Foot in the Grave

 Foot in the Grave (1972) by E. X. Ferrars

Christine Findon likes her quiet little home life with her husband Henry. She's not much of a people person and definitely doesn't like them in large quantities. So, when she finds herself with a houseful of people one weekend, she already feels out of sorts. Like maybe she was suffering from an overdose of the human race. In a very short time period, her house had filled up with one cook/housekeeper that she really didn't need; her rather precocious young nephew and niece; their au pair; the prodigal son of the cook/housekeeper; her brother-in-law; and one of Christine's oldest friends who is visiting in order to give a talk on antique shoes. 

Things definitely start out weird when Christine goes upstairs after breakfast and meets a strange man coming downstairs.

As she went, she wondered if she might be going mad. She could usually recognize the people whom she met in her own home, or at least account for their presence there.

Of course, the man winds up being the prodigal son of their prodigal cook/housekeeper. Mrs. Heacham had originally been the cook/housekeeper for Christine's father when he was alive. When the Christine's father died, Mrs. Heacham had gone to Canada for several years and had just recently come back to England. Somehow it was assumed that she would just take up where she left off and work for Christine. Next, Vivienne, Christine's friend, arrives and her wearable shoes disappear. Well...not all of them. Just the left shoe from each pair. Anybody in the house could have taken the shoes, but why would they? 

The next morning Christine finds the missing shoes burned and destroyed in the remains of a bonfire (made from leaves the housekeeper's prodigal son Lew had thoughtfully swept up for them). But that isn't the worst thing found destroyed that morning...the body of Mrs. Heacham is found stuffed in a trunk in the storeroom and now they not only have a thief but a murderer amongst them.

The best thing about this one is the characters. Ferrars gives us fully realized, well-drawn characters and fills the house with them (literally). Their interactions with one another make for interesting reading. What keeps this from being a first-rate mystery is the plot itself. I'm just not sold on the motive that results in murder--I might have been if there had been any indications of it. But there weren't. Spoiler in apparent blank space--highlight if curious: At no time are we given any indication that Vivienne has reasons to steal Henry's snuff boxes. No hints that she or her husband have always coveted them or were in need of money. She's supposedly an old friend of Christine's and we've no reason to think she would do anything so despicable. It just pops up at the end. Others on Goodreads give the mystery high marks indeed, so your mileage may vary.  ★★★--just.

Quotes

First line: Christine Findon was going upstairs after breakfast to get sheets from the linen cupboard to make up the bed in the spare room for her friend, Vivien Richmond, who was arriving  that afternoon to spend the weekend with the Findons, when she met a perfectly strange man coming downstairs. 

This happened almost every time he and Christine went out. A week or so before the occasion, Henry was capable of believing that he would enjoy it, and when he was actually in the middle of it he enjoyed it as much as anyone, but in the few hours before it a deep gloom settled on him at the prospect of being torn away from his home. (p. 30)

Last line: It took Christine longer than she had expected to begin to get used to that continuing quiet.

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Deaths = one hit with hammer

Death of a Warrior Queen

 Death of a Warrior Queen (1991) by S. T. Haymon

Detective-Inspector Ben Jurnet is overjoyed that the love of his life, Miriam, has returned to England after a year spent in Israel. He's not sure exactly where the relationship stands, but he knows he just wants to be with her. When he gets an invitation to examine an archaeological dig in the Lanthrop area in order to give advice about how best to protect any finds, he decides to turn it into a picnic holiday with Miriam. After a brief stop at the archaeological site, the venture to a lovely strop of beach along the sea. There's even a handy little hide-away in the dunes for lovers to get reacquainted. 

All is going well--in fact, even better than Jurnet expected--until their activities unearth a brown, leathery hand attached to a very dead body. Jurnet is hastily turned from ardent lover to cop on a job and his task is to find out who wanted Annie Chance dead. All indications were that she had packed everything she owned and planned to leave town (leaving her adult, but somewhat backward son behind) and some say she was leaving with traveling sales rep. Her suitcase is missing and there's no sign of the sales rep. Annie wasn't the most pleasant of women--so there are a few suspects in the village as well, including her son who may have gotten tired of her blows, both verbal and physical. Annie's isn't the only death in Lanthrop--but Jurnet will have to determine if an auto accident, an apparent suicide, a death from AIDS, and/or the slaughter of a herd of goats have anything to do with Annie's murder.

I have to say that I was disappointed with this one. I had read the first five Haymon mysteries in the late 80s/early 90s and found Ben Jurnet to be an interesting detective. The mystery plots were all solid--nothing extraordinary, but they were well-plotted and were good for a day's read. Reading the sixth installment about thirty years later, Jurnet is still an interesting and well-drawn character, but I wasn't all that keen on the plot. I found the motive for murder to be rather bizarre and, well, tawdry [explaining would be a MAJOR spoiler]. And, yes, murders are often tawdry in real life, but I don't generally want my fiction experiences to leave me feeling so icky.  ★★

Quotes

First line: They came to the coast by narrow roads that snaked between fields of barley and heathland where the bracken along the verges bent to the stir of the car's passing.

But things that change your life, I've discovered, don't have to be showy or dramatic. They can be so small that when you look back at them afterwards, it seems incredible such little things could have such colossal consequences. (Hannah Millburn; p. 41)

You could say that she was the one who put the whole idea into my mind. I mean, if somebody suddenly makes it plain that they think you capable of things  you never suspected you were capable of, well, you begin to think perhaps you are, if you take my meaning. (Endymion Mobbs, p. 175)

Last line: Dazed with joy, he watched the door slowly opening.

 

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Deaths = 5 (2 car wreck; 1 natural causes; 1 stabbed; 1 hit)

Murder on the Eiffel Tower

 Murder on the Eiffel Tower (2003) by Claude Izner (Liliane Korb & Laurence Lefevre) is the debut novel in a historical mystery series set in France at the end of the 19th Century. As the title would indicate, it revolves around a set of murders that occur on the Eiffel Tower, at the 1889 World Exposition where the tower was unveiled, and to others who had visited the tower during the Exposition. The first death to attract major attention (though, not precisely the first of the string of murders) occurs on the upper platform. An inoffensive poor relation who had escorted her niece and nephews to see the sights and exhibits dies suddenly from an apparent bee sting. 

Several similar deaths occur and a brand new newspaper Le Passe-partout manages to scoop the other papers each time. Marius Bonnet and his team of journalists are on the spot (having a luncheon at the Tower's cafe) when poor Eugenie Patinot dies and they make the most of it. And even though the police keep insisting that bees are the culprit, the paper keeps hinting that a murderer is loose among the exhibits. 

Victor Legris, a friend of Bonnet, is a bookseller and literary man who has been invited to the luncheon and to contribute literary articles for the paper. He soon notices that various people, including his mentor and business partner Kenji Mori, seem to be on the spot each time a new death occurs and begins to investigate on his own. He sets out initially to prove that Mori couldn't be involved in such wickedness but the more he discovers the more unsure he is. But his other main suspect doesn't make him any happier. Through the newspaper, he has met the beautiful  Russian illustrator Tasha and begins to fall in love with her. But...she also has been in the vicinity each time death has struck and there are certain clues that he thinks could well point to her. It isn't until someone tries to eliminate Victor and carelessly leaves behind a most illuminating clue that he begins to see the real plot. He'll need to rush back to the Tower--but will he be in time to prevent one more death?

This is another middle-of-the-road read for me (I seem to be on a string of those). There were enough clues that, had I paid proper attention to them, I could have figured things out before the reveal. The setting is charming and I found the descriptions of both Paris in the late 1800s and the World Exposition in particular to be quite entertaining and interesting. The murder method, plot and motive were all interesting as well. I wish I could say as much for Victor as our protagonist. He really is something of a goop and certainly isn't a born detective. He is all set to suspect the man who has served as a substitute father and his mentor of murder on the flimsiest of evidence. Then he's ready to suspect the woman who he's falling in love with on...well, not flimsy evidence, but very ambiguous evidence. And he's so wishy-washy about it all. One moment he's certain she did it and is clumsy enough to let her see it--making her mad if she's innocent and tipping her off if she's not. The next moment some other tidbit comes along and he's quite sure and hugely relieved that she didn't do it. He sortof recognizes that there are other suspects, but for about 80% of the book he's too busy being worried about the people he cares about to really work on figuring out whether somebody else is the murderer.

The characters with the most interest for me are Joseph, the bookshop assistant, and Tasha, the beautiful artist (though I don't get why she keeps letting Victor come back after every episode where he pretty much accuses her of being a heartless murderer...). Joseph has way more brains than Victor and could probably have identified the killer at least three murders earlier if he'd had access to all the clues his employer had stumbled across. But poor Joseph, he's stuck in the bookshop dealing with obnoxious lady customers while Victor bumbles picking up clues that he doesn't really recognize the significance of. And Tasha is an intelligent, independent woman. Although she has this overpowering attraction to Victor (that's the only explanation I can come up with for why she keeps allowing him back), she's set on keeping her independence even when the murders are all solved and he wants her to marry him (or at least live a lot closer to him in a nicer apartment).

It would seem that the Izner books focus on Victor as an amateur detective and I have picked up several more in the series. I'm willing to give the series another look. I hope that Victor's skills as an investigator improve and become as interesting as the setting and plot. ★★★

First line: Storm clouds raced over the barren plain between the fortifications and the goods station at Les Batignolles, where the scrubby grass smelled unpleasantly of sewers.

Last line: Before they left she looked around happily at the untidy room: she had uncovered the dormer and sunshine was now flooding in.

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Deaths = 6 (five poisoned; one stabbed)

The Mystery of the Skeleton Key

 The Mystery of the Skeleton Key (1919) by Bernard Capes

"What about your average inventive intelligence, Baron?"

"I said, specifically, a man's," pleaded Le Sage. "Women, fortunately for us, are not eligible for the detective force."

The main action of our story takes place at Wildshott, the Hampshire seat of the Kennetts, though it opens in France and the tragedy has its roots there as well. Sir Calvin and his son have each invited friends down for the weekend. Baron Le Sage will be on hand to offer Sir Calvin a battle at the chessboard and Hugo Kennett has sent an urgent message to his friend, Mr. Bickerdike begging for his assistance in some mysterious problem (Kennett is apt to blow minor contretemps into major catastrophes). Also among the party throughout the weekend are Sir Calvin's daughter, Audrey, and their neighbor Sir Francis Orsden, Audrey's ardent admirer. 

Tragedy strikes after shooting party attended by the young men when the body of one of the maids is found shot to death on a deserted pathway. Hugo had stopped to light a cigarette and exchange a few words with the young woman and carelessly left his shotgun leaning against a tree. Suspicion focuses on various members of the household from the Baron's valet who fancied himself a romantic conqueror to the butler who had considered the girl his until the Gallic casanova came along to Hugo who had dallied with the girl himself. Le Sage may seem to be nothing more than a genial houseguest intent on a game of chess with his host, but the clever young Sergeant Ridgway who is assigned to the case soon finds that chess strategies aren't the only puzzles the baron can unravel.

Bickerdike, who comes across as a very pompous young man, also tries his hand at sleuthing, but fastens his attention on the Baron. He has thought there was something not quite right about the man from their first chance meeting in Paris (in our opening scenes). He noticed immediately that "[the Baron] could not, or would not, answer a direct question directly; he seemed to love secrecy and evasion for their own sake, and for the opportunity they gave him for springing some valueless surprises on the unsuspecting." Bickerdike also observes his man behaving most peculiarly late one night in Sir Calvin's study and definitely suspects the worst. 

This may have been quite thrilling back in 1919 when it was published and folks were a little more used to the style of writing and hadn't already encountered a similar solution. But Capes takes a long time to get where he's going with some of his paragraphs. It's particularly rough going when we're getting the point of view of Bickerdike--who keeps his journal in the same pompous style as he conducts his social interactions. I much preferred the third person sections of the novel. I'd say that this mystery is definitely for those who have a deep affection for early British detective novels and who can appreciate the early forms of their beloved mysteries. 

The solution didn't come as a surprise to me--I thought it was telegraphed pretty plainly even though there weren't any real clues that the reader was allowed to see. Baron Le Sage follows in the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes and keeps what clues he finds very close to his chest* so there isn't any way to spot the criminal except through inference--but, for all that, I do like the character of Le Sage and wish that Capes had lived long enough to provide us with some more adventures. ★★★

Kate over at crossexamingcrime has also reviewed this one and has given it a similar rating.

*Like the titular skeleton key, for instance. I kept waiting for it to show up. It doesn't make an appearance until the big reveal at the end.

Quotes

First line: Some few years ago, in the month of September, I happened to be kicking my heels in Paris, awaiting the arrival there of my friend Hugo Kennett.

I had expected from him, on her disappearance, some significant look or gesture, betokening his acceptance of the inevitable conclusion; but he made no such sign, and merely resumed his business conduct of the case. He knew better than we, no doubt, that in crime the most obvious is often the most unreliable. (p. 57)

But Audrey was prejudiced against him, and the prejudices of young people are like their loves, unreasoning and devastating. (p. 156)

Are we not a little apt to judge a man by his business--as that a lawyer must be unfeeling, a butcher cruel, a doctor humane, and a sweep dishonest? But it is not his profession which makes a man what he is, but the man who makes his profession what it appears to him. A lawyer does not appropriate trust funds because he is a lawyer, but because he is a gambler...a detective is not impeccable because he is a detective, but because he is an honest man. (Baron Le Sage; p. 175)

Last line: Now let us talk of something else.

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Deaths = 2 (one shot; one natural causes)

Bound to Murder

 Bound to Murder (1987) by Dorsey Fiske 

"That was a plaguy heavy book," Bunce declared. "You're lucky to have a harder head than most; it'd have cracked some skulls like an eggshell."

"Not Caldicott's Discourses on Socmanry. His theories are far too lightweight to do any real damage," scoffed Fenchurch...

Bound to Murder is the second of two academic mysteries featuring John Fenchurch a Fellow of the imaginary Sheepshanks College of Cambridge University. What begins as an investigation into the thefts of precious color prints from various antique volumes and then the disappearance of an entire rare medieval test from the university library, soon becomes a matter of murder when the alleged thief is found murdered on the night of one of the college's feast days.

An abundance of clues and an apparent eye witness makes things look very black indeed for a young history student, Harry Huntingfield whose very existence as a younger son of a noble family (even though impoverished) put him at odds with the left-leaning victim. But Fenchurch is convinced that the murder has something to do with the thefts and can't see any way of connecting Huntingfield to those. And when the beautiful Vivien, Harry's fiancee, begs Fenchurch (who is not immune to her charms even in his middle-aged bachelorhood) to prove Harry innocent, he must needs play the knight errant. He's also got the reputation of the college on his shoulders--what with murder and thievery and a bevy of ladies of the evening who crash the feast. A couple of last minute discoveries finally point the way to an unexpected culprit

A mid-range academic mystery saved by a very engaging amateur sleuth. Fenchurch is quite charming and I enjoyed the way he managed all sorts of personalities--from the sullen Mr. Maunders (our victim) to the charming Vivien to the somewhat gaga emeritus professor who occasionally likes to be addressed as Geoffrey (Chaucer, that is). He also has an interesting relationship with the local police in the person of Inspector Bunce. The two make a good team.

Fiske does a fairly good job of spreading red herrings about and making several suspects behave in a most suspicious fashion--all but one for perfectly innocent reasons (at least as far as murder goes). One spoilerish quibble (highlight the following, if curious): I don't think Fiske or her publishers or whoever is responsible could have chosen a more spoilerish title if they'd planned it. Once anyone figures out what that title has to do with the plot, it's very likely they'll know whodunnit. But overall a very pleasant read. ★★★

Added 9/21/20: One thing I meant to mention: Dorsey Fiske must be a Dorothy L. Sayers fan. I noticed several parallels between the Harry Huntingfield/Vivien Murray romance and Lord Peter/Harriet Vane. Harry meets Vivien and immediately falls head over heels in love--proposing marriage right off the bat. Of course, Vivien isn't suspected of the murder, but Harry is and she immediately seeks a way to clear him of suspicion. Since she doesn't have the obstacle of feeling grateful to overcome (as Harriet does), Vivien succumbs to Harry's charms much quicker. The witty back and forth word play between the two is also reminiscent of LP/HV.

First line: I am afraid there can be no doubt of the fact he was murdered; no doubt whatever.

Last line: Ah, well, I daresay he forgot the time--far too busy beating his wife.

[Finished 9/16/20]

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Deaths = 2 (one stabbed; one fell from height)

When Gods Die

 When Gods Die (2006) C. S. Harris

When Gods Die is the second in the Sebastian St. Cyr (Lord Devlin) mystery series. At the end of the debut novel, Sir Henry Lovejoy, impressed at Devlin's abilities in ferreting out the murderer, asks if he'd like to take on investigative work among the upper classes whenever future delicate cases might arise. Sebastian turns him down flat, but then immediately finds himself embroiled in another delicate mystery in this latest outing. 

The Prince Regent is holding a party at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. All goes well until the Prince enters his Yellow Cabinet, anticipating a romantic conquest, only to find the young Marchioness of Anglessey dead with a knife in her back. Rumors already swirl around his family--rumors that the madness of his father, George III, runs amok in all of the Hanovers. And now the rumors will fly that he is as violent as his brother Cumberland, who killed his valet (though officially that was ruled a suicide). When a beautiful necklace that was last seen around the neck of Sebastian's mother on the day she perished in a boating acciedent is found around the dead woman's neck, the Prince's confidante Lord Jarvis is empowered to pressure Devlin into investigating the matter. The sooner the real killer is found, the sooner the pressure will be off the Prince.

But nothing is ever that simple and Sebastian will have to make his way through a maze of lies, political intrigue, and startling discoveries about his own past before he can get to to the bottom of the mystery. A plot against the House of Hanover is tangled with personal retribution, but discovering who might want revenge against a beautiful young woman isn't as easy as looking at the Marquis's nephew. The nephew was the heir apparent until he learns that his elderly uncle was an expectant father. Fitting Bevan Ellsworth up as the murderer would be satisfying, both to Sebastian who never liked the man and to the Marquis who desperately wants someone else to inherit. But Sebastian has standards and won't accuse Ellsworth without proof. Proofs soon come (after a few too many more deaths)...but they lead to a very unexpected answer.

Once again Harris sweeps the reader back to Regency England. Sebastian is a good, solid character with a fine streak of decency running through him. He doesn't want to tidy up the murders with the least fuss for those of his class. He wants the right killer found and brought to justice for what they did--whether high born or not. He also cares deeply about Tom, the young boy he has rescued from the streets and who now serves as his tiger (to care for and mind his horses when out and about), and feels the injustices that face children like Tom who have to make their own way in the world. Sebastian is someone you definitely want on your side when you're up against it--just, intelligent, and a good man in a fight. 

It is also interesting how Harris weaves Sebastian's back story into the mystery plots--just enough to keep a running thread in the various books, but not so overbearing that it completely dominates nor so much as to make the connections unbelievable. It will be interesting to see where this takes us in future books. Another good historical mystery. ★★★★

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Deaths = 10 (two poisoned; one fell from height; four stabbed; two drowned; one hit on head)

Jerry Todd & the Rose-Colored Cat

Jerry Todd & the Rose-Colored Cat (1921) by Leo Edwards

Jerry Todd and his pals (Red, Scoop, Peg, and Spider) get mixed up in a very catty affair. It's not just one rose-colored cat (which, by the way, doesn't mean red or pink as you might think). They wind up on the receiving end of 150 cats--of all shapes and sizes. They also find themselves involved in a case of missing pearls, two fires, and a mysterious prowler who seems awfully interested in their collection of cats.

The way it happens is this--Professor Ellsworth Stoner arrives in Tutter (home of Jerry and the boys) by train one afternoon. He seems a bit confused and when the cat he's carrying in a basket escapes and has a tussle with a couple of dogs, the boys help the professor retrieve his cat. That's when they learn that Stone has a dandy scheme to open the world's first feline (the professor insists on feline over cat) rest home. He's going to convince rich people who want to vacation without their precious pets to send them to him to care for at the rate of a $1.00 a week. He asks the boys if they'd like to help him set it up and promises to pay them all $5.00 a week. 

They think it's a pretty good deal, so they agree. Jerry's dad even offers the old mill on his property as a likely site to set up business. The professor places an ad in the newspaper and soon the cats (er...felines) are arriving on all available trains. But there's a snag...the professor is an escapee from a local asylum and as soon as the institution gets wind of the cat scheme (one of the professor's idiosyncrasies is his fixation on cats), attendants are sent to bring him back. They have no orders to do anything about cats, so the boys are stuck with the animals.

Up till now they've gotten a lot of cats, but no cash. But then Mrs. Kepple sends a message with $10.00 telling them her prize-winning, rose-colored cat, Lady Victoria, will be arriving soon. Mrs. Kepple plans on visiting the local sanitarium for a rest cure of her own and will collect her cat then. The cat that arrives doesn't look so special to Jerry and the gang--she's a yellow cat who looks like she might have been picked up in alley somewhere. And she's got a strange copper collar with weird bumps on it. Somehow the cat links in with the prowler and the pearls and Jerry and his friends manage to put all the clues together and save the day in the end.

This was my first introduction to Jerry Todd. He and his friends are quite a collection--they remind me to some extent of the Dead End Kids when they were younger. I enjoyed the camaraderie among the boys and their determination to see the thing through to the end. It was fun that their escapades didn't always turn out quite the way they planned (for instance, the trap they set to try and catch the prowler), but they never let that stop them. I knew right away what was going on with the cat, but I enjoyed watching Jerry and the boys figure it out. ★★★

First Line: The mystery part of this adventure really started the day we got Ms. Kepple's letter saying she was shipping us her famous rose-colored cat, Lady Victoria.

Last Line: Besides, with plenty of cats on hand there wasn't likely to be any rats to carry disease germs. But I guess it's pretty hard to please everybody.

Between the Thames & the Tiber: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

So...after a much longer hiatus from reviewing than planned, I'm back with a short review of Between the Thames & the Tiber (2011) by Ted Riccardi. Short--because I listened to the audio novel version as I traveled to and from my parents' house last week to provide support while my dad underwent surgery (thus explaining a week of the radio silence) and I have difficulty doing in-depth reviews of books I listen to rather than read (especially if it's the first time "reading" them).

The audio novel version made pleasant listening through most of the stories. Simon Prebble does an excellent job representing Holmes and the good Doctor as well as providing distinctive intonations for the various characters they meet in their adventures. I found most of the stories to be just intricate enough to keep my interest while driving, but not complex enough to frustrate me if I happened to miss anything while concentrating more intently on traffic situations when necessary. I do have the distinct impression (supported by various reviewers on Goodreads) that the plots might not hold up to the greater scrutiny I could give them if I read the hard copy book. 

And there were definitely a few frustrating details that I noticed even though I was listening and not reading. The adventures are not given in chronological order; they jump back and forth in time with one story taking place before Moriarty died and yet it isn't given a flashback feel. It is produced as if it just naturally comes next after a story that takes place in the early 1900s.  Several of the adventures--particularly in the latter half of the audio novel--quite simply do not have a resolution. The culprits are not caught and in two of the stories you don't even know for sure who culprit was. The story just ends as if Holmes had given up which is not at all what one expects of the world's greatest detective. In addition, Riccardi introduces a lady-interest (not enough happens that we could call it a love-interest) for Holmes in one of the first stories and then she just disappears. Watson makes remarks in his introduction to the stories about how influential this relationship was on Holmes and yet we are given no evidence of any such thing. 

What I enjoyed most about the collection was the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Riccardi gets that right (for the most part). The friendship between the two is quite evident and portrayed well. Prebble's reading helps to emphasize this. Also, Watson is, as he should be, not as observant and intelligent as Holmes, but he is not the bumbler or fool that is sometimes his lot in pastiche (or in the Rathbone/Bruce films). ★★★ for a pleasant audio novel experience.

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Deaths = 7 (one poisoned; one hit on head; three shot; one electrocuted; one natural causes) [There were actually more--but since I listened to this and didn't read it, I don't have a good record and can't name any of the others as a certainty]

Golden Rain

Golden Rain* (1980) by Douglas Clark

When Miss Holland, the attractive and forceful headmistress of the Bramthorpe College for Girls, is found dead from poisoning, the investigating office assumes it must be suicide or accident. The doors and windows were all locked and there was no signs of anyone else having been around. Of course, Detective Lovegrove also didn't look very hard. Suicide or accident would definitely be a nice and easy verdict and he's all for nice and easy. Except...his boss Chief Superintendent Hildridge and Sir Thomas Kenny both knew Miss Holland rather well. Their girls go to Bramthorpe and Sir Thomas is on the board of directors. And neither one of them believes Miss Holland committed suicide. After the autopsy report shows that she died of Laburnum poisoning (the seeds are sometimes mistaken for dried peas and other foodstuffs), Sir Thomas is even more adamant. Miss Holland was a botanist--other people might mistake Laburnum for something edible, but not a botanist. The men decide to bring in the Yard and Superintendent Masters and his team are sent in.

They have quite a job ahead of them though. Lovegrove is the liaison with the the coroner and he fixed up an immediate inquest before he knew the Yard was coming. And Mr. Gilchrist, the coroner, isn't the type to postpone an inquest without good reason. Unless Masters, Green, and company can produce some good hard facts to throw an accidental death ruling in doubt, they aren't even going to get a chance to investigate the case properly. They get busy immediately and conduct enough interviews to seriously suspect murder--but they're still a bit short on solid facts. Masters manage to pull off a quite tidy little legal maneuver that allows him to convince the coroner to give an open verdict.

Once they start digging, the evidence seems to point towards a girlish school prank gone wrong and the Bramthorpe folks start closing ranks. But Masters suspects that there's more behind a few substituted seasonings than just school girl hi-jinks and he engineers a cozy get-together where all can be revealed. 

The thirteenth entry in the Masters and Green series finds the two lead detectives much more at ease with one another. They've gotten used to each other's quirks and, while, they may take a little jab now and then, it's more in fun than with malice aforethought. Each uses his strengths to good advantage to track down evidence and get unsuspecting members of the community to divulge what they know. It was a definite bonus for me that this had an academic connection--given my fondness for academic mysteries. One of my favorites of the series. ★★★★

*Golden rain is another name for Laburnum...from the appearance of the flowers: 

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Vintage Mystery Extravaganza: Silver [Rule #18: Accident/Suicide]
Deaths = one (poisoned)

Deadly Pattern

Deadly Pattern (1970) by Douglas Clark
Third in the Masters & Green series

Detective Chief Inspector George Masters and his team are winding up the case of the murdered vicar in Rooksby and looking forward to a little time at home when the Yard informs them that they've got another case to handle. Five middle-aged, middle class married women have gone missing from two neighboring towns on the northeast coast. Four of their bodies have been found buried in the sand dunes of Finstoft, but the last one to disappear is still missing. Neither of the towns' detective forces have much experience in murder and they'll be glad of help from those who do.

Masters, Green, and company go back over the ground already covered by the locals--re-interviewing family members and asking many questions that no else thought to ask. It soon becomes apparent that they are dealing with a neurotic serial killer who must have been familiar with the area. Recent (in 1970) information on these types of disorders indicate that these killers work to a pattern--perhaps a pattern that makes sense only to them, but a pattern nonetheless. Masters makes it his job to figure out the pattern...if he can do so, he's sure he'll be able to find the last missing woman. He realizes that there must be some common point of contact between these five women--something must connect them beyond their age and social standing. Also on his team's plate is discovering how someone could strangle five women without any of them leaving the standard traces of having fought back. Because no one is going just placidly stand there while someone tries to kill them.

I enjoyed this entry in the series more than the first two. The antagonism between Masters and Green is still an underlying theme, but Clark handles it better here. It doesn't seem to be quite as dominant as in the previous two novels. It was interesting to follow the team as they deal with their first (in recorded stories) serial killer. And--if I recall correctly--it's the only one they come up against in the series novels I've read. Masters' investigation is thorough and, for the most part, logical. He does hold a few cards close to his chest and if I hadn't already spotted the killer through other means, I might cry "foul" at his hoarding clues. 

That is one flaw in this particular plot--Clark didn't seem to be trying all that hard to hide the culprit. Recently, I read an online piece talking about Christie and her timeless appeal. Several things were mentioned as contributing to that appeal--readability and her way with misdirection being two of them. For me, Clark follows in Christie's footsteps for readability. Once I read my first Masters and Green novel, I was hooked and set out on a quest to find and read them all. They are quick, interesting stories that I just plain enjoy reading (whether I quibble with his handling of personalities or not). Sometimes he does just as well with misdirection, fooling me completely. But not here. It seemed to me that once our culprit walked on stage s/he was lit up in a spotlight and there didn't seem to be much of an effort to focus attention on any suspects at all. This didn't really affect my enjoyment of the book (though I did wonder why the identity seemed to be such a mystery to our intrepid police force). I think perhaps that Clark was fascinated with the idea of the serial killer and the practices of such murderers and wanted to focus more on the details of the pattern than worry about disguising the culprit. And that was okay with me since these novels are police procedural in nature. Overall, a very good entry in the series. ★★★  and  1/2


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Deaths = 5 (strangled)
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza: Silver (Rule #8: All clues must be fairly disclosed)
Calendar of Crime: February (Primary Action)

The Quotable Sherlock Holmes

The Quotable Sherlock Holmes (2000) by John H. Watson, M.D. [Gerard Van Der Leun is an entertaining reference book for anyone who likes literary quotes or Sherlock Holmes...or both. This volume gathers together memorable words of wisdom from the world's first (and only) consulting detective. The quotes range in topics from the everyday (etiquette and women) to particulars about the methods of detection. 

I always enjoy a good quote book and when I find one that is also focused in some way on mysteries, it is a bonus. Overall, this is quite good--although the selection does include some repeats (as if we were aiming for a certain number of entries or pages). But I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a few bon mots from the master detective. ★★★★

The New Year's Eve Murder (a bit spoilerish

The New Year's Eve Murder (1997) by Lee Harris is the ninth book in the Christine Bennet series. I'm steadily making my way through the books that I haven't yet reviewed on the blog and/or used for challenges previously. New Year's Eve finds Chris, her husband Jack, and new baby invited to a party and overnight stay at the home of their friends, Arnold & Harriet Gold. While there, Arnold receives a distressed phone call from another friend--Ada Stark. Ada's daughter Susan is missing. Susan's boyfriend, Kevin, dropped her off in front of her parents' house the afternoon before New Year's Eve. She planned to spend the night and then go to a New Year's Eve party with him. But it appears that she never got into the house. No one has seen her since she got out of Kevin's car and he drove away. 

Of course, since Susan is of age, the police don't go full-throttle looking for her. Adults can change their minds about what they want to do and where they want to be. But Chris talks with the boyfriend and the mother and she realizes that this isn't a case of an adult woman deciding to run away from her obligations. Something must have happened after Susan got out  of the car, but what could have happened on a public street in broad daylight? Once she starts digging, she finds that things aren't quite what they seem. It appears that Susan did go off on her own and apparently paid a farmer a month's rent on an abandoned farmhouse. When Chris follows that lead, she finds what she dreaded she might....a dead body. But even that isn't what it seems.

Spoilers ahead--- read at your own risk

This mystery veers a little from the usual line for our former nun. Normally, Chris is looking into murders and mysteries from the past (some more historical than others, but never "just yesterday). Having her come across a fresh corpse is something new and a question of identity gives it even more of a spin. 

The first time I read this (closer to the published date), I noted that this wasn't my favorite of the series but didn't explain why. This time I can say that while the twists were interesting and so was the investigation, the ending falls a little flat with the introduction of a surprise suspect. There really isn't any way for the reader to figure out how this particular person might have a motive. It isn't until the very end when Chris starts connecting dots (that were invisible up till that moment) that you can see how s/he might be involved. Other than that, this is another good entry into the series and still well worth the time. ★★★ 

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Deaths = one beaten with a shovel
Calendar of Crime = December (New Year's Eve)
Mystery Reporter = How (mistaken identity)

The Christening Day Murder

People live with their consciences better than we like to think. And guilt rarely leaves a mark that you can see. If it did, the police would have an easier job. Unfortunately, guilt isn't like a scar or a scarlet A. ~The Christening Day Murder (1993) by Lee Harris

Christine Bennett, former nun and sometime amateur investigator, is invited to the christening of the son of a childhood friend. Maddiie Stifler Clark was the last baby to be christened at the St. Mary Immaculate Church in Studsburg before an Army Corps of Engineers flooded the town to create a reservoir. Now, thirty years later, after a drought has dried up the lake, the town and church have reemerged and Maddie wants her son to be christened in the church. It's a happy occasion that is marred when Christine discovers a skeleton hidden under the basement stairs. Someone was shot, killed, and buried with the church under all that water 30 years ago. There's little evidence with the remains and no one seems to have gone missing from the small-town residents. But when Christine starts questioning the former inhabitants why does she feel like they're all hiding something from her?

Long after the official investigators give up on identifying their Jane Doe, Christine keeps digging and decides that she needs to focus on people who weren't really from Studsburg but who just worked there. After a couple of false starts, she finally discovers who the skeleton under the stairs was and why someone thought she was worth killing.

Nearly all of the Christine Bennett mysteries have at least one foot in the past. She excels at doing research and asking the right questions to jog people's memories. But most of the past memories have ties to current events. The Christening Day Murder is entirely focused on the events of 30 years ago, so Christine's work is really cut out for her and finding the answers to long-buried questions puts her skills to the test.

This was the first book in the series that I read many moons ago (long before blogging took over my life) and it was a pleasure to reread it after digging through boxes in the garage. I like that Christine is a tenacious investigator, but she is also more cautious than a lot of the amateur detectives in these cozy mysteries. She doesn't charge into situations without a thought for danger--her boyfriend Jack always knows where she's headed and who she plans to talk to. She's level-headed and compassionate--wanting to help people along the way in her investigations. Here, she manages to bring together a mother and daughter who haven't seen each other for 30 years. 

The clues pointing to the particular killer aren't quite what an armchair detective might want, but overall this is a solid mystery with an interesting background and unusual motive for the silence of the townspeople. Quite good. ★★★ and 1/2.


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Deaths = one (shot)
Calendar of Crime = July (Independence Day)

First Line: It began with a phone call out of the blue, a voice I hadn't heard for many months.
Last Line: It was a receipt fro a .38-caliber revolver bought by Candy Phillips before she came to Studsburg.

Stand Up & Die

Stand Up & Die (1953) by Frances & Richard Lockridge is the sixth book featuring Captain M. L. Heimrich, NY State Police. Heimrich was introduced in the second Mr. and Mrs. North book, Murder Out of Turn, working with a vacationing Bill Weigand. He had another "guest appearance" in Death of a Tall Man before the Lockridges started a series he could call his own. Once the Lockridges began developing several investigators (the Norths/Weigand, Heimrich, Lt. Shapiro, etc), it was interesting to find small (and sometimes a little larger) connections between the different "worlds" of each series. In this particular book, the first victim has connections withing New York City, so Heimrich calls on Weigand to dig up some information and even goes to town himself and has lunch with the "Acting Captain."

The story begins with a young man recently released from duty in the Korean War who has found it difficult to settle back in the States. He sets out "bumming" in the country and finds himself wandering down a nice little lane that he "liked the looks of" and discovers something not very nice at all. Virginia Monroe has been stabbed to death in what looks at first glance to be a "sex crime"--that some man who likes to play with knives has gone a bit berserk. But when Captain Heimrich examines the body and the begins talking to the suspects, he finds certain things that just don't add up. And one too many coincidences. As he says in conversation with his right-hand man, Charlie Forniss:

Still, there are coincidences, Charlie. Very annoying things, they can be. Now and then you have to accept one....One. I wouldn't want to accept two, of course. One's two many.

And there are at least two...if not more.

There's Timothy Gates, our veteran, who just happened to have danced with Miss Monroe at one of those parties they're always doing for servicemen--and who just happened to take a walk down the lane where her body was waiting to be found. Then there's the nature of the wounds and a mysterious list of figures that she kept clipped in her checkbook. A list that doesn't seem to match any of the deposits or withdrawals and that doesn't seem to add up to anything that means anything. 

Then when Virginia's grandmother just happens to "stand up and die" before she can be told that her elder granddaughter has died and before she could consider changing the terms of a will that was very strange indeed when it came to her younger granddaughter, Liz. Well, that was an odd coincidence too. Heimrich suspects that he's getting two murders for the price of one...but an autopsy seems to prove him wrong. It will take a call or two to Bill Weigand and a visit to a certain address (also noted among Virginia's things) to help Heimrich clear the path to a final solution.

This Lockridge book has a slightly darker feel to it--from the discovery of the mutilated body of Virginia to fact that neither she nor her grandmother were sympathetic characters to the battle fatigue (read PTSD) of Tim Gates. But that doesn't prevent the story from being enjoyable. One of the Lockridges' strengths is character and they do a particularly good job portraying Tim's state of mind  and his difficulties re-entering civilian life. Heimrich provides a very sympathetic view of him even while questioning and perhaps not believing everything he says. 

I had read this one before (from the library and back in the mists of time pre-blogging) and had a feeling that I knew who the culprit was--though I wasn't 100% sure and couldn't figure out (or remember) exactly how the second death had been engineered. So, it's difficult for me to say how fair the mystery is to the reader. Certain clues seemed quite plain to me, but I honestly don't remember how plain they seemed the first time around. A very pleasant read from one of my go-to series--especially when I've been suffering from reader's block as I have been since the work from home and stay at home thing has been in force. I gave this ★★★★ before and see no reason to alter that rating now.

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Vintage Mystery Scattegories 2013 Gold: #4 Leave It To the Professionals
Calendar of Crime: September (Author--Richard--DOB)
Deaths = 3 (one stabbed, one poisoned, one drowned--after driving off road and landing in a reservoir)

First line: The lane is little frequented, except by those who live along it in three big houses.

Last line: But before Captain Heimrich had reached the door, the attention of each focused elsewhere.

The Death of a Joyce Scholar

The Death of a Joyce Scholar (1989) by Bartholomew Gill

From the back of the book (my comments in italicized brackets):

Who stabbed Irish author/professor/philanderer Kevin Coyle to death on Bloomsday [and who really cares?]--Dublin's annual citywide celebration honoring its most beloved literary figure? who brought the promising career of the brilliant scholar to an abrupt and bloody end on Joyce's own "Murderer's Ground?" [repeat chorus: and who really cares? Apparently not his wife and her "Sisters."] The list of suspects seems endless [Is anyone surprised after learning about the man? Not me.]--from deceived wives to cuckolded husbands to spike-haired street punks. And Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr is about to discover that the motive for homicide can hide as easily in the pages of a classic book as in the twisted passions of a human heart.

This novel makes about as much sense to me as Joyce's Ulysses.

There. That's my review in a nutshell. But if you must have more, then here we go. Kevin Coyle is not a victim that you care about. Despite McGarr's wife moaning and groaning about the loss of such a brilliant mind, the man himself wasn't anything to write home about. Reading murder mysteries, one generally has some sort of sympathy for the victim. Or at least is on the side of law and order and wants to see justice served. But, honestly, it didn't matter much to me if McGarr figured out who did it.

And I had no patience with the whole "Sisters" moving the dead man's body around and having some kind of allergic reaction to calling the police. They took him from his position propped up against an alleyway wall, toted him in a cart a couple miles, and propped him up in his own bed. And left him that way for three days before his wife (one of the "Sisters") bring McGarr into it. And then she keeps on insisting (for every daft thing she and her friends do along the way) that "Kev would have wanted it that way." [Annoyed the crap out of me--best thing about that is it helped me to fulfill the "character that frustrated you" category on one of my challenges.]

I really don't have anything positive to say about this one. The mystery plot didn't do much for me. The intertwining with Joyce and Ulysses did even less. And there weren't even good characters that could make the thing more palatable. One of the few academic-related books that I'll probably kick off my book stacks permanently. ★


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Vintage Mystery Silver: Rule #12 Must have a detective
Calendar of Crime: July (Pub date)
Deaths = one stabbed
Mystery Bingo
  Clues & Cliches (card #1): Bloodstain
  Crime Scenes (card #2): Alley

First line: It began during an unprecedented period of June heat.
Last lines: There was a pause, and then his smile changed, and eyebrow arched, and his eyes flickered toward the bed.

and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

Mystery of the Haunted Pool

Mystery of the Haunted Pool (1960) by Phyllis A. Whitney

Susan Price leaves New York City at the beginning of summer vacation and journeys up the Hudson River to the little town of Highland Crossing owns an antique shop. Susan's father is ill and need of a country home to recuperate and her Aunt Edith has been trying to convince Captain Dan Teague to let her and the Price family move into his big house. Captain Dan is in need of money, but he and his grandson are reluctant to lose the family home. It's hoped that Captain Dan will take a liking to Susan and be persuaded to rent his house.

In addition to being interested in all the odd antiques in her aunt's shop, Susan becomes interested in some of the unusual people in the village, including a middle-aged spinster who wears the most unusual clothes and Captain Dan's grandson Gene who must wear a brace on his leg and has a huge chip on his shoulder. Miss Altoona, the oddly clothed spinster, is most insistent that she must buy a barrel of books Aunt Edith has been given by Captain Dan to sell and then later Susan finds Miss Altoon hiding in the underbrush keeping watch on the Teague house.

When Captain Dan finally agrees to let his house to the Prices, the mystery really heats up. On the first night that she and her aunt sleep in the house Susan hears strange noises, The two investigate and find an open window....and ominous signs on the living room floor. The most frightening thing for Susan is the face she sees in a pool on the grounds. A face that stares up at her through the water and then disappears. 

Susan's brother joins her in Highland Crossing. Together, the two of them win Gene's trust and then the three of them learn that there are clues to a Teague family secret hidden in one of the ancestor's captain's log and in a secret room--but not before a fire in Miss Altoona's house ironically sets everything right.


I read Phyllis A. Whitney when I was on my romance/romantic suspense kick back in my teen years. I discovered her brooding, handsome heroes and damsels in distress at the same time I was reading Victoria Holt and others in the gothic line. I never knew that she wrote straight juvenile mysteries--which is a shame because I would have enjoyed them when I was young. 

This is a fine example of the mysteries of the time--simple, straight-forward stories in a nice small-town setting. It's also easy to see why it was chosen for an Edgar Award in 1961 for Best Juvenile Mystery. Whitney's descriptions of people and settings are always excellent, whether in her adult suspense or in this mystery aimed at the younger crowd. she gives a real sense of the small town of Highland Crossing and sets the stage for low-key suspense. I enjoyed the characters of Susan and her aunt--and Susan's interactions with Gene as she tries to break through his defensive shell. The mystery wasn't difficult, but one doesn't really expect intricate puzzles in juvenile mysteries. ★★★★


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Vintage Mystery Silver: Rule #3 Secret Passage
Calendar of Crime: September (book pub date)
Pick Your Poison: Body Parts - nose on cover

[First line] The air-cooled bus had followed the west bank of the Hudson River all the way from New York City, and Susan Price had loved every minute of the journey she was taking by herself.

[Last line] What a wonderful way to end the summer!

Eyes at the Window

Eyes at the Window (1966) by George Selmark

Do you ever get the feeling when you're reading a book that you're swimming against a very strong current? Or working your way through the thickest fog? Yeah, that was this book. It is only 143 pages long, but I felt like I was working very hard to get nowhere fast and I couldn't really see what was happening at all.

So what do we have here? Well...as far as I can make out: We have Agatha Virgil. She is in her 90s and, according to the village folk, crazy as a loon. She lives as a recluse--seeing only her oldest friend, Mrs. Thurston; Sister Root, the nurse who comes regularly to check on her and give her an iron injection (which the book credits as keeping her alive); her daily woman Mrs. Wansbeck; and a local farmer by the name of John Millbank who seems to act as a kind of watchdog to help keep unwanted visitors away. Miss Virgil spends her time looking into the past and talking to people who aren't there.

The past contains secrets and mysteries. For instance, what really happened to Agatha Virgil's sister Melanie? It's rumored that the sisters were rivals for the affections of William Brownlow. Melanie won the day, married Brownlow, and moved to Africa with him. Three years later, the Brownlows returned with their small son for a visit and Melanie died...supposedly of a heart condition. But was it? James Brownlow (the now middle-aged son of William and Melanie) has come from Africa with his daughter Bryony with the hopes of getting financial help from his Aunt Agatha and maybe finding out a few answers about the mother's death. It's difficult to get answers, though, when Aunt Agatha refuses to see anyone. And then a new set of deaths take place...

As mentioned, I spent the entirety of this book feeling like I was wandering around in a dense fog--seeing shadowy shapes that never quite materialized into solid objects. I think I know what happened, but I certainly would bet anything valuable on that. The mystery isn't very solidly plotted and it's really quite a mess. The most solid part of the whole thing is the motive as it's finally revealed, but you certainly aren't going to figure it out based on any clues given along the way. Selmark appears to have focused entirely on the atmosphere surrounding crazy Aunt Agatha and has wasted little time on marshaling his facts.  

Then there's the whole subplot with the beautiful (but wilful) Bryony and her romance with a mysterious young itinerant artist who just happens to be on the spot whenever something mysterious happens...like the death of Mrs. Thurston. Of course Bryony plays the part of the young woman who throughout the book can't stand the man she's going to wind up with in the end. Both the mystery and the romance are huge washouts as far as I'm concerned. A very disappointing read. ★

Quotes
[First line] The dead cat was lying at the foot of the portico steps with its teeth bared as though in fury.

Everybody wants to give advice and nobody wants to take it. Not even from the family solicitor. That's peculiar, isn't it? (Marcus Bex; p. 27)

[Last lines] She said softly, "I think I'd look rather sweet in uniform. I think I'd like to be a female copper."

Deaths = 4 (poisoned)

Dead Water

Dead Water (1963) by Ngaio Marsh takes us back to the village setting--this time a small fishing community at Portcarrow. It begins with a scene two years in the past when a young boy by the name of Wally Trehern experiences what seems to be a miraculous cure. Plagued by warts all over his hands, he has suffered the jeers and taunts of his schoolmates for years. On this occasion he runs away from them to a local spring where he encounters a lady in green who tells him to wash his hands in the spring water...and if he believes his warts will be cured. The next day his warts have fallen off as if by magic and soon the legend of the green lady and the newly christened "Pixie Falls" is spread. 

Mrs. Fanny Winterbottom , the current owner of the land where the spring is found has no problem with pilgrims coming to the site and the village making what profit they can from the magical waters. An entry fee is established, a gift shop is set up, and the local pub/inn begins turning a profit for the first time in recent memory. And then...two years later, Mrs. Winterbottom dies and her sister Miss Emily Pride, a French language expert, comes into possession. Miss Pride doesn't hold with commercializing people's belief in mystical cures. She sends messages to the village that all commercial enterprises connected to the spring must stop--she won't prevent folks from coming to the spring if they want to, but there will be no more advertisement and no more profiting from it. She also announces her intention to visit the area to see what exactly needs to be done to return the spring and surrounding land to its former condition.

Well...naturally this doesn't go down so well with those who have made a business of the thing and Miss Pride receives threats made of cut-up newsprint. So, she calls upon the help of one of her former pupils--Superintendent Roderick Alleyn. He advises her to give up the plan to visit Portcarrow and to conduct her business through an attorney. But Miss Pride is a determined woman and believes in facing up to one's obligations. She goes anyway...and is the victim of an assault (from rock-throwing) and more threats. Alleyn arrives in the village for the first (and, if Miss Pride has her way, only) Pixie Falls Festival and is just in time to discover the body of a middle-aged woman, knocked out and drowned at the spring. Surprisingly enough, it's not Miss Pride who has been murdered, but Elspeth Cost--a middle-aged woman who has been the driving force in the mystification and veneration of the spring. Was she, as it appears, mistaken for Miss Pride and then killed anyway to prevent her from identifying the attacker? Or were there reasons for someone to kill Miss Cost? Alleyn will have to sort that out in order to identify the killer.

This wound up being a middle-of-the road Marsh book for me. I had better memories of it (from my first reading 30ish years ago) than were realized in this go-round. The best of the book was Miss Emily Pride--even though she is well-named and pride almost goes before a fall. She is a determined and independent lady and it was nice to see Marsh portray a spinster in a more favorable light. I did appreciate her principled view of the supposed miracle cures. She didn't imply that they were fake, but she absolutely refused to be a party to anyone taking financial advantage of the situation. I was also amused by her relationship with Alleyn--it was fun to see him so disconcerted by his former French tutor. 

The book turns Alleyn into an action figure of sorts at the dramatic end--with the murderer bolting and Alleyn giving chase through a coastal storm and finding himself in danger of life. Not the usual drawing room summing up. With a fairly good plot (I didn't guess the murderer this time) and the exciting finish, this comes in at a solid  ★★★.

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Death = drowning