a signal to Members that a vote is about to be taken). The room is virtually sealed--all windows locked and the only door under observation of a waiter preparing to bring coffee for the Home Secretary's return as well as West and his own guest who are just coming down the hallway--when a shot is heard. The three men rush to the room and find Oissel shot through the heart and a revolver on the floor nearby.

The House officers quickly arrive and a search is made, but there is no one out of the ordinary to be found. Inspector Blackitt of Scotland Yard is called in and also seems to favor suicide--at first. But Oissel's granddaughter insists that her grandfather would never kill himself. And then the Oissel's apartment is burgled and the Home Secretary's own man who had been serving as a kind of body guard is killed. And then...the evidence (lack of scorching of any sort) supports the theory of murder. But if it is murder, how did the murderer get away? West and Blackitt will have to solve the impossible crime if they're going to nab the killer.

Wilkinson does an excellent job of setting the scene. Even this Yank began to feel at home in the House of Commons--it was so well-described. It was fun to see the inner workings of the 1930s Parliament--the machinations and tricks and deals to get things done. And to realize that "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Her characters are vivid and well-defined and I think it's a shame she didn't write more mysteries, especially if they would have featured Lord Dalbreattie and West investigating again. Inspector Blackitt is given the short end of the stick, though. After showing how it couldn't be suicide and beginning to investigate, he sort of fades into the background. 

She doesn't do too badly with the impossible crime either--especially given that this was her first attempt at a detective novel. One one real complaint is that I can't remember a particular thing being mentioned about the room where Oissel was killed. It's kind of important to solving the mystery. I just went back and reread all the scenes I could remember that took place in Room J (as it's known) and I couldn't find mention of it at all. So, I don't see how the reader could possibly have figured out how it was done.

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable read. ★★★★

First line: No matter how exciting the day, the House of Commons loses all interest between the hours of 7 am and 9 pm.

The public was not quite sure of him [the Prime Minister] because he, elusive, incalculable, was never quite sure of himself....to some degree he reflected the lack of purpose of his period. It was counted to him for a virtue that he could answer any question and leave the questioner soothed, but completely in the dark as to what he meant. (p. 159)

"Flossie" [the Home Secretary] was priceless. He had committed the most unpardonable piece of folly, he had outraged every official British tradition. If the facts were suspected not only the Government, but the Party were irretrievably ruined, and there he sat, a pillar of the Established Church and the Established Everything Else, shocked at the wickedness of the the unknown burglars. (p. 167)

Robert felt like he ought to apologize for the poor old Parliament that had insisted on having a mystery although it ought to have known that Lord Dalbeattie didn't like them. (p. 175)

"The police are no match for a really highly trained servant, especially one accustomed to holding his or her tongue in a place like the House of Commons. I learned that fact in a very costly way when I was trying to get a divorce. My wife knew it, and I paid for the lesson. (Lord Dalbeattie; p. 179)

"But it is no use trying to unravel a mystery like this unless you are prepared to face every possibility, and keep your own emotions out of it. Find the truth, and then let your feelings dictate what you should do with it. That seems to me to be the only common-sense way." (Lord Dalbeattie; p 182)

[The "Under Gallery"] is rigidly barred to any woman, though she may be the expert in charge of a bill. Women M.P.s might try to abolish this absurdity, but the House, which in the past has swallowed whole strings of new camels, would die in the last ditch in defence of some antiquated gnat of a custom. (p 194)

Last line: "The police forgot the river."
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Deaths = two shot