The Haunted Lady: Review

Whatever this case promised, she thought--and it seemed to promise quite a bit--there was no violence indicated. She was wrong of course.... (p. 20)

Mary Roberts Rinehart is considered the mother of the HIBK (Had I But Known) school of mystery writing where the main character and/or narrator (frequently female) proceeds throughout the story in a manner which has the effect of prolonging the action of the novel. The Circular Staircase (1908) was her first novel written in this vein and The Haunted Lady (1942) is full of all sorts of HIBK foreshadowing.

...days later she was to see the importance of that bag; to see its place in the picture. (p.40)

Nurse Hilda Adams, known affectionately as Miss Pinkerton to her friend and sometime employer Inspector Fuller, is called in to keep an eye on the elderly Eliza Fairbanks. Miss Fairbanks has gone to the police with a story of intimidation and attempted murder. Someone has been putting bats and rats in her bedroom and sprinkling arsenic on her strawberries. She is sure that someone is trying to scare her to death...and if that doesn't work, perhaps take more effective measures. Her family thinks she may have gone a bit batty herself, but Nurse Adams soon proves her patient to be perfectly sane. She herself finds a bat and a rat in Miss Fairbanks' apparently sealed room and hears mysterious noises coming from the patient's room as well as other portions of the house. She arranges to sit outside the room every night to keep Miss Fairbanks safe. But to little avail...

That evening, Wednesday, June the eleventh, Marian left the house, bag and baggage....And only a few nights later her mother was murdered as she lay asleep in her bed. (p. 81) 

The inhabitants of the house--from Miss Fairbanks' children, their spouses, and her granddaughter to the servants--as well as the doctor (who is in love with the granddaughter) all have an interest in the lady's death. And each in their own way are behaving oddly--running around the house and grounds at night; sealing up windows and painting after the woman's death; finding themselves scared out their wits and denying it all....

Later Hilda was to know that Susie had done a superb piece of acting that night; that she had been frightened almost out of her senses when she came racing up the stairs. (p. 109) 

On the surface Nurse Adams gives every appearance of a straightforward investigation--peering into dark corners, checking up on mysterious noises, examining the rooms and belongings of various family members, and reporting her findings to Inspector Fuller. But he knows "Miss Pinkerton" too well and believes that she's keeping information back--"If I thought you have any pets around hear and are protecting them, I'd--I'd turn you over my knee." He should...she is at the very least not telling everything she knows whether to protect someone or innocently thinking it not important:

She tucked it away in her memory, however, to wonder later if she should have told it. If it would have changed anything, or altered the inevitable course of events. (153)

Even with Nurse Adams on the spot and gathering up clues, it takes another death--this time of the maid--before Fuller and Miss Pinkerton can put everything together. She finally figures out who put the animals in the room and why, how a radio might play by itself, how a flimsy piece of rope tied to a shutter figures in, what was kept in the cupola, and what the maid knew--and it all points to one person.

Rinehart is an expert at atmosphere--the Fairbanks house is creepy at night and the inhabitants are all a bit eccentric (to put it mildly). And she ties up her murder mystery quite tidily--although I'm a bit unsure about the culprit. Not because I don't believe in the motivation, but I'm not sure that I see how they could have done it.  Spoiler (highlight apparent blank area if you don't mind a reveal): The person in question was given a hypodermic of sleeping medication and was supposedly out for the count. If it had been a pill, I could see her pretending to take it and pretending to be asleep. How do you get out of having had an injection?

But overall, an excellent read and an excellent example of Rinehart's style of mystery. 
★★★★

This fulfills the "Woman in the Title" square and completes two Bingos on the Golden Vintage Bingo card. Linda at Philly Reader has also read The Haunted Lady for the challenge. Be sure to check out her review as well.
 

Appleby's Answer: Review

Rather a tiresome man. But it does seem extravagant to propose to murder him. (p. 84)

But it begins to look like that may be what is in store for Sir Ambrose Pinkerton in Appleby's Answer by Michael Innes (John Innes MacKintosh [J.I.M.] Stewart; 1973). It all begins with Priscilla Pringle, well-known author of clerical  murder mysteries, and a train ride with Captain Bulkington. Miss Pringle notices with pleasure that Bulkington is reading one of her novels. When the captain realizes he is sharing the compartment with the author herself, he tries to interest her in collaborating with him on a novel and offers her 500 pounds to do so. But the longer he talks, the odder she thinks he is as he tries to pick her brain on various devious murder methods and she parts from him at the train station without promising anything.

She and her fellow author, Barbara Vanderpump, discuss the incident on the way to the Diner Dupin, an annual banquet for detective novelists where a certain retired Scotland Yard man by the name of Sir John Appleby will be the honored guest and special speaker. Miss Vanderpump, having more romantic leanings in her fiction, suggests that the captain might be romantically inclined and it wouldn't hurt to indulge him--"it might be a matter of doing something kind." Miss Pringle is none too sure about that, but resists her friend's suggestion that if she feels that disturbed about the captain then she ought to share the incident with their distinguished guest.

Next thing we know, Miss Pringle ventures into the captain's territory, ostensibly because she has heard that the last rector of the village died under mysterious circumstances and she wonders if there might be background material for her next novel. She meets up with the captain and actually strikes a deal with him to discuss--by post--possibilities for a murder mystery. As things advance, she soon learns that very similar incidents are happening to Sir Ambrose Pinkerton, despised neighbor of Captain Bulkington. Sir John, who comes upon portions of the story by chance, is also curious about the odd events in Long Canings and helps the local Inspector--Graves by name--to unravel the lethal puzzle.

Innes's situational humor and witty prose are the high points of this novel. The fun he pokes at detective novelists (and to an extent romantic novelists) alone is worth the price of admission. And there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had in Miss Pringle's visit to Long Canings's church services (the great battle of Hymn 203 vs. Hymn 302). There is, unfortunately, very little detecting going on here. Sir John and Lady Appleby are delightful characters, but most of his insights into the goings-on at Long Canings would seem to be inspirational and intuitive rather than deductive. There are very few clues to point the reader in the direction of his reasoning. But the twist at the end is a good one nonetheless.

The book succeeds because of Innes's descriptive powers and his finely drawn characters. The understated rivalry between the Misses Pringle and Vanderpump; the contrasting characters of the Captain's two tutoring charges; the interactions between Miss Pringle and various of Long Canings's inhabitants; and the interplay between Sir John and Lady Appleby as they encounter the folk of Long Canings as well. This all makes for a delightful read and more than makes up for any deficiencies in the mysterious quality. ★★★

This fulfills the "Pseudonymous Author" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.

Murder on Mike: Review

H. Paul Jeffers' Murder on Mike is like a two-for-one deal in the Vintage Bingo Challenge. Published in 1984, it qualifies for Bev's eccentric Silver Age time frame, but it is set in 1930s New York, so the time period is absolutely Golden.  Hmmm. Perhaps a historical vintage square is in order for next year?

It is circa 1939 and a few days before Christmas. The scene: a Radio City studio, the recording site for the popular Detective Fitzroy's Casebook radio show. Only this time Fitzroy (aka Derek Worthington, star and producer) won't be solving the crime because he is the victim. Worthington is found shot to death in the studio during a rehearsal break. The main clue? The gunshot was heard over an open mike by a Radio City tour group--giving the police an exact time for the murder. And it would seem that everyone connected with the show has an ironclad alibi for the entire break period...except for the announcer David Reed. 

Reed had previously had a rather public altercation with Worthington in which he threatened to kill the star. So when the announcer is the only one who can't produce an alibi, the police are ready to believe they have their man. Reed's girlfriend, Maggie, refuses to believe him guilty and approaches private detective Harry MacNeil to prove the police wrong. When MacNeil starts digging, he finds that everyone connected with the show had a reason to hate the womanizing Worthington--actresses he had loved and dropped; co-stars he was leaving behind for Hollywood; members of the show who might find themselves out of work. But there's still that pesky problem of alibis all round....MacNeil is ready to tell Maggie there just isn't another solution when the tour guide disappears and he finally sees another ending to "Detective Fitzroy's" last case.

This is a pleasant retro-mystery which takes us back to New York City before the United States entered World War II. Even though MacNeil used to be a cop, he's less of a tough guy than most of the private eyes from the era and follows a more straight-forward sleuthing style. He's a likeable character and fun to follow through the story. One of the major points of the solution is telegraphed early and often and it is a bit unbelievable that MacNeil doesn't pick up on it sooner. The plot also plays off of a very famous device by an extremely well-known mystery author. It's one of those tricks that once it's been done, it doesn't come off well again--except maybe in obvious parody. The ending would have been much more satisfying if Jeffers had offered up a different solution. But overall--a nice nostalgia piece which does a good job of recreating 1930s NYC. ★★★ and a half--with the ending keeping it from a full four stars.

This fulfills the "Entertainment" square and a fifth Bingo on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.

Only a Matter of Time: Mini-Review

Dr. R. V. Davie, professor of poetry and sometime amateur detective, has come to Kings Lacey for its annual festival featuring a bit of opera, a bit of jazz-inspired poetry (or is that poetry-inspired jazz), and a bit of madrigal singing. He didn't expect to land himself in the middle of a bit of murder as well. But on the Friday afternoon, the directors of Bexminster Electronics gathered for a top-secret meeting to discuss the dates for the roll-out of their next electronic masterpiece. By Saturday night, Robert Copplestone, one of the men in the meeting was dead.

Robert had two passions in life--he loved fine china and he was a champion of honesty and truth. So when he was browsing in a local antique shop and just happened to find a company secret tucked into the teapot in a pretty little gold and white tea service, he rushed to phone a trusted board member with the news. But someone made certain that Robert never got a chance to share the secret. When the owner of the antique shop also winds up dead--killed in a similar fashion--Dr. Davie can't help but get involved. He had become friends with Jiri Vanasek and he needed to help find his killer. But will Dr. Davie be able to discover the false clue hidden among the true ones?

Only a Matter of Time is the third of five detective novels written by V. C. (Victor Vaughan Reynolds Geraint Clinton) Clinton-Baddeley featuring the scholarly amateur detective. I have to admit to a bit of disappointment with this one--I felt as though the culprit had a huge neon arrow pointing at her/him the entire time. And there really wasn't much attempt to muddy the waters at all--as soon as Dr. Davie started burbling on about the "false clue" and what kept bothering him, it was pretty obvious who must have done it. There was also another clue--something that I thought must have been done on purpose (although Clinton-Baddeley really didn't explain it that way) that first drew my attention to Mr./Ms. X. I kept hoping that perhaps there would be a final twist (there was the teensiest bit of a hint of one) to make things interesting...but, alas.  

A bit of a let-down from my beloved academic mystery sub-genre. Clinton-Baddley does a much better job with mystification in the rest of the series--particularly the first (Death's Bright Dart) and final (To Study a Long Silence). I did enjoy the characters, especially Miss Jesmond, the Bexminster company's confidential secretary, and Dr. Davies is always a delight.  ★★ and a half for a less than best effort.

This fulfills the "Amateur" square and my fourth Bingo on the Silver Vintage Bingo Card.

Death on Allhallowe'en: Review

He could believe that people led stealthy lives, obeying strange impulses and beliefs. Though mystery could belong as much to brightly lighted streets and conventional citizens, there was something in an atmosphere like this, the chilly river mist and the desolate landscape. (p. 19)

Carolus Deene, that intrepid amateur detective who uses the same techniques to unravel mysteries as he uses to unravel history for the schoolboys at Queen's School, Newminster, is invited to investigate the odd "goings on" at a small Kentish village. If it weren't for his long-standing friendship with John Stainer, the rector of Clibburn, he would never credit the tales of eerie atmosphere, local witchcraft, and undefinable evil. But when Stainer says, "I'll tell you candidly--I'm frightened" he believes him. And he understands when Stainer goes on to say

Listen Carolus, I'm not a fool, and I'm not superstitious. Obviously I don't believe in black magic or witchcraft or anything of the sort. That's to say I don't believe in what they represent. But I do believe that there are people who practise the rites, and I think such people are dangerous.

Carolus also takes seriously the death of a small boy who may have seen or actually been forced to participate in one of these rites. So, he agrees to come and put his amateur detective talents to work on discovering the true source of evil in Clibburn.

His task isn't an easy one. Stainer has lived in Clibburn for three years and still hasn't truly been accepted as the new rector. The residents, as often seems to be the case--especially in fiction, don't take well to "foreigners" and Carolus finds it difficult to get the villagers to give him much in the way of information. Fortunately, he's adept at reading between the lines and often what they aren't telling him is just as instructive as what they do. 

He know he's getting close when the local "witch" tries to scare him off and then someone arranges for a telegram regarding the hospitalization of Mrs. Stick, his long-time housekeeper, to be delivered in a further effort to get him out of the way. Despite the trick, he manages to be present when a local figure is shot to death in a room full of people on the stroke of midnight. Once Carolus discovers how and by whom, he has the answers to both the boy's death and that of another, yet unsuspected, murder.

While I always enjoy Leo Bruce's detective fiction, Death on Allhawe'en (1970) is to be noted for its difference from the majority of the Carolus Deene books. It removes Carolus from the influence of both his domestic couple and the headmaster of Queen's School--each of whom constantly cast a disapproving eye on his detective antics while secretly loving every minute of the delicious tale when Carolus holds forth in the wrap-up scenes. We are also spared the frequently annoying presence of his schoolboy tag-along. What we get is straight Carolus on the track of village nastiness.

Bruce effectively describes the claustrophobic atmosphere of a village that keeps itself too much to itself while appearing to take local traditions and witchcraft much too seriously. Full marks for the mise-en-scène. Two things keep this mystery from being a full-fledged four-star read for me: 1. Lack of fair play. Carolus gives a fair impression of Holmes in the final scenes. He discovers vital evidence in a bank strong box, but keeps the clues close to his chest. There isn't any real way for the reader to guess what he's found and be able to fully understand the mystery. 2. The death of the young boy. While what really happened to the boy is not fully described (thankfully), I still get very squeamish when young children are involved. But that's a personal qualm--not necessarily a fault in the story-telling. ★★★ and a half stars.

This fulfills the "Spooky Title" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.

Quotes:
Only someone born and bred in Great Britain understands the attraction of all we mean by tea, he thought; not just the infusion that we drink, but the happy associations of it, fireside in winter, sometimes in the garden in summer. He had a pleasant sense of being cosily shut in here from the murky evening and all that was forbidding and dangerous in the night. (p. 22)

"Yes, I think you've got me all wrong, old chap," he [Connor Horseman] said to Carolus. "You detectives see sinister things where none exist."
    If there was one thing Carolus disliked more than being called a detective it was being addressed as "old chap." (p. 29)

What is reasonable to one person may not be so to another. We all have our standards. (Alice Murrain; p. 37)

The Labors of Hercules: Review

In the Labors of Hercules (1947), Hercule Poirot is visited by his friend Dr. Burton who winds up remarking upon Poirot's unusual given name and is aghast when he finds that the detective has never read the classical stories about Hercules. When the talk moves on to Poirot's intended retirement, a comparison comes up between him and the twelve labors of Hercules. Poirot is interested and has Miss Lemon get him books on the classic hero. At first he is appalled by this hero--"Take this Hercules--this hero, Hero indeed! What was he but a large muscular creature of low intelligence and criminal tendencies!...No, Poirot shook his head, if that was the Greeks' idea of a hero, then measured by modern standards it certainly would not do." He is dismayed by Hercules lack of order, lack of method. But then the order and method of fulfilling his own twelve labors begins to appeal to him and he sets off on his own heroic journey. {Synopsis of his twelve tasks below.}

This was a fun collection of stories and built very nicely upon the twelve labors conceit. The only unfortunate part is that in order to fulfill his tasks, Poirot had to travel a bit more than usual, but all things considered it is impressive how many of the stories did manage to stay close to home for our detective. As a bonus for me, I got to read this in the pictured volume--one of my little pocket-size editions. ★★★★

"The Nemean Lion": Miss Lemon points Poirot to his first Herculean task. Is a missing Pekingese dog really a labor worthy of a classical hero? Poirot is ready to say no...but there is something that intrigues him about the request.

"The Lyrnaean Hydra": Poirot must defeat the many-headed hydra of village gossip--before it destroys the reputation of Dr. Oldfield.

"The Arcadian Deer": Poirot is called upon to trace a beautiful young woman who disappeared like a deer in a forest.

"The Erymanthian Boar": Planning to take a short break after his last task, Poirot is asked by an old friend to help capture a Parisian gangster who is rumored to be headed to a remote Swiss hotel.

"The Augean Stables": Poirot uses a river of scandal to divert attention from a more serious scandal that threatens the British Prime Minister.

"The Stymphalean Birds": Poirot saves a trusting young man from the clutches of a couple of harpies.

"The Cretan Bull": A young man breaks off his engagement...claiming that he must because of the insanity that runs in his family. The young woman asks Poirot to prove that her beloved doesn't have anything to worry about. But Poirot finds out that isn't precisely true....

"The Horses of Diomedes": Poirot is asked to investigate who is encouraging a young woman to become part of the cocaine party scene...the answer is quite surprising.

"The Girdle of Hyppolita": What do a missing painting and a missing schoolgirl have to do with one another? Papa Poirot knows.

"The Flock of Geryon": Miss Carnaby (from the first story) comes to Poirot out of concern for her friend--who has gotten herself  mixed up with a cult. Poirot depends on Miss Carnaby's courage to bring the con man...and possible murderer to justice. But what if Miss Carnaby succumbs to the Master's message?

"The Apples of Hesperides": A rich collector asks Poirot to discover what happened to his emerald apple-encrusted goblet...a goblet he won at auction but never actually possessed. It's been missing for ten years, can Poirot follow such a cold trail? Mais oui!

"The Capture of Cerberus": Poirot meets an old acquaintance, the Countess Vera Rossakoff, quite by chance in the underground and manages to find her in "Hell." No...not there. At her nightclub with the devilish name--guarded by the dog Cerberus himself. It isn't long before Poirot discovers that there are quite devilish things going on--jewelry being stolen and drug-dealing. The Countess has been involved with jewels before, but has his charming old friend stooped to dope-dealing. Inspector Japp thinks so...but Poirot doesn't believe it.

This fulfills the "Short Story Collection" square and gives me Bingos #9 & #10 on the Golden Vintage Bingo card.

Quotes:
The classics aren't a ladder leading to quick success, like a modern correspondence course! It's not a man's working hours that are important--it's his leisure hours. That's the mistake we all make. (Dr. Burton; p. 6)

[about Poirot's intended retirement hobby--raising vegetable marrows]
But seriously Poirot, what a hobby! Compare that to--his voice sank to an appreciative purr--an easy chair in front of a wood fire in a long low room lined with books--must be a long room--not a square one. Books all round one. A glass of port--and a book open in your hand. Time rolls back as you read. (Dr. Burton; p.7)

DCO: I don't know how to fight this--this vile network of lies and suspicion. How can you refute what is never said openly to your face? I am powerless--trapped--and slowly mercilessly being destroyed,
HP: Yes. Rumor is indeed the nine-headed Hydra of Lernea which cannot be exterminated because as fast as one head is cropped off two grow in its place.
~Dr. Charles Oldfield; Hercule Poirot
"The Lernean Hydra" (p. 36)

The man obviously wanted to tell him something--and as obviously had lost the art of simple narration. Words had become to him a means of obscuring facts--not of revealing them. He was an adept in the art of the useful phrase--that is to say, the phrase that falls soothingly on the ear and is quite empty of meaning. ~"The Augean Stables" (p. 97)

You might start a new religion yourself with the creed: There is no one so clever as Hercule Poirot, Amen, D.C. Repeat ad lib! 
~Inspector Japp
"The Flock of Geryon" (p. 200)

Winner! Mountaineering Checkpoint #3

After a busy day at work, I now realize that it's time to find a winner for the Checkpoint prize.  So....without further ado, I will just plug in the random number generator and enter in the parameters....and the lights flash and webpage whirs and we get  (drum roll, please).....Link #7!  That means that TracyK @ Bitter Tea and Mystery is our winner!  Congratulations, TracyK!  I'll be contacting you soon with the prize list.

Thanks to everyone for participating in the check-in.  I enjoy seeing your progress so far. Thanks as well to all climbers for joining me in scaling those Mount TBR heights.  Good luck in the last leg!

Lament for a Maker: Mini-Review

Lament for a Maker (1938) would seem--from ratings on Goodreads and in the opinion of such fellow mystery writers as Nicholas Blake and Michael Gilbert--to be considered one of Michael Innes' best books. While I will agree that the mystery itself is quite nicely twisty and surprising, the journey he takes the reader on to get to that brilliant, twisty ending is a rather arduous one. The tale is told through the narratives of various characters--five in all, including his detective John Appleby--and wading through the Scots dialect of the opening narrative nearly put me off entirely. There is also a bit too much extraneous detail about matters that don't really move the story along to suit me.

At the heart of the book is the death of the eccentric recluse Ranald Guthrie the laird of Erchany who falls from the ramparts of his castle on a wild winter night. Suspicion initially rests on the young man who wished to marry Guthrie's niece, but the stories told by each of our narrators prove that there is more to the events of Christmas Eve than meets the eye. Did Guthrie commit suicide in the hopes of ruining the young man? Who was the shadowy figure seen by Miss Guthrie, the American cousin? Why was Guthrie's man Hardcastle looking for the Doctor when Miss Guthrie and Noel Gylby (stranded travelers in a snowstorm) approached Erchany? It will take the narratives of five people involved in the mystery to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Each time Appleby thinks the picture has been completed, another handful of puzzle pieces are brought to the table.

Worth reading for the mystery itself, but not, to my mind, one of Innes' absolute best. I've rated Death at the President's Lodgings, The Weight of the Evidence, and The Long Farewell each higher. I did enjoy being fooled by the final twist and I found the narrative threads by Noel Gylby and Appleby to be the most entertaining. Overall:  ★★★


This fulfills the "Pseudonymous Author" square on the Golden Vintage Bingo Square and gives me an eighth Bingo. Michael Innes is the pen name of J. I. M. (John Innes MacKintosh) Stewart a Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930-35 and, later, a Professor at Oxford.

 

Death by Hitchcock: Review Request

Death by Hitchcock is the second Edwina Goodman mystery by Elissa D. Grodin. Edwina is a physics professor at Cushing College who manages to spend her spare time helping the attractive Police Detective Will Tenney investigate murders that pop up on campus. This time we have local femme fatale Bunny Baldwin murdered in the bathroom on opening night of the Hitchcock Film Festival. Bunny is a graduate student in the Film Studies Department at Cushing--though it is a bit of mystery how she got there. Her research time seems to be spent on the latest fashions and her latest conquests rather than on the ins and outs of film study. 

Bunny had been planning to run off to California with Chaz Winner, current head of Film Studies. But someone put a stop to those plans--strangling Bunny, tying a strip of film around her head, and stuffing her into an empty stall. There are plenty of suspects to be found--from Winner's spurned wife to Bunny's roommate, Mary Buttery, who may be seeking revenge for a stolen screenplay to an odd older woman by the name of Honeysuckle blessing with her own plans for the head of Film studies to resident film studies genius Milo Marcus who might have been playing knight-errant and removing Bunny on Mary's behalf.

Edwina helps Will sift through the alibis and the departmental connections and finally uses a bit of physics know-how to spot the killer.

Here I am having looked forward to an academic mystery and finding myself let down again--not quite as badly as by the previous read, but still. And not only let down by the mystery itself, but the title was a real hook and then it wound up that the Hitchcock theme really didn't play a huge role. Yes, Bunny was killed at the Hitchcock festival...but that really didn't have much to do with anything. The murder could have taken place anywhere. There was so much that Grodin could have done with the Hitchcock tie-in...but she didn't. I was also disappointed by the quality of the writing. Since this was a second novel, I was expecting Grodin to have her writing legs under her. Scenes and conversations were very choppy with very little narrative flow and sometimes little development (a chapter that took up less than half a page??). It was very difficult to settle down into the story when it seemed like we were constantly jumping about.

On the positive side: I really enjoyed Edwina and Will and their developing relationship. They work well together and the best scenes were theirs. They are very engaging characters and I think if the narrative stuck with them instead of following various characters for short, choppy scenes then the book would have worked much better for me. The mystery is fairly well plotted although I'm not entirely convinced by the motive. It's possible that if the suspects characters had been fleshed out a bit more that it would make more sense. 

Loving academic mysteries as I do, I would be willing to give the series another try in a future installment--in the hopes that there would be better overall characterization and narrative flow. ★★ and a half stars for this outing...leaning more toward two than three.

[Disclaimer: My review policy is posted on my blog, but just to reiterate....The book was offered to me for impartial review  and I have received no payment of any kind. All comments are entirely my own honest opinion.]

Attention Vintage Mystery Fans: The October 8 Challenge

Noah, Golden Age Detection (GAD) aficionado and participant in my Vintage Mystery Challenge, has been bitten by the challenge-sponsor bug. In honor of his and a friend's birthday, he has put together the October 8 Challenge. A fiendish Bingo-style reading challenge designed to encourage us to read, think about, and write about GAD fiction in new and exciting ways--as well as to compete for glory and prizes.  I'm in! I'm going to commit to one Bingo by next October and at least one essay by the end of the year to claim it for my 2014 challenges. Please join us. Click on the link for Noah's full post and to let him know you'd like to play along.

Here are the basic rules:

The challenge will run from October 8, 2014 to October 8, 2015. He will keep track of any essay submitted as an entry in this challenge and will collect them at his blog.

On October 8, 2015, He’ll be asking all interested parties (contributors and my readers) to select essays that they feel were best. The three participants who receive the most applause will each receive a small token of his esteem; a collectible paperback from his large collection.

You can create a line of four squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The idea of a “Bingo” was selected to stimulate you to get some work done, not to make you write something in which you’re relatively uninterested; He’d rather see one great essay than four ordinary ones. The other criteria:

• Each group of books must represent the work of at least two different authors.
• Each group of books must contain at least three volumes.
• Volumes of collected shorter stories are welcome as long as all the stories fit the selected criterion.
• Ambiguous words like “theme” or “location” are meant to be interpreted generously.
• The books you select should, generally speaking, have been published before 1950. Please don’t misuse the privilege, but if a book written after 1950 directly relates to your chosen theme, feel free to include it as part of the group. The primary focus should still be upon GAD books and authors. (I expect that A-1, about a single series character with multiple authors, will almost always include books written after 1950.)

And the Bingo card:

Square 4C: Written in the 1940s (11/18/14)
Square 3B: Just a Girl Detective [linked by a theme] (2/18/15)
Square 4B: Written in the 1930s (5/25/15) 
Square 2B: Trains & Murder in the Golden Age [location] (5/26/15)
Square 1B: The Detection Club [inter-related personal lives] (9/8/15)

The Witch's Grave: Mini-Review

The Witch's Grave by Philip DePoy is definitely not my usual fare. I thought it might be...after all it features folklorist and academic Fever Devilin. And we all know that I love me an academic mystery. Problem is Devilin and his friend Andrews neither one really strike me as the academic type. I'm left wondering how either one of them got their job at a university. But that's a side issue. Let's get down to cases and give a brief run-down of the plot.

Devilin, a native of the Georgia Appalachians, has recently returned home to do research aAmongst the people of Blue Mountain. When he's not getting involved in murder mysteries, he's recording folk songs and stories passed down in the families of the area. In this second book of the series he gets drawn into the murder of the local mortician, Harding Pinehurst. Pinehurst's body is found after a church supper--a supper that saw Able Carter and his fiancee, Truevine Deveroe, arguing over some "investigation" that Carter was doing which involved her family. Pinehurst happens to be a cousin of the Deveroe family. When Truevine and Able come up missing, folks suspect that Carter must have killed the mortician and Truevine's drunken, gun-toting brothers are afraid that Carter may have made away with Truevine as well. They are on the warpath and out for Carter's blood.

The discovery of half-buried bodies near the mortuary reveal Pinehurst's secret, but not who really killed him. Devilin must use the stories from the past--including his own--and an insight into the peculiar ways of the Blue Mountain folk to identify a unlikely killer. A killer in a world where the old ways hold sway and modern witches can still cast spells.

True Confession Time: I did not read every bit of this book. I read my personal quota for determining whether to continue with a book or not, then skimmed so I could have a general idea of the plot and finished up by reading the last two chapters. This is definitely not my cup of tea. I'm not a huge fan of inserting the paranormal into my mysteries anyway--but it just really didn't seem to have a point here. It wasn't used effectively for atmosphere, was used half-heartedly for motive, and didn't do a thing for me. Inserting Devilin's friend Andrews (on vacation) into the mix seemed pretty pointless as well. The story-telling was flat and the characters weren't interesting or compelling. The central plot--the murder--was explained pretty effectively--the only highlight I can find in the mix. However, there are a mass of four-star ratings for this one on Goodreads, so your mileage may vary. As for me... ★ and out of the house it goes.

Red Cross Book Fair: Day 2

Image Credit

Or the Red Cross Book Fair.... Yes, dear readers, I went back. And got more. Just how many more total is still in question--because, you never know, I might go back again tomorrow. Let's just say that Heather and Kristal no longer are the closest....

But you know what? Today's visit to the Book Fair is not my fault. No, really! It's not. It's my husband's fault. He wanted to take his 1966 Corvair for a spin. And the fairgrounds were handy....and he wanted to see if they had any business books or comic books that he just had to have (they did--twelve comic books!). I had to go and keep him company.  

Oh...and while I was there...well...it didn't hurt to have another look through the tables just in case I missed a treasure or two. Right?  Okay...I missed twelve treasures. Here they are:

Mysteries
Lament for a Lady Laird by Margot Arnold (paperback)
Crime for Christmas by Richard Dalby, ed (hardback)
The Killing of Katie Steelstock by Michael Gilbert (paperback)
The Riddle of the Traveling Skull by Harry Stephen Keeler (reprint hardback)
Murder at Teatime by Stefanie Matteson (paperback)
A Tasty Way to Die by Janet Laurence (1st edition, hardback; but ex-library)
The Bachelors of Broken Hill by Arthur W. Upfield (paperback)
Death of a Swagman by Arthur W. Upfield (paperback)
Man of Two Tribes by Arthur W. Upfield (paperback)
Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich (paperback)
 

Non-Mysteries
Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope (paperback)
World's Best Science Fiction: 1966 by Donald A Wollheim & Terry Carr, eds (Ace Pocket-Size Edition)
 

Blood on the Stars: Review

I'm back in the hard-boiled game again...it's my go-to genre for "out of my comfort zone" reads--especially when it comes to a mystery category. I've found that the Brett Halliday series with Mike Shayne, private eye, works better for me than most. Yes, we have the tough-talking detective, the curvy dames, and the over-the-top bad guys, but Halliday also puts together a pretty good standard mystery plot. There are clues and red herrings and a real puzzle to figure out--not just tough talk and shoot-em-ups and the bad guys knocking our hero around. 

Blood on the Stars (1948) has Shayne returning to Miami after a two-year hiatus in New Orleans. He hasn't even quite decided if he's going to put out shingle and get involved in the Florida detective business again when fate makes the choice for him. He and his new secretary-heading-towards girlfriend stop by a well-respected jewelry shop to look into an upgrade on her strand of synthetic pearls. They are just in time to witness a wealthy westerner, Mark Dustin, drop almost $200,000 on a star ruby bracelet for his wife. Shayne himself drops a few remarks about insurance and insurance adjusters and the next thing he knows, Dustin has landed him right in the middle of a jewel heist, murder, and another round of traded insults with police detective chief Peter Painter. 

Celia Dustin receives the bracelet just in time to wear it to a gala concert at the White Temple. She and her husband dress appropriately--for both the function and to display the rubies to their best advantage--and hop in their car to head to the White Temple. They never make it. A black limo forces them off the road, three masked men hold them up at gun point, take both the bracelet and a wad of cash in Dustin's pocket, and give Dustin a slashed cheek and broken hand as souvenirs when he gets a little too frisky in defense of his property. The Dustins return to the hotel and call in the police. Enter Peter Painter: as soon as he hears the complete story from purchase to theft and realizes that Shayne is involved--no matter how slightly--he demands the private eye's presence.

In fact, it's really Painter who pushes Shayne back into the private eye business--practically daring him to find the bracelet just so he can arrest Shayne for being involved. With a challenge like that, how can Shayne resist? After hearing the details of the hold-up from Dustin, Shayne heads out to well-remembered haunts to try and get a lead on stones. And gets beaten up for his trouble. The odd thing is that--given the rarity of the rubies and the fact that cutting up star rubies will make them lose the bulk of their value--the thieves ought to be looking to arrange a deal to get the stones back to the insurance. But nobody seems to want to discuss star rubies or rewards with him. When his secretary is involved in a near-fatal attack and then someone does commit a murder, Shayne is quite sure that there is more to this jewel robbery than meets the eye. The difficulty will be figuring out who really benefits if the gems are never recovered.

This is a fun ride for any mystery lover and I would expect those who favor the hardboiled school to especially enjoy this one. Halliday can write and he delivers the tough-guy detective very effectively. I have a good time each time I grab one of the Halliday books from my shelf and I'm glad I have the Mike Shayne books to read when I need to go outside my Golden Age and cozy mystery boundaries. I'm sure part of the reason I do so well with them is that he behaves more in the classic detective mode than most in the private eye world. He even goes so far as to gather all the suspects together for a grand finale when it's time to finger the culprit. ★★★ and a half stars.


This fulfills the "Out of My Comfort Zone" category for the Golden Vintage Bingo card and gives me my seventh Bingo.

Red Cross Book Fair: Another Year, Another Book Bananza

I have been waiting impatiently for this year's Red Cross Book Sale--waiting since October  2013. Waiting and wondering what kind of buried book treasure would be found on the rows and rows of tables at the Monroe County Fairgrounds. My wild, book-buying abandon has also been attracting the attention of my Facebook friends and co-workers. A bit of wagering can be had--the question being not "Will Bev buy books" but "How many will she bring home?"  It's been my practice of the last several years to take a personal day and head to the book sale bright and early Friday morning. This year, my co-workers made Bev's Book-Binge the mixer topic for the

staff meeting that I had opted to miss. Kristal is currently the closest with her guess of 42 books--but the overall winner based on Day 1 is Heather out on Facebook with a guess of 38. My first day's haul? Thirty seven books (counting one book on CD), two music CDs, and 2 DVDs. The only question now is whether I will make another trip and add to that total.

Here are my Friday Finds

Mysteries: 
The Crime of the Century by Kingsley Amis
The Mammoth Book of Historical Crime Fiction by Mike Ashley, ed
The Avenging Parrot by Anne Austin (1st edition)
Line Up for Murder by Marion Babson (paperback)
Swing Low Sweet Harriet by George Baxt (paperback) 
The Sound of Murder by John & Emery Bonett
Murder Is Academic by P. M. Carlson (paperback)
Deadly Hall by John Dickson Carr (paperback)
Bedelia by Vera Caspary (reprint)
One of Us Must Die by Anna Clarke (paperback)
Sleight of Crime by Cedric E.Clute, Jr. & Nicholas Lewin (eds)
Eye Witness by George Harmon Coxe (2nd Edition hardback)
The Baron & the Missing Old Masters by John Creasey (paperback)
Death of a Hoosier Schoolmaster by Marlis Day (paperback)
Wings of Fear by Mignon Eberhart (WWII Armed Services Edition)
An Omnibus of Continental Mysteries Part II by Arno Eckberg (ed) (1st edition, dustjacket)
He Didn't Mind Danger by Michael Gilbert (paperback)
The Man from the Sea by Michael Innes (paperback)
Whodunit? A Guide to Crime, Suspense & Spy Fiction by H. R. F. Keating, ed (dustjacket)
The Diamond-Studded Typewriter by Carlton Keith (1st Edition, dustjacket)
Mother Finds a Body by Gypsy Rose Lee (Tower Books hardback; dustjacket) 
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely (paperback) 
The Cannibal Who Overate by Hugh Pentecost (paperback)
MWA Presents: Murder by Experts by Ellery Queen, ed (1st edition)
The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L Sayers & Robert Eustace (9th Printing, Victor Gollancz hardback, dustjacket)
Black Aura by John Sladek (paperback) 
The Final Deduction by Rex Stout (book on CD)
A Question of Identity by June Thomson (paperback) 
The New Shoe by Arthur W. Upfield (paperback)
The Sands of Windee by Arthur W. Upfield (paperback) 
Sinister Stones by Arthur W. Upfield (paperback)
The Battling Prophet by Arthur W. Upfield (paperback)
Always Lock Your Bedroom Door by Roy Winsor (paperback)
The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sebastian Wolfe, ed.

 Non-Mysteries
Classic Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens & others (paperback)
She by H. Rider Haggard 
The Pocket Book of Popular Verse by Ted Malone, ed (1st edition WWII Pocket edition)

Now...we just have to see if I decide to go back to the tables for another round....

New (to me anyway) Crime Authors: July to September

The New (to me anyway) Meme is sponsored by Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise. Here's what she's looking for....

Just write a post about the best new-to-you crime fiction authors (or all) you've read in the period of July to September 2014, put a link to her meme in your post (click above), and even use the logo if you like. The books don't necessarily need to be newly published. After writing your post, then link up over at Kerrie's place and visit the links posted by other participants in the meme to discover even more books to read. 'Cause there are never enough books to hunt down and read.

This meme will run again at the end of January 2015

And my selection for the best new-to-me crime fiction author (I've only got one serious contender--most of my crime reads were by old friends)? D. J. Donaldson, author of New Orleans Requiem--one of several review requests I've received this year. Donaldson's book was a real winner and was absolutely deserving of August's P.O.M. Award and helps him snag the distinction of best new-to-me author. It is a fast-paced thriller with much of the classic whodunnit. There is a really nice twist at the end and the final reveal came as a big surprise. Enjoyable read for thriller, police procedural, and whodunnit fans alike.

Don (or D. J.) Donaldson not only writes New Orleans-based forensic mysteries but also has several suspenseful medical thrillers (sometimes under the name David Best). He holds a Ph.D. in human anatomy and has (in another life) taught microscopic anatomy to medical and dental students and published dozens of research papers on wound healing. He puts his scholarly knowledge to good use in his well-researched crime novels. For more info, please see his website.