Death on the Aisle by Frances and Richard Lockridge (1942)

 

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About the authors: Richard Orson Lockridge (1898 –1982) was an American writer of detective fiction. Richard Lockridge with his wife Frances (1896-1963) created one of the most famous American mystery series, Mr. and Mrs. North. (wikipedia).

Major characters (see the convenient program!)

and...

• Pam and Jerry North, amateur detectives
• Lt. Bill Weigand
• Dorian Hunt, his fiancée
• Detective Sergeant Aloysius Mullins
• Edward Evans, theatre custodian

Locale: a theatre on New York City's Broadway

Synopsis: Police Lt. Bill Weigand is on the verge of finding a minister to marry him and his fiancée, Dorian Hunt, when he gets a call to a homicide at the West 45th St. Theatre in New York City.

He arrives to find Pam and Jerry North in attendance at a rehearsal for the play "Two in the Bush". During the rehearsal, Dr. Carney Bolton is found stabbed to death in the audience sears. Bolton had been a theatre enthusiast and had been backing this production. The weapon - an ice pick - is still in him. Weigand locks down the theatre and interviews the cast and staff. One cannnot be found - custodian Edward Evans. After a search, Evans is located unconscious in a storeroom, having been pushed down the stairs.

Weigand stresses to the cast/staff that one of them must be the killer, and anyone with any knowledge of the crime is in danger themselves. No one admits to anything, but his assertion comes true when actress Ellen Grady does not show up for the next rehearsal. Weigand and Pam respond to her apartment, to find her drowned in her bathtub.

Review: I enjoyed this one as Bill Weigand plods through the investigation, ever slowly going forward in a good procedural manner. A detailed analysis of who-was-where every minute and checks into background relationships gradually narrows down the suspects. There are only a handful of possibilities for the killer - but the motive remains elusive until Weigand makes a phone call and asks one medical question of the doctor. The reader is not privy to the question or the answer, and this has the one footnote in the book - in which the author explains that the subject of the question, although not revealed, concerns a 'fact in evidence', and that the particulars have been laid before the reader previously in this Ellery Queen-like fair play disclaimer. This is, in fact, the turning point of the book.

The Norths have only a small presence in the book, and their involvement stems from being present at the rehearsal when the murder occurred. Pam accompanies Weigand to Ellen Grady's apartment, and looks at the scene with a 'woman's eye' to note some aspects which elude the police's notice.

I learned that the term 'actor' is preferred by both male and female thespians - and that the term 'actress' is a faux pas. I thought this was a recent thing, but this was written in 1942!

If you like death-in-the-theatre-audience, also try The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen.

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

2022 Reading Challenges hosted by The Mystillery

 

The Mystillery is pleased to offer these reading challenges for 2022!

Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge: You are the Medical Examiner, and your goal is to document the cause of death on as many unfortunate victims as you can by reading murder mysteries. Annual challenge.

Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge: (Nothing to do with Westerns) Shoot (read) six mysteries by the same target (author). Annual challenge, but unfinished targets roll over to the following year so you do not lose any partial progress.

Beachcomber Reading Challenge: Scavenger hunt. Fill four beach bags (Detectives, Victims, Crime Scenes, and Weapons) by finding all the items on each list. Honor system: Author/Titles need not be submitted. Annual challenge

Century Club: A real high-class operation. Expand your horizons. Read one mystery from each of the ten previous decades, comprising 1920-2020. Ongoing challenge which never expires.

In addition, The Mystillery offers two games (not challenges) for the relaxation and enjoyment of any of the challengers after a hard day of reading. The games alternate through the year: Abra Cadavers is a baseball game which runs concurrent with the Major League baseball season (April 1 to Sep 30). At all other times during the year, the Ten Pins bowling game is available!

The Case of the Lame Canary by Erle Stanley Gardner (1937)

 

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Major characters:

• Rita Swaine
• Rosalind "Rossy" Prescott, her sister with the canary, Mason's client 
• Walter Prescott, Rosalind's husband, a shady insurance adjuster
• George Wray, Walter's partner
• Jimmy Driscoll, Rita's boyfriend, a broker
• Stella Anderson, "Mrs. Snoops", a neighbor
• Carl Packard, a.k.a. Jason Braun, car driver involved in accident
• Harry Trader, van driver involved in accident
• Attorney Perry Mason
• Secretary Della Street
• Private Investigator Paul Drake

Locale: Los Angeles

Synopsis:  Broker Jimmy Driscoll used to be boyfriend to Rosalind "Rossy" Swaine. They broke up, and Rosalind married insurance adjuster Walter Prescott. Now Jimmy is cozy with Rosalind's sister, Rita Swain. 

Rita comes to Perry Mason with Rosalind's caged canary. She wants Perry to represent sister Rosalind in a divorce action. Perry is not interested in such cases, but the canary angle intrigues him. Rita is holding onto it while Rosalind is in Reno to establish residency prior to a divorce.

Perry and Rita head to Reno to talk to Rosalind. Meanwhile, Walter Prescott is discovered shot to death in his home. Rita and Jimmy had just left the Prescott home, under the watchful eyes of "Mrs. Snoops" - neighbor Stella Anderson. They did not want her to know Rita had been there, so Rita poses in the window clipping the canary's nails, while wearing one of Rosalind's dresses; so Stella will assume it is Rosalind.

This act is complicated when a traffic accident occurs in front of the house, between Carl Packard and van driver Harry Trader. Jimmy runs out to assist, and the police take his name, thus placing him at the scene of the crime.

Review: This is one of the earlier Mason stories, when Mason was a lot more rough-and-tumble, and the stories had much more action. It moves along very quickly, and the smaller cast of characters makes it easy to keep track of who is who. 

There is no Lt. Tragg, no Hamilton Burger, and no trial scene - although two inquests occur in a courtroom. The second inquest is the climax of the story and ends in a great scene of wild pandemonium. 

A subplot of Perry and Della's relationship winds through the story as they plan to take a round-the-world vacation together, which culminates in Perry proposing marriage.

An excellent read with lots of influnce from Gardner's pulp-writing days: lots of nonstop action, limited cast, and even a romantic element.

The Deer Leap by Martha Grimes (1985)

 

This is Richard Jury #6.

Major characters:

• Una Quick, whose last act was a very long phone call
• Dr. Farnsworth, the village doctor
• Polly Praed, a mystery writer
• Carrie Fleet, 15-year old animal champion
• Baroness Regina de la Norte, Carrie's mother-figure
• Sebastian Grimsdale, trophy-hunter owner of the Gun Lodge
• --- Donaldson, huntsman for Grimsdale
• Amanda Crowley, mother of two troublemaker boys
• Dr. Paul Fleming, veterinarian
• John MacBride, owver of The Deer Leap
• Sally MacBride, his sexy but claustrophobic wife
• Naehle Meara, Sally's 9-year old niece

Locale: Ashdown Dean, England

Synopsis: Una Quick is sad after her dog, Pepper, dies from poison. Mystery writer Polly Praid is waiting for Una to finish up her phone call in a phone booth, and when she pushes on the door, Una falls out - dead. The doctor states it was heart failure.

Other cats and dogs have been disappearing in town, much to the concern of animal rescuer Carrie Fleet, who takes care of a number of strays and orphan animals at the home of Baroness Regina de la Norte, where she lives. Rumors of abductions by a local research lab abound. Carrie's nemesis is Sebastian Grimsdale, owner of the Gun Lodge, and a big trophy hunter.

Carrie interrupts two boys - sons of Amanda Crowley - in the process of abusing a cat, which she rescues.

The other lodge in town is The Deer Leap, run by John MacBride and his sexy but claustrophic wife Sally MacBride. Sally is discovered dead after being locked in a small playhouse behind the inn.

Superintendent Richard Jury investigates the two deaths, and also looks into an apparent extortion scheme to get money from Baroness Regina, over something in Carrie's past which is unknown. Jury puts Melrose Plant at Gun Lodge to spy on Grimsdale to pick up local gossip - while he is there, hunstman Donaldson (rumored to have an affair with Sally MacBride) is mauled and killed by Grimsdale's own dogs. Now Jury has three deaths on his plate.

Review:

This is a dark one, with intentional injuries to children and animals. Sensitive animal lovers may want to pass on it due to descriptions of injured animals and descriptions of research lab animals.

• Likes: Saucy secretary Fiona Clingmore is always fun as she flirts with Jury (Did Ian Fleming come up with that name?) Cyril the office cat is always enjoyable as he puts cat-hater Racer in his place. Mrs. Wasserman lightens up and even ventures out of her apartment to hoist a few at the pub.
  
  
• Dislikes: No appearance by Melrose's posturing Aunt Agatha. Melrose is also called upon to do something quite out of character to protect Jury. High body count (6). Messy shoot-em-up ending.

This title has a number of things which seem out of place in the Jury series. I was surprised at Jury's romantic interlude in the puzzle maze (isn't he on duty?) and by Melrose Plant's unexpected overreaction and use of a weapon to take out someone.

Note: Readers may be unfamiliar (as I was) with Carrie's activity of "unstopping earths". I found that earth-stopping meant "the act of blocking a fox's earth (burrow) while it is absent, so it is forced to stay above ground" as an illegal act to keep a fox active in a hunt. Thus, unstopping earths is cleaning out the burrows so the fox hax a chance to escape the hunters.

Murder on Angler's Island by Helen Reilly (1945)

 

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This title was also reprinted as Dell mapback #228 and in the seventh series of Collier Front Page Mysteries. The cover of the Spanish edition is much more attractive, although not 'mysterious' at all. The title translates to The House on the Cliffs.

About the author: Helen Reilly (1891 – 1962), was an American mystery writer known for a series of novels featuring Inspector Christopher McKee, head of the fictitious Manhattan Homicide Squad. She wrote mostly under her own  name but also under the pseudonym Kieran Abbey. Two of her daughters, Ursula Curtiss and Mary McMullen, also became published mystery writers.  (Wikipedia)

Major characters:

• Pfc. Elizabeth Spires, our protagonist, an Army WAC (Women's Army Corps)
• Major Compton Yarrow, her cousin
• Cicely Yarrow, Compton's wife
• Captain Jeffrey Crale
• Faith Ann (née Blake) Crale, his wife
• Norman Blake, Faith Ann's father
• Adelaide Crale, Jeffrey's mother
• Charles Hurd
• Garrison Ives, a lawyer
• Grace Drexel, his mother, housekeeper to the Crales
• Arthur Drexel, Grace's son
• Leslie Manxman, private detective
• Insp. Christopher McKee, Manhattan Homicide Squad, "the Scotsman"

Locale: Angler's Island, off the New England coast

Synopsis: It is wartime 1945, and Angler's Island is home to an Army base at one end, the other end remaining civilian. Pfc. Elizabeth Spires has just been posted to the base. She is anxious, as the island is home to the Crale family - and Captain Jeffrey Crale had jilted her three years ago to marry Faith Ann instead.

The Crale family lives in a cliffside home behind the Monmouth Inn. A wooded path connects them, with the inn's swimming pool midway along the path. Elizabeth encounters Jeffrey, and the old chemistry is there again; but they both resist temptation. Faith Ann gets wind that Elizabeth is on the island, and has a brief catty exchange with her. Returning to the inn, Elizabeth senses someone else is lurking on the dark path. In the morning, Faith Ann is reported missing, and soon found dead in the swimming pool. She had been struck on the head before falling in. 

News comes that Norman Blake, Faith Ann's wealthy father, was killed in an airplane crash shortly before she died. This leads to a twist: Blakes fortune went to Faith Ann upon his death, then to Jeffrey upon Faith Ann's death. This seemingly gave Elizabeth a double motive: to get her man and the fortune.

Review: This book is a great insight into wartime conditions on the home front. The setup of the love triangle is quite Mignon Eberhart, with two women - one good, one bad - competing for the same man, and when one woman (the bad one) is killed, the other - our protagonist - is the immediate suspect.

The story is set on an island, but could have been anywhere. The isolation of an island is not a significant part of the story. The night scenes are very well done, I especially enjoyed the episode near the end when Elizabeth is driving a truck to another part of the island through heavy fog and mist, and encounters danger.

One drawback to this story was the large number of characters. The list above is only partial. Most of the characters are related, or have interconnections with others. The story could have had a few trimmed out to be a bit easier to follow. 

The Buckled Bag by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914)

 

This short story is contained in The Mary Roberts Rinehart Crime Book, a collection of five stories published in 1925. This review is of that edition.

Major characters:

• Clare March
• George March, her father
• Mrs. --- March, her mother
• Fraulein Julie Schlenker
• Nurse Hilda Adams
• Detective Patton

Synopsis: Detective Patton enlists Nurse Hilda Adams to investigate a case, knowing that a private duty nurse could pick up more from the family than he. She is hired to nurse a Mrs. March, who is suffering from nervous anxiety. 

Mrs. March and her husband, George March, are worried as their 20-year old daughter Clare March disappered two months earlier while returning from their summer home in Maine to the city. There has only been one brief note from her, simply stating "I'm OK".

Nurse Adams notices a mysterious old woman lurking in the house at night, and it is neither one of the family nor one of the servants.

One night, Clare unexpectedly returns to the house. Nurse Adams finds her in terrible condition, almost starving. Once she recovers, she tells a story of being held captive in a derelict house outside the city.

Following clues from Clare's story, Detective Patton locates the house. Nurse Adams is not convinced it is the correct house, and investigates on her own to find a similar house nearby is the one Clare was confined in.

Review: This is a nice, tight little short story - being a missing-person mystery. It is a good introduction to the Hilda Adams series of longer stories. The descriptions of the two derelict shacks are very well done, and the reader can envision the exact scenes easily. The ending is a surprise explanation of the disappearance.

Bab: A Sub-Deb by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1917)

 

This book is an absolute riot and I laughed all the way through it. It consists of five “themes”, or reports written for school and diary entries.

The writer is 17-year old Barbara Putnam Archibald (Bab). She is a Sub-Deb, or a Debutante in waiting. She has an older sister, Leila, who is now a Debutante, having had her coming-out party upon turning 18. Bab cannot wait until she, too, is a Debutante, and can take her place in Society. One of her prime goals is to get Leila married off, as she (Bab) cannot “come out” until Leila is “out of the way”.

Bab is constantly getting into a series of misadventures, much to the horror of her family. The accounts are written in her 17-year old voice, complete with misspelled and misused words (which add to the flavor), with Important Things always capitalized.

1. The Sub Deb: Bab invents a lover of her own (Harold Valentine) and devises ways to get out of the house, and is horrified to find her friend Carter Brooks knows a real Harold Valentine and brings him to a dance to meet Bab.

2. The Celebrity: Bab finds a favorite actor of hers is staying at the adjacent beach house, and manages to rescue him after his family locks him inside a bathhouse without any clothing.

3. Her Dairy: Bab devises a way to get out of the house unaccompanied (forbidden for a Sub-Deb) and attend plays at which her favorite actor stars, and manages to get invited to his dressing room.

4. Bab’s Burglar: Bab receives an advance allowance for her year in school, and manages to spend it foolishly on a car. She then uses the car to provide a taxi service to earn back some of the money, and finds a suspicious man who has his eye on her home.

5. The G.A.C: Bab, in a frenzy of patriotism over the war (World War I) organizes a group of neighborhood girls into a scout-like organization she calls the Girls Aviation Corps and sets out to track down German spies, one of which appears to be the family butler who is engaging in suspicious conduct with secret codes. (less)

Sight Unseen by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1916)

 

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This story is contained in Sight Unseen and The Confession. Please see my separate review of The Confession.

About the author: 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).

Major characters:

The Neighborhood Club:

• Horace Johnson, our narrator, an attorney
• --- Johnson, his wife
• Herbert Robinson
• Alice Robinson, his wife
• Dr. Sperry, a heart specialist
• Mrs. Dane

and others:

• Arthur Wells, neighbor, and the victim
• Elinor Wells, his wife
• Suzanne Gautier, the Wells governess
• Arthur Hawkins, the Wells butler
• Miss Alice Jeremy, a medium
• Clara, Mrs. Dane's companion
• Charlie Ellingham

Locale: not stated

Synopsis: The Neighborhood Club is a gathering of six neighbors (see above list) who have dinner together Monday evenings in rotation at their homes. The dinners are followed by a discussion or some entertainment. 

It is Mrs. Dane's turn to host. She is confined to a wheelchair and has a companion, Clara, to assist her. The others are surprised to find she has lined up a medium to conduct a seance for them. The medium, a young woman named Miss Alice Jeremy, arrives and conducts the seance; and Mrs. Dave has Clara record the proceedings. It is 9:30 PM. They are surprised when Miss Jeremy describes a certain room, a man being shot to death while shaving, and someone trying to cover up the crime. The Club is shocked at this account but put it down to just a dramatic entertainment.

The party breaks up. At midnight Horace Johnson (our narrator) receives a phone call from Dr. Sperry. Sperry has received a call to attend their neighbor Arthur Wells.  Horace joins him and they go to the Wells home to him shot to death, and several aspects of the death align with Miss Jeremy's visions: the location of the house key, the time and location of the injury, and the fact the victim was in the midst of shaving.

Review: This short story started out strong but ultimately was disappointing. The premise was interesting: how could a medium give a real-time, play-by-play account of a murder happening a few houses away? I was expecting a "Murder of Roger Ackroyd" trick type explanation at the end of how this was accomplished, but the explanation was nothing remotely reasonable. I realize spiritualism and mind reading was a big thing as of this writing, but using that as the explanation doesn't really cut it. It came across as an easy way out to end the story quickly.

The other thing that bugged me about this story is - who is Charlie Ellingham, anyway? He is mentioned briefly in the story but never really introduced or connected up to any of the characters, and here he is a big part of the "solution".

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

Be sure to visit The Mystillery for my mystery reading challenges!

The House on the Roof by Mignon G. Eberhart (1934)

 

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About the author: (from Goodreads): 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. 

Major characters:

• Mary Monroe, opera singer, roof
• August Tighe & Pigeon, 3rd floor
• Deborah Cavert, 2nd floor, & Annie, her cook
• Juliet Cavert, Deborah's aunt
• Gibbs and Chloe Riddle, 2nd floor
• Anthony Wyatt and Francis Maly, 1st floor
• Alfred & Dolly Brocksley, 1st floor
• Juanito Murphy, janitor
• Lieutenant Waggon, police detective

Building/apartment diagram:

Roof:		Mary Monroe
3rd floor:	#5 vacant	#6 August Tighe & Pigeon
2nd floor:	#3 Deborah & Juliet Calvert	#4 Gibbs & Chloe Riddle
1st floor:	#1 Anthony Wyatt & Francis Maly	#2 Alfred & Dolly Brocksley

Locale: Chicago

Synopsis: Deborah Calvert enters the vestibule of her apartment building to encounter Mary Monroe, a woman she does not recognize. Mary says she has misplaced her keys, and Deborah lets her in. Mary invites her up to her apartment for tea. It turns out her "apartment" is really a separate building on the roof, accessible only by fire escape - from the 2nd or 3rd floors, or from the ground*. The house is set back from all the walls, so is not visible from the ground.

Deborah and Mary go the 3rd floor, exit to the fire escape, and climb to the rooftop house, and have tea. Mary offers to sing for Deborah, if Deborah will accompany her on the grand piano. While doing so, an interior door in the house opens, a hand with a gun emerges, and shoots Mary. Deborah tries to call the police, but the phone - like Mary -  is dead. The house intercom rings, and a man says he will be right up. It turns out to be first-floor tenant Anthony Wyatt, who tells Deborah to return to her apartment, and he will notify police. 

It becomes evident (from lack of police response) that Wyatt did not call the police, and the body is not "discovered" until much later. Wyatt and Deborah are both afraid of being accused, and conspire to silence and pretend they were not present. Wyatt goes so far as to propose a marriage, so they would be unable to testify against each other.** Deborah accepts the idea, and upon leaving the apartment, discovers the body of Alfred Brocksley in the hallway.

Suspicion mounts against a couple of shady characters: August Tighe and his tough guy "secretary" (actually bodyguard) Pigeon. They occupy the apartment directly below the rooftop house.

Review:

The closed world of the apartment house and its tenants (most with secrets) spying on each other reminded me of Cornell Woolrich's short story Rear Window and the subsequent Alfred Hitchcock film of the same title.

This one was a puzzler. Especially the character of Anthony Wyatt: I could never figure out if he was the good guy who be Deborah's ally and love interest, or a bad guy just using her for his own purposes. When we meet him, he is holding a gun and being menacing. He was just a mystery throughout - until the very last page. I thought I had the killer ID'd about halfway through, but ... I was wrong. 

The character of Francis Maly definitely gave off gay vibes with his styled hair and stated affections for Anthony, even down to the ambiguous pronunciation of his name (Francis/Frances) - pretty bold for 1934. This misled me into discounting roommate Anthony as the eventual love interest for Deborah.

The reader would do well to keep the layout of the apartment house handy, as the locations of the apartments are central to the plot.

But the biggest mystery of all ... how did Mary Monroe get her grand piano up the fire escape in the first place?

*The fire escape exit doors on the 2nd and 3rd floors are spring-locked one-way in the usual manner, persons can only exit to the fire escape, but not enter the building from the outside.

**This is a common misconception. In reality, the provision that a husband may not be compelled to testify against a wife, and vice versa, known as spousal privilege; only applies to testimony about communications or events that occured during the marriage. Thus, each can be compelled to testify against the other concerning communications or events which occurred prior to (or even after a dissolution of) the marriage. Source: Legal Information Institute. So entering into a marriage just to avoid this sort of predicament would not work, but it makes a good plot element. Erle Stanley Gardner always got it right, but then again, he was a lawyer! He used it a number of times to trip up witnesses.

For a similar rooftop adventure, try The Bungalow on the Roof by Achmed Abdullah (Mystery League, 1931).

Be sure to visit The Mystillery for my mystery reading challenges!

House of Storm by Mignon G. Eberhart (1949)

 

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About the author: (from Goodreads): 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. 

Major characters:

• Nonie Hovenden, due to be married
• Royal Beadon, her fiancé, owner of the island estate (Mr. Wrong)
• Hermione Shaw, owner of the adjacent estate
• Jim Shaw, Hermione's nephew (Mr. Right)
• Lydia Bassett, a sultry widow
• Aurelia Beadon, Royal's sister
• Major Dick Fenby, estate manager for Hermione
• Dr. Riordan
• Seabury Jenkins, Magistrate

Locale: Beadon Island in the Caribbean

Synopsis: Nonie Hovenden is engaged to much-older Royal Beadon, owner of a sugar cane plantation, Beadon Gates, on Beadon Island in the Caribbean. The wedding is in three days. Nonie is pleased but not too excited about it, and just sees it as her inevitable destiny as her family (just a distant aunt) urges her to accept.

Adjacent to Beadon Gates is the only other plantation on the island: Middle Road Plantation, owned by domineering Hermione Shaw. She employs her nephew, Jim Shaw, as an errand boy although he is supposed to be assuming management from her. She also employs hard-drinking Major Dick Fenby as the manager.

Nonie and Jim hit it off immediately in a case of love at first sight. Jim, frustrated with working for Hermione, heads off to a job in New York. At the last moment, he decides to face up to things, remain on the island, and along with Nonie will tell Royal the wedding is off.

At the same time a terrific rainstorm and building hurricane hits the island. Dick Fenby is visiting Royal, and Nonie offers to drive him back to Middle Road Plantation. They arrive to find Hermoine dead - shot - on her front steps. And Jim is inside the house with a gun.

Review: This is a great ready for a rainy, stormy night. It just so happened I got a rainy, windy night to finish this one and it was perfect. 

Eberhart paints the Caribbean scene skillfullly, and the reader can feel the heat, rain, and lushness of the tropical environment. She describes the Beadon home perfectly, and the constant struggle to keep any house operating and maintained in such a high-temp, high-humidity environment. 

A little suspension of disbelief is in order when Nonie drops her planned marriage to rock-steady Royal just days before, for a flighty love-at-first-sight Jim. I was surprised when Royal calmly accepts her change of heart, reacting with about the same emotion as a change in the dinner menu; but he comes through it like a man and even shakes hands with Jim. 

The climax of the story and the climax of the storm occur simultaneously, with the characters creeping around a dark (the power is out) house in the middle of the hurricane.

Major Dick Fenby is a bit of a cardboard character - he is Hermoine's estate manager, and also the chief of police, but most of the time he is just drunk. Confronted with a murder, he is not too sure exactly what to do. The story could have been stronger if these two roles were divided into two characters.

A map would have been helpful - it was a bit unclear where the various scenes were, or if they were even on the same island.

Be sure to visit The Mystillery for my mystery reading challenges!

The Calloused Eye by Ethel Loban (1931)

 

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About the author: Ethel Grace Loban (née Harris) (1892-1985) was born in Toledo, Ohio and died in Los Angeles. Here is her genealogical information. Not much is known about her as an author, she is not listed in Wikipedia nor Fantastic Fiction. Who's who in California (Volume 1942-43)  states "Writer of books published by Doubleday-Doran Co., short stories in various magazines. Collier's, Ladies' Home Journal, etc." 

This title was published by The Crime Club, and was reprinted in the Collier Front Page Mystery collection (fourth series).  The title is from a Chinese proverb that eyes, like hands can become calloused, and not see clearly. Another title is Signed in Yellow (Crime Club). It is possible earlier titles were published under her maiden name (Ethel Harris).

Major characters:

• Miss Fern Matthews, a nurse, and our narrator
• John Glace, patriarch of the family, Fern's patient
• Dr. Jack Glace, his son
• James Glace, his son, a wealthy broker
• Minerva, his daughter, an opera singer
• Hazel Golightly, his daughter by a second marriage
• Gerald Golightly, Hazel's husband, an actor
• Dr. Hugh Abbott, Fern's fiancé
• Withers, an attorney
• Leong Fat, leader of the Chinese servants

Locale: Colorado

Synopsis: Nurse Fern Matthews (our narrator) takes a job caring for a patient in a Colorado mountaintop retreat owned by the Glace family. The family consists of the patient, John Glace, who has tuberculosis and is a drug addict; along with his sons Dr. Jack Glace and stockbroker James Glace, and his daughter Minerva Glace, an opera singer. The family employs a large number of Chinese servants.

Fern settles in to the household to care for John Glace, who alternates between being chatty and being uncontrollable. Fern cares for him in the daytime and early evening. Overnight Leong Fat, a Chinese servant, stays with him. 

John's daughter by a second marriage, Hazel Golightly, arrives unexpectedly with her husband, actor Gerald Golightly. They have run out of money and need help from the family. There is tension, as the Glace siblings have never accepted their father's second marriage (performed in China by a customary rite) as legitimate; nor Hazel as their legitimate half-sister.

On the night following their arrival, Fern discovers someone has administered morphine to John, stabbed him with a dagger, and made off with his stash of valuable emeralds.

Review: This book reminded me of two other settings: First, the nurse protagonist/narrator is similar to Mignon Eberhart's Nurse Sarah Keate, although unlike Sarah Keate, this nurse doesn't do anything to solve the mystery (she relies on fiancé Dr. Hugh Abbott for that). Second, the Agatha Christie-like picking off of the guests one by one in an isolated location (although not completely isolated, there is a rough mountain road leading to the retreat).

Nurse Fern is hired to care for a patient who doesn't need much care (and even has his son, a doctor, in residence anyway) . She is strictly in a reactive role to the mayhem constantly unfolding around her. Much of her efforts consist of patching up the various victims, as well as tending to all the others who tend to faint each time someone gets attacked.

There is use of a derogatory term for persons of Chinese ancestry. Although the Chinese are denigrated by some of the characters, their roles are reasonable and done well - particularly of those working in the kitchen. It is claimed there are 22(!) Chinese servants but we only meet five or six. Leong Fat serves as their unquestioned leader, and drops his affected pidgin-English speech when it is challenged, and reverts to perfect educated speech.

Be sure to visit The Mystillery for my mystery reading challenges!

The Confession by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1921)

This short novella is included in The Crime Book and Sight Unseen and The Confession.  Please see my separate review of Sight Unseen.

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).

Major characters:

• Miss Agnes Blakiston, the summer tenant, and our narrator
• Maggie, her maid
• Willie, her nephew
• Miss Emily Benton, the house owner
• Anne Bullard, telephone operator
• Martin Sprague, nerve specialist

Locale: not stated

Synopsis: Agnes Blakiston, as is her custom, seeks out a summer house rental in the country. She finds the perfect house, offered by Miss Emily Benton. Emily has a couple strange requirements. She wants the house rented out, no matter what, and no matter how low the rent is - even free, if necessary. Second, she insists it not only be rented, but be occupied.

Agnes is happy with the arrangement and moves in, with her maid Maggie. Maggie immediately takes a dislike to the house and to Emily. Then the hall telephone begins to ring in the middle of the night - and no one is there. Next, Agnes finds evidence that someone has been in the downstairs rooms during the nights: burnt matches, candles partly consumed, things moved about slightly. Agnes realizes that the two phenonema never occur on the same night - leading her to conclude the overnight visitor is also the one ringing the phone.

At the urging of her nephew Willie, Agnes consults her nerve specialist, Martin Sprague, who suggests that either Agnes is imagining things, or Emily has something in her past she is trying to reveal. Emily falls ill, and is cared for by Anne Bullard, who is also the night telephone operator; and is protective of Emily.

The strange occurrences all center around the hall telephone. Agnes asks Emily if she can install an upstairs extension, but Emily nixes the idea. Emily visits and hangs about the hall phone, and drops and loses a coin which slides under the telephone's battery box on the floor. Later, Maggie sets out to retrieve the coin, and opens the battery box to find a five year old murder confession written by Emily; and concludes Emily's actions have been trying to subtly direct attention to it. The question is: was this a real murder or just Emily's imagination?

Review: Three things I know of were born in 1921: My mother, our piano, and this story. This story is now 100 years old. For the first time in ages, I just had to finish a book in one sitting - staying up much past my usual bedtime. The various phenomena which seem supernatural at first all have explanations - and it is chilling how Emily tries to attract attention to the battery box. 

Rinehart always has a subtle humor. Agnes wants to identify the nighttime visitor, and so sprinkles flour on the floor to detect footprints (was this inspired by the account of Bel and the Dragon in the extended biblical book of Daniel?). She wants to determine if she is really creating the phenomena herself, and has Maggie lock her in the bedroom so she cannot get out to make footprints and burn the candles down herself.

I enjoyed her method of visiting the church and getting clues from the windows and the graveyard. The story has an eye-opening twist at the end, with a most satisfying ending.

See also this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.

Be sure to visit The Mystillery for my mystery reading challenges!

 

The Fate of Jane McKenzie by Nancy Barr Mavity (1933)

 

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About the author: Nancy Barr Mavity (1890 - 1959) is the author of a series of six mystery novels about crime reporter James Aloysius "Peter" Piper. Nancy Barr Mavity taught philosophy at Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut. She was a newspaper woman. She was a feature writer of the Oakland Tribune. In this capacity, she was the first woman to spend a night in Folsom State Prison, where she had gone to cover the pardon hearing of Warren K Billings. She lectured extensively and contributed to magazines. (from a Wikipedia article). You can read about her history here. 

This is Peter Piper #6 (of 6). The full series is:

1. The Tule Marsh Murder (1929)
2. The Body on the Floor (1929)
3. The Other Bullet (1930)
4. The Case of the Missing Sandals (1930)
5. The Man Who Didn't Mind Hanging (1932)
6. The Fate of Jane McKenzie (1933)

Major characters:

• Peter Piper, star reporter for The Herald
• Jimmy Sears, city editor for The Herald
• Willie Hames, police reporter for The Herald
• Andrews, photographer for The Herald
• Jane McKenzie, missing philanthropist
• Verity McKenzie, her daughter
• Betty Mason, her other daughter
• Warren Mason, Betty's husband
• Julia Craig, Jane's niece
• Harold Crashaw, the McKenzie's golf instructor/landscaper
• Douglas Howard, mystery novelist
• Jerry O'Sullivan, bootlegger (this is prohibition times)
• Bill Herrin, bootlegger
• Jake "Hayseed" Maguire, 17-year old detective correspondence school graduate
• Professor Allen, an eccentric

Locale: San Francisco

Synopsis: Peter Piper, star reporter for The Herald, is assigned to cover a solar eclipse at a prime viewpoint, the mountaintop estate of wealthy philanthropist Jane McKenzie. A crowd gathers. The eclipse is brief and in the exodus afterward, Piper's car bumps into Verity McKenzie on his way down the mountain. She is uninjured, and invites him into her home so he can phone in his story. While there, the family becomes concerned that Jane cannot be located.

With Jane still missing, a massive search begins on the mountain, with the McKenzie's golf instructor, Harold Crashaw, in charge. The McKenzies own the whole mountain, and there are a couple others living on and around it as well: Bill Herrin, who operates an illegal still along with his gangster buddy Jerry O'Sullivan, and mystery writer Douglas Howard. Eccentric Professor Allen is, frankly, hoping Jane is dead and left him money in her will for an observatory.

Peter becomes friends with 17-year old Jake "Hayseed" Maguire, an enthusiastic fan, and graduate of a correspondence school detective course. Jake turns out to be a valuable ally and assists Peter in filing reports for the paper and running down clues in his own makeshift laboratory. A ransom note arrives, demanding $1000 - but not for the return of Jane, but just information revealing her whereabouts. Jake makes the discovery that turns a missing person case into a murder case.

Review: One thing I always appreciate is when the characters are clearly introduced up front, and so it is here as Mavity lists out the family clearly the first time Peter Piper encounters them. 

A most excellent character is Jake "Hayseed" Maguire, sort of a Hardy Boys figure transplanted into the story. His enthusiasm and initiative are quite believable, as he even teaches Peter a thing of two from his correspondence school detective course.

I did get a chuckle out of a couple of incidents written such that Peter avoids violating postal laws. First, the ransom note - which is actually a ransom postcard(!) - so Peter can read it without opening an envelope. Second, a newspaper delivery to Douglas Howard - which Peter has been waiting for - is left balancing on top of the mailbox by the mailman - so Peter need not open the mailbox to look at it!

I have enjoyed all six Peter Piper titles, and each one I have considered the best. It is sad to realize there are no more. Thanks to Nancy Barr Mavity for the enjoyment of feeling The Herald building shake as the presses begin to rumble!

Be sure to visit The Mystillery for my mystery reading challenges!