The Floating Lady Murder

 The Floating Lady Murder (2000) by Daniel Stashower

It's turn-of-the-century New York and Harry Houdini is not yet "The Great Houdini" (though he insists otherwise) and his agent (and brother) Dash is trying to secure employment to keep the firm afloat. When the renowned magician Kellar advertises that positions are available with his show, Dash thinks it's the perfect opportunity, but he and Harry's wife Bess have a difficult time convincing him. They manage to spin things so Houdini thinks the opportunity is better than it is and off they go for an audition.

Harry is in the middle of his "Substitution Trunk Mystery" when a lion (which is part of Kellar's act" suddenly gets loose from his cage. While everyone else is panicked, Houdini is cool as cucumber and orchestrates a fantastic capture. Needless to say, he, Dash, and Bess are hired on the spot. They are invited to meet with Kellar himself who reveals that the lion's escape was no accident. Someone filed down the bolts holding the latch. And, in fact, this is not the first "accident" to plague the company. Kellar wants Houdini and company to not only join the company but to investigate these accidents--find out who is behind them and why. 

Kellar is trying to perfect a floating lady trick--something that he and his rival Servais Le Roy have been trying to achieve for some time. Kellar is very close to success and he wonders if Le Roy has spies in his camp who are trying to sabotage his efforts. When the trick is perfected and performed for the first time, it goes fatally wrong; Kellar's levitating assistant plunges over seventy feet to her death. Except...she doesn't die from the fall. Somehow, she was drowned in mid-air before tumbling from the ceiling of the theater. Some start whispering that the trick is cursed, after all the wife of Kellar's mentor fell to her death in a proto-type of the floating lady trick twenty-five years ago. It's up to Harry and Dash to prove that a very human agent is behind the latest death.

This is my second historical mystery with a magician in a row. I have to say that I like Tom Mead's Joseph Spector better than Harry Houdini. Harry is very full of himself...with very little cause so far in his career. He may wind up being one of the greatest escape artists of all time and, yes, I'd think that kind of act would take a great deal of self-confidence but that doesn't make him any less insufferable. The mystery itself is decent, though it becomes obvious very soon what must have happened for the woman to have been drowned in mid-flight (as it were). Stashower does a very good job of hiding the culprit, though, in part, that's because we don't know the motive. And there aren't any clues (that I recognized, even in retrospect) that point towards the motive. ★★★

First line: Again, the dream.

Last line: "Everything in small steps."

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Deaths = 4 (one natural; one drowned; two fell from height)

Death & the Conjuror

 Death & the Conjurer (2022) by Tom Mead

Joseph Spector was one of the greatest magicians. Since his semi-retirement he's turned his talents to amateur detective work because, as Inspector George Flint says, there has been a spate of "'impossible crimes'--typically high society affairs, where men in locked rooms were killed under impractical circumstances, or where, for example, a body was found strangled in a snowy field, with only a single set of footprints trailing backward from the corpse." So, when an impossible crime crops up Flint calls on the master illusionist to find the trick.

And, of course, an impossible crime is what we've got. Famous psychiatrist Anselm Rees is found with his throat cut in his locked study. The only means of entry--the inside door (locked with the key in the lock on the inside) and the French doors--also secured with the key inside. A mysterious man had visited the doctor shortly before his death, but Rees was heard speaking on the telephone after the man left. It seems impossible, but there must be an answer. 

Rees and Flint look the for culprit among the doctor's three patients and his household: Floyd Stenhous, a musician who suffers from nightmares; Della Cookson, an actress with kleptomaniac tendencies; and Claude Weaver, a misanthropic writer who fears he may be going insane. Then there is his daughter Lidia Rees, also a psychologist, who seems strangely calm at her father's death and who has the most unsuitable fiance, Marcus Bowman. Bowman is a Bright Young Thing who may be in desperate need of the cash Lidia will inherit. But the hurdle our detectives must get over is how did the killer get out of the room? Spector will need all the tricks in his repertoire to pull that rabbit out of his hat.

A very nicely done, very self-aware mystery in the style of the Golden Age. It plays with the tropes that were popular at the time--the puzzle plot, a locked room that gives a tip of the hat to the master John Dickson Carr, and the accomplished amateur to help the police find their way. I love how Flint tells us straight up that the Golden Age was a time when there as a huge uptick in these puzzle plot mysteries. The Detective Club was full of ingenious crime novelists coming up with intricate plots to fool their readers--while at the same time waving the clues right under their noses. All in the name of fair play. And the public loved being fooled. 

I enjoy a good locked room mystery and Mead does a good job--though I have to admit to feeling just a bit cheated when the solution was revealed. But as Spector tells us at the end of the novel--magicians do cheat (and writers are magicians with words, after all). But what he does really well is make me believe that this could have been written in the Golden Age. The historical period is well represented and the tone and setting is pitch perfect. Spector and Flint make a good team and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. ★★★★ and 1/2

First line: At the Pomegranate Theatre, tempers flared like oil lamps.

Last line: Spector's smile became a grin. "We cheat."

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Deaths = 6 (three throat cut; one natural; one strangled; one car crash)

The War of the Worlds Murder

 The War of the Worlds Murder (2005) by Max Allan Collins

[a slight reworking of a previous review when read from the library]

Unlike the Sherlock Holmes pastiche of a similar name (which I read in 2010), this War of the Worlds mystery does not take place in the world of the H. G. Wells classic. At least, not exactly. This story revolves around the historic Mercury Theatre radio presentation of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles which caused mass panic in the United States in 1938. It features Welles, John Houseman, and Walter Gibson (aka Maxwell Grant), creator of the Shadow, among other historical figures. And, as in his other "disaster" mysteries, Collins uses an author of detective fiction (in this case, Gibson) as his amateur crime solver.

The first half to two-thirds of the book is spent in build up. We are introduced to the characters and given a very plausible set up for the murder. Collins gives us a look at the creative spirit of Welles and how the dramatic production of the Martian invasion came about. Gibson is brought into contact with Welles when he (Welles) decides that it would be a great idea to collaborate on a Shadow movie, as a natural extension of the successful radio show. Then Gibson (and through him, the reader) is introduced to the worshipers, admirers, hangers-on...and even possible enemies of the brilliant young actor/director.

Just as the radio production is about ready to go on the air, Welles, Gibson and Houseman discover the body of the young receptionist in one of the empty sound rooms. She had been the latest in a long line of Welles flings--just recently given the heave-ho. There appears to be blood everywhere and and an incriminating knife that points straight at Welles. The door is locked (but there is a window which has given them a view) but by the time the security guard can be summoned to bring a key the body and the weapon have disappeared!

But you know what they say in show business...the show must go on. And so it does. One of the most historic radio programs ever goes on the air and panic takes over the country as thousands believe that the Martians are really invading. In the midst of all this, Gibson is watching, thinking and gathering clues to the real disaster that has taken place off-stage. Who killed the young woman? Was it someone trying to frame Welles--or has the actor/director (and amateur magician) pulled a conjuring trick of his own? And what happened to the body? By the end of the evening Gibson will have answers to all these questions.

Collins, as always, has done his homework--and that is quite evident. Historical and anecdotal details are superb. The tale of the panic-inducing radio broadcast is quite interesting. And exciting--as Collins takes us from snippets of the broadcast to scenes from the world outside the broadcasting studio. He uses stories of actual audience reactions to show how effective the broadcast was. The murder mystery itself leaves quite a bit to be desired. It's not nearly as good as either The Titanic Murders or The Hindenburg Murders, for instance. But for a look at the world of 1938 and particularly for a look at what happened when Welles allowed the Martians to invade...it's very good. ★★★ for a good solid story overall.

First line (prologue): Suddenly 1975 seems like a long time ago.

First line (1st chapter): Walter Gibson had never been on an expense account before.

Last line: At his typewriter.

Body Blow

 Body Blow (1962) by Kenneth Hopkins

The third (and, unfortunately last) of Hopkins' mysteries featuring Dr. Blow (81 years old!) and Professor Manciple (79 years old!)--two retired academics who have penchant for finding bodies and losing them again. In their last "jaunt" (Dead Against My Principles), they helped investigate a corpse purported to be Blow's old classmate Simon Blunt. A corpse that seemed to play musical chairs between Simon's family castle and little cottage. In this outing, Dr. Blow receives a large packing case which he expects to contain over a hundred volumes of books, some in fancy linen bindings. Even before it's opened, Manciple is questioning the contents...

" It's an awfully big box. Did you say you bought a hundred books?"

And, of course, when it's opened, there are no books to be found--just one very dead woman whom neither gentleman has ever seen before. They hustle off to the police station to report the incident to their friend Superintendent Urry--the phone being so unreliable, don't you know. But he isn't there. And by the time they return to Blow's flat with Constable Poindexter. The packing case is gone. According to Blow's housekeeping, three boy scouts showed up to pick it up--and she didn't think anything of it because Dr. Blow, being the true absent-minded professor, so often forgets to tell her things.

Well, this isn't the first time the two gentleman have been mixed up with dead bodies and they're eager to find out what's going on. Who was the woman in the box? Why was she sent to Dr. Blow? Who took her away again? Was it the same person or someone else? And when the body shows up again minus its stomach, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the stomach appears in Professor Manciple's ice box. I mean, really, where else would it show up? Before they know it, Blow and Manciple are mixed up with secret agents and double-crossers and everybody is on the hunt for a top-secret formula for fantastically strong nylon. 

I have to admit that the mystery plot in this one isn't the greatest. The secret agent business (especially when we find out who one of the players really is) is a bit hard to swallow--but honestly, the story is such great fun, I didn't mind a bit. It's been a while since I read the last Blow and Manciple book and I had forgotten how delightful they are. Blow is a wonderfully stereotypical forgetful academic who will begin a lecture on any one of a dozen topics at the drop of a hat. Manciple tries to keep his friend on the straight and narrow of detective work, but don't mention coins in his hearing or he'll be off an running as well. Between the two of them, they stir up enough nonsensical dust that the villains of the piece don't quite know what to do. And though our academics may not solve the puzzle themselves, their antics help the official police and the MI5 folks get their men. Well...mostly. ★★★

First line: Dr. William low inserted the key of the small satin-wood bureau in which he kept two leaves of unpublished manuscript of Part Four of Butler's Hudibras into the lock of the front door and turned it and pushed--in vain.

"No," admitted Poindexter. The difficulty of police work, he knew, was that murderers looked like anybody else, and forgers and thieves appeared almost abnormally normal. (p. 24)

(about secret double-agents) "They always live in a big, gloomy, decaying mansion on the Essex marshes," said Dr. Blow. (p. 48)

"I'll tell you this," said Hume, "these are grave and complex matters, not even properly the province of the uniformed police. Certain persons whom I must not name, in quarters I shall barely hint at, are vitally interested and concerned." (p. 87)

Last line: The phone rang again and Urry snatched it up, and the voice of the policewoman on the switchboard said sweetly, "Professor Manciple for you sir."

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Deaths =  2 (one suicide; one heart attack)

The Will of the Tribe

 The Will of the Tribe (1962) by Arthur W. Upfield

An unknown man is found dead in the middle of a meteor crater in the Australian desert. None of the homesteads in the area or the the aboriginal encampments admit to the man having passed through their territory--though he must have gone through the land somewhere, somehow, whether alive or dead. He wasn't dropped from a plane because nothing is broken except the back of his head where it made contact with the proverbial blunt instrument. The local police are stumped and so, Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte is sent to find out two things: 1. How did the man get to the crater without anyone taking notice. 2. What was the motive. The upper level authorities don't want Bony to bother with discovering who the man was...they know and it's all hush-hush. But how is a detective supposed to determine a motive when he knows nothing about the victim? 

Well, if anyone can, then it's Bony, the half-white, half-aboriginal policeman with a perfect record in crime-solving. His dual heritage helps him understand both the tribal customs and the white settlers and he soon realizes that both groups are keeping back knowledge about what happened to the man and how his body arrived where it was found. He'll have to be very clever indeed to get the tribesmen to reveal what he needs to know.

The story highlights the dual loyalties of those who are either of mixed race or who, being black, have been raised or employed by the white settlers. Bony with his own mixed heritage is able to help the tribal people strike a balance that allows the mystery to be unraveled fairly. Upfield makes much of Bony's individualism that allows him to advocate for true justice (rather than a slavish adherence to the letter of the law). It sometimes gets him in trouble with his superiors, but that doesn't bother him much. He knows he's too good at his job for them do much to him. 

The mystery itself isn't really much--since we have no clues about the identity of the man, there isn't any question of motive. The silence around how he got there makes it obvious that those who Bony talks with much know more than they tell and there's not much question about who is covering up. The strength in this story is in Upfield's description of the area and the depiction of the relationship between the black men and the white homesteaders. An interesting look at Australia in the early 1960s. ★★★

First line: Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte gazed upon Lucifer's Couch and marvelled.

Last line: "I shall not fail to bring off this one."

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Deaths = 3 (one hit on head; two car accident)

Death & Chicanery

 Death & Chicanery (1962) by Philip MacDonald

A light collection of short stories from the author of The List of Adrian Messenger and The Rasp. Not heavy on the mystery side, the stories are more psychological and emotionally charged than criminally so. The stories are well-written, but I'd hoped for more mystery than I got. ★★★

"Deed of Mercy": As soon as Hungarian refugee and eminent nuclear scientist Nikolas Bethlen and his wife arrive in the U.S. they promptly disappear. Journalists everywhere are on the lookout--hoping to get the big scoop when they figure out where the couple is. Michael Hackett lucks into a lead, but Bethlen is in an auto accident before Hackett has a chance to interview him. And the news gets even bigger--a teenage hitchhiker whom Bethlen picked up is now accusing him of molesting her...Hackett smells a put-up job. But why?

"Breakfast for the King": Kai-Kon is in love with Pyuk-Lu and according to custom must hunt enough animal furs to buy silver shoes to win her hand. But his luck is bad and he only gets a few pelts before a run-in with a wild boar injures him. When he's found passed out under a tree where another hunter had stashed his furs and the evidence indicates that Kai-Kon has stolen the furs, the council of elders finds him guilty and sentences him to death--by tiger. His love and a single member of the council believe him innocent, but can they prove it in time?

"Moon Flame": Moon Flame is a beautiful thoroughbred horse whose days are numbered unless a journalist and two young people can save him The horse is caught up in a bitter divorce between two actors and the vindictive lady is determined to get back at her ex by destroying his horse. But no horse lover is going let a beautiful animal be killed out of spite....

"The Ticker-Tape": Martin Liengard is a writer who has an odd type of insomnia. When he gets over-tired and can't sleep, a "ticker-tape" starts running in his head, spitting out meaningless phrases. Once he gets married, the tick-tape stops...until a young Mexican boy is murdered. Then it starts up again. But this time the phrases aren't so meaningless....

First line (1st story): Nikolas Bethlen and his wife arrived in the United States late in '56, part of the first plane-load of post-revolution Hungarian refugees.

Last line (last story): "Martin!" she called. "Where are you?"

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Deaths = 3 (one attacked by tiger; one hit on the head; one fell from height)

Hopjoy Was Here

 Hopjoy Was Here (1962) by Colin Watson

The police at Flaxborough receive an anonymous tip. Something nasty has happened at the home of of Gordon Periam. There was some sort of altercation in the bathroom and neither Periam nor his lodger, Brian Hopjoy have been seen since. Inspector Purbright and company find bloodstains in the bathroom, evidence of the use of acid, and something nasty in the drains. It looks like someone was done away with in a very ruthless manner. But who? Is it Hopjoy who has been dissolved? Or is it Periam? They've barely begun the investigation when a couple of MI5 men show up--apparently Hopjoy was one of theirs and they want to make sure that everything "hush-hush" stays hushed. So now Purbright has to figure out not only who (if anyone) has been killed and, if it's Hopyjoy whether his MI5 work resulted in his death or if it was something more prosaic (like jealousy). The trail leads Purbright and the secret agents on a merry chase through gambling dens to a rural farm and from a fancy hotel to the seaside where an interesting item washes up.

Watson infuses his story with humor--most particularly in its send-up of the spy trade. The MI5 fellows see everything through their top-secret lens and so betting slips become secret codes and absolutely everything has a double-meaning. And they tend to think the local police are poor fish who just can't understand all this hush-hush business. But just maybe this time a murder is just a murder and not some sort of end game in a double agent duel. It's amusing to see Purbright and Sergeant Love get the better of the secret agent men.

Purbright is a great character with a very understated intelligence that works away at the everyday details while the MI5 guys run about looking for double agents in haylofts and betting parlors. The plot is well done too. Watson keeps switching things until you're just not sure who died, if anyone died, and if they did where are they? Quite a lot of fun. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: Never before had the inhabitants of Beatrice Avenue seen a bath carefully manoeuvered (sic) through one of their front doors, carried down the path by four policemen, and hoisted into a black van.

Last line: The inspector patted his arm kindly, "Oh, not Karl," he said, "Groucho."

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Deaths = 4 (two natural; one strangled; one poisoned)

Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery

 Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery (1962) as by Alfred Hitchcock (ed)

Our elementary school library had several of these collections which were ostensibly edited by Alfred Hitchcock. I loved them. They were just spooky enough to delight without being too gruesome. [I still worried my mom a bit by being so fixated on them, though.... 😉] So, when I saw this at my hometown used bookstore, nostalgia kicked in and I just had to bring it home with me. I definitely remember some of these from that initial read over 40 years ago ("The Haunted Trailer," the Truth About Pyecraft," and "The Waxwork"), some I've rad in other collections since ("The Upper Berth" and "The Waxwork"), while others I don't remember at all. I enjoyed my journey back to elementary school me--enjoying the shivers from the scary stories and the fun of those that are just a little weird and unusual. ★★★★

"Miss Emmeline Takes Off" by Walter Brooks: When Miss Emmeline is forced to sell her family home, she leaves behind a family heirloom. She has to sneak in to retrieve it and discovers that her heirloom is more valuable than she thought.

"The Valley of the Beasts" by Algernon Blackwood: A cruel hunter and his native American guide set out to track an enormous moose. The tracks lead to a place the guide calls the Valley of the Beasts and he refuses to go further. The hunter is goes on alone. When he is surrounded by the beasts of the valley and finds himself in danger, help arrives in an unexpected form and he returns to civilization a changed man.

"The Haunted Trailer" by Robert Arthur: A man buys a trailer in which to spend his honeymoon little knowing that it comes equipped with a ghostly hobo. [one fell from height; one natural]

"The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford: Brisbane, a young man is crossing the Atlantic on his favorite ship, the Kamtschatka. He stays in Cabin 105 but all is not as it seems and soon Brisbane will have to fight for his life as the secret of the upper berth is revealed. 

"The Wonderful Day" by Robert Arthur: When Danny overhears the grown-ups talking about the folks in town (using idioms and metaphors), he makes a wish on his grandfather's lucky piece (apparently a unicorn horn) that his family's descriptions would be true for a just a day. His wish comes true--causing confusion, but ultimately doing good as folks see what they're really like and changing their behavior accordingly.

"The Truth About Pyecraft" by H. G. Wells: Pyecraft wishes to lose weight and pesters his fellow clubman until our narrator finally shares his grandmother's potion with him. However, the potion doesn't work on weightloss in quite the way Pyecraft expects. [Another story that turns on the meaning of words.]

"Housing Problem" by Henry Kuttner: Eddie and Jackie rent their extra room to Mr. Henchard, a curmudgeonly gentleman who pays his rent promptly and has just one rule: "Don't look under the cover on my birdcage." But, when Henchard goes on vacation, you just know they can't resist....

"In a Dim Room by Lord Dunsany: A lesson in "be careful what you ask for": when a friend's children ask for thrilling tales (and his own don't do the trick), our narrator brings along his friend Jorkens who tells a thrilling tale about a tiger

"Obstinate Uncle Otis" by Robert Arthur: Uncle Otis refuses to believe in things he just doesn't like. Which is his right and hurts no one...until his disbelief causes things to disappear.

"The Waxwork" by A. M. Burrage: A freelance journalist asks to spend the night in Mariner's Waxworks' Murderers' Den--a roomful of the effigies of the nastiest murderers in history. Hewson thinks he'll be just fine--he's not superstitious and he's not a fraidy-cat. But maybe he should have thought twice... [one scared to death]

"The Isle of Voices" by Robert Louis Stevenson: Keola learns that his father-in-law is a wizard who can coin money out of seashells. But he also learns that Kalamake is a man that you shouldn't anger...after it's too late.

First line (1st story): When the old Valiant house on the lake was sold for taxes, Miss Emmeline Valiant went to live at Mrs. Purdy's

Last line (last story): But whether he was slain in the battle by the trees, or whether he is still kicking his heels upon the Isle of Voices, who shall say?

What Happened at Hazelwood?

 What Happened at Hazelwood? (1946) by Michael Innes (J. I. M. Stewart)

Hazelwood is your standard country house in a murder mystery. Chock full of nasty characters--most of whom are related to Sir George Simney, the particularly despicable lord of the manor. Sir George has quite a reputation for despoiling the local ladies and he treats his family abominably. Including those born on the wrong side of the blanket. The unsettled household is even more unsettled when relatives from Australia show up announced--suddenly there are more shouting matches than usual and Owden the butler seems to have developed a habit of dropping cut glass decanters and wine glasses at the most inopportune moments. 

When Sir George is found murdered--his head bashed in from behind--no one is really surprised. 

In fact, this bad baronet has died true to the condition of his kind--mysteriously, in his library, at midnight, while a great deal of snow was falling in the park outside.

What is baffling is who could have done it? The door to the library was under observation during the relevant period and, though there are footprints leading to the trellis by which someone has obviously climbed to the library window, it appears that no one who conceivably has a motive could have gotten to the trellis. But Inspector Cadover and his sidekick Harold (who if he got a rank and last name, I completely missed it), are on the job and soon discover all sorts of goings on that some might have killed to keep covered up. There's blackmail. And evil deeds in the past. And a case of misappropriated identity. And...if the Reverend Deamer is to be believed a visitation from the Devil himself. Cadover is going to have to sort out who's who if he's going to find out whodunnit.

It seems to me that Innes was having a grand old time with a send up of Golden Age mysteries. He takes the standard country house mystery and gives it all kinds of little twists. Cadover is an over-the-top clever copper who constantly says that he sees things, can't believe that Harold doesn't see them too, and then, of course, won't tell us what he sees. He plays things closer to his chest than Holmes at his most inscrutable. We also have a play on the locked room mystery as well as the idea of identity. And, of course, we have the final wrap-up scene where Cadover goes through all the different scenarios of who could have done it and why before the solution is finally revealed. 

I have to say that this is a mixed bag for me--I thoroughly enjoyed Harold's narration of the second part of the story and many of his comments on both the Simney family and his boss Inspector Cadover. And I thought the basic premise of the sleight-of-hand with identity was good. But I found the solution to be overly complicated and unrealistic--involving more people than necessary in a rather bizarre turn of events. And yet I did enjoy myself--Innes's sense of fun must have spilled over. A solid, middle-of-the-road read for me. ★★★

First line: Nobody could have predicted just what has happened at Hazelwood, and at the moment it appears as if nobody can elucidate it either.

If George was no fool he certainly was no student either, and there seemed small reason why he should a study any more than a smithy or a laboratory or a consulting-room. Tradition of course, decrees something of the sort. A baronet must have a library, a study, and a gun-room just as certainly as his wife must have a drawing-room and a boudoir. (p. 50)

Lady Simney looked like having quite an obtrusive alibi, and no C.I.D. man likes that. Perhaps this is just the influence of fiction. Certainly we spend a lot of time trying to convince ourselves that in regard to this or that person the laws of space and time just don't apply. (p. 118)

Last line: "Now, look here," he said--and his tone was at once ingratiating and aggrieved--"about that bally trick your father played us over Dismal Swamp..."

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Deaths = 7 (one hit on head; one strangled; one shot; three train accident; one natural)

While the Clock Ticked

 While the Clock Ticked (1932) by Franklin W. Dixon

Raymond Dalrymple comes to the Hardy home looking for Fenton Hardy. He hopes to hire the detective to investigate some odd goings-on at the old Purdy house--a house that the banker has recently bought. But Mr. and Mrs. Hardy have gone on a trip to Maine and won't be reached easily. Frank and Joe send a telegram to their father, but in the meantime they offer their services to Dalrymple. The banker is skeptical at first, but after talking to some folks in town he realizes that the boys have a reputation of their own when it comes to mysteries. So, he decides to take them up on it--at least until their father returns.

The Purdy house used to belong to an eccentric old miser who trusted absolutely no one. So Purdy had a secret room built--a room that operates on a time clock much like the banker's vault. The banker thought the place would be an ideal place for him to get work done in peace and quiet. Supposedly, no one can get in or out of the room until the time lock releases the door. And yet...two days in a row he has found threatening messages in the middle of the work table in the secret room. 

You must leave this house forever or death will await you.

Death while the clock ticks.

There is no evidence of the door having been forced nor any secret second entrance. He wants someone to find out who is leaving the notes and why they are threatening him.

Meanwhile, there have been a spate of thefts and no one knows where the gang is hiding or where the loot is being hidden. It isn't long before the Hardys realize that there is a connection with the Purdy house. But are the thieves behind the threats or is there a second mystery connected to the old house?

This is one of the first Hardy Boys books I read back when I got hooked on them because of the The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries that came on in the 70s. But I read it in the revised text version (pictured below). More recently I acquired the original text copy and it was an interesting read. I'd still rate this as one of my top five Hardy Boys books, but I was surprised to find them at odds with Chief Collig and Detective Smuff. My recollection of the books is that the boys had a good relationship with the police and could count on their help--and also their appreciation of the boys' efforts. Here, Collig and Smuff try to steal the boys' glory whenever Frank and Joe solve part of the mystery.

As a child, I enjoyed the tense adventures that Frank and Joe had and, of course, liked the fact that they outwit the bad guys in the end. Reading it as an adult, I still had a great time even though the mystery plot isn't as intricate as most of the mysteries I read now. ★★★★

First line: Joe Hardy looked out of the second-floor window.

Last line: "Except," added Aunt Gertrude pointedly, "when the bomb was at your feet and the clock ticked."

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

Depart This Life

 Depart This Life (1958) by E. X. Ferrars

Hilda Gazeley has lived with her brother Stephen and niece for the last six years. She came to help take care of Katherine after her sister-in-law died in a car accident. Now Katherine has grown up and is engaged to Colin Luckett--there's just one problem, her father and the Lucketts don't get along. But neither Hilda nor Katherine know exactly why. On the day that Katherine tells her father of her plans, he's murdered--struck over the head in his study. Hilda and Arthur Luckett were talking on a bench not far from the study windows. When they hear a crash and a cry, they immediately rush towards the house--no one came out the front. Stephen's friend Nelson Winguard was painting near the river and coming up the path at the back. He saw no one there either. If all the witnesses are telling the truth, then it seems impossible that Stephen should have been killed. And yet he was. 

And the question is...why? Stephen could be difficult at times, but bad enough for murder? Apparently so, as Inspector Crankshaw digs, he discovers the truth behind the feud between the Lucketts and Stephen. He learns the identity of the mysterious Mrs. Frearson and her sister; two women who have recently taken a cottage on the other side of the river and in whom Stephen had taken a sudden interest. He learns that Stephen liked to know secrets about others and liked the power and control it gave him. Whose secret was worth killing for?

Observations: Not really any characters that I could relate to or root for. Hilda is either the most unaware person on earth or is deliberately fooling herself about her brother. I have no idea why Ferrars made her our protagonist and point of view--she annoyed me from the moment she arrived on the page until the end of the book. Just when I thought she was finally seeing the light on her brother, she'd come out with another "Oh, but that was just Stephen's way. He didn't really mean it." Even when it was blatantly obvious how cruel he had been. 

When we found out what a slimy fellow Stephen was, I was all set to feel sympathetic to his murderer. After all, they were just trying to stop the pressure/blackmail. But then we find out that they weren't exactly the victim we thought they were and were quite willing to sacrifice others to protect him/herself. Committing that second murder and trying to set up an innocent person to take the blame made any possibility of sympathy go right out the window. 

Honestly, the big reveal here is the insight into the murderer and what they are willing to do after Stephen is dead. The identity was no great surprise. Ferrars is usually better at plot than this. Not the best of her mysteries and not the most appealing set of characters. ★★ and 1/4

First line: It was precisely six forty-five when Mrs. Frearson appeared by the river.

Last line: "You'll be needed, Miss Gazeley."

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

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

The Bullet That Missed

 The Bullet That Missed (2022) by Richard Osman

It's time once again for the Thursday Murder Club gang to get themselves involved in another murder investigation. The eclectic group of septuagenarians include Elizabeth, an ex-MI5 agent; Ron, a former union activist who's always up for bucking the system; Ibrahim, a retired therapist whose insight into the human psyche and knack for puzzle-solving comes in handy; and Joyce, a former nurse whose appearance has deceived many a miscreant along the way. When they sat down to debate what cold case was next on the agenda, Elizabeth is taken with story of the spinster who died "leaving three unidentified skeletons and a suitcase containing fifty thousand pounds in her cellar." But Joyce, who always seems to get her way when she really puts her foot down, wants them to investigate the case of Bethany Waite.

Bethany had been an investigative reporter and co-host of South East Tonight when her car went off Shakespeare Cliff and she was declared dead, though her body was never found. She had been hot on the trail of a massive fraud and money-laundering scheme and had just sent her co-host Mike Waghorn a message that said she had found something that was absolute dynamite. It apparently blew up in her face.

As the gang investigates, there are more murders and more missing money. They find themselves involved with high-powered crooks, an ex-KGB man, and a mysterious foe the name "Viking" who wants Elizabeth to kill the ex-KGB officer. If she doesn't, he threatens to kill Joyce. The case really heats up and the friends will have to work fast if they don't want to get burned.

So...this was another fun ride. Osman has given us a great set of characters and while there needs to be plenty of suspension of disbelief it doesn't matter that things may not be all that believable at times. This is just a fun group and as long as you're with them you believe they can do all the things that they do. They can outwit the Viking. They can play nice with ex-KGB. They can charm TV personalities into helping them with their investigations. It's all possible. I was a bit disappointed that I saw the solution coming--both the solution to Bethany's murder and who was behind it all. But again, that didn't detract from my enjoyment that much because the characters make the book. The story is so character-driven that it helps compensate for the flaws. ★★★★

First line: Bethany Waites understands there is no going back now.

She has read enough detective novels to know you must never trust a murder without a corpse. (p. .37)

Last line: You keep your head above the water for as long as you can.

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

Deaths = 4 (one stabbed; one shot; two natural)

Nemesis

 Nemesis (1971) by Agatha Christie (Read by Joan Hickson)

Several years ago Miss Jane Marple and Jason Rafiel shared a murderous adventure in the Caribbean. Miss Marple had shown up in Rafiel's room late one night with a pink wooly scarf around her neck and, in the persona of Nemesis, had asked him to help prevent another murder. When Rafiel began making plans to see justice done in another matter, he included Miss Marple (all unawares) in those plans. So, when Rafiel dies Miss Marple has an invitation to visit his solicitors where she will receive an unusual request through a letter he left with Mr. Broadribb:

Our code word, my dear lady, is Nemesis....I want you to investigate a certain crime. I have ordered a certain sum to be placed so that if you accept this request and as a result of your investigation this crime is properly elucidated, the money will become yours absolutely.

And that's pretty much all she's told about Rafiel's request. There's a crime to be investigated--either one that already occurred and justice was not done OR one that will occur and the wealthy businessman wanted to be sure justice would be done. The solicitor, Mr. Broadribb, knows no more about it than she does. 

She decides to take on the task and makes some tentative efforts to learn more about Mr. Rafiel's life (beyond what she knows from their brief encounter in the Caribbean). Her best bet is to try and find Rafiel's former employees and see what they can tell her. She meets, as if by accident, Rafiel's former secretary who tells her that there had been some scandal involving the businessman's son, but she knows little beyond the fact that there was a scandal. Miss Marple cannot find the valet/masseur who attended him and she begins to think her investigation will be over before it's barely begun when she receives two more communications.

The first is another letter from Rafiel telling her that since she's accepted his request, she will receive a second message in two days time. She does and it is from a tour company telling her that Mr. Rafiel had reserved a space for her on their Tour No. 37 of Famous Houses and Gardens in Britain. Miss Marple doesn't know if the purpose of the tour is to introduce her to one of her fellow passengers of to take her to a particular place where crime has happened...or will happen, but she is prepared to find out. She meets several people who are able to tell her more about the scandal surrounding Michael Rafiel. Two girls--including one named Verity that Michael supposedly love--disappeared several years ago. Verity was found strangled with her face beaten in. The other girl was never found. And Michael was convicted of Verity's murder. But when one of Miss Marple's fellow passengers is killed by a falling boulder, she decides that her job must be to find out the truth of Verity's death--because Miss Elizabeth Temple knew Verity and had told Miss Marple that she was on a pilgrimage to find out the truth as well?

This is one time that Dame Agatha didn't pull the wool over my eyes. I recognized the clues and picked up on the culprit right away. But that didn't detract from my enjoyment. Nemesis is enjoyable for a reason that normally doesn't attract me. Often I find when an author takes a favorite detective and places them outside their normal locale that I don't much care for the story (most of the Nero Wolfe stories that take him out of the brownstone for extended periods of time--Death of a Dude and The Black Mountain, for instance). But taking Miss Marple out of St. Mary Mead and placing her on the bus tour, put her at the center of the action for most of the novel and I liked that a lot. It was interesting to watch her go from having no idea what Jason Rafiel wanted her to investigate to picking up pieces bit by bit and finally fitting them all together. Excellent read. ★★★★

~~~One interesting note--in the novel, Rafiel promises Miss Marple 20,000 pounds if she successfully unravels the mystery and sees justice done. I watched the Marple episode with Geraldine McEwan after I finished the novel and among the changes made to the story was the reduction of the sum to a mere 500 pounds. I just wonder why they cheated Miss Marple out of 19,500 pounds of her inheritance?

First line: In the afternoon it was the custom of Miss Jane Marple to unfold her second newspaper.

Last line: "It must have been another of Mr. Rafiel's little jokes," said Mr. Broadribb.

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

Deaths = 7 (one natural; two plane crash; two poisoned; one strangled; one hit by boulder)

The Man in the Cellar

 The Man in the Cellar (1907; aka Amy's Cat) by Palle Rosenkrantz

Holger Nielson is a Danish lawyer and amateur criminologist on a three month holiday in London. Nielson may be a lawyer, but he has unusual ideas about law and order and justice. He has long thought that just because there is a crime it does not follow that the perpetrator is a criminal. During his stay in London, he wants to observe the British mode of justice and refine his ideas. He rents a house which he plans to share with his friend Dr. Jens Koldby who has given up his practice in favor of painting. The house is a bit more expensive than Nielson would have liked, but it is admirably set up with a well-lighted room that will be perfect as a studio for Koldby.

The men move in along with Madame Siverston, their housekeeper, and all goes well until both Nielson and Madame Siverston begin hearing odd noises from below. It sounds like a cat may be trapped and hungry in the basement. But when they investigate there is no trace of a cat. It isn't until the housekeeper is gone for the day that the men do a more intensive search and discover a cellar hidden below a concealed trap door. They find the cat...but they also find a long, sealed box that contains a dead man. A dead man whose face has been obliterated and whose clothes have had the tags removed. Contrary to his stated beliefs, Nielson's first thought is to go for the police. But Koldby tells him this is the chance to prove his theories of justice. Besides....they might be considered the prime suspects and they don't want to go to jail.

And so begins their amateur investigation. They discover that the previous owner of the house, a Major Johnson, has "gone to the colonies"--but there is some evidence that he may have never left and might be the man in the cellar. There is the question of who really owned the house--Major Johnson or a man named Throgmorton? There is also the chain around the cat's neck bearing the inscription "Amy's Puss" and a love note addressed to "James" and signed by Amy. Questions put to the realtor leads them to two Amys. The first is Miss Derry, the former fiancee of Major James Johnson. The second is Mrs. Weston, sister of Mr. Throgmorton, and there's rumors that Major Johnson was enamored with her. Did one of the Amys do away with Major Johnson because of love gone wrong? Or maybe Mrs. Weston or Major Johnson killed her husband to pave the way for a new relationship? The theories fly fast and furious and Nielson and Koldby wind up following Throgmorton and the Westons to Denmark in the search for more clues.

This is an interesting look at early Danish crime fiction. The writing still has elements of Victorian sensation novels, but there is also a Holmesian feel to the investigation with definite detection. Nielson as our lead is more Watson-like--he jumps from theory to theory as new information is found while Koldby brings him down to earth and reminds him that they don't have all the facts yet. The two do make a good team and I enjoyed watching Koldby poke holes in Nielson's theories. An intriguing mystery with some unorthodox detective work and a fairly satisfying ending. Without the sensation elements and the one rather contrived bit of coincidence once the men are back in Denmark, this would have been a four-star novel. ★★★ and 1/2 (rounded up on Goodreads & Amazon). If you are interested in the roots of Scandinavian crime before it became Nordic Noir or you're looking for a good mystery and don't mind a bit of Victorian melodrama and an element of coincidence, then I can definitely recommend this to you.

First line: "It is dirt cheap, sir, dirt cheap!"

And Mr. Anderson tried to look superior but failed because of his thin yellow mustache. (p. 3)

Of course, he knew that there was at least one cat in each house in London, all well-treated animals that enjoyed some kind of civil rights, under no constraint, and able to pass their lives day and night as they pleased. (p. 10)

Everyone has a right to ride his hobby horse if he does so only within his own four walls-- (p. 39)

Only in comedies and bad novels is the right thing said first. In life it is always the other way around. (Dr. Koldby; p. 104)

Last line: So, they found happiness and life together.

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

Deaths = 5 (one stabbed; one drowned; three natural)

 ~~~A pdf copy of the book was given to me as a review copy by Kazabo Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All comments are my own and I have received no payment of any kind.

Hemlock Hollow

 Hemlock Hollow (2022) by Culley Holderfield

When Caroline McAlister was young, her family would spend summers at their cabin in Hemlock Hollow. It was her mother's special place--she loved the mountains of Carolina. Late one night, when Caroline had two of her friends staying with her, she saw a figure standing at the end of the bed. He was a tall, sad-faced man in brown with a hat. She never quite knew for sure what she'd seen and she wasn't sure she believed in ghosts, but the memory stuck with her. Not long after that incident, her beloved mother died of cancer and she, her brother, and her father stopped coming to the cabin.

Years later, Caroline is college professor whose life seems to be coming apart. Her father has now died, her marriage has come to an end, and research for a new book has stalled. When she learns that her dad still owned that cabin in Hemlock Hollow and had left it to her, she goes to check it out. After years of disuse (and abuse from random squatters and "hippies") it is in desperate need of renovation and she hires Micah, a local general contractor, to oversee the job. There are still treasures among the clutter and debris--including a curio cabinet where Caroline would store her "archeological" finds (a professor in the making), some of the more practical furniture (a bed, a table, etc.), her grandmother's quilt, and...a metal box that Caroline has never seen before.

The box contains a journal written by Carson Quinn in the late 1800s. Quinn was suspected (but never arrested or tried) of the murder of his older brother, Thomas. The young men had grown up smitten with the same girl, but Thomas was the one she married. Because there were other suspects and no real proof, the murder was never solved. Caroline suspects that the sad-faced man who visited her that night long ago was Carson. As she begins reading the journal, she finds an intelligent, curious young man with a deep love of the natural world and especially the place called Hemlock Hollow. She finds it difficult to believe that the same young man who wrote this journal could be a killer and decides to investigate. The case may be cold, but her research skills are used to investigating the past. But the answer may not be as simple as she'd like.

This novel is a lovely mix of fact and fiction. Holderfield builds on the historical facts of life in the Carolinas in the troubled years after the Civil War and includes a rich mixture of characters that reflect the conflicted views of Southerners during the period. The Quinn family had a set of values that didn't always mesh with those of their neighbors, but for the most part they each, in their own way, stayed true to them. I loved the characters of Gramps, Carson's mother, and Carson. They are fully realized in Carson's journal and come to life as Caroline learns about the events that led up to the murder. Hemlock Hollow is just as much a character as these folks with the presence of the mountains and the trees and the secluded spots that Carson, his mother, Caroline, and her mother all love influencing events as much as the people do. And when Caroline finds that they will need to remove some of the trees sheltering the cabin (due to an insect infestation), the sudden sunshine falling on the cabin seems to indicate that the mystery is clearing and soon all will be revealed.

The identity of the murderer didn't come as a huge surprise to me, but Holderfield has woven such an interesting tale, told with emotional subtlety and a real sense of place, that it doesn't bother me. The detective fiction lover in me would have like Caroline to do more independent investigating and not have the solution given first in a seance with the ghost and then through one more written document from Carson (long after the journal ends), but the solution is satisfying and the story is compelling. A really nice piece of historical fiction. ★★★★

First line: The box wasn't much to look at.

In life people will say lots of things about you, some of it terrible and some of it wonderful. Cling to neither good nor bad, and you'll be fine. (Carson's mother; p. 201)

Last line: I sat back in the rocking chair and looked out over the hollow, lit differently now without the hemlocks, yet still somehow the same, ever haunted by the spirits of those who loved it and left it and returned.

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

Deaths = 6 (four natural; one shot)

 ~~~This book was given to me as a review copy by Regal House Publishing & Mindbuck Media in exchange for an honest review. All comments are my own and I have received no payment of any kind.

Cat Among the Pigeons

 Cat Among the Pigeons (1959) by Agatha Christie; read by Hugh Fraser

We open at the beginning of the summer term at Meadowbank, the British girls' school--the one every mother is anxious to get her girl into. Miss Bulstrode, the founding headmistress, is preparing to retire and name her successor. She watches with anticipation as the new group of girls arrive. These include Princess Shaista, a disconcertingly mature Middle Eastern princess; Julia Upjohn, a girl whose aunt has paid the fees so she can attend the exclusive school; and her new friend Jennifer Sutcliffe, who spent the summer in the Princess's kingdom of Ramat. There are also several new staff members in residence including the inquisitive new French instructor, the equally nosy new games mistress, and Miss Bulstrode's new secretary as well as a brand new sports pavilion that is the pride of the school.

Over the summer, there was a revolution in Ramat and Prince Ali Yusuf, the endangered ruler, had entrusted both his jewels and his life to his friend and pilot, Bob Rawlinson. Bob successfully concealed the glittering treasure amongst his sister and niece's possessions (that would be Jennifer and her mama) while they were away from their hotel room, but the two men perished when their plane crashed in the escape attempt. Rawlinson wasn't able to deliver a message indicating where the jewels were hidden, so no one knows their whereabouts. Or do they?

Not long after the school year begins, things take deadly turn when Miss Springer, the games mistress is found shot to death late one night in the new pavilion. What was she doing at the sports pavilion at one o'clock in the morning? And why would anyone want to shoot her? The police investigate, but cannot find anything of interest in the building--so, if there was anything then it was taken by Miss Springer's killer. The first death is followed by another (in the pavilion!) and a kidnapping. It isn't until Julia Upjohn is wise enough to figure out what the killer is looking for and then consults her aunt's friend Hercule Poirot that they are able to spot the "cat among the pigeons."

Dame Agatha never ceases to entertain. This book has it all...international espionage, missing jewels, kidnapping...and, of course, murder. It was truly delightful to take a break from James L. Swanson's Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer for a little mystery and mayhem in a British girls' school. Working at an educational institution myself, I always enjoy a good academic mystery. It's a bit disappointing that Poirot comes in late to the game, but when he does his little grey cells are firing on all cylinders and he soon gets right to the heart of the matter. I really liked Julia and the way she puts two and two together to solve part of the mystery. As always, Dame Agatha pulls off a bit of sleight of hand and had me suspecting the wrong person. One of these days, I'll guess correctly.  ★★★★

First line: It was the opening day of the summer term at Meadowbank school.

Last line: "A most unusual woman."

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

Deaths = 6 (two plane accident; two shot; two hit on the head)

Borkmann's Point

 Borkmann's Point (1994) by Häkan Nesser

Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is in the last days of his vacation when his boss calls him to ask if he'd like to stay in the area a little longer. There has been a violent murder in the nearby coastal town of Kaalbringen and the local police have requested some assistance. They're not used to brutal deaths...especially not ax murders. And there doesn't seem to be any connection between the two men who have died so far. Even when a third murder occurs after Van Veeteren in on the job, it's difficult to find a pattern or connections. The only thing the men have in common is that they have recently returned to Kaalbringen after living elsewhere. Things get more intense when Detective Beate Moerk disappears after telling a team member that she's noticed something "bizarre" and just wants to check something. The killer left the weapon at the site of the last murder...but does that mean he won't kill the detective too? Van Veeteren and the team must find the connections that will lead them to the killer before he decides he must kill again.

It took forever to get to the point where Nesser explained what the title had to do with anything. I started the book thinking that Borkmann's Point could have be a place. It wasn't. Borkmann was one of the few policemen that Van Veeteren respected. And Borkmann always maintained that "there comes a point beyond which we don't really need any more information. When we reach that point, we already know enough to solve the case by means of nothing more than some decent thinking. A good investigation should try to establish when that point has been reached, or rather, when it has been passed; in his memoirs, Borkmann went so far as to claim it was precisely this ability, or lack of it, which distinguishes a good detective from a bad one."

This is the second book in the series but the first one translated into English. It was a decent, middle-of-the-road mystery. Some parts were so excellently written/translated that I lost myself in the story while some parts seemed more stilted (whether from the translation or a carry-over from the original, I don't know). And some of the characters and scenes are well done. I especially liked Detective Moerk and Detective Münster. In fact, I think they might have made a more compelling lead team for the investigation. The final few chapters carry more action the rest of the book and wrap-up is handled well--if only the big reveal were really as surprising as intended. It wasn't a surprise to me. I knew where we were headed long before Van Veeteren did. And speaking of Van Veeteren...he's a bit full of himself. Says at one point that all he needs to do is look at a suspect and he'll know right away if he's the guilty party. Spoiler alert--by the end of the book he's been looking at the culprit for quite some time and didn't recognize the guilt until the very end. 

The actual detective work leaves a bit to be desired at times as well. Apparently, investigations consist of a great amount of time spent sitting around chatting about the case with the all the detective team members and eating pastries (policemen and doughnuts cliche, anyone?) or soaking in bathtubs and having deep thinking sessions. I'm giving this one ★★★...but maybe I should rethink that....

First line: Had Ernst Simmel known he was to be the Axman's second victim, he would no doubt have downed a few more drinks at The Blue Ship.

He'd been a police officer for thirty years--more than that--but no matter how hard he searched and ransacked his brain, he couldn't dig out a single ax murderer from the murky depths of his memory. (p. 12)

better make the most of everything that comes along. It looked suspiciously as if things might get more difficult. (p. 72)

Last line: What wouldn't one do for a decent glass of wine? Thought Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren as he started groping in the glove compartment for Penderecki.

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

Deaths = 8 (three killed by ax; two natural; one beaten to death; one blown up; one fell from height)

The Big Sleep

 The Big Sleep (1939) by Raymond Chandler

Introducing...Philip Marlowe. Chandler's first detective novel gives us the educated, streetwise private eye. A man who can handle himself, a gun, and all the dames and tough customers that life throws at him. In his debut on the investigation stage, Marlowe is hired to make the drop on a blackmail payoff for elderly General Guy Sternwood. But the detective is blunt and honest and he can't stand to see the old guy get bitten. 

As honest as you can expect a man to be in a world where it's going out of style.

So Marlowe takes on more than he's paid for and finds himself in the middle of murder spree that seems to have connections to the disappearance of Sternwood's ex-bootlegger son-in-law, Rusty Regan. He also tangles with the daughters--both of whom alternately seem to hate him and want him in their beds...but for all the wrong reasons.

I don't mind your showing me your legs. They're very swell legs and it's a pleasure to make their acquaintance. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bac. I grieve over them during the long winter nights.

Marlowe doesn't seem to fall into the mold of the hardboiled detective who jumps into bed with every dame that gives him the glad eye (even if he suspects she might be out for his blood). He keeps his head and his eye on the investigation. He's determined to find out what's really behind the blackmail...and, just maybe, find out what happened to Rusty Regan along the way.

"Hard-boiled, mean streets" detective novels aren't normally my thing. But I picked up this edition of the novel because it was a digest-size paperback and I love those. And Chandler is kind of a big deal in American detective fiction. I read it now because I needed a book that "everyone has read" and I chose to interpret that as the most people from my Facebook friends group. I presented them with a listchallenge with all the mysteries on my TBR pile (there are A LOT) and asked them to mark all the ones they had read--whichever book was marked the most would be the one. So here we are with The Big Sleep.

Marlowe is my kind of private eye--honest, courageous, and ready to help out an old man who wants to believe his daughters aren't as naughty as they really are. I enjoyed meeting Philip Marlowe and following him as he tried to get to the bottom of the blackmailing game. The mystery was well done and Chandler certainly knew how to handle language. I was right there on the mean streets with Marlowe and I believed every moment of it. A very good American private eye story. ★★★★

First line: It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills.

Last line: All they did was make me think of Silver-Wig, and I never saw her again.

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

Deaths = 5 (three shot; one drowned; one poisoned)

Holding

 Holding (2016) by Graham Norton

British talk show host Graham Norton serves up a mystery debut wrapped in dark comedy. Set in the small Irish village of Duneen; a village where nothing happens and the local Garda Sergeant P. J. Collins has nothing to do but issue traffic tickets and investigate minor break-ins. That is...until the day contractors are digging up the old Burke farm to make way for new construction and human remains are found. Now Collins has to work with a detective inspector from Cork ("he was an awful prick") to find out if the remains are those of Tommy Burke who disappeared about seventeen years ago. Everyone always said that Tommy left town on the bus to London. But no one actually admits to being the one who saw him go.

Digging up the past unearths secrets long hidden and resentments that have simmered since the day Brid Riordan (then Tommy's bride-to-be) and Evelyn Ross (who thought she was the woman in Tommy's life) had a knock-down, drag-out fight in the middle of town. Collins is desperate to solve the case--his first case of any importance--and prove that he really is doing something worthwhile. But when DNA tests come back and say that the remains are no relation to the Burkes interest in the case dies down. But then an older set of bones are found and the questions they raise are even more intriguing...

Norton gives us a very good look at life in small town Ireland. He deals with love, loss, alcoholism, relationships, and feelings of inadequacy--from Collins to the "prick" to the women in the life of Tommy Burke. He also gives us a pretty decent debut mystery. He could have spent a little more time developing more of the characters, but I did find myself rooting very hard for Sergeant Collins to solve his first big case. My primary complaint--the identity of the culprit was pretty obvious to me. If that hadn't been the case, I could have easily bumped the rating up. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: It was widely accepted by the residents of Duneen that, should a crime be committed and Sergeant Collins managed to apprehend the culprit, it would be very unlikely that the arrest had involved a pursuit on foot.

Last line: The last piece of bread was forgotten.

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

Deaths = 6 (three natural; one hanged; one hit on head; one drowned)