The Frightened Wife & Other Murder Stories by Mary Roberts Rinehart

 

About the author: Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876 – 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's first novel in 1920. Rinehart is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it" from her novel The Door (1930), although the novel does not use the exact phrase. Rinehart is also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing, with the publication of The Circular Staircase (1908). (from a Wikipedia article).

The Frightened Wife: Attorney Wade Forsythe II is hired by Anne Collier to make her will. It is a messy situation: her substantial accounts are in the name of Jessica Blake, a pseudonym she uses for writing a radio serial. She is afraid her domineering husband, Wilfred "Fred" Collier will get her money, leaving little for her six-year old son William Blake Collier. Wade realizes she was Anne Blake, a girl he knew when he was in college, and has pined for her ever since. Then Wilfred winds up shot to death, and Anne arrested for murder.

Mini-review: If you didn't know the author, you would swear it was Erle Stanley Gardner, with a tough-guy attorney doing the investigating for the wronged woman. A tight page-turner of novella length.

If Only It Were Yesterday: Amy had cared for her half-sister Jessie since her mother died when she was only nine. Now Jessie is an attractive young lady, and Amy's close friend Randolph Mason is beginning to move his attentions to Jessie. Jessie announces their engagement, and this is too much for Amy. Amy has a bottle of Jessie's sleeping pills.

The Scandal: Caroline Coleman, matriarch of the society family, is long dead and buried in a stately mausoleum. She had hoped the family scandal was buried with her: Her daughter, Jennifer, had an illegitimate child by the family chauffeur, Chris Burton. Jennifer and her baby, Edith, were estranged from the Coleman family. She and Burton planned to marry, but before they could, he was killed in a fire in the garage. Now Jennifer herself lies dying, and  the secret of Burton's death is coming out.

Murder and the South Wind: Coastal Florida is the scene for military practice during World War II. The locals are concerned about stray bullets from shooting practice. Hugh Gardiner is fishing for tarpon when he is struck, falls overboard, and drowns. Was it one of the stray bullets? Or did it come from his wife Pat? Or his ex-wife Fanny?

The Burned Chair: Elderly Horace Jewett lives next to his three children (and heirs). One morning he is found dead in his chair, and the M.E. notes a heart attack. Daughter-in-law Jessica Jewett is suspicious - it doesn't look right and she suspects murder. So do the police. Then his chair is set on fire - to destroy evidence? Which of the heirs hastened his death? Or was it his nurse Miss Scott?  

The Case of the Crying Swallow and Other Stories, by Erle Stanley Gardner

 

This title has no publishing date indicated, but the "Publisher's Note" states: "This is the second book by Erle Stanley Gardner to be published since his death in 1970." It contains the novella of the title, and three short stories. All four have a common theme of stolen jewels.

The Case of the Crying Swallow (1947)

Characters:

• Major Claude Winnett, mining executive
• Marcia Winnett, his wife
• Victoria Winnett, his mother
• Helen Custer, Victoria's nurse
• Harry Drummond, Marcia's first husband
• Daphne Rexford, a birdwatcher ... and ingenue
• Perry Mason, attorney
  
• Paul Drake, private investigator

Wealthy Claude Winnett hires Perry Mason to locate his wife of five weeks, 25-year old Marcia Winnett, who has disappeared; leaving an odd note of regret. He mentions his mansion was burgled two nights before she left, and her jewelry taken. Winnett was sleeping at the time, but awoke to hear disturbed swallows chirping in a nest outside the bedroom. Mason investigates and finds some of the jewelry stashed in the swallows' nest, and more stuffed in the barrel of a shotgun. Mason visits Winnett's tower room, which has binoculars fixed to a stand, regularly used by ingenue birdwatcher Daphne Rexford; who was crusty Victoria Winnett's (Claude's mother) preference to be Claude's bride. Mason and Paul Drake find the binoculars focused on a nearby spot where a camping trailer has been parked, and where Marcia's trail leads. They learn the trailer belongs to Marcia's first husband, Harry Drummond. They run into Drummond's current wife - she is looking for him too. Once Mason, Drake, and Mrs. Drummond find the trailer, they also find a body inside.

Mini-review: The reason this is a short novella is that is a regular Mason, minus the courtroom scenes! The writing is concise and action packed. There is a bit of decoding a numerical message which is interesting. Mason solves the case in short order and turns the evidence over to the police, and that's where it ends. This is a good one-night read.

The Candy Kid (1931)

Lester Leith learns of a jewel heist, in which the robber winds up dead and the jewels missing. He and his valet, Scuttle (actually police spy Edward Beaver) investigate the chocolate shop next to the jewelry store, convinced the jewels have been hidden in the chocolates. Sergeant Ackley plans a sting operation to catch Leith with the stolen jewels.

The Vanishing Corpse (1931)

Sidney Zoom loves to wander the dark, mysterious nighttime waterfront. He helps his friend Officer O'Hara stop a fleeing figure; who turns out to be young Mildred Kroom - and she has a precious diamond in her purse. The owner of the diamond is reported dead and locked in his parked car, but when Zoom and O'Hara get there, the car is still locked but the body is gone.

The Affair of the Reluctant Witness (1949)

Jerry Bane studies a newspaper photo which shows a grocery store owner, Bernice Calhoun, and customer William Gordon pointing at each other; as she accuses him of robbing the adjacent jewelry store. Bane suspects that jewels have been hidden somewhere in the grocery store and has his lawyer, Arthur Arman Anson, attempt to retrieve them in exchange for a cut.

Honolulu [Murder] Story by Leslie Ford, 1946

 

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Also published as "Honolulu Story"

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. 

Series: This is Colonel Primrose #13.

Major characters:

• Mrs. Grace Latham, narrator
• Tommy Dawson, Lieutenant, Army Air Force
• David Boyer, Lieutenant, Army Air Force
• Swede Ellicott, Lieutenant, Army Air Force
• Ben Farrell, Marines (killed in action)
• Corinne Farrell, Ben's widow
• Mary Cather, formerly engaged to Swede Ellicott
• Alice & Harry Cather, Mary's parents
• Roy Cather, Harry's estranged brother (Mary's uncle)
• Norah Bronson, Harry's sister (Mary's aunt)
• Kumumato, Japanese servant
• Colonel John Primrose
• Sergeant Phineas T. Buck

Locale: Honolulu, Hawaii; 1944

Synopsis: Three Army Air Force friends, Tommy Dawson, David Boyer, and Swede Ellicott are on leave in Honolulu. Their fourth friend, Ben Farrell, had been killed in action. Swede had been engaged to Mary Cather, but broke off the relationship abruptly and is now engaged to Ben's widow; causing hard feelings all around. 

Mrs. Grace Latham, our narrator, has been sent from Washington to duty  in Honolulu. A friend of Mary, she is staying with Mary and her parents, Alice and Harry Cather, in their remote hillside home. Grace is stalked by a man in leafy camoflage who turns out to be Harry's estranged brother, Roy Cather. She also meets Harry's sister, unstable Norah Bronson. There is ill will in the family, as the home had been left equally to the three siblings but Harry and Alice have essentially taken ownership.

Alice Cather has been harboring brother-in-law Roy in their fallout shelter, and it turns out he is a spy from Japan, which puts him on the very-wanted list. Then he is found dead.

Review: At first I thought I was in a Mignon G. Eberhart novel, with its exotic setting, remote household, lurking killers, and love triangles. The wartime setting of Hawaii is done well, and revealed to me many aspects of that time and place of which I was unaware. 

There are twists in the story, as some characters are not who them seem to be. But all is explained.  A great read which puts you right in the home front during World War II.

 

Motive for Murder by Wallace Reed, 1957

 

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.

 

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.

 

One Way to Eldorado by Hollister Noble, 1954

 

About the author: Charles Hollister Noble (1901 – 1954) was an American historical novelist and screenwriter. Noble was a professional writer and editor in the newspaper, radio and motion picture fields, with strong interests in the American Civil War and railroads. (Wikipedia)

Major characters:

• Howard Bierce, Road Foreman of Engines, Great Western Railway
• Jim Reynolds, Assistant Division Superintendent
• John Macintosh, Division Superintendent
• Maria D'Alvarez, proprietress of the Casa Alta restaurant
• Selma ---, the blonde waitress
• Lisa Maddon, waitress, aspiring pianist
• Ted Helmholtz, pianist
• Pete Gustavson, a miner
• Jackpot Thomas, a organized crime boss and gambler

Locale: the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the border of California and Nevada

Synopsis: Set during World War II, Howard Bierce, troubleshooter for the Great Western Railway, is en route with his wife to New York to an exhibition of his hobby artwork. On the spur of the moment, he drops off the train at Pioneer Gap to choose between his two loves: the railroad or the art world. He books a room for a couple of weeks with Assistant Division Superintendent Jim Reynolds. 

Pioneer Gap is facing a number of quick moving snowstorms which threaten to strand him there, as well as disrupt service on the railroad. Howard is called in to deal with the escalating situation. He takes his meals at the Casa Alta restaurant, owned by Maria D'Alvarez, and employing two waitresses: sexy blonde star-of-the-show Selma and quiet, mysterious Lisa Maddon. Gambler Jackpot Thomas makes inappropriate moves on Selma, and Howards knocks him out and throws him out in the snow. Thomas, unaware who hit him, swears revenge. Trains start piling up in the snow, along with a special train carrying gold bullion.

Howard encounters his old college chum pianist Ted Helmholtz, and becomes aware of unsaid drama between Helmholtz, Reynolds, and Lisa. Helmholtz has teamed up with miner Pete Gustavson to work the remnants of an old mine. 

Review: This is one of those books I love to pull out during a snowstorm, as it deals with the drama of railroading in the High Sierras during a blizzard, with lots of mystery and murder mixed in too. This was my fifth reading (and it just started snowing).

I enjoyed the scenes of the railroad workers and their dwellings inside the snowsheds, where it is nighttime 24 hours a day. The characters are well done, and the author's enthusiasm for railroading is obvious - especially as he writes the story in the first person.

The only critique I have of this novel is that there are way too many subplots going on in parallel throughout:

• Howard and Betty's strained marriage
• Howard's pull between his railroad job and his art hobby
• Selma and her various admirers
• Jackpot Thomas and his ilk of hoodlums
• Dangerous mine excursions with Helmholtz and Gustavson
• Helmholtz's terminal illness
• Constant snowfall paralyzing the town
• School kids gearing up for a pageant
• Love triangle of Helmholtz-Reynolds-Lisa
• Reynold's secret previous life and tragedy
• Piano careers of Helmholtz and Lisa
• Shipments of gold east on the railroad
• Troop trains heading the opposite direction

It saddens me to read about the author's own fate. He was accused of plagiarism of research, and committed suicide just before he was exonerated. He had potential for more fine novels.