Siren in the Night by Leslie Ford, 1943

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About the author: Leslie Ford is a pseudonym of Zenith Jones Brown, 1898-1984. She also wrote as David Frome and Brenda Conrad. Here is her bibliography. Also see this Book Scribbles blog: Leslie Ford's Fall From Grace. 

Major characters:

• Loring Kimball, philanthropist
• Lucy Kimball, his second wife
• Amelia Kimball, his stepdaughter
• Thorne Kimball, his daughter
• Nat Donahue, indebted to Loring
• Ilya Donahue, his nasty wife
• Prentiss Vale, architect
• Dr. & Mrs. Norton
• The Butts family, Mr. & Mrs and son Freddie
• Grace Latham, narrator
• Col. John Primrose
• Jim Brodie, newspaper feature writer

Locale: San Francisco, 1942

Synopsis: Grace Latham is our narrator, and she describes San Joaquin Terrace where the action takes place. There are six houses in order (the street is U-shaped but that is immaterial):

1. Grace Latham & Molly Macintyre
2. Nat & Ilya Donahue
3. Mr. & Mrs. Prentiss Vale
4. Loring Kimball
5. Dr. & Mrs. Norton
6. Mr. & Mrs. Butts and son Freddie

San Francisco is on edge due to the war, and there are frequent blackouts to prevent bombing by the Japanese. The story centers on philanthropist Loring Kimball, his second wife Lucy, daughter Thorne and stepdaughter Amelia. His first wife reportedly died in the San Francisco fire. Kimball is seen as an eccentric, having physically moved his Victorian home up the hill to its present location, next to architect Prentiss Vale's modern home.  He keeps his first wife's bedroom as a shrine, as it was, locked, with the lights on all night. This has become a concern as the wardens have to get the light turned off during blackouts.

Neighbor Nat Donahue is employed by Kimball, who controls him by holding a number of financial notes owed by Donahue. Although married to Ilya, Nat is in love with Kimball's daughter, Thorne.

Kimball is working in his study one night, as the air raid siren goes off. All the lights in the neighborhood go out, and when the All Clear sounds, he is found dead at his desk. An autopsy reveals poisoning by cyanide.

Review: This book gives a thorough description of life in San Francisco during the war, with the frequent air raid warnings and blackout procedures. The story is fascinating, with a lot of drama between the neighbors, as well as the mystery of the locked shrine room and the unrequited love story of Nat and Thorne. I enjoyed the first 95% of the story, but I did not like the ending. It revealed the murderer, but the conclusion was sad, and to my mind, an unnecessary resolution. 

The Robineau Look by Kathleen Moore Knight, 1955

 

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:

• Cynthia Robineau, our protagonist
• William H. Thorne, her employer
• Bertram "Bert" Robineau, her uncle 
• Florence Robineau, her aunt
• Earle Robineau, her cousin (son of Bert and Florence)

Locale: three locations in rural Alabama: 

• the modest bayou home of Bert, Florence, and Earle
• Avallon Church, a remote, deteriorating chapel and grounds
• Avallon Hall, a plantation-style mansion

Synopsis: New York City-dwelling Cynthia Robineau is executive secretary to Willam H. Thorne, president of Thorne Construction Company. Cynthia is surprised when Thorne expresses his love for her and proposes marriage. Cynthia is taken aback, and realizes she would have to choose between him and her career. Thorne suggests she take some time off to think it over. 

Cynthia receives an invitation from her cousin, Earle Robineau, to a big annual family reunion in Alabama. She accepts, taking advantage of the offer of time off. She has never met any of her family from there. She arrives at the modest bayou home of Uncle Bert and Aunt Florence Robineau (Earle's parents) to find they never sent the invitation and it must be a fake. As the relations gather, others find they also received the fake invitations.

The reunion begins, then murder stalks the family.

Review:

We have a big cast of characters so it is good to take notes as you go along. There are lots of Robineaus. A good read with slowly building suspense. 

I always find the stock "Gothic" cover illustrations (yes, on both editions!) amusing, always having the same trope-y ingredients: a young woman in a somewhat-revealing diaphanous gown, fleeing through unkempt grass at night from a creepy mansion in which only one window (always upstairs) is illuminated, while looking back over her shoulder.

The Skeleton in the Clock by Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr), 1948

 

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About the author: Carter Dickson is a pseudonym of John Dickson Carr, known for his locked room mysteries. 

Major characters:

• John Stannard, a lawyer
• Ruth Callice, bookshop owner
• Martin Drake, artist
• Jennifer "Jenny" West
• Richard Fleet, Jennifer's fiancé
• Sophia, Dowager Countess of Brayle; Jennifer's grandmother
• Aunt Cecily, Lady Fleet (Jennifer's "aunt" by courtesy only - no relation)
• Enid Puckston, innkeeper's daughter
• Dr. Hugh Laurier
• Sir Henry Merrivale

Locale: Fleet House, rural England

Synopsis: In a late night confab, lawyer John Stannard, bookshop owner Ruth Challice, and artist Martin Drake discuss the idea of earthbound spirits lurking about after a sudden death. They come up with the idea of looking for some - and the most likely place being a prison's execution shed. Stannard has connections with the keepers of Pentecost Prison, and as it has been closed for years, manages to get the keys for an overnight stay.

Drake has been diligently searching for a lost love, only known to him as Jenny, since they got separated after a brief romance during the war three years earlier. Drake attends an auction with his friend Sir Henry Merrivale, and runs into Jenny - learning her name is Jennifer West - and to his dismay learns she is engaged to Richard Fleet.

Drake seeks out Fleet, to try to dissuade him from the marriage. To his surprise, Fleet is happy to back out of it (he actually prefers Susan Harwood). Drake learns that Richard's father, Sir George Fleet had fallen to his death from Fleet House, near the prison, twenty years ago. The police receive a series of anonymous postcards claiming his death was murder. Sir Henry Merrivale investigates.

Review: This story has several parallel mysteries occuring:

1. What happened to Jenny during the war, and can Martin find her again?

2. Why is there a skeleton in the clock case?

3. Was Sir George Fleet's death a murder? How was it done?

4. Will Martin and Stannard survive a night in the execution shed?

5. Who is sending the postcards?

6. Who is responsible for the murder of another character I won't name?

There is a lot going on in the story, and as usual, I had a bit of trouble following some of it - mostly due to the excessive use of pronouns instead of names, which caused me to lose track of who was speaking or acting at any given moment.

There is lots of humorous relief whenever H.M. is around, and his adventures - especially the bristly relationship with the Dowager and his misadventures at the auction house and the traveling carnival - are quite funny.

 

Also see this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.

The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1945

 

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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)

Major characters:

• Jane Keller, owner of an island, a widow
• Martha Stanhope, her sister, a landlord
• Marjorie Stanhope, Martha's daughter
• Frank Bomar, Marjorie's fiancé
• Lawton Keller, Jane's brother-in-law
• Scott Shelby, holding an oil lease on the island
• Marion Shelby, his wife
• Ellen Cushing, real estate agent, Shelby's "girlfriend"
• Parker Benton, millionaire
• Perry Mason, attorney
• Della Street, his secretary
• Paul Drank, his investigator

Locale: Los Angeles area

Synopsis: Widow Jane Keller is owner of an island in the middle of a river near Los Angeles. She is selling the island to millionaire Parker Benton, to build a new home upon. The island had an oil lease against it, which had apparently expired for non-payment. Promoter Scott Shelby tries to pay the back lease payments to reinstate the lease, but there is a legal question whether he can do so. Parker Benton would prefer to buy the island free and clear, so invites all the parties - including Perry Mason, representing Jane - for a cruise on his yacht to sit down and try to come to an agreement. 

Due to fog, the yacht anchors for the night. A commotion is heard, and a MAN OVERBOARD alarm is raised. A shot had been heard at the same time, and Scott's wife Marion Shelby is found holding a gun. Scott is missing and assumed the one overboard. A search fails to find his body. Mason is suspicious he staged the incident and is now running off with his girlfriend, real estate agent Ellen Cushing - leaving his wife suspected of his "murder".

Review: This is from the most enjoyable period of the Perry Masons - the mid 1940's - when Mason is more of a rough and tumble character, not hesitating to literally throw an opposing lawyer out of his office, and even dust off his hands afterward. We also have a romantic interlude with Della Street, the most - ahem - detailed I have found in his books. 

The actions on the yacht are well done and enjoyable. There is the usual big cast, a bit larger than necessary, so it does require attention to keep track of the players. A big point in the story is the two separate telephone systems on the yacht, which could be confusing, but is explained well so even a non-techy person sees how it operates. 

One scene has Mason taking a deposition in his office. It was interesting to see how that was done, and how many of the courtroom procedures were duplicated.

An unusual aspect is that Mason has a tough time throughout the case. He builds up a circumstantial case to find it totally incorrect. His supposition on the fate of Shelby also turns out wrong. The case builds to a gradual resolution, without the usual courtroom theatrics.

 

The Curious Mr. Tarrant by C. Daly King, 1935

 

This 1935 Crime Club collection was reprinted by Dover Publications in 1977.

About the author: Charles Daly King (1895-1963) was an American psychologist. In the 1930s he wrote seven detective novels in addition to this book of short stories. Here, the series character, Trevis Tarrant, appears along with his Watson-narrator Jerry Phelan.  In his other works, the series detective is Michael Lord of New York; whose cases are recounted by Watson-narrator Dr L Rees Pons.  (excerpt from Goodreads)

Major characters: 

• Trevis Tarrant, solver of mysteries
• Jerry Phelan, 'Watson-narrator' 
• Valerie (Mopish) Phelan, Jerry's wife
• Katoh, Tarrant's Japanese butler-valet

Synopses:

The Episode of the Codex' Curse (New York City): Our narrator Jerry Phelan winds up, against his better judgment, spending the night locked in a basement strongroom of New York's Metropolitan Museum. He is there to see that nothing happens to a rare Aztec Codex (manuscript) which is rumored to be cursed and will disappear on its third night in the museum. The room is tightly secured. The lights go out unexpectedly, and when they are restored, the Codex is gone - but an interesting man has appeared in its place and introduces himself as Trevis Tarrant.

The Episode of the Tangible Illusion (Norrisville, NJ*): Jerry Phelan's sister's friend, Valerie Mopish, has just had a new house built adjacent to her old home which she shared with her brother. Soon Valerie is tormented by strange occurrences in the house: phantom footsteps, mysterious lights, and bizarre images in mirrors. But it's not just tormenting Valerie - these are observed by Jerry and Tarrant as well.

The Episode of the Nail and the Requiem (New York City): Jerry, now married to Valerie, are visiting Tarrant at his high-rise apartment. The apartment manager has been alerted to odd circumstances at the building's rooftop penthouse. The electrician has heard reequiem music coming from the dark, apparently unoccupied penthouse. Tarrant peeks through the skylight to see a dead woman's body. The police come and force the door. The dead woman is alone in the penthouse - and all openings sealed from the inside - so where is the killer?

The Episode of the "Torment IV" (New Hampshire): Jerry, Valerie, and Tarrant are vacationing at a New Hampshire lake when they hear a story about a cursed boat, the Torment IV. This brings them to discuss the [true life] episode of the Mary Celeste, a brigantine found abandoned and adrift with no crew in 1872. The cursed boat on their lake has had three incidents in which the passengers suddenly panicked, jumped overboard, and were lost. Tarrant takes the "cursed" boat out himself and discovers the cause, and suggests the same issue may have caused the Mary Celeste incident.

The Episode of the Headless Horrors (Norrisville, NJ*): Jerry and Tarrant decide to investigate the appearance of several headless bodies, left by the roadside. They have occurred near an all-night gas station. Police set up surveillance on either side and find a body gets deposited yet no cars passing through have stopped. Not only that, but none of the bodies can be identified.

The Episode of the Vanishing Harp (Hartford, CT): In this locked-room puzzle, a historic harp, kept in a glass case, vanishes from a secure library. The owner is worried, as there is an ominous historical family poem which predicts misfortune if the harp disappears three times. The harp reappears, then vanishes again. Tarrant decides to spend the night in the library to see if it happens a third time.

The Episode of the Man with Three Eyes (Norrisville, NJ*): Jerry, Valerie, and Tarrant are dining out. They see butler Katoh in another booth along with a couple of suspected spies. Suddenly there is a commotion. One of the spies, Olga Markova, is found stabbed to death. A mysterious man, Monsieur Hor, slips Tarrant a sealed envelope with a clue inside. He claims to have a third inner eye, with powerful powers of observation.

The Episode of the Final Bargain (Norrisville, NJ*): Tarrant has always had a crush on Valerie's sister, Mary. Now Mary falls into an unexplained coma and the doctors cannot identify why, or treat her. Monseiur Hor appears and offers a solution, involving detecting and treating Mary's aura. But it comes at a cost, to which Tarrant agrees.

Review: These stories are what you would get by mixing Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and S.S. Van Dine's Philo Vance. From Doyle we get the format of the Watson companion/narrator/documenter as he accompanies the hobby-detective Tarrant on his "episodes". From Van Dine we get the pedantic academic lectures on obscure subjects which have no direct relation to the investigation at hand. They are a bit longer than the Sherlock Holmes adventures, yet still hold the attention closely.

Each story builds upon and refers back to the previous ones, so these should be read in order. Similar to the Holmes stories, there are also references to other adventures (apparently not documented).

In Codex' Curse, I did see immediately how the theft of the Codex was accomplished. No great revelation here. In The Tangible Illusion the big giveaway came right at the beginning when it is mentioned that Valerie's brother is an architect, but the cause of the phenonema was still clever. The Nail and the Requiem has the locked-room penthouse common to several mysteries of the era, with a unique, interesting solution. The Torment IV has a recap of the Mary Celeste incident, and even offers a possible solution to that mystery as well (although a little literary license is taken in the details of the that incident - compare this account to the more factual Wikipedia article). 

The Episode of the Headless Horrors was troubling and cringy. As is sometimes common with writings from this period, there are pejorative references to various nationalities; in particular, it unfairly stereotypes Haitians, even rendering their speech in phonetic English.

The Man With the Three Eyes (not literal eyes, thankfully) introduces Monsieur Hor, who guides Tarrant with a vital clue as to how a killing was performed in a crowded restaurant. The Episode of the Final Bargain is the most "way out there" story, with a lot of mumbo-jumbo about auras, and a somewhat romantic/wistful ending.

*apparently a fictitious place, I could find no reference to it, although there is a Morrisville, NJ.  

The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr, 1939

 

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About the author: John Dickson Carr (1906 – 1977) was an American author, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and is often grouped among "British-style" mystery writers. Most (though not all) of his novels had English settings, especially country villages and estates, and English characters. His two best-known fictional detectives (Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale) were both English. (excerpt from this Wikipedia article.)

Major characters:

• Hugh Rowland, a young solicitor
• Frank Dorrance, 22, a cocky ne'er-d-well
• Brenda White, 27, fiancée of Dorrance
• Kitty Bancroft, a widow, neighbor to Dr. Young
• Dr. Nicholas Young
• Madge Sturgess. former girlfriend of Dorrance
• --- Chandler, Madge's boyfiend, a music hall performer
• Superintendent Hadley, Scotland Yard C.I.D.

Locale: England

Synopsis: Two couples - Hugh Rowland/Kitty Bancroft and Frank Dorrance/Brenda White meet at the home of Dr. Nicholas Young to play a mixed doubles tennis game. Brenda and Frank are engaged. Brenda doesn't love Frank, but plans to marry anyway so they will inherit a pile from Jerry Noakes (Frank's adoptive uncle - now deceased). Noakes left a will with the condition the two must marry in order to inherit, otherwise it goes to charity. Meanwhile, Hugh is in love with Brenda; and urges her to give up on Dorrance and marry him instead - but she is cool to that idea. 

Dr. Young, injured in a recent car accident resulting in limited mobility, is inside the home while the couples play. He is entertaining his friend Superintendent Hadley, C.I.D., who is cautioning him about Dorrance's character. Dorrance had broken up with his former girlfriend, Madge Sturgess, causing her to attempt - but fail - suicide.

The couples hurry through their match due to expected rain. The storm arrives quickly, and they take shelter in a small supply shed adjacent to the court. When the rain stops, Dorrance is found dead in the middle of the tennis court - with only one set of footprints (his own) leading to his body. 

Review:

I just finished writing my rant about the lack of a sketch map of the tennis court, as it is a bit complex and described in the text in great detail, when I turned the page and found one on page 66! (first page of Chapter VI: Incredulity):

Eyes in the Wall by Carolyn Wells, 1934

 

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This is Fleming Stone #37.

About the author: Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) was married to Hadwin Houghton, the heir of the Houghton-Mifflin publishing empire. Like Mary Roberts Rinehart, being in a publishing family created an easy pipeline for getting her works into print. She wrote a total of more than 170 books. See this Wikipedia article.

Major Characters:

*Justin Leonard, a lawyer
Myrtle Leonard, his touchy-feely wife
Nathaniel Bancroft, millionaire portrait subject
*Eleanor Bancroft, his daughter
Ellis Kane, a painter
Ann Murdock, a painter
Alonzo "Lonny" Abbott, writer
Sammy "Pinky" St. Clair, a painter
*Mark Mason, art critic, the victim
Emily Mason, Mark's mother
Lily Dana, Mason's fiancée
Ellen Talcott, Lily's chaperone/companion
Hal Deming, next in line for Lily Dana
Fleming Stone, private investigator

*on the portrait selection committee

Locale: New York City

Synopsis: Millionaire Nathaniel Bancroft is going to sit for his portrait, and a committee has been formed to select a painter for the lucrative commission. The committee consists of Nathaniel's daughter Eleanor Bancroft, lawyer Justin Leonard, and art critic Mark Mason. The painters being considered are traditionalist Ellis Kane, modernist Ann Murdock, and bohemian "Pinky" St. Clair. At a gathering at Kane's studio, the principals are seated (mostly) at a round table, looking over Kane's collection of miniature paintings:

Suddenly Mason cries out that someone has stepped on his foot, although no one saw this happen. He turns ill immediately and soon is dead. There is no apparent cause, but an autopsy shows poisoning by strophanthin, a cardiac stimulant.

Review: This was a very good title. It was interesting how the three artists under consideration each had a different "school". 

One very refreshing aspect: Fleming Stone appears early in the book and actually does the detecting work himself. 

We could have used a sketch of the table arrangement, so I made one myself. It gets a bit tedious when Stone asks everyone to itemize the order around the table (they all agreed, incidentally), and Wells could have saved at least a dozen pages by providing an illustration and stipulating the arrangement.

There is are several lively exchanges between overbearing Mrs. Mason and the doctors and medical examiner, as she has her own ideas about proper procedures with dead bodies. 

The part I enjoyed most was near the end, when the "eyes in the wall" came into play. Are you familiar with the old trope in the 1930's-1940's movies, in which a portrait on the wall has the eyes cut out and able to be slid down, so someone in the adjacent room can look through the eye openings and spy? Well, here it is! What fun! Nero Wolfe has a similar trick in his office with a painting of a waterfall, but that is a bit less outrageous than the old cut-out-eyes-in-the-portrait trick.

Don't wait around for Nathanial Bancroft to appear - he never does.