Death Demands an Audience

 Death Demands an Audience (1940) by Helen Reilly

The shoppers who window-shop along Fifth Avenue have gotten used to stopping by the window displays of Garth & Campbell's store. There's always something new and interesting every week--from a centaur carrying a mannequin wrapped in an insufficient white tunic to a lair of ermine and mink to a jeweled dagger and exquisite jade green gauntlets lying artistically on a bench in front of a summer sea scene. The expensive and exciting are always on display. But when a new display rises unexpectedly one afternoon, the inquisitive crowd doesn't expect to see a murder scene. Sprawled before a very life-like mannequin in a beautiful gown is the body of man with very real blood trickling from his mouth.

One of Inspector McKee's men, a non-descript little detective by the name of Todhunter, just happens to be in the crowd outside. He spies the original model of the mannequin in the crowd (one Judith Borrow) and instinct tells him to follow her after she stares at the scene for a moment and then heads away with an air of determination. She'll lead him on a merry chase to the home of the murdered man...where both she and Todhunter will be knocked out by a mysterious assailant. The dead man is her father and he had told her if anything ever happened to him that she should go to his house and retrieve a dispatch case hidden there. But someone got to the case before she did. Todhunter and McKee will have to figure out what was in that case in order to solve the case of the display window murder.

Somehow, the murder of Franklin Borrow, late of the store's display department, connects to the Cambridge family who live outside New York City. Borrow had asked for an appointment that night with Luke Cambridge, eldest of the clan, but Cambridge claims that he didn't know what the man wanted. Then Luke Cambridge makes an appointment to see the daughter Judith, but is poisoned before he can meet with her. It begins to look like making appointments is an unhealthy practice. Most of the Cambridge family and entourage--Luke's brother Gregory and his wife Irene; their children Ellen and Leslie; Ellen's fiance Toby Newell;  and Leslie's wife Muriel are all acting suspiciously. And then there's Michael Savage who claims to love Judith but who seems determined to make her angry. McKee has quite a collection of characters to sort before he'll find the culprit.

In general, I enjoy the early McKee stories. They are more mystery and police procedural than the latter novels which tend to veer towards suspense. My one complaint here is that McKee makes a huge error after Luke's murder--one that I can't believe an inspector of his quality made. He leaves suspects alone in the room where Luke has been murdered. There has been no proper search of the room or the desk. He notices that drawers are pulled out. It doesn't seem to occur to him that there might be things that the police need to know about on or in the desk. Later, he goes back in the room and notices that the drawers are different--those pulled out are in and others are out. Gee--you think the suspects had a nice little search? There's no way to know if a certain item that winds up missing was taken by the suspects he left in the room with no supervision--but there's also no way to know that it wasn't. Since when do we NOT seal murder scenes and keep suspects out? 

But, if we forgive McKee this blunder, then this is a clever police procedural with an interesting twist at the end. Reilly's police procedurals are appealing because they aren't dry, "just the facts, ma'am" stories. McKee is an interesting detective and Todhunter is growing on me (I wasn't too impressed with him in the first book I read with him in it (Compartment K). Their cooperative effort is very good in this one. ★★★ and 1/2.

*One thing to note: I have no idea what's going on with the cover of my edition. There are no ghosts. There are no mentions of ghosts. No cemeteries feature in the story. 

First line: At four fifty-three o'clock on the afternoon of January 11th dusk was coming down over the city.

"The gun is gone. It's difficult to check on what you haven't got." (Inspector McKee; p. 63)

A gun floating around in a murder case was something he wasn't fond of. A weapon that had killed once had a nasty habit of going off again. (p. 63)

Last line: McKee got out, mounted the stairs, and called the commissioner and District Attorney Dwyer.

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Deaths = 4 (two shot; one natural; one poisoned)

Murder in Miniatures

 Murder in Miniatures (1940) by Sam Merwin, Jr.

"Old Russia and modern New York; a sophisticated debutramp and an enigmatic commissar from the Soviet Union; an advertising agency and a toy replica set of the army that repelled Napoleon"--these are just a few of the ingredients in Merwin's story of intrigue in the Big Apple. Michael Troop (Tropovsky) is co-owner of an advertising agency that's on the brink of landing some big clients--but then murder and international intrigue come knocking. Michael's estranged father was a Russian prince under the old czar and when his father is killed in Shanghai, Michael falls heir to all the trinkets and baubles that his father stashed in America with Michael's mother. Somewhere amongst those forgotten relics hidden in the family's basement is a treasure worth stealing--or killing for.

Michael's cousin Alexis is the first to die (well...the first in New York, that is). And, initially, Michael is the prime suspect after the cousins had a falling out over the very pretty Patricia McBride. But as the bodies start piling up (and Michael has alibis for the deaths), Sergeant Lanning begins to think there must be some connection between the deaths and the Russian toy soldiers that are part of Michael's heritage. But are toys really worth killing for? Some collectors might think so...

Poor Michael...he keeps getting into scrapes. First suspect of murder. Then blackmailed by a pushy dame who just wants him because of his title and because she thinks he's dangerous. When she determines that he's not really the killer, she drops him like a hot potato (some women are so strange...). Then he's slipped a Mickey Finn and wakes up to discover that [redacted] is really the killer and has this weird plot to make money off of it. So...I like Michael. I like his relationship with other people in the story--Patricia, Sergeant Lanning, his houseman/bodyguard Jimmie (even though Jimmie doesn't seem to be all that great as a bodyguard--people keep getting into Michael's apartment...). The plot is an interesting one--it's not often you have murder done over toys.{Slight Spoiler Ahead!!!!}

But...seriously, the culprit and their motive just sortof appear out of nowhere. Not that it's a culprit we've never met before (at least Merwin didn't break that Golden Age rule), but they just pop up as the villain of the piece with no real warning that there's any reason to think they might be. Not very satisfactory. But other than that--a fun, quick read. ★★★

First line: Though the sun was already nearing the choppy roof tops that composed the western horizon, the big man was still in pajamas.

"Men are silly," he said. "I thought most girls were aware of it." (Sergeant Lanning; p. 76)

Last line: Sergeant Lanning fell backward across the bed.

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Deaths = 6 (five stabbed; one shot)

Inquest

 Inquest (1940) by Percival Wilde

Best-selling author Aurelia Bennett hosts a party on the Fourth of July weekend to celebrate her 70th birthday. On hand are her man of business, Dwight Charlton; her publisher, Mr. Peabody; her nephew Charles Platt and his wife; her great-niece Alice Minturn and husband William; and Oliver Bligh Stickney, the literary critic who has blasted her books for about twenty-five years. Also of note is Tams the butler and old Ben Willett who tends the grass on the village green (and has done as long as anyone can remember) who also, at Mrs. Bennett's request, helped around the house that weekend. 

Charlton is Aurelia Bennett's favorite and it comes out that she has made a new will his favor. William Minturn is definitely not a favorite and has been treating his wife and her parents badly for years and had hopes that Aunt Aurelia would come through with a tidy inheritance for the Minturns. Stickney isn't wanted--no one knows what possessed Aurelia to invite the man who has downgraded everything she's ever written nor do they know why he accepted the invitation cloaked in a challenge ("Come if you dare..."), unless it was so he could drink all he wanted for free.

After an uncomfortable birthday dinner, the next day is spent in target practice in the back garden. Everybody takes an opportunity to get off a few shots and between the target practice and the Fourth of July fireworks going off, it's hard to tell who is shooting what and when. At some point somebody took a shot at Dwight Charlton who had gone off to sit in a secluded area of the garden. Was it a mere accident--a shot gone wild? But, if so, why had someone shot in the opposite direction from the target? And if it is murder, did William Minturn really pull the trigger? For Charlton is found with a letter in his hand which ends with "I know that if William Minturn takes my life, he will pay for it." 

This is an interesting and unusual book. It is entirely set at the coroner's inquest--not a courtroom trial--just the inquest. The only thing we're supposed to determine is how the deceased came by his death--was he shot, did he die of heart failure, sudden apoplexy, or, as has been suggested at the very beginning, a "shock to the nervous system"? We hear evidence from Ben Willett, Tams the butler, Mr. Minturn, and Aurelia Bennett. The coroner seems willing to let everyone talk to their heart's content (after all, the jury is being paid $3 a day and he gets 50 cents for every folio [page?] of testimony given while the court stenographer gets 25 cents for every page she types up, and we've got make ends meet somehow). We hear about how to cut grass as well as every little detail of the weekend party. We hear about all the shooting, but nobody can seem to remember who had the gun when and who left to go get more cartridges and when folks went up to the house or the garage or just where. Nothing seems too clear until Mr. Stickney has a private word with the coroner...and even he doesn't have quite the straight of it. But the coroner isn't quite the backwoods, ignorant county official everyone might think and he knows exactly who did what when...

For a very long time, it appears that Wilde is merely giving us a commentary on early 20th Century American justice (or miscarriages thereof). We see how (apparently) little towns where everyone knows everyone and officials are either in someone's pocket or have people in their pocket. There is a lot of good local color and Ben Willett is an absolute hoot to listen to. I very much appreciated that our coroner is much shrewder and on the lookout for justice (in its truest sense) than first appears. It was also interesting to have all evidence and clues brought forth in the ramblings of the witnesses at the inquest. ★★★★

First line: This book is the fruit of a strange evening.

To those unnecessarily well-informed readers who will point out that the Honorable Lee Slocum could never have been elected coroner in my home state, my answer is that I know it--and I trust they, like me, will not permit mere facts to interfere with entertainment. (p. 2)

First I want to think it, and then I want to write it. If all the thoughts I have thought was laid end to end, they'd reach from here to the Milky Way--and keep right on going. (Ben Willett; p. 22)

Last line: Court is adjourned.

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Deaths = 6 (three natural; two shot; one died of drink)

And So to Murder (spoilerific)

 And So to Murder (1940) by Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr)

Monica Stanton, sheltered vicar's daughter, goes off and writes a bombshell bodice-ripper that sells like hotcakes. Before she knows it, she's asked by a film company to come and write up scripts--she thinks she'll be doing the screenplay for her own book Desire, but discovers that there is more to film-making than meets the eye. Authors don't do screenplays for their own books, oh no. So, she'll be putting together a lovely little mystery screenplay for William Cartwright's mystery-thriller, And So to Murder, and Cartwright will be adapting her book for film. She doesn't know the first thing about writing screenplays and she definitely doesn't know about writing screenplays for mysteries--but she's not going to pass up an opportunity to work in films for anything. 

But then someone takes a dislike to Miss Monica Stanton. She's nearly blinded by a bottleful of vitriol dumped down a speaking tube. She misses being shot by a hairsbreadth. And her unfortunate fellow screenwriter, Miss Tilly Parsons, is poisoned by cigarette laced with belladonna that was apparently meant for Monica. But Monica doesn't know any of these people. Nasty anonymous notes make it pretty clear that she's the target, but why on earth would someone be out to kill her? Don't worry, Sir Henry Merrivale will find out what's going on and point out the villain of the piece.

So...the title is a lie. There is no murder. Attempted murder? Yes. But no murder. This is the first Dickson/Carr novel I've read where there is no impossible murder to solve. A somewhat impossible attempt at murder--there seems, on the surface, to have been no opportunity for anyone to have doctored the near-fatal cigarette at the end--but the Old Man readily explains how that happened. But, despite there being no murder--and only one death by natural causes mentioned at the very beginning--this is a delightful mystery. The action is brisk and the dialogue sparkles. Dickson/Carr pulls out his standard "boy meets girl, the two despise each other at first sight but later are madly in love" trick, but in this story, it works! For one thing, (unlike my previous read) he allows us to see the two characters actually recognize and acknowledge what's happening. There's a progression towards romance that just didn't happen in Nine--And Death Makes Ten. Dickson/Carr also plays a fine game of misdirection in the middle section that completely fooled me and made me keep my eye on the wrong person.

I, like William Cartwright, do have a problem with one bit (the same bit, actually)--I still don't think the disappearance of the valuable sections of film is properly explained. Who did it and why was it spliced into the other bit of film? Oh--and just out of curiosity (for those who have read this)--did I miss the scene with the ax? I can't for the life of me figure out what that ax is doing on the cover of my Dell Mapback. It's a nice cover and all, but I don't remember an ax being mentioned anywhere. But, overall, a great, fast-moving read. ★★★★

First line: In spite of herself she was excited.

It was not that he expected Monica to resemble the voluptuous and world-weary Eve D'Aubray, the heroine of Desire. Just the opposite. In Mr. Hackett's experience, the ladies who wrote passionate love stories were usually either tense business women or acidulated spinsters who petrified every male in the vicinity. (p. 9)

"You appear to be confusing fiction with autobiography. Recently we both made the acquaintance of Mr. William Cartwright, who writes the detective novels. He made quite a favorable impression on you, if I remember correctly. You do not seriously suggest that Mr. Cartwright spends his spare time cutting people's throats?" (Rev. James Stanton; p. 14)

...William Cartwright had a beard. Again justice must be done. It was not one of those scraggly beards abominated by everybody. On the contrary, any male would have said it was a pretty good hirsute effort, as beards go; trim, close-clipped like the mustache, giving its owner something of the look of a naval commander. (p. 26)

"The highest paid scenario writer in the world" was a little, dumpy, bustling woman in her early fifties. She had a positiveness of manner which carried everybody along with her. Though her lipstick always looked as though it had been put on in the dark, so that it was just a fraction of an inch sideways across her mouth, she had a good deal of charm. (p. 91) 

"...you are gradually driving me to the loony bin. I informed you last week that exaggerated was spelled e-x-a-g-g-e-r-a-t-e-d. Unless the authorities have got together and done something about it in the meantime, it is still spelled like that." (William Cartwright; p. 94)

Last line: "It's just one of those things that happen in the film business."

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Deaths = one natural

Nine--And Death Makes Ten

 Nine--And Death Makes Ten (apa Murder in the Submarine Zone; 1940) by Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr)

January 1940. The story takes place on an ocean liner, the Edwardic, which has been converted to wartime use and carries a minimum number of passengers, a huge load of munitions, and one stowaway--murder. The passengers aboard ship are those in a big enough hurry to make the crossing from New York to England that they could stand the danger of entering the submarine zone with a boatload of explosives. Those passengers include a newspaper reporter recovering from a dangerous fall while covering a fire, a member of the NYPD on his way to collect a dangerous criminal, a blonde wrapped in sable with a mysteriously bulging pocketbook, a young woman with a mysterious mission, a French captain who is only seen at mealtime, the younger son of a Lord who has a serious case of seasickness (or the worst hangover ever...we're not too sure, a doctor, and British businessman who talks like a car salesman.

When Mrs. Zia Bey, the woman with the bulging bag, winds up murdered, Max Matthews--the reporter and brother of the ship's captain--is sure the arrogant young woman with the secret is involved. But there are too many questions that need answers--questions that don't seem to point to Miss Valerie Chatford. Whose fingerprints are pressed in blood on the murder woman's back? And why don't those prints match anyone on board? Who had been throwing knives in the passageway late at night? Who was the man wearing the gas mask and poking his head into other passengers' compartments? Fortunately, there is one more passenger on board the Ewardic...the Old Man himself, Sir Henry Merrivale. If anyone can figure this screwy case out, it's H.M.

I enjoyed this so much more than the last ship-board mystery by Dickson/Carr (The Case of the Blind Barber). That one came across as too much slap-stick and over-the-top. And there was not nearly enough of Gideon Fell. I was beginning to think that we were going the same route here with Merrivale--he doesn't show up until almost half-way through the book, but once he does, he's very present with all his "Burn mes!" and "for the love of Esaus!" And, of course, he spots all the clues that went right over my head. I should have noticed them, but I was too busy being entertained by H.M. 

I do have a couple of complaints though...First, why do all the little romances have to start off with the guy and the gal at odds? They both think the other is insufferable until suddenly at the very end (with no scenes to indicate a change in mood) they realize they can't do without one another. Seriously? And, second, I was expecting a motive with a little more oomph to it. Especially with all the certain kind of overtones we get (can't explain...because spoilers). It just seemed to fall a little flat. Otherwise, this would have been a five-star winner--great characters, I love a mystery on a ship, nicely done clues (that I missed), and a lot of fun with Merrivale. As it is...★★★★

First line: Painted battleship-gray, the line lay by the pier at the foot of West Twentieth Street.

I have come across this sort of thing in books and films; but, by all the gods, I never imagined it could happen in real life. Do you seriously imagine that you, or any other woman outside a story, can get away with that? Do you think you can tell what you choose to tell, and keep back what doesn't suit your purpose; and then look like a matyr and say you're sure some poor goop will trust you? They ruddy well won't. I won't. (Max Matthews; p. 58)

But, if you ask me, this whole case is screwy. It sounds like Nick Carter. First the bloody thumb-mark, and now the packet of papers. If you can only dig up a hypodermic full of strange Indian poison... (John Lathrop; p. 67)

It's the infantile mind that planned this murder, and every detail of the business. That's what you're dealin' with, son; arrested development in an adult. What makes it worse is that it seems to be an adult of caution and brains as well; and that's an awful bad combination. (Sir Henry Merrivale; p. 74)

Last lines: But as the orchestra struck up at signal from Commander Matthews, they sang God Save the King. And never had those words been sung more strongly, never was more sincerity poured from the heart, than when those strains rose to the roof, and the great gray ship moved up the Channel; and, steady as a compass-needle in death and storm and peril and the darkness of great waters, the Edwardic came home.

****************

Deaths = 5 (one neck broken; one stabbed; one shot; one natural; one hit on head)

Danger at the Drawbridge

 Danger at the Drawbridge (1940) by Mildred A.Wirt

This is the third in the Penny Parker detective series and my second attempt to get on with Mildred Wirt's favorite character (a girl detective that Wirt apparently thought was "a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is" (quote reference). If she says so...  I didn't think much of Penny when I first met her in Behind the Green Door, though she did improve as that book went along. I still don't think she's better than Nancy. In this particular adventure, she is trying to get her dad to let her cover the society wedding of the season. Miss Sylvia Kippenberg is set to marry Grant Atherwald and no reporters or photographers are allowed. There's been a mystery surrounding the Kippenberg's ever since Sylvia's father disappeared a few years ago. He was suspected by the Feds of having bought up gold when it was illegal to do so, but disappeared before anything could be proved. Mrs. Kippenberg doesn't want any notoriety marring her daughter's wedding and, so, has barred the newspapers from the event.

But Penny is resourceful and she and Salt, the Riverview Star's photographer manage to get into the grounds of the castle-like family estate...only to discover another mystery: the mystery of the missing groom. Atherwald arrives at the estate on the same boat launch that brings Penny and Salt. He's handed a note by one of the servants, heads down a path in the garden, and disappears into thin air. Penny discovers footmarks that seem to indicate a struggle and also a wedding ring that the bride-to-be says looks like the one Atherwald bought for her. Did someone kidnap the prospective groom? And if so, why? Penny is out to find out...and hopefully get a big scoop for her dad's newspaper. 

So...there's quite a bit of action in this one and Penny comes close to a watery grave. I'm not sure what I think of her investigative reporter skills. She seems to have a lot of hunches that manage to pan out. She is brave and willing to put herself in danger for what she thinks is the right thing to do...especially if it will get her a good story for the paper. But given that she's still a high school student, I'm surprised that her dad isn't more worried about the fact that his daughter is nearly drowned by the bad guys. A fairly decent mystery/adventure for girls, but I'm still not convinced that she's in Nancy's league. I'm not sure what I would have thought of her if I had discovered the books at the time I was reading the Nancy Drew books. But now?  ★★★--just.

First line: Penny Parker, leaning indolently against the edge of the kitchen table, watched Mrs. Weems stem strawberries into a bright green bowl.

Last line: "I just hope I won't have to wait too long for the next mystery to come along."

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Deaths = one natural

The 1940 Club

 

The 1940 Club: Each Fall and Spring Simon at Stuck in a Book sponsors a week of book club reading based on a particular year. From April 10-16, our goal is to read as many books from 1940 as we can/want to--post your reviews at the link. With my addiction to Golden Age Mysteries, I have a pretty large selection of books from that year. I don't think I'll be able to do all 46 that I've got on tap, but I'm going to see how many I can get to. I'll list them below as I do them.

1. Danger at the Drawbridge by Mildred A. Wirt (4/10/23)

2. Nine--And Death Makes Ten by Carter Dickson (4/11/23)

3. And So to Murder by Carter Dickson  (4/12/23)

4. Inquest by Percival Wilde (4/15/23)

5. Murder in Miniature by Sam Merwin, Jr. (4/15/23)

6.