This year I joined JoAnne at Littlequeen Rules for a challenge. It is on All Challenges All The Time, under yearly challenges, on goodreads.
Duos OR Trios
Duration: One year from your starting date.
For
full details on the challenge rules see the link above.
Here is the run-down of my challenge commitment and the books I read to complete the challenge. I've read all 20 books and more than met my 2014 goal.
Duos: Option 1 (10 categories)
Duration: July 13, 2014 - July 12, 2015
2014 Commitment: Read at least 10 books (half)
#2 Same Author
Appleby's Answer by Michael Innes (10/17/14)
Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes (10/8/14)
#3 Same First Word
Murder at the Villa Rose by A. E. W. Mason (7/14/14)
Murder on Mike by H. Paul Jeffers (10/15/14)
#10 Books from my Decade (1960s)
Only a Matter of Time by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley (1969--my year!) [10/13/14]
Madman's Bend by Arthur W. Upfield (1963) [10/24/14]
#11 Same First Name
Death Takes a Sabbatical by Robert Bernard (9/16/14)
Red Cent by Robert Campbell (9/10/18)
#12 Genre (Mystery)
Death in an Ivory Tower by Maria Hudgins (7/16/14)
Who Guards a Prince? by Reginald Hill (7/23/14)
#14 Animal on Cover
The Footprints on the Ceiling by Clayton Rawson [Bunny on cover] (9/25/14)
The Curious Affair of the Third Dog by Patricia Moyes [Greyhound] (11/24/14)
#17 Holiday Word
Death on All Hallowe'en by Leo Bruce (10/11/14)
Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier (11/12/14)
#18 MAN/MEN
The Tattooed Man by Howard Pease (7/17/14)
Two Men in Twenty by Maurice Procter (11/14/14)
#23 TBR Pile
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (7/20/14)
Relic by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (7/22/14)
#30 Musician/Musical Instrument
Mayhem in B-Flat by Elliott Paul [violinist; missing violin; violin concert] (12/4/14)
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Angel of the Opera by Sam Siciliano [opera singers] (8/4/14)
Mayhem in B-Flat is set in Paris between the two World Wars. It stars Homer Evans, American in Paris, and his pistol packing lady, Miriam Leonard. Miriam is more at home on the prairie, wrestling steers into submission--but adjusts well to the French countryside which seems to be littered with rival gang members. Homer and Miriam have planned an excursion to Normandy to allow Homer to investigate his Gallic roots. But their quiet vacation plans are interrupted when they encounter a gang member known as the Singe--someone they've come across before. Homer doesn't know what skulduggery may be afoot, but that there will be skulduggery he is certain.
And before they know it, the vacationing couple are involved in the theft of an extremely valuable violin, corpses that expire while in the middle of the most mundane occupations (such as a game of checkers), tarantula fights, shootouts with hoodlums known as Dental Jake and Godo the Wack, the development of a hideously effective new poison, fingerprints that shouldn't be there, a drunken party on a barge, a missing violinist, and an effort to prevent the medical examiner from pulling out all his hair over his inability to identify the aforementioned poison. Miriam takes out a couple of thugs with fancy shooting and acquires a particularly well-trained canine along the way and Homer proves why the Chief of Police should always listen to him before arresting anybody.
This is an incredibly funny, but fairly far-fetched mystery. Not at all fairly clued--Homer seems to have ESP or something going on that allows him to discover the whereabouts of various characters no matter where they go...with little to no explanation to the reader of his methods. There is also a major no-no for the dedicated Golden Age reader in the use of a "never before existed" poison. But despite the lack of fair play, this was a fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed the mad-cap adventures of Homer and Miriam. I have both Hugger-Mugger in the Louvre and Murder on the Left Bank and look forward to reading those as well.
The humor is broad and fairly witty and makes great use of funny names, eccentric characters, and word-play--including the chapter headings. It all comes together for a fun ride. ★★★ and a half.
Henry sighed and thought wistfully of the classic murders of fiction--the aristocratic house-party, neatly cut off by snow or floods to limit the number of suspects; the multiplicity of unlikely motives and opportunities; the tortuous investigations of the amateur sleuth; and the final denouement, in which the murderer turns out to be the elderly, gentle maiden aunt--beloved by all, but unmasked as a sub-human fiend in the final chapter. (p. 9)
It is no spoiler to tell you that Inspector Henry Tibbett is out of luck in The Curious Affair of the Third Dog. There are no gentle maiden aunts to be had--the most gentle woman in the entire book is his very own wife Emmy and she's no crazy killer.
The story begins with Emmy heading to the country to spend a holiday with her sister Jane whose main occupation these days is as a representative of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The house is overflowing with foster animals (in addition to the pets who live there full-time). When Henry arrives he finds the village up in arms because one of their own has just been sent to prison for a year for reckless homicide (killing a man while under the influence) and Jane up in arms because one of the man's animals has disappeared. She had gone to his house to collect his three dogs for safe-keeping while he was in prison, but when she arrived there were only two. What happened to the third dog?
Once Henry hears the full story of the drunken homicide and learns that the missing dog is a greyhound, his official "nose" begins to twitch and he senses a connection with a case he had been investigating in London. Soon Henry's entire team is on the case--all searching for a missing hound. But Henry will be beaten, tied up, dumped in the shed of a released criminal, shot, and dressed up in drag before the crime is brought home to the proper criminals and his men find not one... but two missing greyhounds.
This one was great fun--lots of interesting information about greyhounds (and other animals), nicely understated police procedural work--making the officers' actions realistic without bogging the reader down with official details and tedious checking and double-checking. Worth the price of admission for the image of Henry dressed up in his sister-in-law's blouse and skirt with a random nurse's blonde wig in order to sneak out of hospital. We're given enough detail to solve the mystery right along with Henry, but just enough is kept back to allow for a twist or two at the end. Well done and a good reminder of why I enjoy Patricia Moyes' detective novels. ★★★★
Chief Inspector Henry Martineau of the Grantchester police isn't too interested when Scotland Yard asks his assistance in tracking down canisters of oxygen that have been used in a rash of safe-cracking robberies in London. Sure, the canisters may have come from the North Western Oxygen Corporation's depot on his patch, but hundreds of canisters pass through that depot and how are he and his men supposed to trace individual cylinders when the company itself has had no luck?
But when London becomes too hot for the XXC gang and similar robberies begin popping up in Grantchester, the problem of the canisters has Martineau's full attention. He marshals his forces and begins closing in on the gang--comprised of mastermind Howie Cain, windows & door man "Jimmy the Gent," their wheelman [driver] Bill Coggan, Leo Husker the oxygen supply source, and "Sailor Jolly" their safe expert. There are also Dorrie, Cain's wife, and her sister who case potential robbery sites. The success in London has made Cain and company a bit cocky and moving to a smaller town has also made matters a bit easier for the police--at least the haystack is a bit smaller for needle to hide in.
Martineau asks for the particulars of every robbery attributed to the XXC gang and once he's noted all the similarities he assembles a list of twenty known criminals who might be able to handle the job. From that list he manages to find two men in twenty who are just the fellas he's looking for. Cain and company can feel the net tightening around them and decide to do one last job before fading out for good. They have no idea how final that last job will be.
In Two Men in Twenty Maurice Procter has given us a little more than the usual police procedural. He has thrown in a crime procedural as a bonus. We not only get the low-down on how to go about breaking a clever gang of thieves, but we also get the details on how to put together a first-class thieving operation. And Procter does it in an interesting and fast-paced way that prevents the novel from turning into an informational snooze-fest. We read eagerly on, watching the two opposing sides on their way to a head-on collision at the company of Haddon and Walker.
Procter served in the Yorkshire police force for 19 years before turning his hand to writing about crimes instead of solving them. His experience gives his stories a feel of authenticity and his ability to write exciting little tales make his novels well-worth reading. I have to say that I while I wanted Chief Inspector Martineau to succeed in putting a stop to the XXC gang, I secretly wanted Jimmy the Gent to get away and be able to make the fresh start he's been planning. All he needs is enough cash to allow him to go straight. Will he? Well, you'll just have to read it for yourself and find out. ★★★★
It's Halloween in Tinker's Cove and the jack-o-lanterns aren't the only things alight in this small historical town in Maine. While Lucy Stone and her fellow townsfolk are busy preparing to transform a run-down mansion into a haunted house for a Halloween party, a firebug is busy burning various historic buildings to the ground. But soon the police aren't just looking for an arsonist--the remains of the local doctor's wife is found dead in their refurbished home and crime goes from destruction of property to murder. But was Monica Mayes's death unplanned...was she just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or did her philandering husband want to get rid of his wife without the cost of divorce? If her death was just an unfortunate accident, then does Tinker's Cove have a crazed pyromaniac on their hands or someone with a hidden agenda? Lucy, who really should be far too busy with a her new baby and dozens of cupcakes to bake for the Halloween party, can't resist trying to find the answers to those questions. And nearly becomes a second victim before the culprit is brought to book.
So...this was an okay kind of cozy mystery. Easy reading, quick-paced. If you're looking for some quick, fluffy brain candy this will do it for you. If you need a holiday-/Haloween-themed book to fill a slot in a reading challenge, here you go. [That would be why I read it.] But don't be fooled into thinking there's a mystery for you the reader to solve--I mean, yes, there's murder and arson and whatnot, but there really aren't any clues to be had so solving this one before the culprit is dumped in your lap probably isn't going to happen. And Lucy really isn't a detective. She asks rather bumbling questions (which kind of broadcast to all and sundry that she's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong) and then comes up with random theories based on very little info as to why various persons (one after the other) MUST be the killer/arsonist. She has three small children and gives no thought whatsoever to the risk she runs in poking around in a murderer's business (despite being warned several times by the authorities and her husband).
Others have mentioned it, but I can't resist adding my voice...if you have a problem being repeatedly told details about breastfeeding (TMI!), then you may not enjoy this. I also agree that the hospital scene is, indeed, very weird. All I have to say is that if I nearly die in a fire, my family better be hanging out in the waiting room waiting for me to come to. What's up with abandoning her at the hospital? And I find it hard to believe that in small town Maine, the hospital staff would be so impersonal and uncommunicative about her situation. But, hey, we needed to set up a scene where she would be dazed, drugged, and confused and waltz right into the murderer's clutches...so there you go.
I don't know...now that I've written the review, I wonder if two stars isn't generous. Oh well, that was my first thought, so let's go with it. ★★
Arthur W. Upfield's Madman's Bend (aka The Body at Madman's Bend) 1963 presents us with two murder victims--one who provokes our sympathy and one who seemed born to be murdered. William Lush--has there every been a more appropriately named character in a detective novel? Lush is a hard-drinking, hard-fisted squatter who married a widow with a bit of land and what he thought was a good bit of money (and his ticket to a fortune). When he discovered (after the wedding) that most of the money was tied up in a trust for his step-daughter, Jill, he took his frustration out on his wife and in drink.
As the book opens, he has beaten Jill's mother one too many times and Jill is waiting with a rifle for him to come back home from another bout of drinking. The doors and windows are locked and barred and when he discovers he can't get into the house, he takes an axe to the offending front door. Jill fires a warning shot into the ceiling and then fires at the door when Lush spews abuse and the axe hits the door again. The night goes quiet and Jill sits up all night--fully expecting to find Lush injured or dead outside the door come morning.
But there is no sign of him the next day. And when Jill's mother dies from her injuries, the police become involved. They don't know, however, if they are looking for a drunken murderer sleeping off a binge or the body of a murdered man. Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony" to his friends) is in the area and becomes interested in the case. There are lots of men who had run-ins with Lush, there were several who had the opportunity and/or the means...but Jill Madden had them all and a major motive as well. But without a body and the flood-waters of the Darling River headed towards Madman's Bend, Bony will be hard-pressed to prove murder and find sufficient evidence. Patience and time usually work to the detective's advantage. Unfortunately, time is the one commodity that he doesn't have....
This is a interesting twist on the "locked room" mystery--only instead of the impossible crime of "how was it done?" we've got an ever-decreasing amount of space for Bony to examine and the question becomes "will he find all the clues before they're swept away?" He's got to find the evidence in time to pick the murderer out of fourteen possible suspects. Most of what he finds eliminates the innocent without pointing a steady finger at the killer. He has to take a dangerous boat ride over the flood waters before he gets on the right track. The clues aren't thick on the ground, but there is fair play and a decent, interesting mystery to try and unravel. ★★★
This fulfills the "More Than One Title" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.
Rather a tiresome man. But it does seem extravagant to propose to murder him. (p. 84)
But it begins to look like that may be what is in store for Sir Ambrose Pinkerton in Appleby's Answer by Michael Innes (John Innes MacKintosh [J.I.M.] Stewart; 1973). It all begins with Priscilla Pringle, well-known author of clerical murder mysteries, and a train ride with Captain Bulkington. Miss Pringle notices with pleasure that Bulkington is reading one of her novels. When the captain realizes he is sharing the compartment with the author herself, he tries to interest her in collaborating with him on a novel and offers her 500 pounds to do so. But the longer he talks, the odder she thinks he is as he tries to pick her brain on various devious murder methods and she parts from him at the train station without promising anything.
She and her fellow author, Barbara Vanderpump, discuss the incident on the way to the Diner Dupin, an annual banquet for detective novelists where a certain retired Scotland Yard man by the name of Sir John Appleby will be the honored guest and special speaker. Miss Vanderpump, having more romantic leanings in her fiction, suggests that the captain might be romantically inclined and it wouldn't hurt to indulge him--"it might be a matter of doing something kind." Miss Pringle is none too sure about that, but resists her friend's suggestion that if she feels that disturbed about the captain then she ought to share the incident with their distinguished guest.
Next thing we know, Miss Pringle ventures into the captain's territory, ostensibly because she has heard that the last rector of the village died under mysterious circumstances and she wonders if there might be background material for her next novel. She meets up with the captain and actually strikes a deal with him to discuss--by post--possibilities for a murder mystery. As things advance, she soon learns that very similar incidents are happening to Sir Ambrose Pinkerton, despised neighbor of Captain Bulkington. Sir John, who comes upon portions of the story by chance, is also curious about the odd events in Long Canings and helps the local Inspector--Graves by name--to unravel the lethal puzzle.
Innes's situational humor and witty prose are the high points of this novel. The fun he pokes at detective novelists (and to an extent romantic novelists) alone is worth the price of admission. And there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had in Miss Pringle's visit to Long Canings's church services (the great battle of Hymn 203 vs. Hymn 302). There is, unfortunately, very little detecting going on here. Sir John and Lady Appleby are delightful characters, but most of his insights into the goings-on at Long Canings would seem to be inspirational and intuitive rather than deductive. There are very few clues to point the reader in the direction of his reasoning. But the twist at the end is a good one nonetheless.
The book succeeds because of Innes's descriptive powers and his finely drawn characters. The understated rivalry between the Misses Pringle and Vanderpump; the contrasting characters of the Captain's two tutoring charges; the interactions between Miss Pringle and various of Long Canings's inhabitants; and the interplay between Sir John and Lady Appleby as they encounter the folk of Long Canings as well. This all makes for a delightful read and more than makes up for any deficiencies in the mysterious quality. ★★★
This fulfills the "Pseudonymous Author" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.
H. Paul Jeffers' Murder on Mike is like a two-for-one deal in the Vintage Bingo Challenge. Published in 1984, it qualifies for Bev's eccentric Silver Age time frame, but it is set in 1930s New York, so the time period is absolutely Golden. Hmmm. Perhaps a historical vintage square is in order for next year?
It is circa 1939 and a few days before Christmas. The scene: a Radio City studio, the recording site for the popular Detective Fitzroy's Casebook radio show. Only this time Fitzroy (aka Derek Worthington, star and producer) won't be solving the crime because he is the victim. Worthington is found shot to death in the studio during a rehearsal break. The main clue? The gunshot was heard over an open mike by a Radio City tour group--giving the police an exact time for the murder. And it would seem that everyone connected with the show has an ironclad alibi for the entire break period...except for the announcer David Reed.
Reed had previously had a rather public altercation with Worthington in which he threatened to kill the star. So when the announcer is the only one who can't produce an alibi, the police are ready to believe they have their man. Reed's girlfriend, Maggie, refuses to believe him guilty and approaches private detective Harry MacNeil to prove the police wrong. When MacNeil starts digging, he finds that everyone connected with the show had a reason to hate the womanizing Worthington--actresses he had loved and dropped; co-stars he was leaving behind for Hollywood; members of the show who might find themselves out of work. But there's still that pesky problem of alibis all round....MacNeil is ready to tell Maggie there just isn't another solution when the tour guide disappears and he finally sees another ending to "Detective Fitzroy's" last case.
This is a pleasant retro-mystery which takes us back to New York City before the United States entered World War II. Even though MacNeil used to be a cop, he's less of a tough guy than most of the private eyes from the era and follows a more straight-forward sleuthing style. He's a likeable character and fun to follow through the story. One of the major points of the solution is telegraphed early and often and it is a bit unbelievable that MacNeil doesn't pick up on it sooner. The plot also plays off of a very famous device by an extremely well-known mystery author. It's one of those tricks that once it's been done, it doesn't come off well again--except maybe in obvious parody. The ending would have been much more satisfying if Jeffers had offered up a different solution. But overall--a nice nostalgia piece which does a good job of recreating 1930s NYC. ★★★ and a half--with the ending keeping it from a full four stars.
This fulfills the "Entertainment" square and a fifth Bingo on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.
Dr. R. V. Davie, professor of poetry and sometime amateur detective, has come to Kings Lacey for its annual festival featuring a bit of opera, a bit of jazz-inspired poetry (or is that poetry-inspired jazz), and a bit of madrigal singing. He didn't expect to land himself in the middle of a bit of murder as well. But on the Friday afternoon, the directors of Bexminster Electronics gathered for a top-secret meeting to discuss the dates for the roll-out of their next electronic masterpiece. By Saturday night, Robert Copplestone, one of the men in the meeting was dead.
Robert had two passions in life--he loved fine china and he was a champion of honesty and truth. So when he was browsing in a local antique shop and just happened to find a company secret tucked into the teapot in a pretty little gold and white tea service, he rushed to phone a trusted board member with the news. But someone made certain that Robert never got a chance to share the secret. When the owner of the antique shop also winds up dead--killed in a similar fashion--Dr. Davie can't help but get involved. He had become friends with Jiri Vanasek and he needed to help find his killer. But will Dr. Davie be able to discover the false clue hidden among the true ones?
Only a Matter of Time is the third of five detective novels written by V. C. (Victor Vaughan Reynolds Geraint Clinton) Clinton-Baddeley featuring the scholarly amateur detective. I have to admit to a bit of disappointment with this one--I felt as though the culprit had a huge neon arrow pointing at her/him the entire time. And there really wasn't much attempt to muddy the waters at all--as soon as Dr. Davie started burbling on about the "false clue" and what kept bothering him, it was pretty obvious who must have done it. There was also another clue--something that I thought must have been done on purpose (although Clinton-Baddeley really didn't explain it that way) that first drew my attention to Mr./Ms. X. I kept hoping that perhaps there would be a final twist (there was the teensiest bit of a hint of one) to make things interesting...but, alas.
A bit of a let-down from my beloved academic mystery sub-genre. Clinton-Baddley does a much better job with mystification in the rest of the series--particularly the first (Death's Bright Dart) and final (To Study a Long Silence). I did enjoy the characters, especially Miss Jesmond, the Bexminster company's confidential secretary, and Dr. Davies is always a delight. ★★ and a half for a less than best effort.
This fulfills the "Amateur" square and my fourth Bingo on the Silver Vintage Bingo Card.
He could believe that people led stealthy lives, obeying strange impulses and beliefs. Though mystery could belong as much to brightly lighted streets and conventional citizens, there was something in an atmosphere like this, the chilly river mist and the desolate landscape. (p. 19)
Carolus Deene, that intrepid amateur detective who uses the same techniques to unravel mysteries as he uses to unravel history for the schoolboys at Queen's School, Newminster, is invited to investigate the odd "goings on" at a small Kentish village. If it weren't for his long-standing friendship with John Stainer, the rector of Clibburn, he would never credit the tales of eerie atmosphere, local witchcraft, and undefinable evil. But when Stainer says, "I'll tell you candidly--I'm frightened" he believes him. And he understands when Stainer goes on to say
Listen Carolus, I'm not a fool, and I'm not superstitious. Obviously I don't believe in black magic or witchcraft or anything of the sort. That's to say I don't believe in what they represent. But I do believe that there are people who practise the rites, and I think such people are dangerous.
Carolus also takes seriously the death of a small boy who may have seen or actually been forced to participate in one of these rites. So, he agrees to come and put his amateur detective talents to work on discovering the true source of evil in Clibburn.
His task isn't an easy one. Stainer has lived in Clibburn for three years and still hasn't truly been accepted as the new rector. The residents, as often seems to be the case--especially in fiction, don't take well to "foreigners" and Carolus finds it difficult to get the villagers to give him much in the way of information. Fortunately, he's adept at reading between the lines and often what they aren't telling him is just as instructive as what they do.
He know he's getting close when the local "witch" tries to scare him off and then someone arranges for a telegram regarding the hospitalization of Mrs. Stick, his long-time housekeeper, to be delivered in a further effort to get him out of the way. Despite the trick, he manages to be present when a local figure is shot to death in a room full of people on the stroke of midnight. Once Carolus discovers how and by whom, he has the answers to both the boy's death and that of another, yet unsuspected, murder.
While I always enjoy Leo Bruce's detective fiction, Death on Allhawe'en (1970) is to be noted for its difference from the majority of the Carolus Deene books. It removes Carolus from the influence of both his domestic couple and the headmaster of Queen's School--each of whom constantly cast a disapproving eye on his detective antics while secretly loving every minute of the delicious tale when Carolus holds forth in the wrap-up scenes. We are also spared the frequently annoying presence of his schoolboy tag-along. What we get is straight Carolus on the track of village nastiness.
Bruce effectively describes the claustrophobic atmosphere of a village that keeps itself too much to itself while appearing to take local traditions and witchcraft much too seriously. Full marks for the mise-en-scène. Two things keep this mystery from being a full-fledged four-star read for me: 1. Lack of fair play. Carolus gives a fair impression of Holmes in the final scenes. He discovers vital evidence in a bank strong box, but keeps the clues close to his chest. There isn't any real way for the reader to guess what he's found and be able to fully understand the mystery. 2. The death of the young boy. While what really happened to the boy is not fully described (thankfully), I still get very squeamish when young children are involved. But that's a personal qualm--not necessarily a fault in the story-telling. ★★★ and a half stars.
This fulfills the "Spooky Title" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.
Quotes:
Only someone born and bred in Great Britain understands the attraction of all we mean by tea, he thought; not just the infusion that we drink, but the happy associations of it, fireside in winter, sometimes in the garden in summer. He had a pleasant sense of being cosily shut in here from the murky evening and all that was forbidding and dangerous in the night. (p. 22)
"Yes, I think you've got me all wrong, old chap," he [Connor Horseman] said to Carolus. "You detectives see sinister things where none exist."
If there was one thing Carolus disliked more than being called a detective it was being addressed as "old chap." (p. 29)
What is reasonable to one person may not be so to another. We all have our standards. (Alice Murrain; p. 37)
Lament for a Maker (1938) would seem--from ratings on Goodreads and in the opinion of such fellow mystery writers as Nicholas Blake and Michael Gilbert--to be considered one of Michael Innes' best books. While I will agree that the mystery itself is quite nicely twisty and surprising, the journey he takes the reader on to get to that brilliant, twisty ending is a rather arduous one. The tale is told through the narratives of various characters--five in all, including his detective John Appleby--and wading through the Scots dialect of the opening narrative nearly put me off entirely. There is also a bit too much extraneous detail about matters that don't really move the story along to suit me.
At the heart of the book is the death of the eccentric recluse Ranald Guthrie the laird of Erchany who falls from the ramparts of his castle on a wild winter night. Suspicion initially rests on the young man who wished to marry Guthrie's niece, but the stories told by each of our narrators prove that there is more to the events of Christmas Eve than meets the eye. Did Guthrie commit suicide in the hopes of ruining the young man? Who was the shadowy figure seen by Miss Guthrie, the American cousin? Why was Guthrie's man Hardcastle looking for the Doctor when Miss Guthrie and Noel Gylby (stranded travelers in a snowstorm) approached Erchany? It will take the narratives of five people involved in the mystery to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Each time Appleby thinks the picture has been completed, another handful of puzzle pieces are brought to the table.
Worth reading for the mystery itself, but not, to my mind, one of Innes' absolute best. I've rated Death at the President's Lodgings, The Weight of the Evidence, and The Long Farewell each higher. I did enjoy being fooled by the final twist and I found the narrative threads by Noel Gylby and Appleby to be the most entertaining. Overall: ★★★
This fulfills the "Pseudonymous Author" square on the Golden Vintage Bingo Square and gives me an eighth Bingo. Michael Innes is the pen name of J. I. M. (John Innes MacKintosh) Stewart a Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930-35 and, later, a Professor at Oxford.
It's not enough that Clayton Rawson's Great Merlini has to answer the question of how a woman with an acute case of agoraphobia could be found dead in a room in a house on the opposite end of the island from where she lives. It's not enough that the room she's found in has a trail of footprints crossing the ceiling. It's not enough that someone sets fire to the house while Merlini is investigating the death. It's not enough that the case winds up including a fraudulent medium, a hunt for sunken treasure, a gangster with (of all things) the name of Charles Lamb, a man with blue skin, and a bullet that can either go round corners or straight through steel and concrete. No, wait, there's more! There's also a nude man found dead in a locked hotel room...and not just dead. Dead of the bends....in a perfectly dry room, a mile or so from the nearest water. As Inspector Gavigan says:
Instead of the usual murder victim in a locked room...we've got a body, dead from natural causes, and the question--How'd he get in, and how'd his clothes get out? The desk clerk, the elevator boy, and the floor clerk on twenty-one say they never saw him before--that might be on account of the missing mustache. But they'd certainly have noticed if he was running around the place without any clothes.
What's a magician detective to do? Well...he better get busy figuring out what tricks the murderer has up his sleeves...
...because all the amateur dicks in town are gunning for your job. When the papers hit the streets, all hell broke loose at headquarters. Philo Vance has been crowding his friend, the D. A. He wants to kick this case around. Says it's right up his bloomin' alley, don't you know. Ellery Queen's campaigning to get his old man assigned to it so he can get a look see, and Malloy says that awhile ago he saw Archie Goodwin circling the island in a speedboat, looking the situation over. Nero Wolfe's seen that mention of the eight million bucks. (Inspector Gavigan to Merlini)
But, perhaps I've gotten ahead of myself. Let's go back...Footprints on the Ceiling (1939) is Rawson's second mystery novel featuring The Great Merlini, a professional magician who also runs a magic supply shop and who occasionally works as an amateur detective and debunker of spiritualism. It is in this last capacity that he has been called upon to visit Skelton Island and observe Madame Rappout to prove once and for all whether her psychic manifestations are the real deal or just another way of taking in the gullible. He brings along his friend Ross Harte, publicity writer to provide the wise-cracking sidekick and narrator. As the seance begins in the main house, Merlini, Ross, and their host Colonel Watrous discover Linda Skelton, wealthy heiress, believer in the occult, and island recluse, dead in an outbuilding with all evidence of suicide. There's just one tiny problem. As described above, it is revealed that Linda suffered from an acute case of agoraphobia. There is no way that she could have traveled across the island to kill herself.
Then, of course, there's the other dead body in the hotel room. It looks like natural causes, but it is soon revealed that he's died of "the bends"--an ailment peculiar to deep-sea divers. How did he managed that on dry land? And where are his clothes. Even if he did die "naturally" from the ailment, someone had to have taken his clothes...which makes things mighty suspicious.
Inspector Gavigan spends the rest of the book alternately suspecting, cautioning, and arresting everyone with a hint of a motive--sometimes separately, sometimes all at once. Merlini spends his time building up scenarios in which any of them might have done it, leading us on and making us believe that he...no she...no not them, but he did it. Blowing smoke in our eyes, using mirrors, and artful doses of misdirection, until the grand finale and the big reveal.
The first half to two-thirds of this classic crime novel is excellent. The set-up, misdirection, and mystification are all first-rate.This was my first Merlini novel and I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to the magician and Ross Harte (who reminds me of Archie Goodwin in wisecracks--but I don't think he's quite as swift on the uptake as Archie). However, the last third and dénouement has way too much going on and there is a bit too much of the "let's show you how X is the culprit and then presto...no, they aren't the murderer, but they did do this." The best thing about the solution is that it actually makes sense and requires no supernatural hocus-pocus. The other quibble I have which makes this a ★★★ and 1/2 read instead of four stars (although I will round up on Goodreads) is the amount of specialized knowledge--ranging from the medical to darkroom techniques to deep-sea diving--that is needed to recognize various clues.
But...you can tell that Rawson had a lot of fun with this one and the reader is caught up in the fun and in trying to untangle the intricate plot. Overall, a recommended read.
This fulfills the "Book Read by Another Challenger" square on the Golden Vintage Bingo card as well as my fifth & sixth Bingos. Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise was my leader on this one. Click on her link to see what she has to say about Rawson's little bit of deception.
Death Takes a Sabbatical (1967) is the debut mystery novel for Robert Bernard, pen name for Robert Bernard Martin, a professor of English at Princeton University from 1951-1975 who already had several scholarly tomes to his name. A few internet sources claim that he wrote four mysteries, but I can find evidence of only three (even looking among the listing of his papers at Princeton). I was absolutely delighted when I discovered Deadly Meeting at our Friend of Library used bookstore several years ago. After all, we all know how much I love those academic mysteries.
DTaS features middle-aged American professor, Richard Halsey in the midst of his titular sabbatical. He has returned Oxford where he spent time as a Rhodes Scholar in his youth. While in England, he is actually staying at the cottage home of friends (while they spend a year elsewhere themselves) and traveling back and forth to London by train as necessary for historical research and pleasure. It is during one of his return trips that Halsey's adventures begin.
On this particular trip to London, he has rounded off his evening with a musical performance. The first leg of his journey back to Oxford takes place by underground. Halsey is drowsy after a long day and the motion of the car sets him to dozing. He takes little notice of the three drunken men at the end of his car and is startled when the fourth passenger, sitting at his side, hisses at him, "For God's sake, get off this train at once!" Halsey is hustled off the train and the stranger introduces himself as a doctor--claiming that he realized that the middle of the three "drunks" was actually a dead man. He takes Halsey address as a fellow witness--even though the professor tells him he really didn't notice much at all--and rushes off saying he will report the incident to the authorities.
Poor, innocent Richard Halsey decides to report the experience to the police as well and immediately lands himself in a mystery involving missing dead men, murders, stolen gems, and hidden secrets. The good professor comes under suspicion himself when a body finally does turn up in a trunk at the train station and to add to his troubles his cottage is burgled and he is beaten, abused and kidnapped before it's all over. Of course, there are a few perks to the arrangement...one being the lovely woman who lives close by and with whom Halsey carries on a very successful romance. He also has the opportunity to play the hero for a bit at the very end and who can complain about that?
This is a pretty light-weight mystery offering. There are few clues to speak of and I really can't see how the average reader could possibly figure out what it's all about and who is responsible based on the meager crumbs we're given. There is a very tiny clue offered up that supposedly, according to the villain of the piece, should have revealed all to Halsey (who is much ridiculed by the evil-doer for being too obtuse to get it), but I don't believe even the good professor would have deduced the grand plot had he picked up the clue and run with it.
Now, despite the fact that this is in no way, shape, or form a classic fair-play mystery, it is an enjoyable romp and as a reviewer in the contemporary Saturday Review put it "jolly good fun." I describe it more as an adventure-mystery than a straight detective novel. Lots of action and I find Professor Halsey's actions to be pretty believable (except for the portion where he tries to go into hiding....). I can certainly understand his bewilderment as a stranger in foreign country feeling like the police have fastened on him as a suspicious criminal type. Excellent central characters from Halsey to his lady and her young son to his daily help to Mrs. Levering, lady of the manor and a very refreshing character, indeed. In fact, I do believe my favorite scenes all involve Mrs. Levering.
★★★ all for character, fun, and a well-told tale--even if not fairly clued.
This fulfills the "Academic Mystery" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.
Jack Hatch, Robert Campbell's railroad detective in Red Cent (1989), is detailed to meet the Burlington Northern at Osceola. Millionaire Harold Chaney who has been a frequent passenger from Chicago to points west has been shot while seated in the dining car. When Hatch reaches Osceola, a group of young Native Americans have already been taken into custody for getting drunk and riding out in pickup trucks to "kill the Iron Horse." The local authorities seem to be satisfied that it was just an unlucky shot that killed Chaney instead of the train and there's no reason for Hatch to dispute that--after all he's just supposed to be representing the train company to be sure no one will be trying to hold Burlington Northern accountable. But there are too many little pieces that just don't seem to fit into the big pictures. And when he starts nosing around on his own, he finds that there are several people who might have wanted Chaney dead from a current business partner or a current wife to an ex-mistress or an ex-partner. And there's someone playing musical cells with the six young men in custody, as if they want to keep the waters so muddy that no one will notice the barracuda about to get away with murder.
Hatch comes across as detective cast in the traditional tough-guy mold, but he is also determined to get at the truth despite there being no fee involved. He is honest and amiable and sprinkles his narrative with homespun stories and brief asides that give us a peek at his life philosophy. He enjoys the job which allows him to ride the rails as he pretends to be a regular passenger while he scopes out the cars looking for pickpockets, con artists, and other bad guys. It is his honest determination to see justice done that brings the crime home to the proper villain--although villain may be a bit strong once you know the circumstances. The motive is perhaps understandable and the killer not completely evil.
This novel was, in many ways, a nice surprise. Hatch speaks directly to the reader in a first person narrative that works really well (and you all know how I like to complain about the first person POV). It's a shame that Campbell wrote only two novels starring Hatch, because he's detective I would have enjoyed following through several cases. And even though it is written in a more hard-boiled style, it really is an old-fashioned mystery with a solid cast of characters. The one item that keeps the book from rising above the ★★★ rating is the handling of Hatch's love life. He follows in the footsteps of many a private eye by having a lady friend in nearly every station town. That's not the problem--the problem is that this is 80s and AIDS is on the rise and every single one of his lady loves are cutting him off. At. The. Same. Time. Yes, I understand that the promiscuous life-style needed to come to a halt--or at least be reevaluated. But I find it hard to believe that all the ladies would decide during the same three-day period that this was a crisis. Campbell tries a little to hard to drive that point home in my opinion and repeats it once (or twice) too many times.
Overall, a solid mystery outing which fulfills the "Mode of Transportation" square on the Vintage Silver Bingo card.
[Oh...and one other thing. That cover picture is way too tame for what actually happened to Chaney. Not that I want to see a gory picture on the cover....]
My latest read The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Angel of the Opera
pits the world's greatest detective against the mysterious Phantom of the Opera
House in Paris. This rewrite of Gaston Leroux's classic tale of
music, passion, and unrequited love brings Holmes in to delve into the true
secrets that motivate the shadowy ruler of the Opera's underground. The current
managers who have no way to deal with the "ghost" who steals their
horse and who is blamed for the hanging death of one of their employees asks
Holmes to cross the Channel and get to the bottom of their mystery. The great
detective discovers that Christine Daae, a rising star in the opera world, is
at the center of the mystery, but can he unravel all the threads before the
Phantom destroys them all and the Opera House as well?
I will discuss this book on several levels. First, as a mystery, it's
not really. I'd say that a large portion of readers will already be familiar
with the basic story of the Phantom of the Opera. So, the identity of the
"ghost" or Phantom is no secret. And just that fact that there is a
real person behind all the mysterious goings-on will be no surprise.
Fortunately--on that score--I didn't pick this up at the bookstore and read it
because I thought I was getting some dramatically different brain-teasing
puzzle. I got it because it was a different spin on the Phantom and on
Holmes (more on him later). That being the case, I'll give Sam Siciliano a pass
on a rating for the mystery. Those who have never read/seen the original
Phantom can better rate the mystery.
Second, if I completely ignore the fact that I am incredibly familiar with
the person of Sherlock Holmes as Conan Doyle conceived him, this is a fine
story. The story itself is well-written and an exceptionally quick and
absorbing read. And I thoroughly approve of the new ending. Replace Holmes with
a brand-new detective and I could down-right love this story....Which brings me
to the major stumbling block in the book....
This is billed as "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"--that would seem to me to be a major selling point.
Siciliano apparently has great disdain for Holmes as Doyle wrote him. He makes
huge changes to the Holmes character and ditches Dr. Watson as the detective's
right-hand man. Instead, he gives us Dr. Henry Vernier--Holmes's cousin and
best-buddy. The bestest of besties who knows Holmes better than anybody on
earth--especially better than that blithering idiot Watson. Vernier is
down-right jealous of Watson--that's my only explanation for the character
assassination that issues forth from the mouth of Holmes's cousin. And yet
Vernier isn't exactly the brightest bulb himself--regularly missing clues and
suggestive actions that are as obvious as the nose he holds so high in the air
when referring to that other doctor. Listening to Vernier's drivel about how
much better he is as a doctor and a friend to Holmes and side-kick was nearly
enough to make me stop reading. Take that and the fact that Holmes is
suddenly in touch with his feelings (totally understands all this unrequited
love business because he had some of that himself) and he's suddenly all about
the cash--charging outrageous fees left, right and center--forget the fact that
most of his cases he took on because the mystery fascinated him, and...all
those references in Doyle that might have made you think Holmes believed in
God...yeah, no, Watson was just making stuff up (as he does, you know). Seems to me that this book was just a chance for Siciliano to make the Holmes character in his own image rather than pay homage to Doyle's well-known detective.
So...final summation: Mystery--neutral; Story Itself--very good; Holmes
story--pretty darn bad. We'll give it ★★ and 1/2 stars here and round it up on Goodreads.