Akin to Murder by Kathleen Moore Knight (1953)

Don't be confused - there is another book of the same title out there by another Knight (Alanna Knight). Different book. Different author!

AbeBooks

About the author: Surprising little is known about Kathleen Moore Knight (1890-1984), at least online. She is not listed in Wikipedia nor the more popular mystery fiction directories; her booklist is on Fantastic Fiction. My count is 34 mystery novels, all published by the Crime Club; a few under the pseudonym of Alan Amos. See this 1946 interview.

Major characters:

• Sylvia Winsted, a widow, our narrator
• Rick Winsted, her son
• Jason Gibbs, her great-uncle, a lawyer; his wife Estelle
• Ambrose Gibbs, her cousin
• Philo (a policeman) and Jennie West, her cousin
• Orin (a druggist), her cousin; his wife Hazel Gibbs; and their son Henry
• Sophronia "Sophie" (her cousin), married to Wylie Brock
• Nikita Roza, a young, attractive artist

Locale: Penberthy Island, off Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Synopsis: Sylvia Gibbs Winsted, our narrator, lived on the mainland with her husband Dick and son Rick. Dick was killed in the Korean conflict. Sylvia owns a three-story home on Penberthy Island, and receives a small rental income from artist Nikita Rosa (top floor), a dentist and his wife (2nd floor), and until recently, Myra Hooper (first floor).  Then Myra Hooper died, leaving the first floor vacant. Sylvia decides to move back to Penberthy Island and occupy the first floor herself.

Sylvia has quite a few relations on the island: Great-uncle Jason Gibbs, her Uncle John and Aunt Mary, and their children Ambrose, Orin, Jennie West, and Sophie Brock. Uncle John had passed away, leaving his wealth to Sophie alone, but with the wish - but not a requirement - she distribute it among the others.

Sophie had always been ungainly and unattractive, but recently discovered love and quick marriage in the form of shifty Wylie Brock. Sophie announces she is transferring all her wealth - except for a token $1000 to each sibling - to Wylie. The siblings are unanimous is refusing the checks, and protesting against the transfer. 

Sylvia's property has a small, secluded summerhouse - and she observes clandestine meetings there between Wylie and Nikita Roza; in which they discuss getting Sophie's wealth away from her.

Review: Surprise #1 was when the obvious victim ... Sophie, who broadcasts her intention to change her will and cut out all the family* ... is not the victim. Surprise #2 was at the end when the denouément produced a (oh, better not reveal it, suffice to say there are some theatricals!)

This Elisha Macomber story is completely confined to the dysfunctional Gibbs family - except for our narrator Sylvia of course. I did miss the usual boating/fishing/beaches/foggy night settings so prominent in the other Macombers. This one could be set completely on the mainland with little change.

Ambrose is a puzzle of a character, he always says exactly what he is thinking, which is not a good thing. I was never quite sure whether he was a scoundrel or a hero.

Rick Winsted was a pleasant character. Only 12 years old, but mature beyond his years.

*Always a bad idea. If you are going to cut someone out of your will, do it before you tell them. If you tell them at all (even better).

Panic in Paradise by Alan Amos (1951)

 

About the author: Alan Amos is a pseudonym of Kathleen Moore Knight. Surprising little is known about Kathleen Moore Knight (1890-1984), at least online. She is not listed in Wikipedia nor the more popular mystery fiction directories; her booklist is on Fantastic Fiction. My count is 34 mystery novels, all published by the Crime Club; a few under the pseudonym of Alan Amos. See this 1946 interview.

Major characters:

• Julian and Serena Cornish
• Maura and Pam Cornish, their daughters
• Brian and Rita Avaraldo Cornish, their son and his wife
• Watson Gilday, newspaper reporter
• Barry Toland, Canal Zone public relations
• Oliver Bradley
• Lt. Pierce Harding
• Pvt. Lou Garrity, died in a fall 
• Pvt. Alec McVey
• Pvt. Willie Trout, now in an insane asylum

Locale: Panama

Synopsis: This story is told in a series of written accounts by several characters in a diary format.

Julian Cornish, his wife Serena, daughters Pam and Maura, and son Brian live in Casa Paraiso on the edge of the Panamian jungle, near the canal. Newspaper reporter Watson Gilday inquires to Julian about doing an updated story on a search for a buried treasure, which occurred five years earlier, during World War II. Julian is reluctant, as that search ended with the death of soldier Lou Garrity, and he does not want to attract another series of treasure hunters to their paradise home.

The treasure, called the Treasure of San Juan de Salud, was buried by priests in a mule train en route across Panama. They had arranged some stones in the altar of a small chapel in the jungle to point to its location, but over the time the stones have fallen and can no longer be interpreted.

Five years have passed, the war has ended, and some of the former army soldiers gather at the Cornish home to once again search for the treasure. During excavation for a new house for Brian Cornish and his wife Sarita "Rita" Avaraldo, a wooden box is uncovered, containing belongings of one of the priests - including a sketch copy of the altar stone arrangement. Gilday travels to the historical museum to refer to the original drawing showing the arrangement, and while returning is found shot to death by Barry Toland, who becomes the obvious suspect. Toland returns to a cold reception at Casa Paraiso, which begins a night of terror as the house becomes isolated and a killer stalks.

Review: I enjoy Knight's Central American stories (both under her name and Alan Amos), partly due to the lush descriptions of the region, and this one is no exception. These stories always seem to revolve around a large family compound which gets isolated in some manner - and in this one, let's see ... the phone line gets cut, the power gets turned off, and the only bridge gets washed out (but we can't blame the killer for that one). 

The diary format was interesting, and I had not run into that format before in which all the major characters take a turn writing their point-of-view experience; so you essentially have a series of first-person narrations. They all tied together nicely. It is explained that Serena keeps urging everyone to write their experiences and keep it up to date throughout the story.

This story had quite a few unnecessary side characters who only pop in briefly, I stopped making notes at 15. And there were quite a few romantic connections going on also which are beside the plot.

It was not clear to me why, when they had the priest's sketch copy of the altar stones, they still had to go find the original drawing in the museum. Or, if they already knew the original was in the museum, why all the excitement about the copy? This story line could have been thinned down to just one drawing.

This is the only Alan Amos in my collection. I will have to search out the other three: Fatal Harvest, Borderline Murder, Pray for a Miracle (apa Jungle Murder).

Death Holds the Key by David Frome (1933)

 

The Mystery League came to an end with the publishing of #30, Death Points a Finger by Will Levinrew. However, the next title had already been announced to be Death Holds the Key by David Frome.
 

promo appearing in #30, Death Points a Finger

I obtained a copy, published by Grosset and Dunlap under the title Scotland Yard Can Wait! So let's call this an "honorary" Mystery League title. Let's take a look at it.

Zenith Jones Brown

About the author: David Frome was a pseudonym used by Zenith Jones Brown, 1898-1984. She also wrote as Leslie Ford and Brenda Conrad. Here is her bibliography. Also see this Book Scribbles blog: Leslie Ford's Fall From Grace. Here is her resting place, St. Anne's Cemetery, Annapolis, Maryland.

photo by Linda Lyons

Principal characters:

• Sprat Marlin, aka T. K. White, just released from Dartmoor, the only one who knows where the money is
• Oliver Marlin, Sprat's son, living in Detroit
• Cissie Gay, Sprat's lady friend
• Algernon Charles (A. C.) Sitwell, owner of the Temperance Club
• Inspector Thomas Lord, who has been waiting a long time for this day
• Jerry Drake, law office clerk for Attorney Prothero
• Ernest Prothero, his firm is responsible for vacant 10, Barkston Mews
• Phil R. Bailey, former Branch Manager of Lombard Street Branch bank
• Kitty Bailey, Phil's daughter
• Sir John Bailey, Phil's brother
• Hal Franklin, Sir John's ward, was a clerk at the bank
• Alfred Sutton, Sir John Bailey's cousin and secretary
• James Oliphant, Sir John Sutton's butler

Synopsis: 

Eleven years ago, Sprat Marlin was sent to Dartmoor prison for a theft of
£60,000 from the Lombard Street Branch bank, which was never recovered. It was suspected to be an inside job. Now he is released, and Inspector Lord has been waiting. A long time. Marlin is immediately put under surveillance, and is believed communicating with someone through the 1930's version of the text message: a line in the Personals column of the newspaper.

Sprat eludes the watchers. Jerry Drake, junior attorney for Attorney Ernest Prothero, notices a curious little man (Sprat) engage a taxi and give an address of 10, Barkston Mews, which is a property up for sale by his office. Suspicious, he follows him, then finds him dead inside the house, pausing to take a key found beside the body. The killer takes the body away and dumps it in the river.

Drake is sent to see a client, Sir John Bailey. Drake is astounded to see that James Oliphant, the butler, is a man he saw meeting with Sprat earlier. Soon everyone is after Drake's key, which must unlock the hiding place of the loot.

Review:

My first novel by David Frome/Leslie Ford, and an enjoyable one. The writer's characters are fully developed, and fun to follow. We are treated to Jerry Drake's and Inspector Lord's thought processes throughout as they seek to unravel a complex mystery. Ex-actress Cissie Gay, the girlfriend of Sprat Marlin, is an especially enjoyable character as she becomes increasingly independent and assertive following his death. She puts her theatre background to work, and is at times a barfly, a spy, and an investigator herself.

The writing style reminds of Manning Coles, in which trivial side events are related in great detail and become hilarity; such as when housekeeper Mrs. Rodgers offers Sutton and Franklin some of her homemade cake; which seems to have a reputation as they attempt to sneak out and toss it in the bushes without her seeing.

Note that there also appears to be an "Americanized" version of this title published which has British slang “translated”, pounds translated to dollars, etc. The originally planned title, "Death Holds the Key", would have been a better fit as the entire story revolves around the search for the elusive key.

Death Points a Finger by Will Levinrew (1933)

 

dustjackets.com

About this selection: This is the last of the 30 titles published by The Mystery League. It contains a promo for the next planned title, Death Holds the Key by David Frome; however, the League did not survive to publish it, and Grosset and Dunlap published it under the title Scotland Yard Can Wait!

About the author: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states: Pseudonym of US author William Levine (1881-?   ), who seems to have been active in the late 1920s and 1930s, publishing several crime novels during this period, usually featuring the deductive exploits of the elderly Professor Herman Brierly. Seemingly unnatural events and murders are usually brought back to the mundane by the professor. He also authored For Sale - Murder in the Mystery League series. 

Principal characters:

• Jimmy Hale, star reporter for the New York Eagle
• Morris Miller, recently deceased
• August Schurman, recently deceased
• -- Wrigley, recently deceased
• Judge Isaac Higginbotham, camp owner, host of the veterans group
• Professor Herman Brierly, nearby camp owner
• James McGuire, ex-police commissioner of New York
• Amos Brown, the one member of "14" they have lost track of
• Amos Brown III, grandson

Locale: Two remote camps (Higginbotham's and Brierly's) on Lake Memphremagog, which spans the Vermont/Quebec border

Synopsis:

A group of war veterans has an annual reunion at a remote lakeside camp. When the war first ended, they entered into a Tontine investment plan - which provides annuities to members, and the last survivor gets everything left. Over the years, as each member passed away, the survivors get an anonymous note just signed "14", signifying another group that betrayed them during the war. It seems that "14" is doing away with them one by one.

As the annual reunion begins, only 11 members arrive. News comes that three of their group - Morris Miller, August Schurman, and Wrigley, have just died. The "14" message arrives soon after.

Jimmy Hale, star reporter for the New York Eagle, had been assigned to cover the reunion. He travels to his friend Professor Herman Brierly's nearby camp, and from there they attend the reunion at Higginbotham's camp. As news of the three deaths arrives, Hale and Brierly begin the investigation to see who "14" is, and if the deaths are related. Professor Brierly uses scientific methods to find clues to the case.

Review:

The opening chapter provides a thorough insight into the hectic operations of a big city newspaper, with the chaos peaking as deadline approaches; then all activity abruptly ceasing as the building vibrates with the starting of the presses in the basement. (A scene recently replicated in the 2017 Steven Spielberg movie, The Post.)

An enjoyable mystery. Professor Brierly is a Sherlock Holmes type of investigator who uses scientific analysis to find astounding clues (examining a rope, he determines it came from a farm which has a boxwood hedge, pear trees, two horses - one bay, one sorrell - leghorn chickens, and a collie. However, unlike Sherlock, he leaves us to wonder just how he made those determinations.

The investigation grinds along, and just when they close in on the suspect, we expect a neat wrapup, but suddenly the killer is shown to be someone we did not expect - and technically in violation of fair play with the reader.

The Stingaree Murders by W. Shepard Pleasants (1932)

 

 moonlight-detective.blogspot.com

About this selection:

About the author: This is evidently his only novel. In Biographical Sketches of Cartoonists & Illustrators in the Swann Collection by Sara Duke, it is noted that he and John Churchill Chase created a comic strip series on New Orleans history in the 1940's. 

Principal characters:

• Leonard Reade, the host, owner of the New Orleans Herald
• Harvey Reade, his son
• Marie Reade, his daughter
• Wayne Whitsell, architect, friend, and narrator
• Pierre Lacroix, governor of Lousiana
• Paul Green, his bodyguard
• J. D. Henderson, lawyer
• General Pitts
• Anne Pitts, his wife
• Archibald Hurley, Commissioner of Conservation
• O'Niel Henry, of the New Orleans Herald
• Needle, servant
• Si Ling, boat engineer

Locale: The Gulf of Mexico



Synopsis: 

Thirteen people are aboard the houseboat Terrapin, guests of publisher Leonard Reade. They set out into a remote region of the Gulf on a fishing expedition. One the guests, Louisiana Governor Pierre Lacroix, shows a threatening letter he has received from "The Stingaree Gang", rumored to be drug smugglers. Lacroix has written a secret plan to round them up. Lacroix sets off from the houseboat in a small skiff to fish, and is later found dead, stabbed, with a barb from a stingaree (stingray) in the wound. Then the boat's motor is disabled, and they are marooned in the marshes. Boatman Si Ling volunteers to row to the mainland for help - and he, too, is found dead in his skiff. Two more murders will follow before the murderer is found.

Review:

This is a nice tight little mystery, well constructed, especially in Chapter One as the characters are introduced, and in the take-a-breather-and-review-the-suspects (Ch. 12). Th spectacle of the passengers, none of which trust each other trying to stay on deck all night to keep an eye on each other reminds of the famous can't-fall-asleep scene in Treasure of the Sierra Madre. 

That's the good part. The bad part is the continual distraction by cringe-worthy items such as:

• Marie Reade deliberately tossing her hat overboard and telling African-American Needle to dive in and retrieve it
• pejorative terms used in referring to various nationalities
• the speech of Needle rendered in phonetics ("Thank de Lord my haid am dry"), 
• likewise, Si Ling ("Si Ling velly solly motor no good")
• gender stereotypes ("A woman would have abided by intuition, but I was a man, and as a man, I sought logical reasons to support my opinion.")
• needless killing of animals

Also see this review by TomCat, a.k.a. Last Century Detective, who sums it up this way: "I found this an interesting curio with a fresh look on an old theme and plenty of good ideas, but its unashamed airing of 1930's racial opinion makes this a problematic book to recommend to a modern audience. If you can put it down as a product of its time and think you have come across every trick in the book than you simply have to pick this one up."

The Mardi Gras Murders by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning (1932)

 

dustjackets.com

About  this selection:

About the authors: Here is a Wikipedia article about Gwen Bristow and her husband, Bruce Manning. They also authored three other novels in the Mystery League series (The Invisible Host, The Gutenberg Murders,  and Two and Two Make Twenty-Two). 

Principal characters:

• Cynthia Fontenay, leader of DIS 
• Roger Parnell, DIS member killed at the party
• Arnold Ghent, DIS member
• Dick Barron, DIS member, lost a bundle at The Red Cat
• Ross Hildreth, DIS member
• Lucy Lake, Cynthia's maid
• Esther Morse, guest of honor at the DIS party
• Fritz Valdon, owner of The Red Cat gambling joint
• Con Conroy, secretary to Fritz Valdon
• Mark Oliver, toy manufacturer
• Tony Wiggins, photographer for The Morning Creole
• --- Wade, reporter for The Morning Creole
• Captain Murphy, of the Homicide Squad
• Dan Farrell, District Attorney

Locale: New Orleans

Synopsis:

The story is set in three parts, corresponding to the three days at the beginning of Mardi Gras: Collup Monday, Shrove Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday. DIS is a secretive group of 50 who hold their own alternative Mardi Gras celebration with a satanic theme: members dress in masked devil costumes and hold a big drinking party. As they are masked, the only way to tell them apart is a number of the back of each costume.

Photographer Tony Wiggins is assigned to take a group photo for his paper, The Morning Creole. Soon after, one of the DIS party, wearing #47, is found dead by Lucy Lake, maid to DIS leader Cynthia Fontenay. The victim is initially thought to be Arnold Ghent, but when his mask is removed he turns out to be Roger Parnell, wearing the incorrectly numbered costume; belonging to Ross Hildreth. Hildreth was out of town and missed the DIS party.

The investigation begins by Captain Murphy, and reporter -- Wade is his confidante and assistant. 45 of the DIS members present were in a closed room under observation when the murder occurs, and are eliminated from suspicion. The 5 remaining and some others (p. 89) are rounded up for questioning.

Toy manufacturer Mark Oliver, DIS member 147, is shot and slightly wounded by persons unknown. 

Cynthia Fonteney is questioned, and soon after dies in a fall during the Mardi Gras parade. Is it murder? When the parade is over, the body of Mark Oliver is found inside a closed simulated fish bowl on the float in which he was riding.

Review:

If nothing else, this book will acquaint you with the runup to Mardi Gras. I'm not sure if the DIS group has any basis in reality, a quick search did not turn up anything on it; but there are many and complex groups making up the celebration.

Reporter Wade seems to have a free hand in running the investigation, with the authorities having minimal participation. In the 1930's everything revolved around the newspaper world, and this story reflects that. Wade works out the solution with photographer Wiggins running the leg work. It is enjoyable following this pair as they work so well together.

It is distracting that the speech patterns of African-American is represented by phonetic spellings, i.e. "yessuh". Although unacceptable today as stereotyped, this was a prevalent writing style of the 1930's. There is liberal use of the n-word when referring to African-Americans, yet this seems, in context, non-derogatory. Two African-Americans play key roles in resolving the murders.

Spider House by Van Wyck Mason (1932)

 

dustjackets.com

About this selection:

F. Van Wyck Mason (fantasticfiction.com)

About the author: Wikipedia states in his biography: Francis Van Wyck Mason (November 11, 1901 – August 28, 1978) (aka Geoffrey Coffin, Frank W Mason, Ward Weaver) was an American historian and novelist. He had a long and prolific career as a writer spanning 50 years and including 78 published novels, many of which were best sellers and well received.

Principal characters:

• Ezra Boonton, paranoid owner of "Spider House"
• Juan Boonton, his brother
• Dora Delray, "bewitching" nurse in a short uniform and high heels
• Grüber, a male nurse
• Terence Kelly, butler and bodyguard
• Whang-Su, Chinese cook
• Dr. George Lawes, neurologist
• Captain Janos Catlin, of the State Police
• Sergeant Matt McNulty, of the State Police

Locale: New Brunswick NJ

Synopsis:

Eccentric Ezra Boonton, "Spider of the Street", is a retired financier who has swindled many to build his fortune, and now lives on the second floor of a house fortified with various gadgets to protect him from his supposed enemies. Captain Janos Catlin of the State Police has gone to see him on a request for protection. 

While Catlin is there, butler/bodyguard Terence Kelly is shot when no one is looking. Catlin and his team decide to spend the night. He winds up locked in a closet, and when he gets out finds that (Ezra) Boonton has been killed upstairs as well; and no weapon can be found.

Sexy Dora Delray is hesitant to talk, but invites Catlin to her place (wink, wink). While there, they are both abducted by a gang. Trooper Matt McNulty had been outside on guard, but he is found dead also. While investigating the gang, Dr. George Lawes is abducted; and held hostage on a beat-up houseboat tied up on the river.

Review:

This is a version of a locked-room mystery, which has turned into a locked-entire-second-floor mystery. A bit daring, with the killings occurring under the nose of the state police. Red herrings abound. It is remarkable that there is only one woman in the book - and this one is the one your mother warned you about.

The drug smuggling gang seems to be a popular theme of the 1930's. The action all culminates in a big fight on the houseboat, quite satisfying.

Note that the text uses stereotypes and pejorative terms for various nationalities, unacceptable today but common in writing of the time.

If you are fan of mansions with elaborate built-in electrical tricks, you may also enjoy The Secret House by Edgar Wallace (1919).

The Ebony Bed Murder by Rufus Gillmore (1932)

 

dustjackets.com 

About this selection: This book contained a sealed section to isolate a portion of text in virgin condition until  the reader broke the seal, which J F Norris notes was a gimmick copied from Harper (see his Pretty Sinister Books blog for photos of the seal). The rear portion of the seal contained a promo for Spider House, the next title in the series. In my copy, only a small, jagged portion of the seal page remains bound between 158/159.

This is the first selection to indicate New York and London as their publishing site, both on the front papers and the dust jacket.

About the author: The Golden Age of Detection web site notes: Gillmore, Rufus (1879-1935) was an American mystery writer. The author of four mysteries, Gillmore's books often reflect those of better-known writers. The Alster Case (1914) is virtually a parody of Anna Katherine Green's famous The Leavenworth Case (1878), mixing comedy and chills. The Ebony Bed Murder (1932) echoes the then-popular works of S.S. Van Dine. Gillmore has always been an obscure mystery writer. There is no evidence that such famous mystery historians as S.S. Van Dine, Howard Haycraft or Anthony Boucher had ever heard of him, or read his books. Gillmore was the first husband of writer Inez Haynes Gillmore Irwin. 

Principal characters:

• Rufus Gillmore, chronicler and narrator, Watson style
• Griffin Scott, psychologist, advertising expert, and criminologist
• Randolph Hutchinson, district attorney
• Detective Sergeant Mullens
• Detective Haff
• Helen Brill Kent, the victim
• Bascomb White, boyfriend of Dorothy Vroom
• Edward St. Clair, a gigolo and dancing partner
• Shah, the Persian cat

The six people present at the time of the murder:

1. Mrs. Vroom, the "stage mother"
2. Dorothy Vroom, daughter of Mrs. Vroom
3. Miss Ethel Cushing, daughter of Helen Brill Kent
4. Captain Brill, of the Salvation Army, brother of Helen Brill Kent
5. Napoleon Brill, "rat-like" brother of Helen Brill Kent
6. Jesse Brill, "elephantine" father of Helen, Napoleon, and the Captain.

The five ex-husbands, and #6 in waiting, in order (detailed beginning p. 126):

1. Harold Beasley Kent
2. Thomas O. Cushing, father of Ethel Cushing; disappeared in China
3. Robert Courtlandt Stuyvesant, father of Robert Courtlandt Stuyvesant, Jr., whom Helen "sold" to him
4. Marquis de la Battaile
5. Chilton Fullegard
6. Jason Sullivan, a.k.a. "Big Boss"; big tough industrialist, would have been #6

Locale: New York City

Synopsis:

Griffin Scott, amateur criminologist, is summoned from his home to scene of Helen Brill Kent's murder. Kent was an actress and society climber, leaving behind a trail of five ex-husbands. She is found shot in her apartment (map on page 41) on her elaborately carved ebony bed. Six others (listed above) had gathered in the apartment to celebrate her birthday.

The family insists it is suicide, but Griffin Scott and D.A. Randolph Hutchinson claim it is murder. A search of the room turns up one curious object: a long, rolled up piece of twine with a shoehorn tied to one end. Someone pulls the electrical fuses, and when they get the lights back on, the twine is gone.

Further developments: Her jewels turn up missing (oxymoron?). Later, Detective Haff calls from the apartment with the news that he knows who the killer/thief is. Before Scott and Hutchinson can return, Haff himself is killed.

Attention focuses on Jason Sullivan, who was lined up to be husband #6, and lives two floors below. Scott spies on Sullivan, who goes on the defensive.

Review:

As others have noted, dilettante Griffin Scott is a kindler, gentler version of Philo Vance (from the S. S. Van Dine novels of the same period), minus the snobby condescension; making him a lot more likable. Scott's batcave-like apartment contains all the latest anti-crime tech gadgets (chem lab, workshop, grand piano) as well as a giant chessboard painted on the floor (guess he didn't worry about the security deposit). 

Lots of sixes: Six people present at the murder, Five ex-husbands with a sixth in the pipeline, six keys to the apartment. A floor plan of the apartment is provided (p. 41) which is helpful, but darned if I can find the rear entrance, which plays an important role, indicated on it.

Also please see:

• This review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block, and
• this review by Mike Grost.

For Sale - Murder by Will Levinrew (1932)

 

dustjackets.com

About this selection: This selection does not contain any promotional or preview material.

About the author: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states: Pseudonym of US author William Levine (1881-?   ), who seems to have been active in the late 1920s and 1930s, publishing several crime novels during this period, usually featuring the deductive exploits of the elderly Professor Herman Brierly. Seemingly unnatural events and murders are usually brought back to the mundane by the professor. 

He also authored Death Points a Finger, the final selection published by The Mystery League.

Principal characters:

• Dr. John Agnew, the shady doctor
• Henry Slater, dead of diabetes before story begins
• Mrs. Frey, an invalid 
• Annie Roosma, Mrs. Frey's maid and unstable screaming neighbor
• Charles Stone, who got too close to a cliff
• Dr. Richardson Cornwall, who got a bad whiff of something
• James MacIntosh, Lieutenant of Detectives
• Richard Quantrell Marlow, reporter for the Newark Evening Bulletin
• George Becker, City Editor of the Newark Evening Bulletin
• Louis Carver, chief adjuster of Trans-Pacific Life Insurance Co.

Locale: Newark NJ

Synopsis:

It starts with a brief newspaper item of a scheduled speech by Dr. John Agnew at a medical conference, in which the speaker claimed that science has advanced to a point where murder can be committed, leaving no traces. A year goes by - and Louis Carver, chief adjuster for Trans-Pacific Life Insurance Co. becomes suspicious when the company receives an unusual number of claims for deaths of persons with large value policies. Detective James Macintosh and Reporter Richard Quantrell Marlow notice the death certificates are signed by Dr. Agnew. Is he committing murder for hire?

No sooner do they begin inquiring into the death of the last victim, Henry Slater, when Mrs. Frey, invalid patient of Dr. Agnew, is found murdered in her bed. She had been providing a room for her maid, unstable neighbor Annie, who staged a fake attack upon herself, and screams a lot.

More of Dr. Agnew's patients drop off - Charles Stone (literally, off a cliff) - and his associate Dr. Richardson Cornwall - while their beneficiaries collect large sums. Can Dr. Agnew be stopped?

Review:

This follows the police procedural formula - it is known early on who the killer is, the challenge is catching him with proof. It is fascinating how the evil doctor keeps coming up with more convoluted, obscure murder methods - and the detective and his newspaper buddy have to keep digging into research to figure them out.

The annoying aspect of this book is Detective James MacIntosh with his heavy Irish brogue which is rendered phonetically ("Yon's a verra dangerous mon, laddie"), and can turn it on and off at will. Not only is this flip-flopping annoying to the reader, but reporter Marlow likes to fake the brogue just to tease MacIntosh, so it is difficult to follow who is actually speaking. Cute at first, but wears thin quickly.

Caution: Text contains use of the n-word to reference African-Americans.