Third GIrl by Agatha Christie, 1966

 

Series: Hercule Poirot #40

Major characters: 

• Norma Restarick, the third girl
• Frances Cary, artist, the second girl
• Claudia Reece-Holland, secretary, the first girl
• Andrew Restarick, Norma's father
• Simon Restarick, Andrew's brother [deceased]
• Mary Restarick, Norma's stepmother
• Sir Roderick Horsefield, Mary's uncle
• Sonia, the Restarick's au pair
• David Baker, "The Peacock", Norma's boyfriend
• Hercule Poirot
• Ariadne Oliver, writer of detective stories

Locale: London and environs

Synopsis: A scattered young girl drops in on Hercule Poirot, claiming she "might" have committed a murder. She abruptly changes her mind, stating Poirot is too old to help her, and leaves - neglecting to give her name.  Poirot and his detective story writer friend Ariadne Oliver set out to track her down. Ariadne finds her name is Norma Restarick, and she is the "third girl" sharing an apartment. The "first girl"(the actual renter) is secretary Claudia Reece-Holland, and the "second girl" is artist Frances Cary.

Despite their efforts, Poirot and Oliver cannot find any trace of a murder - or any death - having occurred.

Norma drops out of sight, much to the consternation of her father, Andrew Restarick; and stepmother Mary Restarick. Poirot and Oliver find Norma's boyfriend is flamboyant David Baker, whom they nickname "The Peacock". She does eventually show up, but with alarming memory lapses. It is found that a woman, Louise Charpentier, had committed suicide by leaping from her window at Norma's apartment house; but could this be the murder Norma mentioned?

Review: There is a theme throughout of Poirot believing he is too old to be effective, and this is one of the final Poirot stories written at the end of the series. This is contrasted with the young mods of Britain in this day of The Beatles. Drugs are a common theme as well.

The story ends with several surprises which explain everything, but Agatha is not completely fair with the reader. Poirot knows things all along and has his fingers in the 'disappearance' of Norma, but none of this is revealed to the reader as it happens. Foo. It left me feeling tricked.

You may also enjoy this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block. 

 

Masks Off at Midnight by Valentine Williams, 1934

 

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Series: Sergeant Trevor Dene #3

About the author: Valentine Williams (1883–1946) was an English journalist and writer of popular fiction. Williams was awarded the Military Cross as a soldier and wrote two autobiographical books about his war-time experiences. In the aftermath of war, he travelled widely as a reporter.  It was during this period that he began writing thrillers and around 1926 he gave up his post at the Daily Mail to pursue a full-time career as an author. (Wikipedia)

Major characters:

• Henry and Margaret Tallifer, local patriarch/matriarch
• Jenny Tallifer, their daughter
• Anthony Tallifer, Jenny's cousin
• Brent Hordern, millionaire developer
• Major Ivan Ivanoff, Hordern's chauffeur
• Constance Barrington, flashy widow
• Randolph and Barbara Waverly, the party hosts
• Ezekiah Harding, newspaper publisher
• Paul Kentish, newspaper editor
• Trevor Dene, of Scotland Yard
• Nancy Dene, his wife

Locale: Long Island, New York

Synopsis: Trevor Dene and his wife Nancy are in Laurel, a small town in Long Island, New York, to attend a gala pageant party given by Randolph and Barbara Waverly. All the locals are invited - but one is definitely excluded, developer Brent Hordern.

The locals despise brash Hordern, who has been buying up property in town. The locals are also suspicious of flashy widow Constance Barrington, with her expensive clothes and sports car. Constance wants to get her hooks into Hordern, but he wants young Jenny Tallifer, daughter of Henry and Margaret Tallifer, highly respected old-money in town.

The night of the gala arrives. There is to be a masked procession into the ballroom, and at midnight the guests will unmask. When the procession enters the room, Holdern is found dead in the sedan chair; and all circumstances point to newspaper editor Paul Kentish, who is the boyfriend of Jenny. He had plenty of motive: Haldern wanted Jenny for himself, and bought out Kentish's newspaper as well.

Review: An enjoyable visit to Long Island society and a huge gala, which is a bit overdone with 500 guests (!) and elaborate costumes. I always enjoy stories with the underdog newspaper people up against evil. In this title, Trevor Dene takes a back seat to the investigation with Paul Kentish doing the honors.

The requisite love triangle consists of Paul Kentish, Jenny Tallifer, and of course, Brent Hordern who corners Jenny in the golf course pavilion and pressures her to marry him.

A hated millionaire New York City developer who bullies everyone, spends most of his time golfing and chasing young girls, and just does whatever he damn pleases? In my mind's eye there is only one person who fits this description - You Know Who That Is. I couldn't get his face out of my mind while reading this character.

The Case of the One-Eyed Witness by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1950

 

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About the author: Erle Stanley Gardner (1889 – 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories. The best-selling American author of the 20th century at the time of his death, Gardner also published under numerous pseudonyms, including A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray and Robert Parr. (wikipedia)

Series: Perry Mason #36

Major characters:

Medford D. Carlin, bookbinder and photographer

Arthman D. Fargo, Realtor

Perry Mason, attorney

Della Street, his secretary

Paul Drake, private investigator

Locale: Los Angeles

Synopsis: While dining at a night club, Perry Mason receives a phone call from a woman - declining to give her name - desperate to retain his services. She sends, by messenger, a retainer of $570 and a newspaper clipping. She instructs Mason to show the clipping to bookbinder/photographer Medford D. Carlin, along with the message that "he needs to find a new partner". Mason also has a conversation with the club's cigarette girl, who tells him she is searching for her lost four-year old daughter who had been given up for adoption.

When Mason meets Carlin, Carlin denies knowing anything about it. Mason is skeptical and has Paul Drake watch the house. In the middle of the night, Drake's operative sees a woman enter the house, and shortly afterward the house catches on fire. When the fire is out, Carlin is found dead.

Mason thinks the woman may have been his client. In trying to trace her, he finds realtor Arthman D. Fargo, who could be her husband. Mason poses as a prospective house buyer to interview him, and later finds Fargo dead. 

Review:

The good: I enjoyed when Mason and Della called on Fargo, Mason pretending he was house-hunting with Della posing as his mistress. Mason and Della had some flirtation in which Mason suggested they really get married, but Della talks him out of it!

The bad: This 1950 novel has overtones from World War II and lingering prejudice about the Japanese. Much ado is made about a baby-selling scheme and how people don't want any baby that has any percentage of Japanese blood.

The strange: I think the strange curvy shape on the cover may be a stylized jigsaw puzzle piece, as better seen on this cover:

Seven Were Veiled by Kathleen Moore Knight, 1937

 

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About the author: Kathleen Moore Knight (1890-1984) is one of my absolute favorite authors. She wrote 34 mystery novels, most set on fictional Penberthy Island off Massachusetts, all published by the Crime Club; with a few under the pseudonym of Alan Amos. See my post All I Know about Kathleen Moore Knight, as well as this Wikipedia article and her booklist  on Fantastic Fiction.   

Major characters:

* Phyllis "Phil" Heath, would-be bride, our protagonist

Christopher Bryan, her fiancé

Marvin Heath, her foster father

Dwight Garrison, wannabe groom

* Francine Drake, young gold-digging widow

Norman Brent, orchestra leader

* Corliss Brent, his wife

Pete Bishop, travel agent

* Anita Templeton-Smith, wedding planner

* Aunt Laurie Ferris, Phyllis' aunt, Marvin's sister-in-law

* Ailsa Breton, writer

Dudley Houghton, Marvin's attorney

Elisha Macomber, chairman of the Board of Selectmen

Bill Deeter, private investigator from Boston

Dr. Larcom Sargent

Dr. Franklin Tolman

Bellows, the Heath's butler

* Hattie Parsons, the Heath's cook

Lisa, the Heath's maid

* The title indicates the seven women known to wear veils, indicated by * in the list above: one wedding veil (worn by both Phyllis Heath and Francine Drake), one allergy veil (Aunt Laurie Ferris), and four fashion veils (four others).

Locale: Penberthy Island, off Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Synopsis: It is the night before the wedding  of Phyllis Heath and Christopher Bryan on Penberthy Island. All is not well - Phyllis' foster father, Marvin Heath, is against the wedding; and wants to substitute Dwight Garrison as the groom, no matter what Phyllis wants. Marvin issues an ultimatum - he will sign a new will if she marries Bryan, leaving his $5M estate to charity instead of to her.

As Phyllis frets about what to do, Marvin takes ill after the rehearsal dinner and dies. First suspicion is poisoning from mushrooms provided for the dinner by Elisha Macomber - yet everyone ate them but only Marvin had ill effects. Then suspicion is directed at a medicine, and word circulates that a woman wearing a veil was seen exiting Marvin's room after the poisoning.

Someone steals Phyllis' veil, and Phyllis sees Francine Drake, a widow who had eyes on Marvin, carry it into the woods. She follows only to find Christopher and a dead body - a man no one recognizes. Francine does not return the house, and a search finds her stranded on a sand bar with the tide rising. 

Christopher is arrested for the murder of the unknown man, and the poisoning of Marvin. Following a newspaper story, the dead man is identified as Franklin Tolman, a Boston doctor.

Elisha Macomber heads up the investigation, competing with a hotshot private investigator from Boston, Bill Deeter.

Review: Lots of possibilities to ponder in this one. There are three possible poisons that took out Marvin, each connected to a different character. Lots of poison information as well, including belladonna/deadly nightshade, a bit concerning to me as this summer we found this growing wild on the fence surrounding our garden! 

The high drama point is the ocean rescue of Francine who is stuck on a sand bar as the tide is coming in. This scene was well done and exciting.

The situation of Phyllis having to choose between grooms - on her wedding night! - seemed farfetched and like something out of the Old Testament - like Jacob, Rachel, and Leah in reverse. 

There are lots of veils to go around, but the wedding veil is the primary one of interest. Hattie wears an "allergy veil" which was prescribed to her to block allergens  - apparently a complicated alternative to a simple mask. My wife is a nurse, and has allergies, but has never heard of such a thing. The fashion veils are mentioned briefly but not pertinent.

The cast of characters is way too large, I left a few out of the list. It could easily have been cut in half without affecting the plot. 

Elisha's ongoing competition with hotshot P.I. Deeter did distract from his investigation. I enjoy in other stories how he goes it alone. This is one of the earliest Elisha stories, and one thing I find distracting is when the author renders his dialect phonetically. It is not always obvious what he is saying, and I had to "sound it out". It seems she did this less and less and the series continued.