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Please note there is another book with this title by Agatha Christie (1937), being a collection of four Hercule Poirot stories.
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:
- Inspector Christopher McKee, "The Scotchman"
- Pete Hogarth, crime writer
- Joan Fergusson, Pete's girlfriend
- Hamilton Knox, the deceased
- George Benchley, Knox's valet
- Laurence "Larry" Tower, business editor of The Star
- Milly Tower, his wife
- Albert "Bertie" Fanning, Milly's brother
- Mrs. Reginald Tower, Larry's mother
- Miss Laura Tower, Larry's sister
- --- Hollister, Miss Laura's fiancé
- Roger Paget, wealthy salt mine owner
- Estelle, Baroness Rumbeau; Roger's sister
Locale: New York City
Synopsis: Inspector Christopher McKee is called to investigate the finding of a body in a Rolls-Royce, left running on the street. He invites his friend, crime writer Pete Hogarth, to come along. The body is that of Hamilton Knox, owner of the Rolls-Royce, dead from a bullet wound.
Knox had last been at the home of his lover, Milly Tower (wife of Laurence "Larry" Tower). McKee and Hogarth go to the home, a small house converted from a stable in a mews between two rows of houses. They find Knox had been shot there, his body placed in the car, and driven to where it was found.
The motive is found to be a box of precious jewels which is now missing.
Review: This book starts off well with a murder which is quickly investigated. I enjoyed the seat-of-the-pants forensics McKee used (using Hogarth as a prop) to determine bullet trajectories and the finding of the two bullets. The middle portion of the book dragged quite a bit and I did skim along a bit. Towards the end the action picked up as Milly found herself kept a prisoner and being tortured by an evil doctor for information.
It was a bit annoying that the author keeps introducing new characters right up to the end, and even minor walk-ons are named, so keeping track of names is a chore. Some of them pop in without any introduction, just a name appearing in the action with no clue who the person is.
Paget and Baroness are, we know, brother and sister, and somehow related to the Towers, but this is never defined.
I have one other book by this author, Murder on Angler's Island (1945) which I enjoyed much more. It came 14 years later after this one, and it seems her technique had much improved by that time; although the character count was still excessive.
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