Man Missing by Mignon G. Eberhart, 1954

 

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The Nurse Sarah Keate series:

1. The Patient in Room 18

2. The Mystery of Hunting's End

3. While the Patient Slept 

4. From This Dark Stairway

5. Murder by an Aristocrat (a.p.a. Murder of My Patient)

6. Wolf in Mans Clothing

7. Man Missing

About the author: Mignon Good (1899-1996) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1929 her first crime novel was published featuring 'Sarah Keate', a nurse and 'Lance O'Leary', a police detective. This couple appeared in another four novels. Over the next forty years she wrote a novel nearly every year. In 1971 she won the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. (from Goodreads)

Major characters:

Lieutenant Parly, hospital patient

Marine Sgt. Bill "Buffalo" Brown, hospital patient

Ensign Smith, hospital patient

Ensign Sally Wilson, a nurse

Capt. Harry Somers, base Commanding Officer (CO).

Kitty Somers, his wife

--- Jenson, a corpsman

Cmdr. Jim Warring, Executive Officer (XO)

Colonel Sinclair, CO of Marines

Marie Sinclair, his wife

Wanaha Bonanza "Bonny" Winters, Parly's date

Jack Lewis, electrician

Nurse Sarah Keate

Locale: Naval base in the desert, unnamed location but sounds like Nevada

Synopsis: Nurse Sarah Keate is serving as a temporary civilian nurse at the Naval Ammunition Depot near (fictional) Wanaha City. One night after visiting hours, she glimpses a man leaving her wing, only seeing his shoulder boards with three stripes (Commander rank). She finds one of her patients, Lt. Parly, is dead, his throat cut. In the next room, patient Marine Sergeant Bill "Buffalo" Brown seems to know something but is not telling.

Sarah is living on base as a guest of Captain Harry Somers and his wife Kitty Somers. As an officer, he has the privilege of living in housing on "The Row". The Row is a village unto itself, separate from the enlisted men's area by a guarded wall. The search is on for the "Missing Man" who was seen leaving the hospital. As The Row is closed and guarded, he must be inside. 

Sarah finds a connection between Parly and one of her nurses, Ensign Sally Wilson. She finds Sally is a widow - her late husband, Johnny Wilson, reportedly died in a plane crash. His body was never identified, and $30K being transported was missing. Years have passed, and now Sally has a boyfriend, Commander Jim Warring.

Sarah suspects that Johnny Wilson is alive, and someone else's body was in the crashed plane. Suspicion alternates between Johnny and Sally as being the murderer, when a second murder occurs.

Review: This entire story takes place on a military base, and we come to know the routine and the rigid segregation between officers and enlistees. The story held my attention, even though I am unfamiliar with military practice. The suspense builds throughout. The common closed-environment of a mystery story (snowbound train, island, etc.) is here portrayed by "The Row", a closed and walled area inside a closed and walled naval base, which was a clever place to contain the characters.

I had to look up a list of ranks to understand the hierarchy:

Here are the ranks in the story, in descending order:

• Captain
• Commander
• Lieutenant Commander
• Lieutenant
• Ensign

Some abbreviations to know:

• B.O.Q. Bachelor Officer's Quarters
• C.O. Commanding Officer
• N.A.D. Naval Ammunition Depot
• O.D. Officer of the Day
• X.O. Executive Officer

Draw the Blinds by Seldon Truss, 1936

 

About the author: We don't know much about Seldon Truss other than his full name was Leslie Seldon Truss, he is from the UK, and lived 1892-1990. He also wrote as George Selmark. He has two titles in the 1930's Mystery League series:  Turmoil at Brede and The Hunterstone Outrage.

Major characters:

Miss Philadelphia Hemstone
Edward Lord Harnley, her brother
Michael Chillaton, Lord Harnley's nephew
Stopford, the butler
Bernice Randall, Lord Harnley's sexy new secretary
Major Norton, Justice of the Peace
Jill Norton, his 16-year old daughter

The four escaped prisoners:

• William Minser, a forger
• Bossy Parkwell, a.k.a. "Orion", a safe breaker
• Clifford Neyland, an actor
• Christine Abbott, former secretary to Lord Harnley

Chief Inspector Gidleigh
Henry Paunceforte, a.k.a. "The Hiker", of Scotland Yard

Locale: Bishops Takyll, Devon, England

Synopsis: Michael Chillaton approaches the Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, with a letter from his uncle, Edward Lord Harnley. Harney writes to enlist their help, as be believes he is in danger from a plot involving his former secretary, Christine Abbott, who was jailed for blackmailing him.

Christine has just been sprung from prison by a person unknown (called The Crooks' Shepherd), along with three others: forger William Minser, safe breaker Bossy Parkwell, and actor/fraudster Clifford Neyland.

Chillaton arrives at Bishops Takyll to a chilly reception. Harnley's sister, Miss Philadelphia Hemstone wants him to leave; as does Harley himself. Chillaton seeks the aid of Justice of the Peace Major Norton, and teams up with his adventurous daughter Jill Norton. Things take a dark turn when Harnley is knocked down by a car, butler Stopford is found dead, and Harnley's staff replaced by some sketchy characters who seem to know nothing at all about their jobs. 

Review: This is a Chief Inspector Gidleigh story, but he has a small part. The detection is done by Chillaton along with help from Major Norton and Jill. There is quite a long buildup, the murder doesn't happen until about 3/4 of way in.

The mystery (beside the murder) is who is the Crooks's Shepherd? There is quite a lot of misdirection on this point, and the identity is finally revealed at the end, and it fooled me. 

Jill Norton is an enjoyable character, she is just sixteen and jumps into the case in a Nancy Drew manner, complete with dog on a leash and flashlight. She is rather a tease and likes to investigate while in a tight jumper and short plaid skirt. Chillaton tends to overlook this, and has his eyes on Christine Abbott instead.

There a lot of simultaneous puzzles throughout and they all get resolved at the end. There are some surprises at the end amongst the Harnleys, and we get a reveal why Harnley's sister, Miss Philadelphia Hemstone, is unmarried yet has a different last name.

Why Slug a Postman by Seldon Truss, 1950

 

About the author: We don't know much about Seldon Truss other than his full name was Leslie Seldon Truss, he is from the UK, and lived 1892-1990. He also wrote as George Selmark. He has two titles in the 1930's Mystery League series:  Turmoil at Brede and The Hunterstone Outrage.

Major characters:

Miss Flavia Melrose, owner of the 36 Chester Grove boarding house

Ann Smith, her newly hired secretary/housekeeper

Vincent Dyall, the butler

Mrs. Emily Bagster, the cook

Minnie Smithers, the maid

Emerald Cheese, scullery maid

The boarders:

Miss Adria Blenkarne, Ann's estranged aunt

Miss Fiona McPherson

Mrs. Dampier

Dr. Martin Jones

Sir James Arbour

Lady Blandish-Smyth

Countess Beatrice d'Armande

and...

Bettine Willoughby, Ann's roommate

Mr. Murdoch, Adria Blenkarnes's attorney

Chief Inspector Gidleigh

Locale: London

Synopsis: It all begins when a postman is slugged while collecting letters from a pillar box outside Miss Flavia Melrose's boarding house at 36 Chester Grove. The attacker makes off with letters having been posted from the house.

The boarding house, which Miss Melrose attempts to keep disciplined and upscale, has an eclectic assortment of residents, both men and women. She hires a new secretary/housekeeper, Ann Smith, whose estranged aunt, Adria Blenkarne, is one of the residents. Ann tries to fit in, but has trouble with the uppity staff, headed by butler Vincent Dyall and cook Emily Bagster.

Ann brings canned tins of salmon to Mrs. Bagster for dinner. One tin is clearly bad, rusted and swelled up. Ann directs it be discarded. There is a mixup, and it finds its way into the meal. Several residents come down with food poisoning. Frail Adria Blenkarne succumbs, despite attempts to save her by the resident doctor, Martin Jones. 

Miss Melrose, blaming Ann for disobedience, fires her. Ann leaves the house and moves in her friend Bettine Willoughby. Bettine helps her obtain a job at the lingerie counter at the local Blue Chain store.

Chief Inspector Gidleigh investigates, and finds arsenic in Adria's body. Then Miss Melrose is found dead in her locked bathroom. Ann teams up with Dr. Jones to try to find the culprit and establish her innocence.

Review: This is a lot of fun. We start right off with the postman getting slugged in the first paragraph, but that plot line is then left until the very end. The action occurs in a dysfunctional rooming house ruled by the authoritarian Miss Melrose. 

Some of the boarders are given names but we never hear anything of them. Miss Fiona McPherson, Mrs. Dampier, and Lady Blandish-Smyth are just filler.

There is a teasing love interest throughout the story between Ann Smith and (sometimes) Dr. Jones and (sometimes) Sir James Arbour.

Chief Inspector Gidleigh also appears in Draw the Blinds, and perhaps other titles.

Sergeant Sir Peter by Edgar Wallace, 1933

 

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About the author: Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was a prolific British crime writer, journalist and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and countless articles in newspapers and journals (Goodreads). In terms of production, by cranking out one novel per month, he was the British equivalent of Erle Stanley Gardner. See this Wikipedia article.

Synopsis: Sergeant Sir Peter is Peter Dunn, Scotland Yard's debonair young aristocrat detective. After the war, Peter Dunn inherited a fortune and a baronetcy. Now he consults for Scotland Yard for modest fees to make the relationship legal. This title consists of eight vignettes (seven short stories, one novella) from his adventures:

Case I: The Four Missing Merchants - Peter Dunn is introduced to the reader. After inheriting a title, he steps back from routine police work to focus on special problem cases of Scotland Yard. He becomes aware of cases where merchants take a holiday, then do not return as expected. He finds they are all intertwined with an Indian doctor, Dr. Lal Singh, who has a history with the police.

Case II: The Desk Breaker: Sir Peter investigates a case of a burglar who breaks into homes, rifles through desks and letters, yet steals nothing.

Case III: The Inheritor: Sir Peter investigates a case of a wealthy man who accuses his butler of stealing a small amount from his desk, then abruptly changes his mind. 

Case IV: Dr. Fifer's Patient: Sir Peter grudgingly accepts an invitation to meet Dr. Cornelius Fifer, a crime expert from America. No sooner does Dr. Fifer arrive, than he is murdered in a locked bathroom.

Case V: The Burglar Alarm: Sir Peter investigates a jewel theft from a heavily protected business. The alarm goes off, but a woman leans out the window to explain to the police she is the secretary and set it off accidentally. Neither is true.

Case VI: Buried Treasure: Some crooks staged a robbery and the loot was never recovered. Now one of them decides to reveal its location.

Case VII: The Principles of Jo Loless: An ex-con gives a sob story to Sir Peter which leads to a car accident, burglary, and murder. 

Case VIII: The Death Watch (novella): Sir Peter meets and falls in love with Patricia Hannay, who lives at Diggins Folly, believed to be haunted by the dreaded Deathwatch Beetle. The house is staffed with a strange assortment of servants, none of whom are what they appear.

Review: The entire book is enjoyable and hilarious, and the highlight is The Death Watch. Every imaginable mystery trope is tossed in: two identical houses side by side - one derelict, the other sumptuous; a damsel in distress, a creepy prowler who is not what he appears, a creepy butler who is not what he appears, a creepy gardener who is not what he appears, a creepy maid who is not what she appears, a creepy professor who is not what he appears, secret passages, ghosts, oiled hinges, a missing fortune, screams in the night, an ominous deathwatch beetle clicking away in the night to mark an upcoming death, and of course a beautiful blonde who has caught Peter's eye but will have nothing to do with him.