Murder in Triplicate by Hugh Austin, 1935

 

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About the author: Hugh Austin is a pseudonym of Hugh Austin Evans (1903-1964). His series characters are Peter Quint and William Sultan.

Major characters:

• Mr. Valentine Merritt, business partner
• Mrs. Eunice Merritt, his wife, victim #1
• Mr. Andrew Arnold, business partner, victim #2
• Mrs. Carrie Arnold, his wife
• Drewes Patton, business partner, victim #3
• Miss Jean Patton, his daughter
• Mr. Norman D. Lang, business partner
• Cleve Huskins, gardener
• Lt. Peter Quint, detective
• Sgt. John Hendricks, detective

Locale: Hudson, New York

Synopsis: Valentine Merritt, Andrew Arnold, Drewes Patton, and Norman Lang are business partners in a New York brokerage firm. They gather for a weekend get-together at Arnold's estate, enjoying tennis and swimming in the pool (actually a small man-made pond).

Things go well until Merritt's wife, Eunice Merritt, is found dead in the summerhouse gazebo. She has been stabbed, and the tip of her nose cut off as well; and a faucet left running at the scene. Lt. Peter Quint, Sgt. John Hendricks, and other authorities descend on the scene. Quint has just found out that Eunice is a bit of a playgirl with the other partners, when Arnold himself is found dead in his bath, stabbed and nose cut in the same manner, with the bath water still running. It becomes a puzzle of sorting out motives and opportunities, when Drewes Patton is found dead after taking a shower in the same manner. A possible motive for Arnold's and Patton's murder is the insurance policies taken on partners, with the remaining partners as beneficiaries.

Review: This is a fast paced novel, with all events happening within a four-hour time frame; even the chapters are divided/titled by minutes. It is a puzzle of sorting out the movements of the cast to the minute; and this got a bit tiring for the reader. I took the author's word for it and didn't try to follow the movements, to do so would require a map and moving the figures around on it.

My advice for the reader is not to focus on the movements, but rather use a process of elimination by charting out who had alibis for which murder. The solution follows a similar format as And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1945).

There are gritty details - unusual for books of this era. This is the first golden-age novel I can recall that mentioned flies on a dead body - certainly factual but generally beyond mentioning at the time. 

Cleve Huskins is enjoyable as the gardener who takes everyone's words literally. He would be literally aghast at the liberal - and incorrect - use of the word today.

The Double Traitor by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1915

 

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About the author: Edward Phillips Oppenheim (1866 – 1946) was an English novelist, a prolific writer of best-selling genre fiction, featuring glamorous characters, international intrigue and fast action. Notably easy to read, they were viewed as popular entertainments. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1927. (wikipedia)

Major characters:

• Francis Norgate, the "double traitor"
• Baroness Anna Von Haase, his Austrian girlfriend
• Herr Selingman, a German spy
• John Hebblethwaite, British M.P.
• Captain Fred Baring, British Admiralty, friend of Anna

Locale: Germany and England

Synopsis: It is the volatile period in the runup to World War I. Diplomat Francis Norgate is dining in Berlin with Austrian baroness Anna Von Haase. She is known to be the liaison between the German Kaiser and Vienna. German Prince Karl enters and demands Norgate give up his seat that he may entertain the Baroness instead. Norgate refuses, and leaves with the Baroness.

Word of this incident gets back to embassy, and Norgate is sent home to England as he did not defer to the prince, a diplomatic error. On his trip home, he encounters Herr Selingman, a German crockery manufacturer with many agents around Europe and England. Norgate finds Seligman is actually a spy gathering information on military facilities; and manages to steal Seligman's list of agents. 

Back in England, Norgate tries to provide the list to authorities, but is rebuffed as no one seems to think war is imminent. Norgate resents this further embarassment, and takes up Seligman's offer to work for him (Germany) instead. Norgate meets Anna in England, and tells her he is now a double agent, but his sympathies lie with England. Anna, now suspected herself of duplicity by the Germans, is enlisted by Seligman to spy on Norgate; now her fiancé.

Review: It is fascinating to realize this spy novel must have been written in real time - published in 1915, it includes the real-life 1914 assassination of the Austrian archduke which started World War I. It is historical fiction (names of prominent people have been changed) but is closely based on fact. After comparing this book with the Wikipedia account of World War I (they agree right down the line) I came away with a greater understanding of the causes of the war. If I were teaching a history course, I would suggest this book!

The characters are lively and fully developed, especially the "spy triangle" formed of Norgate, Anna, and Selingman. Spies spying on spies abound.

The only critique I have is that a lot of text is spent as the characters discuss various what-if scenarios among the various countries involved. 

The only other spy/mysteries of this period I have read are those by Valentine Williams (my reviews), which are all fascinating as well - although they are set in the period between World Wars are are completely fictional. 

Wheels Within Wheels by Carolyn Wells, 1923

 

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This is Pennington Wise #8. The title is taken from Ezekiel's vision, as recorded in Ezekiel 1:16 of the Old Testament; in which he saw a wheel turning inside another wheel. This expression has come to describe a complex, many-layered mechanism or situation.

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:

• Ralph Howland, millionaire businessman
• Mary Howland, his fragile wife
• Leonard Swift, his cousin and heir
• Ida Holmes Campbell, or is she the missing Angela Howland?
• Rob and Sally Peters, house guests
• Conrad Stryker, the village "half-wit" and peeping tom
• John Stryker, Conrad's father, the undertaker

The Howlands's staff:

• Edith Mills, the short-skirted silk-stockinged blonde stenographer
• Austin Magee, the secretary and business manager
• Amy Lane, a no-nonsense nurse
• Etta, Mary's maid
• Martin, the butler
• Charles, the second man (assistant butler)

The officials:

• Dr. Avery, G.P.
• Dr. Mason, medical examiner
• Police Chief Weldon
• Detective O'Brien
• Detective Green
• James Esterbrook, attorney

Locale: Connecticut

Synopsis:  Millionaire Ralph Howland and his wife Mary have a summer home in Connecticut (in addition to their winter home in New York City, a mountain retreat, and a seaside cottage). Sixteen years ago their only child, Angela, then five years old, died from sleeping sickness (encephalitis lethargica) and Mary has never been quite herself again. Also living there: Ralph's cousin and heir Leonard Swift, and house guests Rob and Sally Peters who are trying to get Ralph to buy into a mining scheme. 

The Howlands have quite a retinue: Slinky stenographer Edith Mills, secretary/business manager Austin Magee, nurse Amy Lane, as well as the usual maids and butlers.

Ralph's will has an unusual clause. Leonard Swift is his residual legatee, unless daughter Angela can be found, in which case she inherits instead. But Angela is dead and buried.

One morning there is a knock at the servant's entrance. It is Conrad Stryker, the village "half-wit". He reports he can see through the library window that Ralph Howland is dead. The staff investigate, and sure enough, he is. Conrad is anxious they call his father, undertaker John Stryker, right away.

Doctors and police arrive, and are stymied that there is no apparent cause of death evident. In the midst of this, a young lady appears at the door looking for Ralph. It is Ida Holmes Campbell, and she claims she is really his long-thought-dead daughter Angela - who would now be 21. The cemetery reveals Angela's coffin was exhumed and found to be empty. Now if this is really Angela, she inherits; not Leonard Swift. Leonard is not too happy.

Review: This would be a great Halloween read, with empty coffins being moved around, buried, and exhumed, and lots of creepy funeral home skulduggery.

There are two parallel mysteries here: who murdered Ralph Howland (if indeed, it was murder), and is Ida Campbell the long-lost Angela? Both solutions are withheld until the very end.

Things are at an impasse until, true to formula, Pennington Wise arrives with his muse Zizi, who flits around like a wraith, extracting valuable clues. Zizi is always enjoyable, especially her saucy repartée with "Penny". 

I had expected the mining deal to be part of the motive of all this, but that story line was dropped early on and not mentioned again.

Another odd aspect was the detailed description of the house layout given at the beginning. I expected this to be important somehow, but it wasn't. I had sketched it out anyway. No idea where all those servants live, perhaps on an unmentioned third floor.

The Case of the Green-eyed Sister by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1953

 

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Major characters:

• Sylvia Atwood, the green-eyed sister; a widow
• Hattie Bain, her sister
•      Edison Levering Doyle, Hattie's boyfriend; an architect
• Jarrett Bain, Sylvia's brother
•      Phoebe Bain, Jarrett's wife
• Ned Bain, father of Sylvia, Hattie, and Jarrett; a widower
• Jeremiam Josiah "J.J." Fritch, a.k.a. Frank Reedy, Ned's former partner
  
• George Brogan, a shifty private investigator

Locale: Los Angeles

Synopsis: Chronically ill widower Ned Bain has three children: Sexy, flashy Sylvia Atwood, plain stay-at-home Hattie Bain, and archeologist Jarrett Bain. 

Sylvia approaches Perry Mason and asks him to represent the family in a thorny matter: Ned Bain's former partner, J. J. Fritch, has always been suspected as being one of a long-ago bank robbery gang. Now Fritch has hired unsavory private investigator George Brogan to act as an intermediary - he claims to have a tape recording proving that Ned Bain was a part of the bank robbery gang also. He wants to sell the tape to the family so they can destroy it, and avoid the notoriety. Fritch and Brogan have arranged matters so it barely does not rise to blackmail.

Sylvia and Mason have Brogan play the tape for them in his apartment, and it is obviously a splice-up job made to make Ned look guilty. Mason sneaks a magnet in and manages to erase the tape. In true blackmail fashion, Brogan comes up with another copy; and when Sylvia and Mason return to hear this one, Sylvia finds Fritch stabbed to death. The police suspect Mason immediately, and while Fritch's body is still warm, word comes of Ned's passing from a heart condition. Now suspicion is that Ned snuck out and killed Fritch, then returned to his bed. It could be a neat closure if true, but is it?

Review: One thing I especially liked about this is the small cast of characters, mostly limited to one family; unusual for a Perry Mason. There are no red herring people popping in and out. 

There is none of Mason's usual evidence-manipulating. This is a straight-forward story, and the courtroom scene is lengthy and quite amusing. As far as the reader is concerned, the killer is not revealed until the usual Mason-Street-Drake  tête á tête wrap-up afterwards.

The Case of the Golddigger's Purse by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1945

 

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Major characters:

• Harrington Faulkner, real estate agent and goldfish hobbyist
• Jane Faulker, his second wife
• Genevieve Faulkner, his first wife
• Elmer Carson, real estate agent, Harrington's partner
• David Rawlins, pet shop owner
• Tom Gridley, pet shop employee, boyfriend of Sally Madison
• Sally Madison, the elegant golddigger, and Mason's client
• James L. Staunton, insurance agent
• Adele Fairbanks, friend of Jane Faulkner
• Alberta Stanley, stenographer for the real estate office
• Wilfred Dixon, financial advisor for Genevieve Faulkner

Locale: Los Angeles

Synopsis: Real estate agent and goldfish fancier Harrington Faulkner approaches Perry Mason in a restaurant. He wants to Mason to deal with a lawsuit against him by his partner Elmer Carson. Faulkner has two problems: Carson is suing him for defamation, and Faulkner's dinner companion, sexy Sally Madison (the golddigger) is charging him more and more money for the services of her boyfriend, Tom Gridley. Gridley, a pet shop employee, has developed a secret cure for the gill disease which Falukner's exotic fish have contracted.

The defamation suit stems from Faulkner's accusal of Carson having entered their joint office and making off with a pair of his precious Veiltail Moor Telescope fish. Ownership of this fish is a bit ambiguous: while the tank is a fixure of the office (therefore jointly owned), Faulkner had placed his personal fish in it. 

Their office is one half of a duplex. The other half is Faulkner's residence. Mason initially declines getting involved, but reconsiders after a call from Sally Madison. They find the fish in the possession of James L. Staunton, an insurance agent who writes policies for the Faulkner-Carson agency. They go to tell Faulkner and arrive the same time as his (second) wife, Jane Faulkner. They all go inside and find Faulkner shot to death in the bathroom. Next, Mason finds the murder gun in Sally's purse. The gun winds up with the police, and they find Della Street's fingerprints on it!

Review: My notes show I read this years ago, but I did not remember anything about this plot, certainly the most absurd I have found in the Perry Mason series. It is hard to believe, on the face of it, that so much to-do and murder occurs over two goldfish. 

Some authors I like to take my time with - particularly Manning Coles (my reviews) and Leslie Charteris (my reviews) - as I enjoy their use of language so much and like to savor them slowly. But Gardner's works don't emphasize language so much as action, and once you start one you have to keep gulping it down as fast as you can until it's done. 

The Case of the Borrowed Brunette by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1946

 

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Major characters:

Cora Felton, a street brunette

Eva Martell, a street brunette, Cora's roommate

"Aunt" Adelle Winters, their chaperone

Robert Dover Hines, employer of the street brunettes

Helen Reedley, who the brunette impersonates

Arthur Clovis, Helen's man on the side

Orville Reedley, Helen's powerful husband

Daphne Gridley, Orville's girl on the side

Carlotta Tipton, Hines' fiancée

Mae Bagley, rooming house operator

Perry Mason, attorney

Della Street, secretary

Paul Drake, private investigator

Harry Gulling, Assistant District Attorney

Locale: Los Angeles

Synopsis: Attorney Perry Mason is driving along Adams Street and is intrigued by a series of similarly-dressed brunettes, one at each intersection. He stops to inquire of one, Cora Felton, who explains they are applying for a position advertised by a Mr. Robert Hines requiring a brunette of certain appearance. Apparently Hines was doing a drive-by to pick one. Her roommate, Eva Martell, is on another corner, and she is the one selected.

Hines suggests Eva choose a chaperone to ensure this is on the up-and-up, and she selects her long time friend "Aunt" Adelle Winters. Hines sets Eva up in an obviously-occupied apartment, and instructs her on how to - without saying so - "impersonate" a Helen Reedley. A worried Eva consults Mason to learn that posing as another person is not illegal unless it is with intent to defraud.

Mason is still pondering the setup when Eva and Cora find Hines shot in the apartment. Investigation shows that the real Helen Reedley has a domineering high-powered husband, Orville Reedley, and a secret boyfriend, Arthur Clovis. Orville is playing the game, too, with a girl on the side - Daphne Gridley. 

The police trace the murder gun to Adelle, and arrest her and Eva for the murder. Before Eva can be picked up, Mason hides her in a rooming house run by a former client, Mae Bagley; getting him in hot water with Assistant District Attorney Harry Gulling.

Review: A fast-paced read which I divided over two sittings. The setup was interesting, with the brunettes staged along the street. Gardner made a point that this particular street was in-between downtown and outlying areas, where the brunettes would be rather noticeable. 

A lot of time is spent analyzing the garbage can incident, which got a bit tedious after a while. Mason plots a little setup for Gulling, with a prop wallet and a fake perfumed letter - I was looking forward to seeing how that played out, hoping for a courtroom surprise, but that didn't happen.

Hamilton Burger does not appear in this one, and I did miss him and his repartée with Mason. 

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

The Visiting Villain by Carolyn Wells, 1934

 

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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 (Dunbar family in bold):

Bruce Dunbar, the millionaire

Anna Forrest, Bruce's niece

Jake Wood, Anna's boyfriend

Doris Ralston, Bruce's niece

Steve Ralston, Doris' husband

Barbara Corbin, Bruce's niece, a widow

Clive Rankin, Barbara's boyfriend

Emory Dunbar, Bruce's nephew

The house staff:

Philip Crowe, valet

---- Hatton, butler

Eliza Hatton, Hatton's wife, the cook

Hester Hatton, parlormaid

Olga, chambermaid

Streamline, the cobra

Martin Saunders, family attorney (drew the 'Anna will')

Samuel Sutton, attorney (drew the 'Emory will')

Harvey Pennock, attorney (drew the 'Doris' will)

John Hale, attorney (drew the 'Barbara' will)

Fleming Stone, detective

Locale: unspecified

Synopsis: Millionaire Bruce Dunbar has no immediate family, just a nephew (Emory Dunbar) and three nieces (Anna Forrest, Doris Ralston, and Barbara Corbin). None of them care for him particularly, but attend dinner at his mansion every Saturday night to stay in his good graces, and hopefully gain a nice inheritance.

Dunbar keeps a pet Cobra named Streamline, whose venomous bite can kill. He is usually kept in his cage but is let out occasionally for carefully supervised exercise.

One morning, valet Philip Crowe goes in to wake Dunbar, but finds him dead. Streamline is coiled up in his cage, but the door is open. Crowe has bite marks on his neck, and it is assumed Streamline did the deed. Niece Anna calls in detective Fleming Stone. The doctors arrive. Stone and the doctors determine that if it is a snake bite that killed him, it was not Streamline. The family immediately suggests a stranger (the visiting villain of the title) came in with a different snake which killed him.

The family is only minimally concerned about Dunbar's death, being more interested in getting their grasping hands on his money. A search for Dunbar's will reveals no less than four of them ... each one naming one of the relatives as the legatee ... and each one drawn by a different attorney.

Review: Oh, what fun! The body is still warm and the relatives are turning the house upside down looking for wills. Four competing wills, by four competing attorneys, are found! If nothing else, this book will certainly familiarize you with will and probate law, or at least as it stood in 1934. 

Not only is their enmity between Bruce Dunbar and his relations, all the relations are shooting eye-daggers at each other! 

The fun consists of all the running around trying to figure out which will was signed last. 

This book is unusual in the Fleming Stone series, in that Stone makes his appearance early in the book; and spends a significant amount of time flirting with Barbara in the process.

Nothing to Declare by Manning Coles, 1960

 

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About the author: Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891–1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899–1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 40s through the early 60s. The fictional protagonist in 26 of their books was Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon, who works for the Foreign Office. (wikipedia)

This is billed as "12 short stories" but they are not all independent stories. 1 through 4 comprise one continuing story.

1. The Blue Envelope - Tommy Hambledon and Chief Superintendent Bagshott of Scotland Yard team up to recover a fabulous jewel, The Luck of Kenilworth.
2. It Pays to be Honest - the story continues
3. Set a Thief- the story continues
4. Out of Luck- the story continues
5. An Angel on my Foot - Tommy Hambledon tries to find what is behind a rash of gravestone thefts.
6. Nothing to Declare - A man is found dead in his home, and the only thing missing is his empty suitcase. Meanwhile, police receive reports of other missing empty suitcases around the city.
7. Handcuffs Don't Hold Ghosts - Tommy is listening to a B.B.C. feature of an exploration into a supposedly haunted mansion, when suddenly the radio commentators disappear; leaving the listeners with empty air.
8. The Case of the Six Indignant Footmen - Six footmen are hired to serve a lavish party which turns into a lavish jewel theft.
9. The Dip - Tommy is after a notorious pickpocket, and drops into a Belgian bar he may frequent. Tommy's drink gets drugged, he gets abducted, and his only way out is riding a untamed horse.
10. Here Lies --- The constable is new on the job, and discovers a murdered body in the road one night. The man is dead. The constable is all alone - what to do now? Despite his better judgement, he leaves the body alone to call it in. But when he returns, it is gone!
11. Holiday Romantic - A traveling photographer inadvertently snaps a photo of a wanted thief.
12. Buyer Collects - Diamond smugglers have a bright idea: transport their diamonds in a garish, beat up old suitcase which is held closed with a rope. Not their brightest idea. 

Review: Tommy Hambledon short stories are bite-sized for one sitting, and usually involve stolen documents or diamonds; rather than a murder (which takes more pages to resolve). These are best read in order, as many refer back to previous ones. Stories 1-4 are really one long story. This may be the first Coles book I have read which does not have Tommy uttering his famous sentence: "Some scheme will doubtless present itself".

The Horse You Came In On by Martha Grimes, 1993

 

About the author: This is #12 of 25 books featuring Richard Jury. See this Wikipedia article for biography and list of the 25 Richard Jury books. Click this Martha Grimes label to see all my reviews of this series.

Major characters:

Ellen Taylor, college professor and author

Beverly Brown, her student

Patrick Muldare, college instructor

Vicki Salva, aspiring author

Frances Hamilton, who died in the art gallery

Philip Calvert, Frances Hamilton's nephew

John-Joy, who was blind/deaf

Locale: Baltimore, Maryland

Synopsis: Two deaths occur in London: homeless John-Joy, a man who is blind and deaf, is killed in an alley. Frances Hamilton is sitting on a bench in an art gallery and suddenly just falls over dead.

Inspector Richard Jury meets up with Lady Cray, an acquaintance from a previous book. She suggests he go to Baltimore to look into the death of Philip Calvert, who was Frances Hamilton's nephew. Melrose Plant goes along to see his old friend, professor Ellen Taylor. Along with Sgt. Wiggins they fly to Baltimore.

In Baltimore, the grave of native son Edgar Allan Poe has a mysterious visitor on his birthday each year. Ellen's student, Poe enthusiast Beverly Brown, had gone to observe and was murdered there. Brown had found an unpublished manuscript - possibly Poe's - which led to her death. Ellen now has the manuscript, and it contains Beverly's notation of initials J-J, P.C., and P.M. Jury speculates J-J is John-Joy, P.C. is Philip Calvert, and P.M. may be Ellen's fellow instructor Patrick Muldare. 

Jury and Plant try to find a connection between the three ... and quickly, as two of the three are now dead. 

Review:

This is not a standalone book - many of the characters appeared in earlier books. It got off to a slow start, a quarter of the way in the only action was the usual series characters sitting around in the Jack and Hammer recapping the series. 

Once Jury, Plant, and Wiggins get to Baltimore things get rolling as the Edgar Allan Poe story line develops. A particularly enjoyable interlude is when Melrose Plant visits an antique store and gets into a long discussion with a young girl, Jip, as he makes up a fanciful story as he goes along. It is recurring element that Jury has no ability to talk to young people, while Plant always does. 

I didn't think the series would survive a trip to USA but once they arrive it is business as usual. It is funny when Plant tries to pass himself off as a local in the Baltimore bar, The Horse You Came In On.

The Ticker-Tape Murder by Milton Propper, 1930

 

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About the author: See Mystery Monday: Who was Milton Propper? by Linda Shenton Matchett

Major characters:

• Philip Nixon, president of American Motors
• Eleanor Nixon, his daughter
• Donald Gardiner, his secretary
• Charles Parker, his chauffeur
• -- Bennett, his butler
• Clem, Frank, & Martha Marley, siblings who lived adjacent to the railroad
• Lew Ferris, convicted thief
• Arthur Stahl, one of Ferris' gang
• Ike Morin, one of Ferris' gang
• Ralph Burke, railroad trainman
• Det. Sgt. Daniel Gilmore
• Det. Tommy Rankin

Locale: New Jersey

Synopsis:  Detective Sergeant Daniel Gilmore is riding a late train to Cape May, New Jersey. The train stops suddenly - it has apparently hit and killed a man on the tracks. Gilmore looks at the body and is shocked to find it is millionaire Philip Nixon, who had recently applied to the police for his protection; which was to begin later that night. 

Nixon's fear was a series of threatening letters. At a party for his daughter, Eleanor Nixon, her diamond necklace had been stolen by a gang of four. The leader, Lew Ferris, was caught and convicted. The letters appear to be from the other gang members.

Gilmore teams up with [series detective] Tommy Rankin and they each pursue separate leads throughout the book. Much investigation centers on a farmhouse adjacent to the tracks where the body was found - occupied by siblings Clem, Frank, and Martha Marley.

It is found that Nixon was dead before being placed on the tracks, thus murder. Initial suspicion focuses on his chauffeur, Charles Parker, who had a grudge against him. Gilmore suspects Parker was the fourth gang member.

Review: The book begins with Nixon's body being hit by the train, and then goes into a flashback describing how Sgt. Gilmore met with him previously. The transition to the flashback was a bit confusing, I wasn't sure which time period we were in for a bit. 

There is no ticker-tape in the book. The title refers to the stock market in general, as our victim is highly involved in stock transactions, which begin in great detail on page 2. The various stock values are given in too much detail, leaving the reader a bit lost.

The action focuses on the movements of people on evening trains between Camden and Cape May, NJ. A little timetable would have simplified the presentation of the story a lot, and here is one I created from times given, which will save you a lot of visualization: 

Oh, this book is dense. There are lots of characters, with new ones constantly being introduced; and all with an overload of detail. Everything is described a notch too much. For example, when two handwriting samples are being compared: rather than just giving us the conclusion that they do not match, we are taken letter-by-letter through the comparison.

One final nitpick: we never found out if Lew Ferris actually got away with Eleanor's necklace or not!

Dangerous by Nature by Manning Coles, 1950

 

About the author: Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891–1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899–1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 40s through the early 60s. The fictional protagonist in 26 of their books was Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon, who works for the Foreign Office. (wikipedia)

Major characters:

• Tommy Hambledon, British Secret Service
• Mateo Delmonte, Tommy's local guide
• Ernst Busch, a German café owner
• Don Angelo Argo, a collector of antiquities
• John Bartholomew Grant, the British envoy to Esmeralda
• Rodrigo De Silva y Garacia, Esmeraldan army officer
• Wilbur K. Hobkirk, US Intelligence

Locale: (fictional) Republic of Esmeralda, Central America

Synopsis: On a river tributary deep in the jungle of Esmeralda, eight men are observed disembarking from a freighter with much freight, and disappearing up a jungle trail. The observer reports this to the authorities, and Tommy Hambledon of British Secret Service soon arrives on the scene. He reports to British envoy John Bartholomew Grant, and is to await the arrival of US intelligence agent Wilbur K. Hobkirk before proceeding.

Tommy enlists a local guide, Mateo Delmonte. Mateo urges he buy a lottery ticket, which he does. Tommy suspects the lottery is rigged, but somehow wins. In the night, a man breaks into Tommy's room seeking the lottery money, but Mateo dumps him off the veranda, killing him.

The men with the freight are identified as Russians, and they are building something large in the hills. Meanwhile, the Esmeralda military, led by Rodrigo De Silva, is training to oust their president. Tommy and Mateo spy on the Russian project, and Tommy is captured and taken prisoner.

Review: It doesn't matter where Tommy Hambledon is, the adventures always delight. This adventure doesn't disappoint. Mateo is a fun character and a good match. Another good character is the poet Mentov, who shares Tommy's prison cell. The action winds up with a really big bang, which no contemporary book would dare use - but this is 1950 and such things were contemplated back then. The Hambledon stories could use a woman now and then - maybe a femme fatale - but they never seem to get included.

Death in a Sunny Place by Richard Lockridge, 1971

 

About the author: Richard Orson Lockridge (1898 –1982) was an American writer of detective fiction. He began the Captain Heimrich series with his wife Frances (1896-1963), and continued the series following her death.

Major characters:

• Enid Towne, our protagonist
• Martha Towne, her recently-deceased mother
• Albert and Emily Mills, caretakers of the Connecticut house
• "Aunt" Lily Wexford Stanton, co-owner of The Hilltop Club
• Neal Stanton, her husband
• Angela Parkins, housekeeper at The Hilltop Club
• Ted Hadley, a guest
• Tommy Thompson, a guest
• Samuel Thompson, a guest, Tommy's brother - or is he Anthony Rizzo?
• Nathaniel & Betty Clemson, guests, the young lovers

Locale: Connecticut and North Carolina

Synopsis: Enid Towne is tired from dealing with all the responsibility following the death of her widowed mother, Martha Towne. Enid prepares to put their large 17-room Connecticut mansion on the market. The house is so large, there are two live-in caretakers -  Albert Mills and his wife Emily Mills. Martha had tried to keep the estate up to the condition it was kept by her late husband, but this has drained her capital over the years; so now there is lots of property but little cash.

Enid receives an invitation from her former neighbor, "Aunt" Lily Stanton, who now lives in North Carolina. She and her much-younger husband, Neal Stanton, built The Hilltop Club, a private invitation-only vacation club. This allows them to invite the sorts of people they "like", and exclude any (minorities) they don't. Enid accepts and flies to North Carolina to stay at the club for a while.

The first night, Enid's sleep is disturbed by an apparent fight on the terrace below her window. The next day, guest Samuel Thompson is missing. The police are called in, drag the lake, and recover his body - tied up and weighted down with a rock.

Another guest, Ted Hadley, annoys Enid with his persistent questioning about what she saw, and personal details about her background. Enid rebuffs him repeatedly, asking him if he is with the police - which he denies. He mentions the dead man is not really Samuel Thompson, but Anthony Rizzo, a construction company owner from Connecticut.

Review: Anyone who has dealt with settling their parents' estate and liquidating the family home will recognize the deep responsibility in the opening chapter - it is a somber process.

The descriptions of the Hilltop Club are enjoyable, although this book could have benefitted from a sketch map of the place. 

I had expected to action to move back to Connecticut, but everything wrapped in North Carolina; so we don't find out if the Towne property sold or not.

The 1970's show through here, will thinly-disguised racism: the Stantons don't want any Blacks for guests, but they are perfectly fine having them as servants. As in other Lockridge books, constant drinking is featured throughout. And the interstate highway boom is in full swing - which is part of the plot. 

It seems the conservative North Carolina liquor laws about mixed drinks and private clubs described in the book - which were strange to begin with - persisted in some form until 2022 but have now changed substantially. Check the changes before traveling there and drinking.

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

More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham, 1949

 

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About the author: Margery Louise Allingham (1904 – 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", best remembered for her hero, the gentleman sleuth Albert Campion. Initially believed to be a parody of Dorothy L. Sayers's detective Lord Peter Wimsey, Campion formed the basis for 18 novels and many short stories. (from Wikipedia)

Major characters:

• Roxana "Ruth" Palinode, deceased prior to story
• Edward Palinode, deceased prior to story
• Lawrence Palinode
• Jessica Palinode
• Evadne Palinode
• Clytie White, a Palinode niece
• Renee Roper, rooming house owner
• Captain Alastair Seton, a tenant
• Jas. Bowels, undertaker
• Pa Wilde, a chemist (pharmacist)
• Detective Albert Campion
• Magerfontein Lugg, Campion's manservant

Locale: London

Synopsis: Albert Campion learns about the odd Palinode family - classicly educated, once wealthy, now almost destitute due to failed investments. Roxana ("Ruth") and Edward have already passed away, now it appears they had been poisoned - so Campion is investigating the deaths. The three remaining Palinodes (Lawrence, Jessica, and Evadne) and their niece Clytie White live in a rooming house on quiet Apron Street, run by Renee Roper. Another tenant is hard-drinking elderly Captain Alastair Seton.

Meanwhile, suspicious happenings occur at Jas. Bowels' undertaking establishment across the street. Bowels rents the basement of Roper's house to store his coffins. There are instances of unexplained coffin removals from the basement in the dead of night.

The poison that killed Ruth gets traced back to the local chemist, Pa Wilde, who, during questioning,  suddenly takes poison himself  and dies. 

Campion investigates three threads: the poisoning of Ruth, the exhumation of Edward, and the strange coffin shuffling by Jas. Bowels. 

Review: This book reminds me of Martha Grimes' Inspector Richard Jury stories - Campion is mostly an observer, has a comic-relief sidekick Magerfontein Lugg (think of Melrose Plant), and a police officer Charlie Luke, D.D.I. (think of Sgt. Wiggins) who does the legwork. 

An enjoyable episode is the "high speed" chase of the horse-drawn hearse wagon, with the police cars using the newfangled "wireless radios" to full advantage. 

The true story behind the coffin movements is revealed at the end, and it was a surprise; yet totally believable. 

The Palinodes have their own private language, using classical quotations to fit the situation. Distracting, and doesn't add anything to the plot.

I was disappointed that we never learn the results of the exhumation of Edward. That story line got dropped after a brief mention that he was indeed dug up, but we never find out what happened to him.

Never Look Back by Mignon G. Eberhart, 1950

 

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About the author: 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. (from Goodreads)

Major characters:

• Margaret "Maggy" Brooke
• Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, her husband
• Charles Brooke, her father-in-law
• Laura Brooke, her New York cousin (by marriage)
• Willy, the cook
• Bill Sanderson
• Joan Greenfield, Fen's old flame
• Sloane Pickering
• Sylvia Hunter
• Russell Warner, attorney
• the mysterious "woman in black"
• Agnes Maclagen, Fen's childhood governess

Locale: New York City

Synopsis: Maggy Brooke is flying to the US from a visit to England. Her destination is the luxurious New York penthouse apartment of her cousin, Laura Brooke. She is anxious: will her estranged husband, Fenwick "Fen" Brooke, meet her at the airport or not? He is a no-show. Upon arrival she is met only by lifetime friend Bill Sanderson. Maggy goes to the penthouse, but strange things happen indicating she is not alone. She finds a cigarette still burning and other signs of recent occupancy. To ease her anxiety, she invites Sylvia Hunter to stay with her. A mysterious "woman in black" keeps reappearing on the scene.

The visit to Laura Brooke was the idea of her father-in-law, Charles Brooke. He has hopes that Maggy and Fen will reconcile. Fen cannot handle money, and has embezzled from his employer - so Charles wants Maggy to handle the couple's money. While Maggy and Fen discuss this, word comes that Charles has died and left everything to Maggy in his will. Suddently Maggy is wealthy and several people have their eyes on that wealth, especially Fen.

Review: Right away, we have the usual Eberhart triangle set up. Maggy is torn between two men: her no-good husband (Mr. Wrong) and longtime friend Bill Sanderson (Mr. Right). We get a glimpse of the super-rich life of a 5th Avenue penthouse - nothing to do but drink martinis, and go out clothes and jewelry shopping. The suspense of some mysterious person accessing the penthouse builds throughout the story (although no one seems to think of changing the lock). 

I had the "woman in black" figured out right away. Two things did fool me, however: I suspected Charles' death to be suspicious - but it wasn't. And when we finally do get a murder victim it was a relatively minor character I was not expecting.

Willy the cook is an enjoyable character and adds a lot to the story.  Overall, a good fast-paced suspenseful tale, perfect for a rainy night at the penthouse.

The Old Contemptibles by Martha Grimes, 1991

 

About the author: This is #11 of 25 books featuring Richard Jury. See this Wikipedia article for biography and list of the 25 Richard Jury books. Click this Martha Grimes label to see all my reviews of this series.

Major characters:

• Jane Holdsworth, Jury's short-lived flame
• Madeline Galloway, Jane's sister
• Alex Holdsworth, Jane's 16-year old son
• Genevieve Holdsworth, Jane's stepmother
• Crabbe Holdsworth, Jane's father
• George Holdworth, Jane's uncle (Crabbe's brother)
• Adam Holdsworth, Jane's grandfather
• Francis Fellows, Crabbe's cousin
• Graham Holdsworth, Jane's deceased husband
• Virginia Holdsworth, Crabbe's deceased first wife
• Millie Thale, 11-year old kitchen worker
• Annie Thale, Millie's deceased mother
• Mrs. Callow, the cook
• Hawkes, the butler
• Detective Inspector Hanif Kamir
• Inspector Richard Jury
• Marshall Trueblood, antiques dealer
• Melrose Plant

Locale: England (mostly) and Italy (a little)

Synopsis: Inspector Richard Jury encounters an attractive widow, Jane Holdsworth, while browsing the flea market. This begins a rather torrid affair. Jane has a 16-year old son, Alex Holdsworth, attending private school but more interested in horse racing schemes. 

Jury's friend, Melrose Plant, and antiques dealer Marshall Trueblood have journeyed to Italy with a plan: to delay Vivian Rivington's marriage to The Count as long as possible, with an eye to getting her back to England and hooked up with Jury instead. Distressing word comes about Jury's new affair, and even that he has purchased an engagement ring.

No sooner has Jury obtained the ring and prepared to pop the question, when Jane is found dead by her son, Alex. The cause is apparently suicide by overdose of pills. Detective Inspector Hanif Kamir finds Jury a possible suspect and cautions him to not leave London.

Alex does not buy the suicide theory. He leaves the area and heads to the Holdsworth family home to seek his favorite relative, his great-grandfather Adam Holdsworth - who splits his time between the family home and a nearby retirement home.

Jury, unable to leave London, suspects family involvement. He gets Melrose Plant to travel to the Holdsworth home and take a position ostensibly cataloging the family library, but in reality spying on them. Melrose befriends 11-year old Millie Thale, a worker in the family kitchen.

Review: There is a big cast - and they are all related - but I have sorted them out for you in the list above, which took some effort - as the relationships are only revealed piecemeal. (Ones highlighted in grey were deceased prior to the story.) 

This was a most enjoyable title in the Jury series, even though Aunt Agatha does not make an appearance. Jury and Jane started out strong and I was surprised at her sudden demise.

Efforts by Melrose Plant and flamboyant Marshall Trueblood to derail Vivian's wedding and redirect her to a more appropriate partner (Jury) are quite amusing. It makes me wonder if they will ever get together later in the series. 

The only weak point was the oversize space allotted to attempts to interpret Alex's dream - it didn't move the story along and didn't add much.