Drury Lane's Last Case by Barnaby Ross (Ellery Queen), 1933

 

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About the author/series: Barnaby Ross is a pseudonym of Ellery Queen. There are four books in the Drury Lane series:

• The Tragedy of X, 1932
• The Tragedy of Y, 1932
• The Tragedy of Z, 1933
• Drury Lane's Last Case, 1933

Major characters:

• Dr. Alonzo Choate, retiring curator of the Brittanic Museum
• Hamnet Sedlar, incoming curator of the Brittanic Museum
• Dr. Ales, a bibliophile
• Mrs. Lydia Saxon, patronne des arts
• Gordon Rowe, a young scholar
• Donoghue, guard at the Brittanic Museum
• George Fisher, bus driver
• Mr. Drury Lane
• Inspector Thumm, retired Inspector of Detectives
• Patience Thumm, his daughter

Locale: New York City and environs

Synopsis: A heavily disguised, anonymous man hires (now) private investigator Inspector Thumm to hold a sealed envelope him indefinitely; stating it holds "a clue to a secret" on which he is working. The man will phone Thumm monthly to let him know he is OK, and if he fails to phone on schedule, Thumm is to open the envelope in the presence of Drury Lane.

Meanwhile, a mystery is developing at New York's small Brittanic Museum. A bus tour of 17 Indiana schoolteachers, driven by George Fisher, had toured the museum. It is discovered two men had stowed away on the bus, and later a museum display case is found smashed. At the same time, museum guard Donoghue has disappeared.

The mystery man fails to phone the following month. Thumm and Lane open the envelope to find a simple notation: 3HS wM. At the museum, it is found a rare book was stolen from the display case and another book substituted. Thumm, Patience, and Lane seek to sort out the mystery consisting of several similar books and two similar people (Sedlar and Ales). Then one of them is found murdered, but which one is it?

Review: The setup is interesting and the action good to follow, although it gets confusing quickly between different versions of a book, and confusion between Hamnet Sedlar and Dr. Ales. The last portion of the book consists of discussion of various theories - all long and involved - before the solution is painfully analyzed. As in the other Drury Lane titles, the dénounement takes way too long. The final act in the book is somber as it brings the series to an end.

  

The Tragedy of Y by Barnaby Ross (Ellery Queen), 1932

 

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About the author/series: Barnaby Ross is a pseudonym of Ellery Queen. There are four books in the Drury Lane series:

• The Tragedy of X, 1932
• The Tragedy of Y, 1932
• The Tragedy of Z, 1933
• Drury Lane's Last Case, 1933

Major characters:

• York Hatter, chemist, dead as story begins
• Emily Hatter, his wife/widow
• Louisa Campion, Emily's daughter by her first husband
• Barbara Hatter, a poet
• Conrad Hatter, a waster
• Martha Hatter, Conrad's doormat wife
• Jackie Hatter, Conrad and Martha's 13-year old son
• Billy Hatter, Conrad and Martha's 4-year old son
• Jill Hatter, a hedonist
• Captain Trivett, a peg-leg old sea dog
• Mrs. Arbuckle, cook and housekeeper
• Drury Lane, investigator
• Walter Bruno, District Attorney
• Inspector Thumm
• Dr. Schilling, medical examiner
• Dr. Merriam, family doctor

Locale: New York City and environs

Synopsis: In The Tragedy of X, X stood for the murderer. In this book, Y stands for the first victim, York Hatter. As the story begins, the body of chemist York Hatter is pulled from the water. Medical Examiner Dr. Schilling determines he was poisoned, apparently self-administered as he left behind a suicide note. 

York leaves behind a dysfunctional family: his widow, overbearing Emily Hatter, three children (poet Barbara Hatter, waster Conrad Hatter, and party girl Jill Hatter) and a stepdaughter, Louisa Campion (by Emily's first marriage). Louisa is severely disabled, being blind, deaf, and non-verbal.

Routinely, housekeeper Mrs. Arbuckle prepares a glass of egg-nog for Louisa each afternoon, placing it in a certain spot on the table. One afternoon as Louisa approaches, 13-year old Jackie Hatter (son of Conrad and his doormat wife Martha Hatter) gets there first and takes a gulp, and reacts violently. He recovers under the care of family doctor Dr. Merriam, who finds the egg-nog poisoned with strychnine, and calls in the police as an attempted murder of Louisa. Inspector Thumm consults with Drury Lane, but additional deaths occur before it can be resolved. 

Review: This was a dark book, on several levels, albeit a product of its time. There is the condescending treatment of Louisa due to her disability (although she does contribute vital clues). There is the episode near the end as the writer explains an unnamed "shameful disease" has. spread through the family, and is part of the motive of the crimes. While off-limits in 1932 to discuss sexually transmitted diseases., the symptoms and presentation certainly indicate syphilis, given to Emily by her first husband, resulting in Louisa's disabilities, and further infecting her second husband and their children. Finally, there is the cringy discussion on the last page of what to do with the murderer. The result is not explicity stated, but my interpretation is that Drury Lane arranges his own justice to be served, resulting in the murderer's own death.

Those aspects aside, Drury Lane turns in a good performance, and realistic in that he tries various approaches, not all successful; yet he plugs on. The use of his theatrical skills are minimal, and even rejected at one point. 

There is a lot of precision involved in the solution - various measurements (all carefully documented) of heights, footsteps, shelf spacing, etc. and elaborate descriptions of arrangement of bottles on shelves, and so on. 

The solution - the identity of murderer and what drove the murderer to act - is pretty clever and an approach I had not seen before.

You may also enjoy this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.

 

The Tragedy of Z by Barnaby Ross (Ellery Queen) 1933

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About the author/series: Barnaby Ross is a pseudonym of Ellery Queen. There are four books in the Drury Lane series:

• The Tragedy of X, 1932
• The Tragedy of Y, 1932
• The Tragedy of Z, 1933
• Drury Lane's Last Case, 1933

Major characters:

• Inspector Thumm, retired and now a private investigator
• Patience "Patty" Thumm, his daughter, and our narrator
• Governor Walter Bruno, former district attorney
• John Hume, current district attorney
• Aarow Dow, convict at Algonquin Prison
• Elihu Clay, owner of Clay Marble Quarry
• Dr. Ira Fawcett, his silent partner
• Fanny Kaiser, a mannish madam
• Honorable Joel Fawcett, Ira's brother, a state senator
• Jeremy Clay, Elihu's son
• -- Carmichael, Joel Fawcett's secretary
• Drury Lane, retired Shakespearean actor

Locale: Leeds, NY

Synopsis:

Elihu Clay is suspicious of his silent partner, Dr. Ira Fawcett; believing he is behind possible corruption in getting state contracts for materials from his quarry. Clay hires private investigator Thumm to look into it. Thumm and his daughter, Patience (our narrator) travel to the Clay mansion in Leeds, NY. 

Soon after their arrival, Senator Joel Fawcett is found stabbed to death in his library. He had been receiving threats from prisoner Aaron Dow, who had been released earlier that same day. Dow is arrested for the crime. Drury Lane is consulted and proclaims him innocent. Despite this, Dow is convicted on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dow is placed on an outside work detail, and escapes. While on the run, Dr. Ira Fawcett is murdered. Dow is captured. Again, Drury Lane proclaims him innocent. He is sentenced to death. 

Review:

It is refreshing to have a woman narrator appear - Patience Thumm. Her point of view adds a new element to the series. Drury Lane does not even appear until about halfway through the book. Lane assures us the obvious suspect is innocent, so we know right away who is not the murderer. Lane discovers the obscure motive, much like in The Tragedy of X. Another good Barnaby Ross read. It would have been good for the series to have more titles.

In the Author's Note, it is poignant to read the teaser "In the intervening period [between Tragedy of Y and Tragedy of Z] Drury Lane solved many strange and perplexing cases, the more interesting of which will be recorded at some future time." It is sad that prediction did not come to pass, and we must be content with only four titles in the series.

You may also enjoy this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.

The Tragedy of X by Barnaby Ross (Ellery Queen) 1932

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About the author/series: Barnaby Ross is a pseudonym of Ellery Queen. There are four books in the Drury Lane series:

• The Tragedy of X, 1932
• The Tragedy of Y, 1932
• The Tragedy of Z, 1933
• Drury Lane's Last Case, 1933

Major characters:

• Harley Longstreet, a broker
• John O. DeWitt, his partner
• Mrs. Fern DeWitt, John's wife
• Miss Jeanne DeWitt, their daughter
• Louis Imperiale, a foreign visitor
• Michael Collins, a politician
• Charles Wood, a streetcar conductor
• Juan Ajos, consul from Uruguay
• Martin Stopes, organized a mining expedition in Uruguay
• William Crockett, one of the mining speculators
• Walter Bruno, district attorney
• Inspector Thumm
• Drury Lane, retired Shakespearian actor
• Quacey, his familiar

Locale: New York City

Synopsis:

Drury Lane, retired actor, maintains a lavish Shakespearean-themed estate on the Hudson River north of New York City. District Attorney Walter Bruno and Inspector Thumm consult him on a puzzling case.

Broker Harley Longstreet and a handful of friends took a crosstown Manhattan streetcar on a rainy night. He put his hand in his pocket, immediately collapses and dies. A cork ball loaded with poisoned needles is found in the pocket. The authorities narrow the suspects to those on the streetcar. Each companion is investigated for motive, the leading suspect being his partner, John O. DeWitt, known for having an affair with Longstreet's wife, Fern; as well as making advances to their daughter, Jeanne.

An anonymous letter arrives, promising information about the killer, who they term "X". On the way to meet with the writer aboard the NJ/NY ferry, a man is killed - Charles Wood, the conductor of the streetcar. John DeWitt happens to be on board, and the only passenger who was also on the streetcar that night.

Drury Lane investigates to find the killing has its roots in a earlier mining syndicate in Uruguay, comprising Martin Stopes, William Crockett, Longstreet, and DeWitt.

Review:

I read the four Barnaby Ross books periodically to immerse myself in the eccentric world of Drury Lane in his Hudson estate, the same environs of Philo Vance of the S. S. Van Dine series. I been been fortunate in finding copies of all four. The novel is straight police procedural, until the police get bogged down and resort to consulting Drury Lane. Several obvious suspects, but they, of course, turn out to be red herrings. Lane uses his theatrical skills to engage in some sleuthing of his own and find the ulterior motive behind the murder. As always, reading the four books in the proper order (Tragedy of X, Tragedy of Y, Tragedy of Z, Drury Lane's Last Case) is always recommended, as each tends to refer to previous exploits. 

You may enjoy this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.