google-site-verification: googlef64103236b9f4855.html Philly Reader: July 2014

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Poison in Jest by John Dickson Carr: A review

This is a novel of a big old house, a family with many secrets, and several kinds of poison. Jeff Marle had returned to his home town in Pennsylvania and to the old house where the Quayles lived and where he had played as a boy. Old Judge Quayle wanted to see him and to discuss the book that the Judge had finally finished writing. They met in the Judge's study which was as it had been many years before and there was still the statue of Caligula which had a broken hand. The Judge told Jeff that he could no longer get along with his family. The Judge was a man of upright morality and old-fashioned ways, and he felt that his family was adopting new ways which he did not understand. The Judge offered Jeff a drink of brandy from a bottle which had never been opened. Shortly after drinking his brandy, the Judge collapsed from what was found to hyoscine poisoning. Forturnately his son-in-law Dr. Twills was in the house, and his rapid actions kept the Judge alive. Dr. Twills had also found that the Judge's wife had been given a dose of arsenic.

The family consisted of Mary, the oldest daughter, who was unmarried and who kept the house and looked after the old Judge and his wife who was ill. There was also the beautiful daughter Clarissa who had married short but diligent and wealthy Dr. Walter Twills. The youngest daughter Virginia was still single, but was longing to get married and get out of the house. The younger son Matt still lived in the house, and was a lawyer. The Judge had never approved of Matt, and had never ceased to criticize him. The older son Tom had had an argument with the Judge, and had run away several years before.

This family had many secrets and many arguments, but there was one thing about the house that they were never supposed to speak of. That was the mysterious white hand which would appear on occasion in various parts of the house. It would appear to be the hand broken off of the statue of Caligula in the study.

Jeff talked to Dr. Twills who had seemed quite overwhelmed by the family members, but who was much more sure of himself when he was alone. Twills admitted that he had hyoscine, but he was a doctor. Twills also admitted that he was scared of the family, and that he wanted to go back to Vienna where he was happy, but he could not get away. Unfortunately that evening, somebody poisoned Dr. Twills with a dose of hyoscine.

The family wanted to keep the death quiet. They wanted to say that it was suicide because that would avoid an inquest and the publicity which would come with it. But the county detective, Joe Sargent, was called upon to investigate the case. Jeff felt that Sargent was the insignificant kind of man who would think that if he could solve this important case that he could make a name for himself. Sargent engaged in long discussions with Dr. Reed, the coroner, but they do not manage to figure out what is going on.

Now enters the weird detective Rossiter who is one of the most uncordinated, eccentric, and puzzling detectives in mystery literature. Another horrible death would occur, but in the end, Rossiter  puts all the clues together and finds the murderer. The clues have all been available to the reader who will probably feel bad about not having seen them.

This is good mystery with a gloomy atmosphere, an uneasy family, and several murders. John Dickson Carr, one of the masters of the Golden Age, published this book in 1932. It was one of his early novels and does not feature any of his series detectives although Jeff Marle knows Bencolin.  It does not seem to be currently in print although used copies are available.




Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Meat for Murder by Lange Lewis: A Review



Earl Falconer is a stage set designer in Hollywood. He  built for himself a large house in the Los Angeles area in the form of a castle with a moat. He lives here with two bodyguards, three dogs, a very religious housekeeper, and a small, retiring French mathematician, Andre Viaud, who is recovering from a nervous breakdown. Falconer is a vegetarian, does not drink alcohol or smoke, and he exercises frequently.  He and his two bodyguards sleep outside on cots.

Falconer hires Laurel Byrd, a recently graduated English major, and her friend Jeff Prince, also an English major, to assist him in writing a play. Woody Cornell, apparently a world traveler, is also hired to assist in the writing.  The writers are under a contract which says that they will live in Falconer's house until the play is completed, and that they will not be paid until Falconer is satisfied with the play.

There are also some women in Falconer's life. There is Denise Morissey, a blond, who seems to be fond of Falconer and expects him to marry her. Other well-to-do and aimless friends include Ruth de Lisle, and Rita Callendar. One evening when all the occupants of the house and these friends are together, Denise Morissey is apparently poisoned with arsenic in a tablet which was supposed to be phenobarbital. Luckily for her, a doctor in her apartment building saves her from death. The next day Falconer is also poisoned with arsenic and dies.

Enter the police. There is Detective Tuck  who is a large man who takes a realistic approach to the crime although he does apply a bit of psychology. He is assisted by Brigit Estees who is five foot eight and really enjoys her police work.

This book seemed to me to be ready for a typical 1930's movie treatment. The Hollywood location helped. The characters are eccentric, the setting speaks of money, and the women definitely seem the Hollywood type. Laurel Byrd is the ingenue and Denise Morissey the older attractive wealthy blonde. Peter Lorre definitely would be cast as Andre Viaud. The dialogue is witty in a movie sort of way.

Lange Lewis is the pseudonym Jane Lewis Brandt (1915 - 2003) who lived in Los Angeles, and who was married to writer Mal Bissell.  The Golden Age of Detection web site lists five mysteries written by her. This book was published in 1943, and is currently out of print.




Monday, July 28, 2014

The Murderer is a Fox by Ellery Queen: A review


Captain Davy Fox returns from World War II  to his home town of Wrightsville and gets a hero's reception. His plane had been shot down in China. He had struggled through the rice fields, and hid from the Japanese while carrying his crew man Binks on his back because Binks was too injured to walk. Now he was a big hero, but he could not get the memories of the war out of his mind where they kept playing over and over again. He tried to adopt to life in Wrightsville with his family and his new wife Linda. He could not sleep and when he did it was fitful and dream filled. Then one night he woke from a troubled sleep and tried to strangle his wife.  Perhaps he was trying to kill his wife just as his father, Bayard Fox, killed his wife Jessica 12 years before.

Davy and Linda went to Ellery Queen hoping that he could reopen the case and prove that Bayard Fox had not killed Davy's mother. They saw this as the only way to dispel the fears in Davy's mind. Ellery came to Wrightsville and staged the crime again. He even got Bayard released from the prison where he was serving a life sentence to attend the reenactment. The event was also attended by Talbot Fox and his wife Emily. Talbot and Bayard were brothers, business partners, and were both in love with Jessica. They had decided that she would be the one to decide which brother she preferred, but she did not live long enough for this.

The reenactment had been staged in Bayard Fox's house which had been sitting empty since the murder. Jessica had been poisoned with an overdose of digitalis in a glass of grape juice that Bayard had given her. The reenactment only showed that there was no moment when anyone other than Bayard could have put the digitalis into the grape juice. It did seem impossible for anyone other than Bayard to have poisoned Jessica which left Ellery Queen with a very difficult problem to solve.

This is a very well written book, and the impossibility of finding a solution certainly keeps you reading. There is a long beginning which describes Davy's past war experience and the resulting problems that he is experiencing which makes him a very sympathetic character.

This book was published in 1945, and is currently available as an e-book.




Sunday, July 20, 2014

While the Patient Slept by Mignon G. Eberhart: a Review

Nurse Sarah Keate has taken an assignment in an old dreary house which will become a scene for murder.  She has arrived at Federie House to nurse old Mr. Federie who has suffered from a stroke and who is now unconscious. She finds the house to be absolutely dreadful. It is large, has no electricity, and does not seem to have been dusted in years. Many of the rooms lack doors and instead have dusty curtains at the openings. The butler, Grondal, would not have been out of place in a horror movie. The cook is equally mysterious, and serves stewed prunes for dessert.

The Federie family members and friends have gathered in the house in hopes of speaking with old Mr. Federie before he dies. There is his granddaughter March who is attractive and very strong willed. Her cousin Eustice has wasted a lot of money and hopes to get more from the old man. Old Mr. Federie's son Adolph is also a waster of money, and his wife, Isobel who apparently does not care for Adolph,  is not much better. Also present are Elihu Dimick, Federie's financial advisor,  Deke Lonergan who is a friend of Eustice and Mittie Frisling who seems to have been living in the house for some unknown reason. There is also a male cat who is named Genevieve.

On Sarah's first night in the house, she settles down in the patient's room.  During the night Adolph Fererie is murdered. Young police inspector Lance O'Leary arrives and after interviewing the residents of the house, he decides that nobody has an alibi for the time of the crime. Isobel does not seem to lament the death of her husband, and the others do not seem to have any motive for killing him.

Sarah is drawn into the search for the murderer. She is puzzled by the appearances and disappearances of a small jade elephant which seems to very important to several people in the house. She tries investigating the attic which is even spookier than the rest of the house. Eventually she and O'Leary will unravel  the web of historical and current events which ties these people together.

This is a very spooky book, and a very good mystery novel. It was published in 1930 and helped make Mignon G. Eberhart a very popular mystery writer. I read the edition which was published in 1995 by University of Nebraska Press. It has an introduction by Jay Fultz and a very good bibliography. I was surprised that he said that he had talked to Ms. Eberhart, but she did  live to the age of 97 (1899 - 1996).





Sunday, July 13, 2014

The Tall House Mystery by A. E. Fielding: A Review

Five young gentlemen agree to share the rent of the Tall House in Chelsea for five weeks. Their names are Haliburton, Moy, Tark, Gilmore, and Charles Ingram. Last names are used almost exclusively for men in this book except for Ingram because his half-brother Frederick will make an appearance later on. During this time, they will be visited by lovely Miss Winnie Pratt who is romantically involved with some of them, and her mother, Mrs. Pratt, who will be a chaperone.

Alfreda Longstaff will also be joining this group. She is the only child of the rector of Bispham, and would naturally be expected to keep house for her aging parents which she has no desire to do in this boring village.  Gilmore had come to the area, and Alfreda had been attracted to him because he was the only eligible young man to come her way. Gilmore had left with only a civil goodbye and Alfreda was quite upset that a stronger relationship had not developed. Later on at a golf course, she met Warner who worked for a London newspaper. He told her how a position on the paper could be obtained for an aspiring author who managed to find a real "scoop". Gilmore returns and declares his undying love for Alfreda. She declares that they must get to know each other better so he invites her to Tall House for the five weeks, of course, with Mrs. Pratt as a chaperone. Alfreda sees this as an opportunity to get out of Bispham, and to London where she may find her "scoop" and land a newspaper job.

One evening when this group is at dinner, the conversation turns to the talk of ghosts and how an old house like Tall House must have one. Gilmore says that ghosts are nonsense. They were just  living people dressed up and pretending, and that if he ever encountered such a "ghost" he would shoot it. Later during that night, the residents hear a gun shot and find Gilmore at the door of his room with a gun in his hand, and Ingram dead on the floor of the hall with a bullet in his head and with a sheet wrapped around him. Gilmore is panicked and says that he only had blanks in his gun.

Enter Inspector Pointer who is  has "a tanned, pleasant face and a pair of very steady, tranquil, dark gray eyes " with which he can watch the strange activities of those living in the house. Ingram was an expert in codes and ciphers, and the residents all seem to be engaged in going through his papers and books to find something of value to them, although Pointer is not sure what this is. An inquest leaves Gilmore free of blame in the death. Miss Longstaff does provides inside information about the crime to the paper thus giving her a scoop.

Things will get even more complex in the best tradition of the puzzle mystery, but in the end, Inspector Pointer solves the crime and finds the murderer even though he spends a lot of time on a big red herring. Sometimes I found that the search for Ingram's papers became a bit confusing. Also the author gives very sinister descriptions of the appearance of Miss Longstreth and Mr. Tark surely to convey to the reader that they are "bad guys" while it could be assumed that attractive Winnie Pratt must be above suspicion.

Nothing is really know about the author, A. E. Fielding. There is a forward by Greg Fowlkes which tells about the search for information about A. E. Fielding who also published books under the name of Archibald Fielding and Archibald E. Fielding. There is some evidence that Fielding could be a "middle-aged English lady" or could be Lady Dorothy Mary Evelyn Moore nee Feilding, but her descendents deny this.

This book was published in 1933, and has been reissued by Resurrected Press, and is available from Amazon in paper or e-book form.





Friday, July 4, 2014

The Lake District Murder by John Bude: A review

Many mystery novels ask "Who done It". Some mystery novels ask "How was it done?" This novel asks "What in the world are they doing".

One evening Luke Perryman stopped at the garage owned by Clayton and Higgins to buy petrol for his car. (There is little use of first names in this book). Perryman discovered Clayton sitting in a running car in a closed garage with a tube from the exhaust pipe to his head which was covered by a macintosh. Clayton was dead. Inspector Meredith was called to the scene, and his immediate thought was that Clayton had committed suicide. Apparently, however, Clayton had started preparing his dinner, and had left his tea kettle on the heat. Further investigation showed that Clayton had money in the bank, was engaged to be married, and had purchased tickets on a ship to Canada for himself and his new bride. Everything seemed to be going well for him, and Meredith started in to investigate the possibility that Clayton was murdered. His rather worthless partner Higgins has a strong alibi for the time of the murder. Meredith did find that a petrol delivery truck which delivered Nonocks petrol to the garage was seen in the vicinity of the garage that evening.

Meredith is a very, very meticulous investigator.  Operating on the hypothesis that Clayton's death is somehow related to the Nonocks petrol truck and its owner Ormsby-Wright, he sets out to discover the link, and the discovery of that link is the major focus of the book. Meredith's investigations are described in great detail as he eliminates one possibility after another. There are a great number of measurements and schedules which is in the best tradition of writers such as Freeman Wills Crofts, but modern readers may be put off by the description of so many details.

Meredith does succeed in the end in discovering what crime was being carried out by Ormsby-Wright and in finding the murderers of Clayton. Actually what that crime is is rather ingenious, and I will give you no hint of what it is. This is Meredith's first independent murder investigation, and he and the reader enjoy his success.

This book was published in 1935. You will learn that a petrol lorry at that time carried 1000 gallons and was not able to go faster than 20 mph. Think about that the next time time a tanker truck passes you on the turnpike. There are some rather nice descriptions of the Lake District. This book has been reissued by the British Library, and has an introduction by Martin Edwards.