Becky at Becky's Book Reviews hosted another round of the Family Tree Reading Challenge. This year there were more options to choose from but I stayed with reading books that were published in family members' birth years. For 2019, I planned to read 10 books total for immediate family including my parents and my husband's family. I have now finished my last book.
Phil (my dad): 1948 Blueprint for Murder by Roger Bax (10/25/19)
Gloria (my mom): 1947 Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh (2/14/19)
Bev (me): 1969 The Cream of Crime edited by Jeanne F. Bernkopf (5/26/19)
Brad (husband): 1966 Eyes at the Window by George Selmark (11/25/19)
Kyle (son): 1992 The Noel Coward Murder Case by George Baxt (11/20/19)
Beverly (husband's mom): 1944 Killing the Goose by Frances & Richard Lockridge (6/24/19)
Elvin (husband's dad): 1940 Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd (4/26/19)
John (husband's step-dad): 1946 Let's Kill George by Lucy Cores (10/1/19)
Kristal (husband's sister): 1968 Death on a Warm Wind by Douglas Warner (5/8/19)
M. Alex (husband's brother): 1976 Mystery of the Emerald Buddha by Betty Cavanna (6/29/19)
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)
The Noel Coward Murder Case (1992) by George Baxt
It is 1935 in New York City. Noel Coward has come to town to make a movie and is convinced (with cold, hard cash) to star in the opening of the brand-new Cascades, a high-falutin' nightclub complete with actual cascading waterfalls. The fancy joint is owned by "reformed" gangsters by the name of Beethoven, Bizet, and Vivaldi. Joining him onstage will be a rich, would-be cabaret singer Diana Headman (who has bought her place in the limelight), a supposedly authentic voodoo act comprised of Dan Parrish and Electra Howard, and a host of beautiful showgirls.
Meanwhile, Electra's sister Maxine has been found murdered in Shanghai and Inspector Wang has come to New York to bring her body home as well as to confer with (series) Detective Jacob Singer. He believes she was killed as part of the white slave trade and has his eyes on the owners of the Cascades. Singer has his eye on them well. It's soon discovered that Maxine had been working undercover for the authorities and must have discovered something worth killing to keep quiet. They know they're on the right track when Edna Dore, showgirl at the Cascades and police informant, is killed as well. Or are they? There are others on hand with motives for killing. Singer and Wang with a little help from our star performer will have to sort out the motives before the curtain comes crashing down on them all.
My previous reading experiences of Baxt's historical Hollywood mysteries have been far more positive. The Humphrey Bogart Murder Case and The Dorothy Parker Murder Case were both fun, witty historical romps filled with lots of word play and quips. This one was far more forced--it read to me like Baxt (through Noel Coward) was working extra hard for the laughs that never came. Or maybe it's just that I am much less familiar with Coward and just didn't get his humor. Baxt has done an excellent job in previous outings in representing the personalities involved (at least as those personalities have been presented to the public). I have to assume that he's done as well with Coward. If that's the case, then I just don't find Coward funny or engaging.
The mystery itself is also a little more over-the-top than the stories have been in the past--especially the grand finale with the building on fire and a machete beheading. I just didn't find the plot at all compelling or entertaining. Baxt did keep the culprit hidden from me--but that isn't due to any extraordinary gift for mystification. There weren't exactly clues in abundance and I convinced myself that it was Suspect A when I should have been focused on Suspect B. But that was my sheer stubbornness and not because Baxt outwitted me. ★★ and I'm not sure that isn't being generous.
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Deaths = 4 (two poisoned; two stabbed--one beheaded by machete, actually)
Blueprint for Murder (1948) by Roger Bax* is a rare thing for me--an inverted mystery. I generally find it very difficult to enjoy a mystery novel where there is very little mystery. The blurb on the back of my edition tries to make it seem more like a standard detective novel:
Wealthy industrialist Charles Hollison is found bludgeoned to death shortly after his son, Geoffrey, and nephew, Arthur Cross, return from World War II. As the principal beneficiaries of Charles's will, both men are suspects. Inspector James, called in to investigate, thinks he knows which of them is guilty.
But we know from the beginning who the guilty party is (Inspector James is right). And a nasty piece of work he is too.
When we first meet Arthur Cross, he is on the run towards the end of the war. He has made his way from a Nazi concentration camp (wearing a German uniform, by the way) and is trying to put as much distance between himself and the Germans and the invading Russians as possible. When he's just about on his last legs, a kindly Polish man and his daughter take him in after listening to his tale of an escape from the camp which involved knocking out a guard and stealing his uniform. He repays their kindness by murdering them. And we get our first glimpse of just how cold-blooded he is.
Upon his return to England, both he and his cousin Geoffrey are welcomed with gladness by Geoffrey's father, Charles. Arthur's parents died while he was young and Charles took him in and raised him as if he were another son. The elderly gentleman offers them both shares in the family business, a comfortable salary, and a home with him if they'd like it. He also (inadvisedly) tells them that he plans to update his will, leaving the bulk of his estate between them.
Arthur has no desire to kick his heels in a stodgy business job. He plans to live life hard and fast (and fun) and needs a large influx of cash sooner rather than later. He also has pressing reasons to leave Europe and head for somewhere more remote. So, despite unemotionally recognizing how generous and kind Charles has been (and is being) to him, he begins methodically plotting his death. His goal is create an unbreakable alibi that will allow him to do the deed and even be suspected, but give the police no way to prove him guilty. And he does a pretty good job--using a method and devices that I'd not encountered before in my murderous reading. Once the crime is committed, the second leg of the book is spent wondering if Inspector James will find a break in the impenetrable alibi.
But, of course, there is one little thing that Arthur didn't think about...and when that begins to fall apart, the last leg of the book turns into a thriller with Arthur forcing his cousin to take him by boat into a raging winter storm and help him escape to Holland. Geoffrey must find a way to scuttle Arthur's plans and save both himself and the girl he loves.
This is a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the plus side, this is a marvelously plotted inverted mystery and I want to give credit to Bax for giving me an inverted mystery that I could appreciate. Bax has given Arthur the means to devise what really looks like an unbreakable alibi. I began to think that he might actually get away with it. And I thought the means by which his plot unravels was cleverly done as well. The ending was exciting and suspenseful without being too over-the-top (especially for a mystery portrayed in my edition as a police procedural). Negative points: there really is very little of Inspector James in this and very little actual detecting going on. James does a bit of interviewing--but most of the work is done off-stage. And, for me, there was way too much time spent with this cold-blooded, vicious killer and watching him plot the murder of a kindly, inoffensive man. But, even though it's really out of my comfort zone, it's a darn good mystery. ★★★★
*Bax is a pseudonym for Paul Winterton, an English journalist who wrote under the names of Bax, Andrew Garve and Paul Somers
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Vintage Golden: What (Out of Comfort Zone)
Deaths = 3 (two drowned; one hit on head)
Feb = author's birth month
Let's Kill George (1946) by Lucy Cores
George Banat was a film script writer trying to make himself into a playwright. He also liked to cast himself in the starring role of god in his little world. It amused him to arrange the lives of others and to disrupt them where he saw fit. His wife Sophie didn't seem to mind and even tolerated his Zeus-like need to indulge himself with the pretty mortals who came into his orbit. His daughter Monica also seemed to go along with his decrees on her marriage arrangements. His son didn't care much for the way George exercised his powers, but Mons Banat had joined the army and traded his father's orders for Uncle Sam's so he isn't home much. Jacques Mariner, his contemporary, also takes issue with George's assumption of god-like powers. And Shelley Ames...well, Shelley is George's latest protege but she doesn't quite understand the designs he has on her virtue and the plans he's laid ready for her.
She's a naive young actress who thinks the great man has taken an interest in her career and plans to help her. But attendance at a weekend party with her boyfriend Ralph in tow gives her a quick education in George's methods. By the end of the weekend, Ralph is no longer her boyfriend, George has ticked off several in the house party...one of them badly enough that they decide to end George's interference for good. Shelley is surprised to find herself a suspect and also finds an unexpected ally in Mons (who has come home for a spot of leave).
This is a decent mystery, but quite honestly it wasn't as entertaining as I anticipated. I definitely didn't mind that George got knocked off--he really was a nasty man--but I also didn't find myself having much sympathy for those around him. I'm quite sure we're supposed to sympathize with Shelley at the very least, but she spends the first part of the book as a weak character who obviously doesn't know what she's doing and then suddenly at the end she transforms into a little firebrand who is equal to anything Mons can throw her way. And she somehow acquires in depth insight into his character even though she's been horrible at character analysis up till then. Quick learning for a weekend. Her boyfriend is pretty brutal to her--totally willing to take the word of a man (George) whom he just met over that of the girl he supposedly loves. Mons spends two-thirds of the book being pretty offensive as well and the rest of the crew are not much better or--in some cases--worse.
Cores does a fairly good job of spreading the suspicion around and keeping the reader guessing till the end. I didn't see the solution coming and had picked out someone quite different. ★★ and 3/4.
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Calendar of Crime: January (Author's Birth Month)
Deaths = 2 (hit on head)
Mystery of the Emerald Buddha (1974) by Betty Cavanna is the second of her novels that I have read and it is the second to feature smuggling of a sort. This time the action takes place in Thailand during a father's working trip to photograph an ancient palace that will be featured in a forthcoming book. There are also hopes of including pictures of the famous Emerald Buddha, a closely-guarded treasure housed in the palace. In fact, that Emerald Buddha is stolen while they are at the palace and they find themselves in lock-down while the authorities try to sort things out.
Lisette is a teen-aged young woman who is spending a month or so with the father whom she has rarely seen since her parents divorced when she was very young. She has grown up in France and has led a very protected life. Lisette doesn't quite know how to react to this stranger who is her father and she's rather alarmed to discover that as soon as she arrives in America (disconcerting enough for someone who's never traveled before) that she will be going to other side of the world.
When they arrive at Bangkok, she finds herself thrown into a culture unlike anything she's encountered before. Surprisingly, after a bit of culture shock, she begins to open up and change--so much so that she wonders what her mother would say if she knew. Before the story is over, she will make friends with a hippy, learn from the strong female professor who is her dad's collaborator and love interest, help discover an art smuggler, and ultimately deduce the hiding place of the missing Buddha. She is definitely not the same person she was when they arrived.
When the Buddha is stolen, Don--Lisette's new friend--and the hippies he is camping with are suspects. During the visitation hours for the palace, some of the young men staged a major disturbance with the worst of the group climbing up a parapet, desecrating the sacred area, and then falling to his death. It is suspected that at best they might have been paid to create havoc and distract from the theft or at worst that some of them are responsible for the theft itself. Lisette doesn't want to believe that Don was a part of any wrongdoing and uses the time that they are detained in the palace to think about all the available clues. She discovers the solution just in time to impress the king of Thailand.
Betty Cavanna provides another decent teen-aged mystery with a fascinating backdrop. Descriptions of the Thailand in the 1970s were very interesting and she manages to convey tidbits about the culture without it feeling like info-dumps. The mystery isn't terribly intricate, but it does make for a pleasant quick read. ★★★
One mystery never solved for me: Why was Lisette spending such an extended period of time with her father after NOT doing so for so many years? I thought at first we'd be told that her mother had died or something, but that's not the case. Cavanna never does explain why Lisette's over-protective maman would allow her to spend so much time away from home.
Silver: When--during a trip/holiday
Calendar of Crime: April --Religion place major role
Deaths = one--fell from height
[Finished on 6/29/19]
Killing the Goose (1944) is the seventh Mr. & Mrs. North mystery by Frances & Richard Lockridge. I have three editions of this book (hardback, Armed Services Edition, and an Avon pulp-era pocket-size. I've had the novel on my shelves in one form or another since 2010 and have actually read it before--but never for the Mount TBR Challenge. The Lockridge books, especially their Mr. & Mrs. North series, are comfort reads for me. They are fun, entertaining, light cozy mysteries. Some of them are even pretty fair-play for the Golden Age purists. But that's night why I read them. I read them because they're comfortable. And I enjoy the interactions between Pam and Jerry and between the Norths and Lt. Weigand and Sgt. Mullins. I love that Mullins dreads how screwy things can get when the Norths get involved and, yet, he's very attached to them. I like how the Lockridges work cats into the story without making them too cutesy or somehow having them "solve" the mystery.
This story lands Pam and Jerry North smack in the middle of another killing spree. It begins with Bill Weigand giving an example of just how routine his policeman's lot has been lately. It involves a file clerk killed in a diner. She and her boyfriend were overheard having an argument. He leaves and she's found dead in the booth. As Weigand's boss, Inspector O'Malley, says, it's a nice and easy one. "Nothing fancy." A lover's spat ending in death.
But then Pam gets set on the clue of the baked apple. That, to coin a phrase, upsets the apple cart. Because if Frances McCalley ate a baked apple, then it couldn't have happened the way the police think it happened. Then another woman is found dead. This time it's Ann Lawrence who lives on the other end of the social spectrum. She has been hit with a poker and, again, it looks easy. Another argument with a boyfriend and another dead woman. But...Pam finds another snag. This time it's a dress. The dress Frances had on when she was killed was given to her by...you guessed it...Ann Lawrence. To add to the fun, Pam begins insisting, as only Pam can, that someone has stolen a famous voice from the radio. As Mullins would say, now it's just plain screwy.
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| hard copy cover |
Killing the Goose is an exciting chain of events from the dramatic scene in the diner to the socialite's missing money to the unexpected happenings in the telephone booth to the grand finale in a radio broadcast studio. Even knowing the killer in advance didn't dampen my enthusiasm for this madcap mystery. I spent more time in this reading paying attention to the details of conversations and characters since I didn't have to keep my eyes peeled for clues. ★★★★
[Finished on 6/24/19]
Four deaths = 2 stabbed, one hit on head, one shot
The Cream of Crime: More Tales from Boucher's Choicest (1969) edited by Jeanne. F. Bernkopf gives us what purports to be some of the best selections from Anthony Boucher's annual Best Detective Stories of the Year. Just as a point of clarification:"detective stories" implies, to me, that a certain amount of detective work (mystery-solving, tracking down criminals, etc.) will be done by a protagonist who at least loosely fits the "detective" role--whether that be a professional (private eye, policeman, etc) or amateur detective. A number of the stories in this collection do not fit that description--some of them don't even contain what could be called (except in the loosest possible terms) a crime. A few of these could fall into the category of moral crime--but there would be difficulty ever bringing the perpetrator to justice. This makes rating the collection a bit difficult. If I were to rate it purely on whether the product were as advertised, then I would have to give it a very weak three stars. If I rate it purely on story quality (regardless of what genre the stories ought to be listed as), then I would definitely be handing out at least four stars and quite possibly four and a half.
All but two of the twelve stories included here are very fine stories, indeed. I didn't care at all for the parody-pastiche of Sherlock Holmes by Robert L. Fish ("The Adventure the Double-Bogey Man"). I found it neither "hilarious" (as promised) nor a particularly good rendering of Holmes in pastiche. I was also promised that William Wiser "writes like an angel," but if this is the case I certainly didn't hear any harp strings or glad tidings of great joy in his "A Soliloquy in Tongues." Perhaps he writes more like a fallen angel...
In my opinion, the creamiest of the Cream presented are "A Case for the UN" by Miriam Allen deFord, "The Opposite Number" by Jacob Hay (a truly good pastiche of espionage novels), "The Oblong Room" by Edward D. Hoch, and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson. Only two of these (by deFord and Hoch) are strictly speaking detective/crime fiction, but all four are extraordinarily good short stories. DeFord presents a murder committed in full view of a plane full of witnesses, but such a way that it looks like the murderer can never be prosecuted--because no particular country has jurisdiction. There is a famous lawyer among the witnesses. Will he be able to find the loophole that will bring the killer to justice? As mentioned, Hay's story is a very good pastiche--it pokes gentle fun at the spy story and is quietly funny in a way that is much more effective than the blatant attempt at humor in the Fish story. Hoch's "The Oblong Room" was the 1967 winner of the annual Edgar Allan Poe award for best crime short story and it is apparent why. Hoch's story evokes the best of Poe's short stories and provides a simple plot full of atmosphere and a shocking finale. There is also a nice bit of detection included. "The Possibility of Evile" is Jackson doing what she does best--taking the ordinary village life and revealing the evil undercurrents with realistic flair. And the bit of karma that is served up to our "villain" is right on point.
Final verdict, after averaging both methods of rating the collection: ★★★ and 3/4.
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Finished 5/26/19
Deaths: 7 shot; 1 poisoned; 1 hit on head; 1 stabbed
Death on a Warm Wind (1968) by Douglas Warner was, in some ways, a disappointment. It was found in the middle of the "Mystery" section at my local library's fall clearance sale a few years ago. It shows up on various library sites (I did a search to check) under "Detective & Mystery Stories." But it isn't truly a mystery story. The only real crime involved is a crime against humanity (as if that were a mere trifle)--but it's not a specific crime like the murder of an individual or the theft of valuable jewelry or even the work of a mass murderer and I wouldn't really categorize it as a crime novel. It is speculative fiction.
The "crime" involved is an act by an arrogant man who thinks he knows best about what it might be good for the public to know and believe. In fact, Sir Guy Rayenham (British minister) reminds me of all the climate change deniers who are helping steer humanity towards a very bleak future if drastic measures aren't taken very soon.* So many of these people don't even read the science that backs up the verdict on climate change--and Sir Guy doesn't read the "rubbish" that Robert Colston presented as a way to predict earthquakes. A method which allowed him to predict an earthquake that killed 95,000 people, including Sir Guy's son. But that didn't phase Sir Guy a bit and when indications are such that it looks like London will be hit by a similar quake he isn't willing to use his position to warn Londoners in time to save lives.
When Colston (who has been declared dead twice already) is gunned down** in front of his office, Ian Curtis, editor of a London evening newspaper and--incidentally--very antagonistic to Sir Guy, finds himself on a mission to discover the truth behind Colston's earthquake predictions. Were they really that unfounded and was the first prediction just a fluke? Or was Colston's research sound? Colston's investigations (and that of the reporters under him) find proof that Sir Guy arranged for Colston's paper on earthquake prevention to be
gutted and when read before a conference of leading scientists it came
across as nonsense. Colston was discredited and his reputation ruined.
And people died as a result.
"You silly old fool!" I said, beside myself. "You won't listen. You've
made up your mind that Colston is a crank and you won't budge. You
won't read the evidence....you 'prove' your case by the reaction of
scientists to a document you yourself destroyed....You're acting like
the racist who keeps the black man in poverty, disease and terror and
then 'proves' he is a savage when he revolts."
Will Curtis be able to convince someone in government of the validity of Colston's findings before it's too late for London?
This is a fairly entertaining story (though the science behind the predictions is a bit iffy) that I probably would have enjoyed more if I hadn't been expecting a mystery. I realize that's not the author's fault--but when one is expecting a mystery/detective novel and it doesn't happen it is a bit of a let-down. I enjoyed watching Curtis and his reporters dig into the story and find the proofs to back Colston's predictions. And the story serves to highlight the mentality of those in authority--those who "know best" what should be done, regardless of facts. It is a sad commentary on government officials in general (and our current government in particular).
In one way, I was pleased with the ending (much too spoilerish to be more explicit), but it did seem a bit abrupt. I am curious to know more about the aftermath of the earthquake. But I suppose Warner is leaving that to our imagination. ★★★
*Please pardon my soapbox moment....
**One might think that this is the "mystery" which results in the book being categorized as "Detective & Mystery"--but Colston's death really isn't the focus of the story at all and it's no mystery who killed him. That is known right away, as is the motive. The man who kills Colston does so in revenge for his wife's death in an earthquake that Colston tried to warn people about.
Murder in a Nunnery (1940) by Eric Shepherd takes place at the Harrington Convent School. The Baroness Sliema is found murdered on the steps of the St. Joseph altar in the convent's chapel and Chief Inspector Pearson is surprised to find that passions and motives abound in what he expected to be a quiet, chaste little community of nuns. Mother Peck, the Reverend Mother Superior in charge of the convent, soon puts him straight:
There is rancor and ill will in a Convent as outside. I myself have a shocking temper.
She also tells him that while the Baroness may have been patron to the convent, the woman was a nasty piece of work who collected enemies like some people do stamps. The Baroness's ward and secretary Venetia resents her interference in her love-life. Her son resents her clasp on the purse strings. And her down-trodden companion resents the way she treats the young Baron (who she nursed as her own when he was small). The nuns don't care much for her interfering ways and general unpleasantness. And no one is particularly saddened by the Baroness's untimely demise.
The Reverend Mother and her students seem to be a lot more worldly than the gentlemanly Inspector Pearson. Pearson is almost diffident and apologetic in his dealings with the nuns and it's amusing to watch him pussyfoot his way through his investigation. He is definitely out of sorts when he sneaks into Venetia's bedroom (sure that she is not there and is, in fact, roaming the convent disguised as a nun) and finds her chastely in bed.
The students are very interested in the murder--but are even more interested in the ghostly nun observed by one Verity on the night of the murder. Verity turns girl sleuth and hunts for clues. Her disregard for convent rules and regulations has her posing for pictures and giving all the gory details to a pack of journalists. One of whom produces a scrap of nun's veil that he found in the garden while lurking in hopes of someone like Verity coming along to give them a story. She passes the scrap along to the Inspector..and is rewarded for her resourcefulness by being taken into Pearson's confidence. He requests that Mother Peck allow Verity's bed to be moved to the window so she can watch for a reappearance of the ghostly nun.The scrap of cloth and a lingering scent that Pearson's superior olfactory senses finds attached to it and wafting throughout the vital scenes will lead him to the culprit once he determines whether the ghostly wanderer is one of the nuns or someone else in disguise.
This a funny, comedy of manners style of mystery. Great fun and easily read in one sitting. It was amusing to watch Pearson's interactions with the convent community and Mr. Turtle, the gardener, is quite easily the best of the bunch. He is a very down-to-earth character full of common sense...and his heirloom timepiece plays a vital role in verifying the time of the attack. ★★★
Other reviews may be found at Pretty Sinister Books, Classic Mysteries, and Past Offences.
Final Curtain (1947) by Ngaio Marsh finds Agatha Troy waiting for her husband's return from several years of war work in New Zealand and Australia. Inspector Alleyn is due back any time and Troy worries that the long separation may have spoiled their young relationship. When a request (a near-royal summons) comes from the celebrated actor Sir Henry Ancred for her to paint his portrait--in full actor's regalia as Macbeth--she is, at first, annoyed at the distraction. But when Sir Henry's son Thomas comes in person to plead the case, she is intrigued by his description of the family and decides that the distraction may be just what she needs. After all, Sir Henry's head fairly begs to be painted.
The family lives up to both Thomas's description and the run-down she received from Nigel Bathgate as she was leaving on the train for Ancreton Manor. She witnesses the bitter family dynamics and the jockeying for position as Sir Henry is fairly fickle in his favorites. The current front-runners are Patrica "Panty," his granddaughter, and Cedric, his grandson. But a spanner has been thrown into the works. The old gentleman has taken up with a young chorus girl and it looks like he may be out to prove that the "old man still has some life left in him." The family's fears are realized when Sir Henry announces that he plans to marry Sonia Orrincourt.
Troy finishes the portrait just in time for a grand unveiling on Sir Henry's birthday. But things go awry when the picture is found to have been vandalized--with a flying green cow dropping bombs on Sir Henry's head. There have been several "practical jokes" in the days leading up to the birthday and nearly everyone (including Sir Henry) assumes that Panty is the culprit. After all, she does have a history of such things. But both her mother and Troy believe that she's telling the truth when she says she hasn't done any of the tricks played on her grandfather. Someone is up to mischief...but who wants the blame to fall on Panty?
Then Sir Henry dies--apparently from natural causes following his most ill-advised over-indulgence during the birthday meal. He's safely buried and the family is weathering the shock of discovering that he had changed his will one final time--leaving Cedric Ancreton Manor, but nearly all his money to Sonia. That's when things get interesting.
Alleyn finally arrives back home and during their reunion, Troy tells him about her odd experiences at Ancreton Manor. Then anonymous notes start arriving that imply that Sir Henry's death wasn't natural after all. So Alleyn, Fox, and company start investigating.
Like Colour Scheme and a few of the other novels, this is one where Alleyn shows up rather late in the proceedings. However, unlike Colour Scheme, I don't actually mind it so much this time because get to spend quite a lot of time with Troy and we learn a great deal about her in the process. In some ways she acts as Alleyn's stand-in...observing the family's behavior and being able to give him a trusted, first-hand account of the goings on leading up to the murder. She brings an artist's eye for detail and gives Alleyn (and us) valuable insights on the characters and incidents. It provides a very unique build-up to the investigation.
I think in some ways Marsh has tried to give us another eccentric family like the Lampreys. But here the dark undertones overshadow the pleasant oddities. There is really something a bit distasteful about most of the Ancreds. One thing that struck me about the story was the emphasis on how all the Ancreds were the same--overly-theatrical; they all made that "tuh" noise; etc--all, that is except Thomas. Having made such a point of how Thomas was an exception to the Ancred rule, I almost expected there to be a revelation that Thomas wasn't really an Ancred after all...and that maybe that would figure into the motives somehow. Ah, well--I guess it was a case of the author protesting too much.
This was another enjoyable entry in the Alleyn chronicles--particularly since we see so much of Troy. Marsh did fool me on the killer...I had latched onto someone else and couldn't quite shake my belief in their guilt. ★★★★
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All Challenges Fulfilled: Calendar of Crime, Just the Facts, Mount TBR Challenge, Alphabet Soup, Family Tree Challenge, Ngaio Marsh Challenge, Cloak & Dagger, Print Only, Strictly Print Challenge, Brit Crime Classics, Birth Year Challenge, Outdo Yourself, How Many Books, Six Shooter, Medical Examiner
Calendar of Crime: November--primary action
Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators in
The Mystery of the Fiery Eye (1967)
by Robert Arthur
In this outing Alfred Hitchcock brings the mystery to Jupiter, Bob, and Pete. He introduces them to his young English friend, August August. Gus, as he prefers to be called, is looking for help solving a riddle left him as part of an inheritance from his Great-Uncle Horatio who recently died in California. Presumably, if the riddle can be solved, there is some sort of "treasure" to be found. Jupiter assumes it must be valuable, since Great-Uncle Horatio went to great trouble to code the directions to its whereabouts. In fact, along the way, they discover that the treasure is a valuable ruby called the Fiery Eye and that a set of busts from Horatio's estate may hold a clue.
As with most jewels in mysteries of this sort--there is a legend of danger surrounding the gem. The Investigators and Gus will also discover that an sinister Indian man and a gang of thugs are hot on the trail of the jewel as well. Will the boys outwit the thieves and see that Gus gets his rightful inheritance?
I love revisiting this series that I first found when I went with my then best friend and her family on a shopping trip to the big malls in Ft. Wayne. That's when Walden Books and B. Dalton were still a thing and I insisted on stopping in all the bookstores. Not too long ago I started reading the titles I had missed when I was young--the first was The Mystery of the Talking Skull which I got from the library. I was disappointed that the books had been rereleased without the Hitchcock connection. That was part of the charm for me--I've now started looking for vintage editions (like the one pictured above) where Hitchcock still provides the introductions and interacts with the boys.
These books are good solid stories for young readers. The mystery isn't terribly intricate, but it is interesting and exciting enough to keep one turning the pages. It's good fun and the clues are such that the young reader has a chance to solve the mystery before Jupe does. As an adult, I enjoy revisiting the friends of my childhood and tagging along on their adventures. ★★★
[Finished on 11/24/18]
The Crimson Circle (1922) by Edgar Wallace
The Crimson Circle is a secret criminal society run along the lines of the Black Hand and other such organizations. Its leader demands that prominent business men and wealthy aristocrats pay up or be killed. The vast organization includes ruined men of business and petty thieves--none of them know each other and none of them have seen the face of their leader. After a few example are made of stubborn men, most of its victims hand over the cash with little struggle. But James Beardmore ignores the warnings and the demands for £100,000 and calls upon Scotland Yard's methodical Inspector Parr to track down the evil mastermind behind the Crimson Circle. Parr, in turn, requests the help of Derrick Yale, an amateur detective with incredible powers of observation and perception.
Unfortunately, this duo is unable to prevent Beardmore from becoming another victim after he ignores his final warning. When Beardmore's neighbor and rival Harvey Froyant receives a demand for money as well, Parr is determined that this will be the last demand the Crimson Circle will make. But is the Inspector up to the task and will Yale's skills be the help that he needs?
As a sideline, Jack, Beardmore's son, has fallen for Froyant's secretary--a young woman with a mysterious past of her own and whose talent for liberating the property of others gets her into a great deal of trouble. Jack is certain that she's not really a bad girl, but is his heart getting in the way of the facts? Is Thalia Drummond really part of the Crimson Circle or just a poor girl who has gotten some bad breaks? Jack doesn't realize how important the answers to those questions will be to the solution of his father's murder.
Fair warning from the start: This is a fast-paced, detective-adventure not a sedate, Golden Age puzzle plot with clues strewn about for the quick-witted reader to gather and try to solve the mystery before the detective. Edgar Wallace was one of the most prolific crime writers with 130 novels (18 written in 1926). Writing at such a clip, it isn't a surprise that he didn't spend a lot of time on red herrings and clues with double-meanings. But that doesn't mean that this isn't an enjoyable read. Wallace's fast-pace carries over into the story and the reader is carried along, swallowing the various improbable events along with the more normal ones until she is brought to a screeching halt at the solution. I suspected where Wallace, my driver, was taking me, but thoroughly enjoyed the scenery along the way.
Parr is an understated detective. You think he's a plodding copper who may not be quite as swift on the uptake as what one might like in an Inspector--but he gets there in the end and, in fact, has a few tricks up his sleeve that we (and the Crimson Circle) never expect. This is only my second Wallace novel--the first was read back in the early 1990s, long before blogging so I have little record or memory of it--but it won't be my last. [Particularly since I've been accumulating them on my TBR mountain range...] I look forward to hopping in Wallace's crime fiction race car again sometime in the near future. ★★★ and 1/2.
If you would like more info on Edgar Wallace, Michael Mallory over at Mystery Scene has written a very informative piece on him.
*This fulfills the "Locked Room" category on the Golden Just the Facts card. In the course of the investigation, Parr and Yale set a trap for the Crimson Circle. They are certain that their quarry will not be able to take the money demanded without capture. But somehow he gets into the room and out again without being caught--despite there having been only one entrance and that under observation the entire time. Those who have been reading locked room and vintage mysteries for quite some time may spot the method--and may even cry foul on part of it. But I'm quite sure it was very mysterious to most readers at the time.
I am rapidly coming to the end of the Masters & Green mystery series by Douglas Clark. I have just two more left to read on my TBR shelves and seven more titles to hunt for when I'm out and about in the used book shops. I will be sad when I've found and finished the last one. Clark's novels are an interesting take on the police procedural--featuring Superintendent George Masters, Inspector Bill Green, and their specialized team of detectives. Their group gets all the odd, highly technical, and highly sensitive cases. And with Clark's background in the pharmaceutical realm the methods of murder usually focus on obscure medical points or medical conditions that one wouldn't expect to be used to polish off one's enemies.
Table D'Hote (1977) is no different. Wanda Mace has been having an affair with her best friend's husband, Dr. David Bymeres. The two justify their attraction by the fact that they did not start anything until after Daphne had sunk so low in depression that she had lost all interest in physical side of her marriage. As Wanda tells Masters later:
Oh, I know it sounds ludicrous to remind you of it, but Daphne was my friend and the only reason why David came to me was because the woman he had loved dearly could no longer be a wife to him. What I'm trying to say is that I didn't replace Daphne in his affections, only--if Mr. Green will forgive the thought--in his bed, just as he fulfilled a need of mine.
She has reason to defend their actions. Daphne Bymeres winds up dead in Wanda's cottage.
Wanda had invited the Bymeres down for a weekend holiday with dinner party guests on the Friday night. She had arranged with David that he would get an "emergency call" that would take him back to town, leaving Daphne with her. The plan was to create a situation where both Daphne and David would get a much needed rest. Daphne's condition had gotten to such a state that she no longer wanted to go out and about and be social and she needed more care and attention at home. Wanda thought the change to country life would do Daphne good and she definitely thought David deserved a break.
All goes as planned until David receives an authentic emergency call and has to leave the cottage earlier than anticipated. Wanda goes ahead with the dinner party and, as expected, Daphne pleads a headache towards the end of the meal and takes herself off to bed. When Wanda checks in on her the next morning, Daphne is dead--having been very sick beforehand. She calls David to let him know and ask him to come back to the cottage and David calls in his wife's own physician. Although his examination can find nothing to indicate anything but natural causes--the symptoms are most suggestive of some sort of heart trouble, he refuses to give a death certificate. And when the local police surgeon arrives he refuses to give one as well.
There's nothing for it but to call in the Yard and, since it involves two doctors who won't give a certificate and the wife of a third doctor, it's decided that Masters and company will investigate. The basic question they must answer is: when are natural causes not natural at all? Masters's job isn't made any easier by the fact that he finds himself attracted to the prime suspect--after all, if something unwholesome was given to Daphne, it's most likely that it would have been served up in the meal provided by Wanda. Of course, Masters believes Mrs. Mace to be smarter than that. But is she smart enough to play that as a double bluff? If Daphne was killed and Wanda didn't do it, then it's obvious that David must have arranged it--I mean, suspects aren't exactly thick on the ground. But how could he when he didn't prepare the meal and he wound up absent for the entire dinner party?
********My Take: Major Spoilers Ahead. Read at your own risk!**********
This is another solid entry in the Masters & Green series. The Superintendent and Inspector are still working their way towards the comfortable working relationship found in later installments and it's quite interesting to watch their prickly interactions. It was also interesting to find out how Masters first met his wife, Wanda (so, yeah--she didn't do it). I really enjoy the interesting methods of murder which Clark provides for his villains. That's one of the major selling points for this series--finding out which unconventional murder method will be featured this time.
Which means that quite often the focus is much more on the "how" rather than the "who" or the "why." This is particularly true in this instance. I would be greatly surprised if anyone reading this has any doubts about who the guilty party is from quite early in the book. The how is really the star of the show. But, interesting as that method is, that isn't the spoiler. The most surprising part of this mystery is in the reason (i.e. the woman) why he did it. I quite smugly thought I had spotted the other other woman in the case. It was obvious that David Bymeres was no longer as enthralled with Wanda as he once was. But I really thought that Miss Hector's disapproval of Dr. Bymeres was all for show and that they really had a major thing going on....I was a bit disappointed by Clark's pulling a completely different woman out of thin air. Not a mention of her before. It would have been nice to have at least had a chance to pick the right one.
This was also one of the most cold-blooded murders that Clark has devised. It's really quite horrific that David would plan such a nasty death for his wife and have no qualms at all about the fact that Wanda might be suspected of and (if the police weren't so very good at their job) possibly convicted of the murder. But the murder method and the twists on relationships are a large part of what makes this mystery so enjoyable. ★★★★
[Finished 11/14/18]
Devious Murder (1973) by George Bellairs is the 53rd novel in the Chief Inspector Littlejohn series and the first one I've ever found in my various bookshop and book sale scavenger hunts. This story features the investigation into the murder of Charles Blunt, a discreet and highly successful cat burglar who had eluded the grasp of the police for years though he had been the chief suspect in many in a robbery. Blunt always planned his robberies meticulously, never resorted to violence, and worked alone--all factors which led to his success.
Littlejohn takes his dog out for the last walk of the day and discovers Blunt's body at the gates of an abandoned house. The Chief Inspector decides to take a hand in the case (though it's technically not on his patch) and there are many questions that immediately arise. What was Blunt doing in that area? Why was his body left at the gates? Why, after years of working alone, are there clues pointing to confederates? And is this a case of thieves falling out?
Littlejohn and Scotland Yard follow the clues back to a luxury flat that seems to be out of Blunt's price range. But when he discovers that the flat just happens to overlook the estate of an American multi-millionaire who has lavished his younger, spendthrift wife with jewels of every sort things become clear. Blunt obviously had taken the apartment to prepare for his next jewelry heist. From his luxurious perch he could see exactly where the jewels were kept and he could scope out the security measures. But who killed him and left him in Littlejohn's neighborhood?
Despite the fact that I'm entering Littlejohn's career fairly late in the game, this was a fine introduction to the Chief Inspector and his detecting world. The characters are strong and well-defined and Littlejohn is solid investigator with a nicely developed sense of humor. This is a police procedural in construction, so Bellairs is not so much concerned with dropping clues here and there for the reader to spot and try to outwit the detective. There's not much chance to get to the solution before Littlejohn, but the investigation and the Chief Inspector's manner of conducting it are interesting enough to keep the reader's attention. ★★★
[Finished 11/13/18]
Becky at Becky's Book Reviews is hosting another round of the Family Tree Reading Challenge. She has given us several options this year, but I am going to stick with reading books that were published in family members' birth years. This year I made a basic commitment of five books and then added a second level for extended family. For 2019, I plan to read 10 books total for immediate family including my parents and my husband's family.
Phil (my dad): 1948 Blueprint for Murder by Roger Bax (10/25/19)
Gloria (my mom): 1947 Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh (2/14/19)
Bev (me): 1969 The Cream of Crime edited by Jeanne F. Bernkopf (5/26/19)
Brad (husband): 1966 Eyes at the Window by George Selmark (11/25/19)
Kyle (son): 1992 The Noel Coward Murder Case by George Baxt (11/20/19)
Beverly (husband's mom): 1944 Killing the Goose by Frances & Richard Lockridge (6/24/19)
Elvin (husband's dad): 1940 Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd (4/26/19)
John (husband's step-dad): 1946 Let's Kill George by Lucy Cores (10/1/19)
Kristal (husband's sister): 1968 Death on a Warm Wind by Douglas Warner (5/8/19)
M. Alex (husband's brother): 1976 Mystery of the Emerald Buddha by Betty Cavanna (6/29/19)
The Blind Spot (1952; original title: Inspector West at Bay; apa The Case of the Acid Throwers) by John Creasey
It's not often that a criminal goes in for personal revenge against the policeman who put him behind bars. Sure, they often spout off threats as they're convicted and taken away to jail, but by the time they get released (if they do) they usually have their minds on other things. Revenge isn't unknown...but it is rare. So when Inspector Roger West catches a spray of vitriol in the face (luckily just as he's wiping his brow with his handkerchief, so the damage isn't too bad) that has also hit a young woman on the pavement beside him, it's natural for him to wonder what made the women the target of such spite. But the attack is followed with anonymous notes proclaiming
This is only the beginning.
Then his associate on many cases, Mark Lessing, is also attacked and the unknown assailant starts getting closer and closer to West's family. He realizes that someone from his past hasn't forgotten who put them behind bars and is perfectly capable of exacting a horrible vengeance on West, on Lessing...on anyone who might get in their way.
West and Lessing start sifting through old cases looking for criminals who might hold a grudge and who have recently rejoined society. They come up with three possibilities and the longer it takes to find proof of who's behind the attacks the more connections are found among the three. Is it possible that they have combined forces to exact revenge? The two men race against the clock to prevent their loved ones from becoming collateral damage....and it all culminates in a showdown at villain's home where one final surprise waits for West.
This was a fast-moving, suspense-filled novel. Creasey's writing is economical without leaving out anything important. One hundred and fifty-nine pages doesn't seem like a lot of room to introduce characters, fill in background on the criminals in question, and put West and his family through several vicious attacks, but Creasey makes the most of them. Interesting twists and a few suspicions cast on what seems to be friendly associates make this an exciting ride from start to finish. If West's boys hadn't been in danger, I might have rated this one a bit higher--but I just don't care for child-in-danger story lines. ★★★
[Finished 8/23/18]
The Tale of Brownie Beaver (1916) is one of a series of classic animal stories by Arthur Scott Bailey. Bailey uses humorous tales of very people-like animals to introduce children to woodland creatures--explaining their habits and behaviors in short, intertwined stories. Brownie Beaver is a hard-working mammal who works with his fellow beavers and other animals living in his "village" to build and protect their homes from weather, outsider animals, and men. Children learn how beavers build their dams and lodges, what beavers like to eat, and how they warn one another of danger.
The stories are charming with excellent color illustrations by Harry L. Smith. Young readers should thoroughly enjoy the stories about Brownie and his friends. ★★★
[Finished 8/19/18]
