The Lady in Scarlet

I always enjoy a male/female investigating partnership in mysteries where there is sniping between the two. But all the time you are aware there is an honest affection lying beneath the continual bickering. Oliver Keith and Ella Carey are two such investigators played by Reginald Denny with his English tone and Patricia Farr in her wise-cracking American style. Reginald Denny plays Keith so nonchalant humming to himself while investigating a dead body while Patricia Farr delivers her sarcastic snipes so deadpan. A lot of the remainder of the cast are weak so it's up to the two leads to keep the dialog convincing.

Oliver Keith is initially retained by a friend from the past about a strange man snooping outside her property. Julia Sayre is concerned that her husband Albert is involved in something which is behind the spying. In the meantime she seems to have been on an assignation with the family doctor at the Carlton Bar where she meets up with Keith after her doctor friend has left the establishment. Soon Keith is involved in a murder inquiry when Albert Sayre is found dead strangely with a knife driven through his right hand just before or after the murder. Inspector Trainey of the police puts great emphasis on the symbolic meaning of the knife being driven through the back of the victim's hand.

The plot includes the selling of fake antiques and a disputed will and step mother/step daughter squabbling. The suspects all have plausible motives and all are kept at the forefront of Keith's investigations. One suspect drops out because they are murdered with a cigarette end planted between two of the victim's fingers. I didn't detect the murderer myself so I will say this is a reasonably thought-provoking whodunit from Chesterfield Studios.