About the author: I couldn't find anything about this author, other than some(?) of his other titles: No Sign of Murder (1940), Time to Kill (1940), Marked for Murder (1941), and Pass Key to Murder (?date).
Major characters:
- Dr. John Barnes, deceased on a yellow shag carpet
- Madeline Sears, his nurse; a.k.a. Rose Grant
- Len Whitman, her partner in crime
- Gilbert Johnson, a millionaire "patient"
- --- Blanning, famous violinist, a "patient"
- Suzanne Suchard, actress, a "patient"
- Dr. Gregory Barnes, brother of John Barnes
- Del Reed, fiancée of John, then girlfriend of Gregory
- Lt. Dan Mallory, Homicide
Locale: Long Island, NY
Synopsis: John Barnes, a New York doctor, has a very small but strangely lucrative practice. It primarily consists of making an addicting "compound" and dispensing it to his "patients", an arrangement overseen by his nurse, Madeline Sears and her accomplice, Len Whitman.
Dr. Barnes calls for his three "patients" to meet with him at Madeline's home, purpose not mentioned. He arrives first and lets himself in. When Madeline arrives, she finds him shot to death, on her yellow shag carpet; no less.* The three "patients", wealthy Gilbert Johnson, violinist --- Blanning, and actress Suzanne Suchard arrive shortly after. They conspire to obtain the remaining compound, and get rid of Barnes' body. They put it in his car and abandon it in a brushy area.
Dr. Gregory Barnes, John's brother, is unaware of the compound scheme and worried about his disappearance. When he finds out about his death, he enlists John's fiancée, Del Reed, to investigate. They discover John, Madeline, and the three "patients" are involved in some type of medical conspiracy.
* This immediately brought to mind the 1990 murder of Gregg Smart in New Hampshire, in which his wife, Pamela Smart, cautioned the killer to be careful to not shoot her husband on her white carpet.
Review: This could be in the "so bad it's good" category, but definitely different.
The bad: The writing style is that of a middle schooler assigned to write a hard-boiled novel. A gun never leaves Greg's hand as he investigates. All the male characters thoroughly ogle the female characters. Like The Hardy Boys, he and Del race all over the place in a frantic search for clues which just conveniently appear as needed. Mallory, the cop, makes only token appearances. The author could have used a writing coach, editor, and proofreader as there are grammatical, practical, logical, and continuity errors throughout.
The good: The author is definitely enthusiastic about his subject, and the story moves right along at a breathtaking pace. It has some humorous moments:
- Madeline more worried about blood staining her yellow carpet than the body lying on it
- Madeline driving to dump the body while having a one-way "conversation" - with gestures - with the corpse propped up in the passenger seat, to make it appear to onlookers that he is still alive.
- Del moving instantly from being John's fiancée to Greg's intimate girlfriend before John's body is cold.
The plot: We eventually find out what "the compound" is, and it is a surprise. The medical aspects and the details of the conspiracy are well explained and make a good plot, suitable for a Robin Cook medical thriller.
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