Holiday Homicide by Rufus King (1940)

About the author: Rufus King was an American author of Whodunit crime novels. He created two series of detective stories: the first one with Reginald De Puyster, a sophisticated detective similar to Philo Vance, and the second one with his more famous character, the Lieutenant Valcour. (from Goodreads). Also see this article.

Major characters:

• Myron Jettwick, nut collector, dead as the story opens
• Miss Emma Jettwick, his sister
• Helen Jettwick, his widowed sister-in-law AND ex-wife (see note below).
• Bruce Jettwick, a.k.a. Bruce Lane, 'The Unknown Troubador' of radio fame; Helen's son
• Jepson "Spider" McRoss, Myron's secretary
• Wallace Emberry, Myron's lawyer
• Cotton Moon, detective
• Bert Stanley, Moon's assistant, our narrator

Note: Helen Jettwick's first marriage was to Alfred Jettwick. They had a son, Bruce. Alfred was run over by a taxi and died prior to the story. Helen then married Alfred's brother, Myron. This marriage ended in divorce. Helen is unattached in this story.

Locale: New York City and Tortuagas (Florida).

Synopsis: Detective Cotton Moon and his sidekick (and our narrator) Bert Stanley are aboard his boat, Coquilla, docked at Wharf House in Manhattan. The boat in the adjacent dock is Myron Jettwick's Trade Wind. Myron has just been found shot. Myron's sister, Miss Emma Jettwick, hires Moon to find the killer, even before the body has cooled.

Circumstantial evidence points to Bruce Jettwick, last to see him alive. Bruce is Myron's nephew - although for a while he was his stepson (see note above). Bruce has a radio show, "The Unknown Troubador" under the name Bruce Lane.

The trouble seems to stem from the acrimonious breakup of Myron and Helen's marriage (her second). Myron had invited all the parties in the divorce on a pleasant everybody-kiss-and-make-up cruise, but the murder occurred before they could sail. 

Moon decides to make the cruise happen after all, and all parties set forth for Tortuagas (an island in the Florida keys). This brings things to a head when an additional murder occurs.

Review: Bev Hankins, in this review on My Reader's Block, pointed out the similarities of Cotton Moon / Bert Stanley to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin. So as I read, I looked for some similarities ... let's see:

Similarities:

• Both narrators are our wise-cracking sidekicks
• Wolfe collects exotic orchids, Moon collects exotic nuts
• Both are book lovers: Moon repeatedly plugs a real book, A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes, and even works some of its text into the plot
• Both wear yellow pajamas!
• Both have reserved afternoon "executive time"; Wolfe for his orchids, Moon for his nap
• Both set in New York City
• Both hire additional P.I.'s rather than do routine legwork themselves
• Both manipulate apparent evidence to mislead the authorities
• Both narrators occasionally speak directly to the reader, posing rhetorical questions

Differences:

• Moon is much calmer, and does not exhibit explosive anger like Wolfe
• Bert Stanley makes up snarky nicknames for people based on their personal appearance, rather lowbrow behavior only since duplicated by Donald Trump

This is the sixth Rufus King I have read, and I am surprised how the writing style varies in each. This one mirrors Rex Stout, with the wise-cracking sidekick narrator who doesn't take things too seriously. An enjoyable book, although the denouement is quite convoluted. Still, a good read especially for those who enjoy Rex Stout.

The Case of the Dowager's Etchings by Rufus King (1944)

photo: The Passing Tramp

About the author: Rufus King was an American author of Whodunit crime novels. He created two series of detective stories: the first one with Reginald De Puyster, a sophisticated detective similar to Philo Vance, and the second one with his more famous character, the Lieutenant Valcour. (from Goodreads). Also see this article.

Major characters:

• Carrie Giles, owner of River Rest
• Kent Giles, her grandson
• Michael Hopkins, her handyman/chauffeur, and his wife Ella
• Joel, her gardener
• Leila, the "not quite bright" maid - and Joel's niece
• Dawn Davis, a reporter
• Russell Stedman, country prosecutor

The boarders:

• Effie Ashley
• Dugald Smith
• Fergus Wade, Dugald's "nephew"
• Jefferson Parling

Locale: New York state

Synopsis: World War II is underway and many people working in war-related factories are in need of housing. Widowed Carrie Giles has a big house, River Rest, with four vacant rooms which she decides to rent for workforce housing. Assuming all war workers are men, she is surprised when a woman, Effie Ashley, applies.

Carrie is a bit paranoid and imagines things about her new boarders. Could Effie Ashley be a spy? Is that a badge attached to Jefferson Parling's wallet? Her paranoia increases when she sees solider grandson Kent Giles, home on leave, sharing an intimate moment with Effie out on the lawn late at night - the day before he arrives by train. The next morning, the dead body of a stranger is found at the spot. Could Kent really be a killer? She begins to cover up what she assumes is his crime.

Carrie had a hobby of producing etchings when she was young, and the equipment is all up in her attic. After seeing one of her etchings on the wall, the boarders all seem too inquisitive about the setup.

Review: Carrie is a fun character - a bit naive perhaps, but there is a war on now. It is interesting seeing her get over her head as boarders fill her house, and sad as she sees her old way of life slowly fading away; and her elegant home slowly deteriorate. The boarders make the story - none of them are red herrings, they all play a part in the plot, and none of them are what they appear. There are clues dropped in here and there about the intrigue which is occurring behind the scenes, and the reader will have an inkling of what is going on. There is a unique denouement, which is presented by one of the "bad guys", not the detective! Of the six Rufus Kings on my shelf, this one is the best.

The Steps to Murder by Rufus King (1960)

This is a collection of seven short stories previously published in The Saint Detective Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The stories, mostly set in Florida, include:

The Steps to Murder: Mabel Gervais is a ruthless ladder-climber who will stop at nothing to gain the post of ambassador. She steps on various people on her way up, and the final obstacle is her own husband.

The Patron Saint of the Impossible: Elise Hoffman and her husband (no first name given) live in Halcyon, Florida, along with their niece Candice. Candice plans to run off and marry their neighbor, Raul; of which Hoffman objects. Elise comes home to find Hoffman dead, Candice hospitalized, and Raul missing. Is he the killer? Neighbor Monsignor Lavigny figures it out for the police.

Murder on Her Mind: Psychologist Helmut Seibermann has a comfortable practice in Florida. Enter two sisters: Carlotta Zaleski and Florence Pike. Each inherited half of a sizable estate, and now Carlotta has burned through her half and has her eyes set on getting Florence's half. She cooks up a scheme to use Seibermann to get it... whoever dies last, wins.

A Little Cloud ... Like a Man's Hand: An accountant, Mr. Burd, was quite an amateur chef. While he was out, another accountant, Miss Ott, stops in his office and finds some notes about an embezzlement plan. Sure enough, lots of money is missing. But who is the embezzler?

Rendezvous with Death: Lily Verta was on her way to being a spinster. She gets a surprise medical diagnosis she has but a few months to live. She meets up with Duke Hart, jumps into marriage, and tries to cram a lot of living into her remaining time. Someone has plans to do away with her even faster.

A Borderline Case: Jackson, a Florida bank manager, embezzles $230,000. He is found out by another employee, Parker. There's only one thing to do: kill Parker. The complication is that Jackson is afraid of being caught and executed. He finds Rhode Island has no death penalty, and has the idea to perform the killing there. Now he just has to lure Parker all the way to Rhode Island.

The Tigress of the Chateau Plage: Madame Dufour owns a luxury hotel. An old acquaintance, Mr. Henri Pazz, arrives from Canada and Madame gets him placed in a certain room. Pazz turns out to be a blackmailer, and there is only way to deal with a blackmailer.


Review:

The Steps to Murder is about a woman so nasty you can't look away, but the karma at the end is satisfying. The Patron Saint of the Impossible uses a trick similar to the famous trick in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and any Christie fan will see through it immediately. Murder on Her Mind I found hard to follow, only a few characters but hopelessly tangled up.

A Little Cloud ... Like a Man's Hand, Rendezvous with Death, Borderline Case, and The Tigress of the Chateau Plage are all nice tight stories, and far surpass the first three.

Murder in the Willett Family by Rufus King (1931)

dustjackets.com

About the author: Rufus King was an American author of Whodunit crime novels. He created two series of detective stories: the first one with Reginald De Puyster, a sophisticated detective similar to Philo Vance, and the second one with his more famous character, the Lieutenant Valcour. (from Goodreads). Also see this article.

Major characters:

Mrs. Kate Willett, widowed matriach

Jess Willett, her eldest son

Linda Willett, Jess’s wife

Henry Willett, 18

Arthur Willett, 19

Larry Stone, Kate Willett’s nephew

Wilbur Strange, caregiver to Henry & Arthur

Slade, butler

Lt. Valcour
NYC Police Commissioner John ---

Locale: the Adirondack mountains of New York, Bermuda, and New York City

Synopsis: Widow Kate Willett has three sons: Jess (married to Linda), and two younger - Henry and Arthur. She describes Henry and Arthur as “young for their age”, today we would describe them as developmentally delayed. They have a live in caregiver/tutor, Wilbur Strange. 

Kate approaches the New York City police after receiving threatening letters. Someone is demanding $20,000 else he will kidnap Arthur and Henry. She took the money to the meeting point, but no one showed up. Lt. Valor is assigned to the case.

The family heads to their summer "camp" in the Adirondacks. Lt. Valcor will accompany them. A fourth letter arrives, with one word: “soon”. That evening, Lt. Valcor and Arthur are in the living room. Arthur becomes unresponsive, he is dead from a bullet wound. The family goes to Bermuda for a respite, but additional murders follow.

Review: The book is prefaced with a sketch map showing the relationship of New York City, the Adirondacks, and Bermuda - which is pretty obvious - a much better choice would have been a sketch map of the Adirondack "camp" where most of the intrigue occurs. I have made one from the text - this seems to fit:

click to enlarge

The story is hampered by the constant change of locale, we go from a hotel in NYC to the camp, to Bermuda, to the NYC town house; having to mentally follow the layout of ear. 

The story comes to an end rather darkly, and brings up the unsettling question of whether persons with disabilities (Arthur and Henry) are seen as burdens to the family. There are a number of loose ends left unexplained (the blackmailer? the $20,000? and Slade's motivation for his act?), and the reader is left to tie them in. A bit more explanation would have been satisfying.

Museum Piece No. 13 by Rufus King (1945)

Also published as Secret Beyond the Door

About the author: See this Wikipedia article.

Major characters:

The Blaze Creek household:

• Lily Rumney, formerly Lily Constable, 2nd wife of Earl Rumney
• Earl Rumney, wealthy newspaper owner
• (the late Eleanor Rumney - Earl's first wife)
• (the late Wilbur Constable, Lily's first husband)
• Aderic Rumney, teenage son of Earl and Eleanor
• Diana Goff, Earl's sister
• Silas Goff, Diana's husband
• Dillon Sobolenski, a dour composer and house guest
• Zelma McQuillan, Earl's personal secretary, who conceals her face
• Mrs. Lovelake, creepy housekeeper
• Mildred, Lily's maid
• Griswold, chauffeur

Others:

• Hubert Coache, bank VP, Lily's old friend and confidante
• Leona Drumm, news columnist
• Dr. Lawrence Russack, a psychiatrist
• Dr. Harley Linder, a physician

Locale: Lebanon Falls, New York; near New York City

Synopsis: 

Our protagonist Lily Constable is newly married to Earl Rumney and moving to her new mansion home, Blaze Creek. It is a second marriage for both - Lily's first husband, Wilbur Constable and Earl's first wife, Eleanor Rumney, are both dead. Earl has a teenage son, Aderic, by his first wife. 

Blaze Creek is a big mansion with a big staff, 12 women and six men. It is run by housekeeper Mrs. Lovelake, with business affairs handled by secretary Zelma McQuillan; who partially conceals her face with scarves.

Already there is belief that Earl has only married Lily for her money. His newspaper needs a lot of capital, and Lily is quite wealthy. Lily is barely moved in when Earl has her sign a power of attorney (red flag!).

Earl has told her he has a hobby of decorating certain rooms in the mansion. In fact, there are 13. It turns out that each room contains a tableau of a murder (with no bodies, just the rooms staged as they appeared). 12 of the rooms are "public" and he happily shows them to guests. But room 13 is his secret room, and no one, including Lily, is allowed to see inside. Lily is concerned about his mental health, as her psychiatrist friend Dr. Lawrence Russack has warned her to beware if Earl keeps any of the rooms a secret. Russack urges her to get a copy of the key and look inside.

Review: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." If you can identify that opening line, you will enjoy this book. This story is a parallel to Daphne DuMaurier's 1939 novel Rebecca. The second wife coming to be mistress of a creepy mansion with a cold husband, the ever-present memory of the former mistress, and a creepy housekeeper is right out of that novel; although our protagonist Lily Rumney is quite a bit more assertive than the wife in Rebecca (who even lacks a name).

Then it gets interesting, with the addition of the secret rooms (taken from the French folktale Bluebeard). 

There are 13 rooms, but we only get a peek into a couple. The content of the secret room is easy to predict, but still an enjoyable read as Lily seeks to solve the mystery in some daring escapades.

My only criticism is that the author has made quite a word salad in this book, full of long complex words which may send you to the dictionary repeatedly. There were some paragraphs which just defy understanding completely.

Murder by the Clock by Rufus King (1929)

dustjackets.com

About the author: Rufus King was an American author of Whodunit crime novels. He created two series of detective stories: the first one with Reginald De Puyster, a sophisticated detective similar to Philo Vance, and the second one with his more famous character, the Lieutenant Valcour. (from Goodreads). Also see this article.

Major characters:

• Herbert Endicott, the victim
• Mrs. Endicott, his wife
• Mrs. Siddons, their gaunt housekeeper
• Miss Roberts, a maid
• Dr. Sanford Worth, their personal physician
• Nurse Murrow
• Nurse Vickers, who chose a bad time to go make coffee
• Marge Myles, the other woman
• Madame Miramar Velasquez, her mother
• Thomas Hollander, the old war buddy, Herbert's only friend
• Jerry Smith, Hollander's roommate
• Lieutenant Valcour, police detective

Locale: New York City

Synopsis: Mrs. Herbert Endicott fears for her husband Herbert's safety, although he has only been gone two hours - but to see his girlfriend Marge Myles. Mrs. Endicott calls the police and Lieutenant Valcour stops in. He looks around and discovers Endicott's body stuffed in his closet, the door closed. Mrs. Endicott takes it quite calmly, as if it happens every day.

Dr. Sanford Worth is summoned to pronounce him dead, and he attributes the death to his poor heart (but if so, how did he get shut in the closet?). Apparently someone startled him, causing his death. They move the body to the bed. Dr. Worth decides to try to revive him with a shot of adrenaline to the heart, which works.

Endicott's old war buddy, Thomas Hollander, is called in to sit at bedside until Endicott regains consciousness. The police keep a close watch, and Hollander produces a stiletto and begins to approach Endicott with it. The police shoot and wound Hollander. Endicott is found dead - again - this time from a gunshot wound. Hollander didn't have a gun, and it wasn't a police bullet, so what happened?

Review:

Well, this was my first read of Rufus King, and hopefully not my last. This book is a lot of fun with some crazy happenings, plus exquisite use of language:

"There it was again: that wretched wave of hearsay showing its baffling crest above the placid sea of established fact."

and this one wins the Best Simile award: "Her voice was as disagreeable as the clash of dishes in a cheap restaurant."

The entire story takes place over a 24-hour period, as we watch the authorities deal with an investigation instead of getting some sleep. First the police respond to a call from Mrs. Endicott because her husband has been missing for two hours - plus she knows just where he is - with the "other woman" (try that and see what happens).  Then Endicott is found dead, revived, and murdered all in the space of a couple hours. His wife isn't too concerned about it anyway, just another day. It takes a long time for the doctor to prepare for the "operation" which consists of giving the dead man a shot; and requires a big cast of nurses and others to administer.

It is enjoyable to follow the thoughts of Lieutenant Valcour, whose mind wanders away a lot. He likes to challenge suspects with made-up explanations just to see their reaction.

The ending is quite ironic and enjoyable, and brings up deja vu for the reader.

The "Murder By The Clock" title only refers to the various time stamps on the chapter titles, and has nothing to do with the plot.