Turn on the Heat by A.A. Fair, 1940

 

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About the author: A.A. Fair was a pseudonym of Erle Stanley Gardner.

Series: Donald Lam & Bertha Cool #2

Major characters:

• "Mr. Smith", the client
• Dr. James C. Lintig, a.k.a. Charles Loring Alftmont, a specialist
• Amelia Lintig, his estranged wife
• Vivian Carter, his nurse, corespondent in his divorce action
• Marian Dunton, office staff of The Blade
• Evaline Dell Harris
• Flo Danzer, night club hostess
• Donald Lam, P.I., our narrator
• Bertha Cool, P.I.

Locale: California

Synopsis: A mysterious client, "Mr. Smith", hires Bertha Cool and Donald Lam to do just one thing: locate Amelia Lintig, supposedly divorced from Dr. James C. Lintig. She dropped out of sight over twenty years ago and hasn't been seen since. Lam travels to Oakview to try to pick up her trail, with the assistance of Marian Dunton, office manager for the local newspaper, The Blade. He soon finds out that two others are looking for Amelia as well: Miller Cross and Evaline Dell Harris. 

Lam consults records to find Dr. Lintig had changed his name to Charles Loring Alftmont, and continued his practice. Lam tracks down Dr. Alftmont and finds he is the client, "Mr. Smith". Marian Dunton, looking for a news story, goes to Evaline's hotel room to find her strangled, and a man just leaving looks much like Dr. Alftmont - who is Bertha's client. 

Review: This is only the second book about Lam and Cool, and the dust is still settling as the characters shape up. Gardner seemed in a hurry to cram all the action in he could, action that would never fly in a Perry Mason - such as when Donald Lam steps aside to let Bertha Cool rough up another woman. The book is handicapped in a way as many characters go by more than one name and pose as other characters. As it nears the end, the name switcheroos and identity switcheroos are just too confusing to follow. I was not even able to determine if Amelia was alive, or ever found; as another character had been posing as her throughout the story.

 

Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout, 1939

 

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About the author: Rex Stout (1886 – 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and 39 novellas between 1934 and 1975. (wikipedia). (bibliography)

Series: Nero Wolfe #7

Major characters:

• Carla Lovchen, fencing coach
• Neya Tormic, fencing coach, Wolfe's daughter
• Nikola and Jeanne Miltan, owners of studio
• Nat Driscoll, who had the diamonds
• Percy Ludlow, agent of British government
• Madame Zorka, dressmaker
• Ted Gill, dancing student
• Rudolph Faber (The Chinless Wonder) agent of German government
• Arthur, the porter
• Nero Wolfe
• Archie Goodwin

Locale: New York City

Synopsis: Nero Wolfe is approached by Carla Lovchen, who seeks help for her fellow fencing coach Neya Tormic. To Wolfe's suprise, she produces a certificate - bearing Wolfe's signature - that Neya is Wolfe's adopted daughter. Neya is accused of stealing diamonds from the suit pocket of a client, Nat Driscoll, which was hanging in a locker.

Archie Goodwin visits the fencing studio, run by Nikola and Jeanne Miltan. Another client, Percy Ludlow, sheepishly explains Neya actually had her hand in his suit pocket instead, in the adjacent locker. Driscoll remembers he had actually given the diamonds to his secretary, so it was all just an honest mistake. The case seems closed, but then Ludlow is found dead, run through with an épée with a pointed adapter, a cul de mort, on the end. Archie returns to the office and finds the cul de mort has been slipped into his pocket.

Review: It's a small but cosmopolitan cast as we meet Wolfe's daughter, unseen since he left her behind in Montenegro; and she is one the main characters. There are a number of amusing incidents, particularly when Archie escapes the scene, pretending to be searching for a cat; and when Wolfe has various parties in his house and tries to keep them from seeing each other. Archie is still the tough guy and has several occasions to use his fists. I usually find dialect rendered phonetically annoying but here I found the dialect of Madame Zorka ("Zen I sink, murder ees so horrible...") a pleasure and added to her character. A quick, fast-moving read from the prime years of Rex Stout.

 

The Patriotic Murders by Agatha Christie, 1940

 

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Also published as One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and An Overdose of Death

Series: Hercule Poirot #23

Major characters:

• Henry Morley, dentist
• Gladys Nevill, his secretary/hygienist
• Frank Carter, Gladys' fiamcé
• Mr. --- Amberiotis, a patient
• Mabelle Sainsbury Seale, a patient
• Alistair Blunt, a patient and finance administrator
• Sylvia Chapman
• Julia Olivera, Blunt's niece
• Jane Olivera, Julia's daughter
• Helen Montressor, Blunt's cousin
• Hercule Poirot
• Inspector Japp

Locale: London and environs

Synopsis: A routine dentist visit by Hercule Poirot goes horribly wrong. Soon after Poirot leaves, the dentist, Henry Morley, is found shot to death. Inspector Japp looks at the day's patient list, and finds one of the day's earlier patients, --- Amberiotis, was apparently the last person to see Morley alive. Then Amberiotis himself is found dead, followed by another patient, Sainsbury Seale. Japp's suicide theory goes out the window.

Review: This is another Christie with a nursery-rhyme theme throughout. This one was a definite page-turner. I enjoyed the dentist office setting (there are worse possibilities than a drill). There is a switcheroo drama between Sainsbury Seale and Sylvia Chapman which has a surprising result. The mystery gets deeper and deeper with some international intrigue stirred in and some people who are not what they seem. Poirot's step-by-step denouément at the end revealed a surprising twist of how the murders were done. I can appreciate why the early title of The Patriotic Murders was changed - focusing on the most patriotic person in the story can be a definite spoiler.

Note: There is one occurence of the n-word.

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

 

2025 Reading Challenges

 For 2025, I have signed up for three Mystillery challenges and four of Bev Hankins' reading challenges at My Reader's Block. Please consider visiting these challenges and joining me! Each is linked below.

Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge 2025

Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge 2025

Mystery Marathon 2025

Vintage Scavenger Hunt 2025

Reading By The Numbers 2025

Calendar of Crime 2025

Color Coded Reading Challenge 2025

The Frightened Wife & Other Murder Stories by Mary Roberts Rinehart

 

About the author: Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876 – 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's first novel in 1920. Rinehart is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it" from her novel The Door (1930), although the novel does not use the exact phrase. Rinehart is also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing, with the publication of The Circular Staircase (1908). (from a Wikipedia article).

The Frightened Wife: Attorney Wade Forsythe II is hired by Anne Collier to make her will. It is a messy situation: her substantial accounts are in the name of Jessica Blake, a pseudonym she uses for writing a radio serial. She is afraid her domineering husband, Wilfred "Fred" Collier will get her money, leaving little for her six-year old son William Blake Collier. Wade realizes she was Anne Blake, a girl he knew when he was in college, and has pined for her ever since. Then Wilfred winds up shot to death, and Anne arrested for murder.

Mini-review: If you didn't know the author, you would swear it was Erle Stanley Gardner, with a tough-guy attorney doing the investigating for the wronged woman. A tight page-turner of novella length.

If Only It Were Yesterday: Amy had cared for her half-sister Jessie since her mother died when she was only nine. Now Jessie is an attractive young lady, and Amy's close friend Randolph Mason is beginning to move his attentions to Jessie. Jessie announces their engagement, and this is too much for Amy. Amy has a bottle of Jessie's sleeping pills.

The Scandal: Caroline Coleman, matriarch of the society family, is long dead and buried in a stately mausoleum. She had hoped the family scandal was buried with her: Her daughter, Jennifer, had an illegitimate child by the family chauffeur, Chris Burton. Jennifer and her baby, Edith, were estranged from the Coleman family. She and Burton planned to marry, but before they could, he was killed in a fire in the garage. Now Jennifer herself lies dying, and  the secret of Burton's death is coming out.

Murder and the South Wind: Coastal Florida is the scene for military practice during World War II. The locals are concerned about stray bullets from shooting practice. Hugh Gardiner is fishing for tarpon when he is struck, falls overboard, and drowns. Was it one of the stray bullets? Or did it come from his wife Pat? Or his ex-wife Fanny?

The Burned Chair: Elderly Horace Jewett lives next to his three children (and heirs). One morning he is found dead in his chair, and the M.E. notes a heart attack. Daughter-in-law Jessica Jewett is suspicious - it doesn't look right and she suspects murder. So do the police. Then his chair is set on fire - to destroy evidence? Which of the heirs hastened his death? Or was it his nurse Miss Scott?  

The Case of the Crying Swallow and Other Stories, by Erle Stanley Gardner

 

This title has no publishing date indicated, but the "Publisher's Note" states: "This is the second book by Erle Stanley Gardner to be published since his death in 1970." It contains the novella of the title, and three short stories. All four have a common theme of stolen jewels.

The Case of the Crying Swallow (1947)

Characters:

• Major Claude Winnett, mining executive
• Marcia Winnett, his wife
• Victoria Winnett, his mother
• Helen Custer, Victoria's nurse
• Harry Drummond, Marcia's first husband
• Daphne Rexford, a birdwatcher ... and ingenue
• Perry Mason, attorney
  
• Paul Drake, private investigator

Wealthy Claude Winnett hires Perry Mason to locate his wife of five weeks, 25-year old Marcia Winnett, who has disappeared; leaving an odd note of regret. He mentions his mansion was burgled two nights before she left, and her jewelry taken. Winnett was sleeping at the time, but awoke to hear disturbed swallows chirping in a nest outside the bedroom. Mason investigates and finds some of the jewelry stashed in the swallows' nest, and more stuffed in the barrel of a shotgun. Mason visits Winnett's tower room, which has binoculars fixed to a stand, regularly used by ingenue birdwatcher Daphne Rexford; who was crusty Victoria Winnett's (Claude's mother) preference to be Claude's bride. Mason and Paul Drake find the binoculars focused on a nearby spot where a camping trailer has been parked, and where Marcia's trail leads. They learn the trailer belongs to Marcia's first husband, Harry Drummond. They run into Drummond's current wife - she is looking for him too. Once Mason, Drake, and Mrs. Drummond find the trailer, they also find a body inside.

Mini-review: The reason this is a short novella is that is a regular Mason, minus the courtroom scenes! The writing is concise and action packed. There is a bit of decoding a numerical message which is interesting. Mason solves the case in short order and turns the evidence over to the police, and that's where it ends. This is a good one-night read.

The Candy Kid (1931)

Lester Leith learns of a jewel heist, in which the robber winds up dead and the jewels missing. He and his valet, Scuttle (actually police spy Edward Beaver) investigate the chocolate shop next to the jewelry store, convinced the jewels have been hidden in the chocolates. Sergeant Ackley plans a sting operation to catch Leith with the stolen jewels.

The Vanishing Corpse (1931)

Sidney Zoom loves to wander the dark, mysterious nighttime waterfront. He helps his friend Officer O'Hara stop a fleeing figure; who turns out to be young Mildred Kroom - and she has a precious diamond in her purse. The owner of the diamond is reported dead and locked in his parked car, but when Zoom and O'Hara get there, the car is still locked but the body is gone.

The Affair of the Reluctant Witness (1949)

Jerry Bane studies a newspaper photo which shows a grocery store owner, Bernice Calhoun, and customer William Gordon pointing at each other; as she accuses him of robbing the adjacent jewelry store. Bane suspects that jewels have been hidden somewhere in the grocery store and has his lawyer, Arthur Arman Anson, attempt to retrieve them in exchange for a cut.

Honolulu [Murder] Story by Leslie Ford, 1946

 

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Also published as "Honolulu Story"

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. 

Series: This is Colonel Primrose #13.

Major characters:

• Mrs. Grace Latham, narrator
• Tommy Dawson, Lieutenant, Army Air Force
• David Boyer, Lieutenant, Army Air Force
• Swede Ellicott, Lieutenant, Army Air Force
• Ben Farrell, Marines (killed in action)
• Corinne Farrell, Ben's widow
• Mary Cather, formerly engaged to Swede Ellicott
• Alice & Harry Cather, Mary's parents
• Roy Cather, Harry's estranged brother (Mary's uncle)
• Norah Bronson, Harry's sister (Mary's aunt)
• Kumumato, Japanese servant
• Colonel John Primrose
• Sergeant Phineas T. Buck

Locale: Honolulu, Hawaii; 1944

Synopsis: Three Army Air Force friends, Tommy Dawson, David Boyer, and Swede Ellicott are on leave in Honolulu. Their fourth friend, Ben Farrell, had been killed in action. Swede had been engaged to Mary Cather, but broke off the relationship abruptly and is now engaged to Ben's widow; causing hard feelings all around. 

Mrs. Grace Latham, our narrator, has been sent from Washington to duty  in Honolulu. A friend of Mary, she is staying with Mary and her parents, Alice and Harry Cather, in their remote hillside home. Grace is stalked by a man in leafy camoflage who turns out to be Harry's estranged brother, Roy Cather. She also meets Harry's sister, unstable Norah Bronson. There is ill will in the family, as the home had been left equally to the three siblings but Harry and Alice have essentially taken ownership.

Alice Cather has been harboring brother-in-law Roy in their fallout shelter, and it turns out he is a spy from Japan, which puts him on the very-wanted list. Then he is found dead.

Review: At first I thought I was in a Mignon G. Eberhart novel, with its exotic setting, remote household, lurking killers, and love triangles. The wartime setting of Hawaii is done well, and revealed to me many aspects of that time and place of which I was unaware. 

There are twists in the story, as some characters are not who them seem to be. But all is explained.  A great read which puts you right in the home front during World War II.