Siren in the Night by Leslie Ford, 1943

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About the author: Leslie Ford is a pseudonym of Zenith Jones Brown, 1898-1984. She also wrote as David Frome and Brenda Conrad. Here is her bibliography. Also see this Book Scribbles blog: Leslie Ford's Fall From Grace. 

Major characters:

• Loring Kimball, philanthropist
• Lucy Kimball, his second wife
• Amelia Kimball, his stepdaughter
• Thorne Kimball, his daughter
• Nat Donahue, indebted to Loring
• Ilya Donahue, his nasty wife
• Prentiss Vale, architect
• Dr. & Mrs. Norton
• The Butts family, Mr. & Mrs and son Freddie
• Grace Latham, narrator
• Col. John Primrose
• Jim Brodie, newspaper feature writer

Locale: San Francisco, 1942

Synopsis: Grace Latham is our narrator, and she describes San Joaquin Terrace where the action takes place. There are six houses in order (the street is U-shaped but that is immaterial):

1. Grace Latham & Molly Macintyre
2. Nat & Ilya Donahue
3. Mr. & Mrs. Prentiss Vale
4. Loring Kimball
5. Dr. & Mrs. Norton
6. Mr. & Mrs. Butts and son Freddie

San Francisco is on edge due to the war, and there are frequent blackouts to prevent bombing by the Japanese. The story centers on philanthropist Loring Kimball, his second wife Lucy, daughter Thorne and stepdaughter Amelia. His first wife reportedly died in the San Francisco fire. Kimball is seen as an eccentric, having physically moved his Victorian home up the hill to its present location, next to architect Prentiss Vale's modern home.  He keeps his first wife's bedroom as a shrine, as it was, locked, with the lights on all night. This has become a concern as the wardens have to get the light turned off during blackouts.

Neighbor Nat Donahue is employed by Kimball, who controls him by holding a number of financial notes owed by Donahue. Although married to Ilya, Nat is in love with Kimball's daughter, Thorne.

Kimball is working in his study one night, as the air raid siren goes off. All the lights in the neighborhood go out, and when the All Clear sounds, he is found dead at his desk. An autopsy reveals poisoning by cyanide.

Review: This book gives a thorough description of life in San Francisco during the war, with the frequent air raid warnings and blackout procedures. The story is fascinating, with a lot of drama between the neighbors, as well as the mystery of the locked shrine room and the unrequited love story of Nat and Thorne. I enjoyed the first 95% of the story, but I did not like the ending. It revealed the murderer, but the conclusion was sad, and to my mind, an unnecessary resolution.