MOONLIGHTERS: Collin Brooks - Journalist, Broadcaster, Writer of "Shockers"

Reporters always seem to be the best crime fiction writers. Collin Brooks is one of better journalists turned detective novelists that I've encountered in my vast reading of the genre.  His first "shocker" (as he preferred to call them) Mr. X was published in 1927. He joins the ranks of fellow Brits and former reports B.L. Farjeon and Edgar Wallace along with a slew of Americans like Lawrence Blochman, Daniel Mainwaring (aka "Geoffrey Holmes"), Dorothy B Hughes, and Deloris Stanton Forbes. The tradition of journalists who become successful crime fiction writers has continued to the present day with a slew of them often topping best seller lists like Laura Lippman and Michael Connelly. The combination of discipline for deadlines and interview skills must come in very handy when plotting a crime novel. And of course many of these journalists were crime reporters giving them insight into the workings of police procedure and the court system.

Found Dead (1930) was Brooks' sixth crime novel, a true detective novel unlike many of his earlier thrillers and introduced Oswald Swete McTavish, punningly referred to as "Oh Sweet McTavish" throughout the story. McTavish has many similarities to early 20th century amateur detectives and yet both adheres to and defies all traditions of the typical fictional sleuth of the era. He is independently wealthy, has held a variety jobs, and is highly eccentric in manner and speech.  The front cover of my reprint edition likens him to Sherlock Holmes, but McTavish is far from the egocentric dispassionate icon of detective fiction. On the contrary, McTavish is immensely likeable, witty, warm and generous in spirit. He is not without his moments of arrogance but they are infrequent and often tinged with a ironic humor.  One of the most unique aspects of this book is that McTavish discovers his skill in sleuthing in the moment and it develops over the course of this first book.  He is not an established inquiry agent, he decides to become one and enlists the help of two witnesses to a crime as his colleagues.

The book opens with a young women fixing her broken suspender (a stocking garter for us Yankees) on a sidewalk.  Our narrator, Armistead (no first name given) freezes on the sidewalk just behind her to admire the young woman's leg and her provocative pose.  As Armistead is eyeing the woman McTavish comes rushing out of a building and collides with him.  Just then the woman screams and come rushing at the the two men recovering from their crash and she grips both of them crying out "A dead man!" As she was adjusting her garter she has seen a dead body through the window of the basement.  This all happens within the first chapter and the action is non-stop from then on.

Amy Renton, the young woman, eventually is hired to be McTavish's secretary in his instant decision to become a private detective and Armistead is enlisted as his Watson. Both of them will have fine moments to show off their innate talents at detection.  Both are intelligently drawn characters with keen insights and understanding of criminal motives. Interestingly, Brooks has Armistead take over at the climax of the novel and travel to Barfield, a small town in Yorkshire, where many of the puzzling mysteries will finally be explained. Armistead has about four chapters of adventures on his own in which he meets a variety of people who speak openly and frankly ranging from a cheerful and garrulous travelling salesman to a stock in trade gossipy hotel maid.  He also meets and befriends a tobacconist, a barmaid, a junior reporter at the town's local newspaper and finally Amy Renton's mother.

It is, however, McTavish who is the star of the novel. His physical appearance is most striking, especially his large head and unusual facial features consisting of high forehead, long nose and jutting chin leading to a weird comparison to Punch from the famed puppet show. Later we learn that Inspector Ipps enjoys a relaxing hobby of making puppets. Allusions to Punch and his trickster ways involving the hangman puppet in the Punch and Judy shows crop up often.

One of McTavish's many side hustles is writing detective novels. He has published a handful of them using the pen name "Alfred Bruce."  His books are often referred to over the course of the novel. At one point Amy decides to read one and is appalled at the lurid and gruesome nature of the story making her wonder about the turn nature of O. Swete McTavish.  McTavish loves to ruminate about a case while wearing a fez (his thinking cap or sorts) and puffing on a porcelain pipe. He pontificates on a variety of topics -- often in an odd stream of conscience -- and somehow makes it all seem relevant to the strange murder of the man found garrotted in the basement.

Much of the first half of the novel is spent trying to ID the corpse who had no identification on him nor any laundry marks on his clothes. McTavish, to the surprise of everyone, predicts a second murder and when it happens not far from his home the police begin to suspect the eccentric detective as masterminding all the crimes. Amy even begins to suspect him and voices her fears to Armistead in a scene where she lucidly and logically explains exactly how all evidence seems to indicate McTavish is the killer. Inspector Ipps of Scotland Yard in charge of the case is also on the trail of McTavish.  Could our affable detective hero actually be a cruel and sadistic villain?

Found Dead is a corker of a novel. From the bizarre murder weapon to the highly unusual motive for the murders this book is teeming with innovation and excellent writing. Brooks has created vibrant characters, sparkling, often witty, dialogue and filled the book with action and unusual settings. One of the most outre scenes takes place in a Turkish bath just before Armistead sets out for Barfield. At the bath he is approached by a man who seems to be following him. The dialogue exchange is sprinkled with sinister innuendoes and the two men clad only in towels and sweltering in a sauna begin to see each other as adversaries. The stranger even hints to Armistead that a sauna is an excellent setting for the perfect murder -- isolated location, limited exits, steam acting a fog to obscure one's vision. It's the creepiest set piece of the novel. 

photo by Howard Coster, 1935
Courtesy of National
Portrait Gallery website

THE AUTHOR:  William Collin Brooks (1893-1959) was born and raised in north of England. After brief early careers in accounting and as a commercial traveller he took to journalism. In 1913 he founded the Manchester Press Agency and two years later joined the British Army. After his service in World War 1 he wrote for various newspapers in Liverpool, Yorkshire and London ending up as editor at the Financial Times. In 1933 he began working for the Sunday Dispatch where he eventually became Editor.  Between 1927 and 1951 Brooks wrote about 14 novels a mix of thriller, horror and detective novels. He also used the pseudonym “Barnaby Brook” for nine mainstream novels, usually of a romantic nature. In addition to fiction Brooks wrote several non-fiction books covering everything from journalism to economics. He even published two volumes of poetry.  Eventually he became involved in radio broadcasting appearing regularly on Any Questions? and The Brain Trust for BBC Radio. Of his five children, his youngest daughter Vivian Collin Brooks (1922–2003) also became a crime fiction writer and published books under the pseudonym "Osmington Mills", the name taken from a coastal village in Dorset. 

THINGS I LEARNED: When McTavish learns that one of the suspects is named Pedro he describes the name as transpontine. I thought: "Does that mean between the bridges?"  I was close. The dictionary definition is "on or form the other side of a bridge". How on earth does that apply to a First names, you may wonder (as did I)? In the late 19th century transpontine was often used to denigrate melodramatic and sensational theatrical productions which were located on the other side of the Thames, hence the other side of the bridges. McTavish's bit of ambiguous dialogue runs: "He apparently rejoiced in the commonplace and transpontine name of Pedro. Half the faithful muleteers in popular melodrama are called Pedro." Context is not too clear here and I was forced to look up the word to figure out what seemed like two non sequiturs.

Another odd word crops up during the steam bath scene when Armistead calls the sinister gent valetudinarian after he remarks that it's not a good idea to sip water while in a hot room because of the possibility of getting a stomach cramp. (Never heard that one before!) The multi-syllabic word describes  a person who is anxious about their health. A pompous and antiquarian synonym for germophobe, I gather. 

QUOTES: Inspector Ipps on McTavish's stream of conscience style monologues: "You ought to have been a dutch-auction merchant or a camp meeting peanut seller. As a tracer of lost persons your verbal flow is wasted."

McTavish to Armistead: "...when I suggested that I was keen upon finding the murderer of that poor fellow you said that amateur detecting wouldn't work outside the pages of a seven-and-sixpenny thriller, because life is too sane and humdrum. And I replied that it is the novelist's fictional world which is sane and humdrum, because no novelist dares to suggest one tithe of the oddities of life or to use a first-rate coincidence for you. Well, here's a first rate coincidence for you!"

McTavish on his intuition: "I only guessed. I have medals and cups and shields and things for successful guessing. My two hobbies as a boy -- guessing and floating. The modern worship of athletics. The cult of strenuous life. When I wasn't guessing, I was floating. Sometimes as I floated I guessed whether if I turned over I'd be able to swim. Fortunately I never tried."

EASY TO FIND?  Of all of Collin Brooks’ crime novels Found Dead was apparently the most popular.  It was published in three separate editions between 1930 and 1950.  The 1950 hardcover reprint with pictorial covers (shown in the middle of this post) is still offered for sale and at affordable prices. I turned up about eight copies from various online sellers and I'm sure a copy or two may turn up in libraries in the UK, Australia or in used bookstores. It most definitely ought to be reprinted. Innovative, intelligent, and well plotted Found Dead is highly original on so many levels for a GAD book published in 1930.  Happy hunting! 

 

Notice to Quit - James Quince

THE STORY: William Yolland gets some news from a physician who has given him a mandatory exam for an insurance policy Yolland is hoping will help out his dire financial position. And it's not good news. The doctor informs William that he has a cardiac condition and may experience a fatal heart attack in a matter of months. William now finds it necessary to find alternative method to save his beloved home and estate which will be subject to death taxes that he will not be able to afford. He comes up with a bizarre plan -- switch identities with his look-alike son and give the illusion that he is still alive should he die suddenly. His son John can make sure that finances are in order and the house can be saved even though William Yolland will be gone. But the masquerade comes with several unexpected complications not the least of which is hoping that no one will see through the elaborate scheme.

THE CHARACTERS: Quince spends a lot of time setting up the switcheroo by having several characters mention that William, age 48, and John, age 24, are often mistaken for one another. It's only when William whose hair has gone prematurely white is seen up close that anyone realizes the error.  The disguises seem ridiculously simple: William dyes his hair blond and wears more youthful clothes while John is fitted for an expensive white wig and adds a few crow's feet to his face using theatrical make-up. It's a bit hard to swallow, but I went along for the ride. Luckily, Quince recognizes the outlandishness of the role playing. Though on the surface everyone seems to accept William for his son and son for father not everyone falls for the charade. By the midpoint William Yolland's first person narrative gives way to another first person narrative in the person of Molly Montauben, John's very close friend, who lets us know that she saw through his disguise almost immediately. Later another character catches on to the switch due to John's lack of fluency in Spanish. Thank heaven for these clever and observant characters!

William and John are immensely likable and Quince's witty style of writing in William's voice allows for the reader to further accept the disguises and scheming. On the first day of the switch William in the person of his son attends a tennis party where he meets John's friends and associates from a not-for-proft organization called the Youth Movement which is devoted to social work and health equity 1930s style.  Later, William learns from his son that the Youth Movement is actually a front for a revolutionary political party intent on shaking up the current British parliamentary troubles . John confesses he was roped into a kidnapping plot but never followed though. Now Dad must carry out the plan in a hastily restructured scheme that becomes even more complicated when it overlaps with his past life as diplomat in the fictional South American country called Bochilia (apparently meant to be a stand-in for Argentina).

William lived in Bochilia over twenty years ago where he worked for Pablo Poolo, a dignitary close to the Bochilian President. William got to know Poolo's daughter Amatista, they eventually married, she bore him his son, but died days later from a complicated delivery.  Some of the Bochilian wheelers and dealers have now come to the UK and are target of the Youth Movement plot that John has been involved with. But due to the switch John - now the fake William - finds himself facing people he should know and recognize and being utterly ignorant of his relationship to them. And so the farce begins!

But is it really a farce?  Quince tries to mix a kind of low comedy that dates back to Roman and Elizabethan theater with sophisticated satire pointing out generational differences in the advance of parliamentarian government, post World War One. The farcical elements seem utterly out of place with the almost lofty satire he is trying to insert about international trade laws and the end of the Victorian monarchy, two decades after the queen's death. The contrast made for a schizoid identity in itself for the book as a whole. Despite great character work from the supporting players -- a mix of Bochilian baddies, notably Felix Barzon, aka "the Ferret" who knew William two decades ago, and the Youth Movement idealists especially Estelle, their imposing intellectual leader, and Molly, the second narrator pining for John Yolland (the real one!) from afar -- the constant wavering between political satire and low comedy was a distraction.  Personally, I do not like suspense thrillers that deal with government policies and foreign powers looking to upset global economics. I avoid them as I would hearts-and-flowers romance novels.  Unfortunately, my mind drifted away when the plot focused on the politics.

INNOVATIONS: Surprisingly, I found that this crime novel (for there are indeed aspects of crime, and even detective novel on display) succeeded more when it stuck to the farce. Quince parodies abduction action sequences and sinister villain masterminds so familiar to readers of Edgar Wallace and other thriller writers of the 1920s and 1930s. At times this felt like a "thriller comedy of manners" a la The Secret of Chimneys or The Seven Dials Mystery. Perhaps the biggest surprise in Notice to Quit (1932) is the element of masquerade and role playing because ultimately that is what the novel is really about. As the story resolves its various plot threads and conflicts -- including among other things a dispute over the Falkland Islands to an apparently worthless mine in Bochilia -- Quince turns his attention to contemplation on generational frictions and disparities. Basically, he is always commenting on the timeworn dichotomy of youth vs. age. William regrets his foolishness, his retreat into boyish attractions and indulgences while playing the part of his son.  Some of the writing occasionally reveals pithy insights on this topic:

I cursed Youth and its silly movements and its way of managing the middle-aged by falling back on the appeal to courtesy when its bullying failed.

"Youth is led by fear. Did you know that? All the great leaders have been feared. If love goes with the fear so much more the comfortable for all concerned, but it does not greatly matter. In the eyes of the young there are no half-tints; you must be black or white, right or wrong, feared or despised."

Ultimately, the plot comes full circle with a wonderfully delightful twist in the penultimate chapter.  I found myself marveling at how much Notice to Quit resembles not so much a satirical crime novel as it does a Shakespearean comedy with its fascination with masquerade, the farcical elements arising out of the identity switch, role playing of all types, and the uplifting finale with two weddings. A happy ending indeed arrives despite all the political skulduggery.

THINGS I LEARNED:  The frequent mention of the Falkland Islands and Barzon's interest in purchasing them for Bochilia (hence my thought that it is supposed to be Argentina) led me to look at early 20th century skirmishes and conflicts located in that part of South America. I discovered that it was British military stronghold for decades dating back to the late 19th century. There was also an early battle there during World War 1. Argentina's struggle for sovereignty of the islands is as age-old as the military forts constructed there. 

EASY TO FIND?  This one is a true rarity. I found my copy back in 2014 and I've never seen one since.  Currently there are zero copies offered for sale from the triumvirate of online antiquarian booksellers. I successfully sold my copy -- sorry for no early announcement -- shortly after I finished reading it for this post. Who knows when another will ever turn up again? Your only resort seems to be academic libraries: three copies are in libraries in the UK, one in Dublin, and one in Canada at the University of Alberta. 

NEW STUFF: The Murder at World's End - Ross Montgomery

For the past two years I've seen an intriguing spike in modern writers trying their hand at a retro GAD-style locked room or impossible crime mystery novel.  I've read quite a few of them and mostly they tend to be less than gripping in plot, populated with tiresome formulaic characters, and prosaic in their solutions. Tom Mead, of course, seems to be the heir to John Dickson Carr's fame in mysterydom as master of the locked room mystery. Mead's novels are the exception and never cease to entertain and boggle my mind. Though I have to say I solved most of his last book The House at Devil's Neck, primarily because I read two books back to back that employed a similar masquerade plot device found in Mead's latest book. Now I discover a children's book author who has done his best to outdo the Great Carr and others like him in an often witty and baffling mystery called The Murder at World's End.

Even without the locked room plot element this mystery novel grabbed my attention for the setting and time period alone.  It is May 1910 and Viscount Conrad Stockingham-Welt, an eccentric aristocrat who fancies himself an amateur astronomer (though most of what he claims as his own work he stole from his aunt), has summoned his family to Tithe Hall on the eve of the reappearance of Halley's comet. He is certain that the comet will bring about devastation to Earth. He has ordered everyone to go to their rooms where they will all be sealed in as the comet passes overhead. The entire house is boarded up, all windows and doors are locked and sealed, and all rooms of course are likewise locked and sealed with cotton batting at all doorway bases. Even keyholes are sealed with wax. A perfect set-up for a classic lock room mystery recalling the room locked and sealed with gummed tape in He Wouldn't Kill Patience by John Dickson Carr.

Of course someone is discovered dead in the morning. It will come as no surprise that the murder victim is Lord Stockingham-Welt. The murder weapon seems to be a crossbow bolt. But how was it fired through a locked and sealed door?  (Shades of The Judas Window.) The crossbow usually is held in the gauntleted arms of a suit of armor that stands outside the Viscount's study but now the crossbow is missing.

 

Inspector Jarvis is soon called upon to interrogate the entire household. He sets his sights first on Stephen Pike, the newest addition to Tithe Hall's flock of servants. Stephen reluctantly admits to receiving this job straight out of Borstal where he was sent for committing murder. And so we have the perfect patsy for what appears to be a perfect crime.

Stephen is determined to clear his name.  Luckily, Decima Stockingham, the viscount's aunt, an 80ish invalid who cannot go anywhere without her wheelchair, is eager to clear Stephen's name as well. Together the two, along with the housemaid Temperance, team up to solve the mystery of who killed Lord Conrad.

Montgomery does a rather admirable job of concocting a baffling mystery and even comes up with multiple solutions. He throws in several red herrings, does a good job of leading us down the garden path thinking that one of the servants is very guilty of something if not the murder itself, and then delivers three or four well placed surprises. The biggest shock to me was the second murder victim. Rather a rule breaking bit of business for a traditional mystery novel, though I have encountered it a few time in genuine Golden Age mysteries. Still when this kind of rule breaking event happens it's always a shock.

I was most proud of Montgomery's not resorting to secret passages as an explanation for how the locked And sealed room was accessed. The characters do at one point make a thorough search of the house for such a hoary cliche. but when no such passage is found I was very happy. The final solution though not startlingly original was satisfying and -- most importantly -- fairly clued.  All the hints and references are presented early enough in the story to point the reader to the answer of who killed the viscount and how it was carried out.  If not gasp inducing at least the solution is presented in an entertaining, almost elegant fashion. It is a bit overdone in how Stephen and Decima split the reveal between themselves. Decima, an arrogant egotist, demands that she deliver the solution all on her own, but Stephen interrupts to get his portion of the detective work properly ascribed to himself.

Overall, I was impressed and entertained with this book. The background of Halley's comet and the doomsday mania that affected most of the world is inserted into the story with actual newspaper articles giving the story a valuable sense of verisimilitude. Montgomery plots well, has a savage sense of humor related to the dying British aristocracy, and the contrast between a very youthful servant and the aged woman he cares for is a welcome show of generational mixing that reveals both mutual respect and mutual loathing. Very real and often very funny. Should there be a sequel in the adventures of Decima Stockingham and Stephen Pike I would definitely read that book.

The Seven Who Waited - August Derleth

THE STORY:  In this seventh Judge Peck detective novel August Derleth once again revisits his favorite plot motif - the family decimation murder scheme.  Former pharmacy magnate Josiah Sloan, in the last stages of a terminal illness, has summoned his relatives all of whom will inherit even shares from his vast estate located outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin. The heirs are all eager for the man to drop dead and as they wait for him to draw his last breath someone has decided to eliminate the competition, so to speak. Soon all the heirs are the target of a ruthless killer who clearly wants the $250,000 estate in its entirety. Judge Ephraim Peck is summoned to the Sloan estate along with D.A. Meyer and local coroner Dr. Enderby to help prevent a complete slaughter of the heirs.

CHARACTERS: The Seven Who Waited (1943) is populated with a coarse group of very unlikable suspects.  Not one of them is described in any way that would elicit sympathy from the reader. The first victim, Phineas Canler, is described as a piggish glutton who eats voraciously at the dinner table, belches loudly, slurps and guzzles his alcohol, and of course is immensely overweight.  Thankfully he dies within the first two chapters so we are spared further belching and slurping.  But no one among the six remaining heirs really has any redeemable qualities. There is a seemingly prissy spinster who secretly reads salacious sex stories in trashy pulp magazines and hypercritically criticizes her relatives for being hedonists, her ineffectual lazy son who barely appears in the novel, a haughty young woman who sneers at all the men, her portly 50ish brother whose only interest is making money in the stock market; a vain middle-aged man with a glass eye and a toupee who dresses like a dandy and flirts with all the women as if he were still a handsome stud in his 20s, and Carson Kerby, a professional gambler who may have the most to hide among all these six people.  Kerby was my pick for the killer due to all his furtive wanderings around the Wisconsin estate and his evasive manner of answering Peck's questions. Lorin Fenner, Peck's companion and secretary who acts as narrator, finds Kerby to be the most likeable of the relatives despite his shady "profession." That I assume is supposed to get us to also like Kerby and though he does come off as  charming at times, honestly I didn't care about any of them. When they died or were attacked it all seemed like just deserts.

For me the most interesting characters were Hester Clohr, a domineering housekeeper/cook who suffers no fools and Alexander Carswell, the often drunken gardener who can quote Lewis Carroll doggerel from memory. The notes in poetry form seem to indicate that Carswell may have something to do with the crimes. He also has a habit of lurking around the grounds late at night. Hester is also considered a suspect as she is highly protective of and devoted to Josiah Sloan and disdains all of the guests she is forced to feed and house while also caring for her dying employer.

UK edition showing a victim struck by
an arrow. Never happens. The arrow hits
no one & has a poetic note attached.

INNOVATIONS: About the only innovative aspect of the book is that the murderer is something of a failure. Of the several crimes committed only two murders succeed and three others are botched attempts that are thwarted by our detective heroes.  Prior to each crime the murderer leaves a weird p note on the bedroom door of the intended victim.  Each note parodies poetry and seems informed of the rhyme that inspired the vengeful killer in Christie's And Then There Were None (1939). One of the notes begins like this: "Seven little men sat waiting in the parlor/One was doctored and that left six..." Each notes ends with a final line warning how many days are left until the next death: "Three days are allowed."

The detective work is a combination of dogged interrogation and Derleth's usual rigid logic that often discounts tacit aspects of murder investigations like deceit and lying or coincidence. For instance, Judge Peck insists that the killer must have knowledge of medicine because one of the murder means involves taking a lethal poison in powder form and switching it out with a sleeping aid in powder form that is prescribed in capsules. The judge thinks that there isn't anyone on the planet with who might also simply have patience and manual dexterity to open a capsule, remove the safe drug and replace it with the poison. I was rolling my eyes. That's precisely how the Tylenol Killer of the 1980s performed his random slaughtering. He was neither a doctor nor a pharmacist.

THINGS I LEARNED:  In Chapter 8 Lorin hear the strains of "After Sundown" and I was curious what it sounded like.  I found multiple versions online because it was a Bing Crosby record! He first sang it in the movie Going Hollywood (1933), his screen debut thanks to his co-star Marion Davies who demanded he play the role of the radio singer she falls in love with. Both the film and the record helped launch Crosby's movie & recording career taking him away from his original profession as a radio crooner.

"Another defi" remarks Josiah Sloan when another weird poem is found slipped under the door of one of the heirs.  Because the word was not italicized I had a heck of a time finding out the context and meaning as it applies to this story.  I kept getting irrelevant results about "defi" being slang for definite and other 21st century lexicon nonsense.  If the word had been set in italic font like this défi then I would have learned the correct meaning instantly.  Because of course it's a French word!  Sloan meant that the note in poem form was another dare or another challenge.

At a key moment Meyer, the local D.A., threatens Sloan with a John Doe hearing because Sloan will not reveal the identity of an eighth heir who has been referred to as X for the majority of the novel.  This threat refers to a peculiar Wisconsin law. As stated on a Wisconsin lawyer's website the John Doe Hearing "will allow a judge to determine whether it appears probable from testimony given that a crime has been committed and whether to file a complaint."  In this case, Meyer and Judge Peck are using the statue to compel testimony from Sloan, a reluctant witness.  I think Derleth made similar use of several other Wisconsin laws throughout the series. This was the first one that was not made clear in the story's context and I needed to fully understand it by doing internet research. 

August Derleth (1909-1971)

EASY TO FIND?  Not too scarce for a change.  This title which comes late in the Judge Peck series of detective novels is currently easy to get a hold of.  Though there are no paperback reprints from the era nor any modern reissues The Seven Who Waited is offered online in both US and UK editions, thought there is only one copy of the latter which is indeed extremely uncommon. Prices are less than $100 for most of them and all come with the intriguingly illustrated DJ. Happy hunting! 

Death Took a Publisher - Norman Forrest (Nigel Morland)

THE STORY:  Inspector Jack Grief and John Finnegan, a forensic chemist, join forces to solve two baffling poisoning murders that seem impossible. In the first case the detectives cannot figure out how the poison was administered in a time span of less than five minutes when no food or drink were in the room and the victim showed no signs of a hypodermic needle being used. In the second the victim is found in a locked room with a fireplace blazing and a unlatched window leading to a precarious ledge that no one would dare use as an escape.

THE CHARACTERS:  Death Took a Publisher (1936) is the first of two books Nigel Morland wrote using his Norman Forrest pseudonym.  In it we meet Grief, a typical British policeman of the Golden Age, who is grounded in reality and will have nothing to do with so-called impossible murders.  "I hate mysteries!" he exclaims in exasperation at the midpoint of the book. He prefers solid police work though he delegates much of it to his platoon of constables and sergeants. Grief is not above some unorthodox breaking and entering to follow-up on leads.  Twice he basically commits burglary in order to go through the apartments of two suspects and faces grave consequences when he realizes he will somehow have to justify his breaking the law. 

John Finnegan is the super-genius of the novel. Formerly employed in the United States by the Justice Department he is handpicked by the Home Office in England to head up the newly created Department of Forensic Chemistry in London. Here he spends much of his time poring over fingerprints both legitimate and forged (more on that later) via his high powered microscopes and conducts experiments using other other technical wizardry. He also performs some elaborate detective work in discovering the bizarre murder means that killed Willoughby Royle, an ostensibly well liked publisher at Royle & Gray, Ltd. The method of killing is the book's most ingenious and -- to borrow Grief's adjective-- diabolical aspect of the story.

The suspects, especially the women, are an eccentric group.  There is Rebecca Finck, Royle's secretary who seems to spend much of her time covering up and inventing stories about what happened in the office when Royle was killed.  Also among the publishing employees is the elderly spinster Miss Thyme who is primarily a reader and copy editor of sorts. She determines whether or not most manuscripts are worthy of the publishing house or if they contain problems that need to be addressed prior to being sent to the printer. Grief discovers she is a secret devourer of erotica and risque literature and belittles her in his mind.  He treats her less than kindly and as a consequence seriously underestimates her. Miss Thyme will prove to be the only person to solve the crime because of her job as the firm's reader.

Sybelline Higgins is a caricature of a romance novelist who reminded me of Salome Otterbourne, the vociferous and opinionated novelist in Death on the Nile.  Miss Higgins first draws Grief's attention when she is astonished not that Royle was murdered but that he was poisoned with hydrocyanic acid. Each time the poison is mentioned Miss Higgins has an overly theatrical reaction. Grief mulls this over and comes up with a surprising theory that ultimately leads him to rummaging around in the novelist's home while she is conveniently not at home.

There are a handful of other employees at the firm but apart from the second victim and Mr. Brew, a satirical character who exists only for Morland to ridicule "anarchists" and "budding Communists", they all seem to be cut from the same drab cloth. I was proven right when they all, for the most part, turned out to be bogey characters.

INNOVATIONS:  The real interest of the novel is in the police work and the technical aspects of Finnegan's crime solving. Morland was a proponent of realism in crime fiction. When he tackles the science of criminology (a great interest of his) the book rises above its pulpy origins. Much of the crime solving is focused on fingerprints allowing Finnegan to lecture frequently about his mentors and textbooks he has read on the topic.

Death Took a Publisher is often poking fun at professional writers and the entire business of publishing.  It's as much a story of those two worlds as it is a near send-up of detective fiction. Ultimately, all the allusions to detective fiction and specific writers (there are many) lead to the novel being a rather involved meta-fictional mystery novel. A minor character, Sheraton Andrews, is a reclusive mystery writer and he seems to have gone missing. Also missing is the manuscript of his latest book A Half Bucket of Blood. This all seems almost thrown in as an afterthought until Grief, during one of his burglaries, locates the manuscript and hands it over to Gavin Gray, co-owner of the publishing house. Gray then gives the manuscript to Miss Thyme to review for any issues prior to sending it to the printer. Suddenly, Andrews and his book become the focus of the novel. The denouement is as meta-fictional as any similar mystery novel I've ever read.  It may not be the first time this gimmick was employed, but Morland certainly gets his money's worth in the final chapter. 

THINGS I LEARNED: When Grief enters the home of the second victim he is impressed with the tasteful furnishings and the decor focused on racehorse art. He notices a print of "The Worst View in Europe" and a portrait of a horse called Plenipotentiary. Of course I had to have my curiosity satisfied so off I went a-Googling.  The painting is by Charles Johnson Payne (aka "Snaffles") and depicts a rider falling disastrously in a steeplechase or in a failed attempt to jump a stonewall while fox hunting. Payne also did a painting called "The Finest View in Europe" as a companion piece which is a POV painting of a rider on horseback.

The horse is also real and during its time was better know as "Plenipo". The Thoroughbred won six out of seven races during its year-long career from April 1834-April 1835.

"Fingerprints Can Be Forged" (1924) is a monograph by Albert Wehde and John Nicholas Beffel.  Their work is cited by John Finnegan when he encounters an elaborate frame-up involving obviously faked prints that are meant to implicate an author in the murders. I found more on Beffel, a leftist journalist who specialized in writing about radical political ideas, especially promoting labor organizations and criticism of lynchings, than I did on Wehde. This 134 page treatise was reviewed in 1927 by Edmond Locard, Director of the Laboratory of Police Technique in Lyons. Locard, like Finnegan, also mentions in passing the work of Minovici of Bucharest who wrote about the possibility of forging fingerprints in his Manual of Forensic Medicine (1904). 

QUOTES:  Miss Higgins; "Mr. Royle was not a gentleman -- he was publisher. Therefore we cannot attribute to him the qualities reserved for ordinary mortals."

Finnegan: "...I'm not a Sherlock Holmes, and I can't tell if the man wore a pink hat and had an epileptic sister in Tooting!"

He picked up the latest Sayers, then put it down with a sour look on his face when he felt the weight of it. Van Dine came in for a minute's consideration, and Gardner was equally treated. Finally he picked up the new Freeman and paid...his seven-and-sixpence.

Finnegan: "I like a detective story to be a detective story. When they try to write novels at the same time I've no patience for 'em."

Dan Lewis, Grief's superior: "I don't think I've ever come across a case like this. It's a detective novel, down to the ground--all the trimmings: red herrings, the senseless and complicated method of killing you would expect to find in a seven-and sixpence thriller..."

EASY TO FIND?  Rather scarce as usual, my friends. Both US and UK editions come in at least two types -- hardcover and paperback. However, both the US and UK paperback editions may be abridged. If you speak and read French, the cheapest copies out there are int hat language. All copies I turned up seem fairly priced.  Happy hunting!

NEW STUFF: Murder at Gulls Nest - Jess Kidd

I will always read anything published by Jess Kidd, one of the most imaginative Irish writers of the past 20 years. I first heard of her through the dozens of rave reviews for her unique genre blending debut Himself (2016), a mix of crime novel and ghost story. But the first book I read of hers was Mr Flood's Last Resort (2017) -- original UK title The Hoarder -- an unconventional mystery novel which also coincidentally has some ghosts in it. She has written all sorts of novels, including a book geared for young readers, all of which tend to feature some element of a traditional mystery novel though none of them were true detective novels until she wrote Things in Jars (2019), a wild, dizzying imaginative mystery thriller with a real detective that blends bizarre murders with supernatural creatures and Irish mythology. She followed that third novel with an unusual historical adventure and coming of age novel, The Night Ship (2022), based on the actual shipwreck of a Dutch sailing vessel in the 17th century. Now she has turned her hand to a full fledged, retro Golden Age mystery completely embracing the traditional detective novel.

As much as I wished that she would have created a series character with Bridie Devine, her Victorian era woman detective from Things in Jars, we are now promised a series character in the person of Nora Breen, the protagonist of Murder at Gulls Nest.  Nora is a former nun who has recently left her cloistered existence in the Carmelite monastery of High Dallow and traveled to Kent to the resort town of Gore-on-Sea which sounds suspiciously like a real city in West Sussex that I know is the home of one of my favorite rare bookselling entities (World of Rare Books in Goring-by-Sea). Here she sets up in the boarding house of the title hoping to learn what happened to another nun from her monastery who also left the order after getting ill and needing to recuperate in the outside world. Frieda Borgan, the young nun Nora befriended, promised to write to Nora regularly. When those news-filled letters suddenly stopped in August Nora decided to find out what happened to Frieda that would prevent her from writing.  A prologue pretty much hints at her fate alerting us to expect an unhappy outcome for Frieda.

Nora starts her inquiry on the sly. She comes across as a busybody yet oddly manages to gather quite a bit of information. Within days one of the boarders dies unexpectedly and everyone assumes the person committed suicide. Nora and the another boarder think otherwise.

This is a well done traditional mystery novel, following too closely perhaps to formula, but not without Kidd's requisite offbeat humor and touches of the bizarre. Among the oddball characters are an elderly puppeteer who specializes in Punch and Judy performances, a stern housekeeper/cook who serves up unpalatable meals and runs the boarding house like a jail with rigid rules, a strange 10 year-old girl who refuses to speak and dresses like a miniature Miss Haversham, and the local reverend who lives next door and cultivates a huge brood of rabbits - his only friends - as he tends to dislike most people. Reverend Audley (an allusion to Braddon?) was maybe my favorite of the supporting characters. Another unusual character is Hosmer, the artsy photographer Nora meets in town, who both offers her info on a boarder who fled Gulls Nest immediately after the supposed suicide and also takes her portrait in a quirky scene involving jazz music and Nora's shedding her inhibitions in a literal dance of freedom. Also worth nothing as typical Kiddian quirkiness are the scenes with Nora feeding a seagull she names after a priest. The bird regularly visits her on the ledge outside her bedroom window, she mulls over the case, and discusses her ideas with the gull as the bird swallows chunks of herring Nora has bought for the bird to snack on.

Ultimately the characters and their relationships make Murder at Gulls Nest an enjoyable read and distract from endless Q&A sequences that otherwise might have proved tiresome. Inspector Rideout, the primary policeman of the book, has an intriguing relationship with Nora -- at first adversarial, then giving way to mutual admiration, and finally budding friendship. At one point Rideout says to Nora:

"The war hasn't helped. It has blown us apart in so many ways; the old rituals, the old beliefs no longer hold. We want death, like life, to have a reason. [...] Sometimes we have to accept that when it comes to matters of life and death, we can't know everything and never will."

I think this is what Kidd was attempting to accomplish with this homage to the traditional mystery.  She has succinctly and simply summed up the post-WW2 mindset. How war has permanently changed all preconceived notions of modern life and all human interaction.  Perhaps there will be no real tidy ending that will explain all the death and misery churned up at Gulls Nest.

Kidd knows the genre well and has already proven she is a wiz at dreaming up complex and fairly clued plots.  however, in this outing as formulaic as it is and not so cleverly clued I was able to figure many of the twists dozens of chapters before Nora had any idea what was going on.  I think most readers well read in mystery fiction will be able to figure out some secrets early on and see through some of the misdirection.  I was hoping for a finale in which Dinah, the mute child, would suddenly regain her speech and become the real detective of the piece by pointing out everything she had overheard while hiding behind curtains and in the sideboard of the dining room. Alas! no such denouement occurs. The finale is indeed rather melodramatic and Dinah does play a part in the unmasking of the rather obvious villain.

I look forward to Nora's next adventure in which she will solve a series of "supernatural murders" associated with a seance that goes terribly wrong. There is a medium and a seance in Murder at Gulls Nest, but whether the medium Miss Elspeth Dence (very reminiscent of the kooky Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit) will also appear in the next book I will not know until I can read it. Book two of the Nora Breen investigations entitled Murder at the Spirit Lounge is due out in June 2026. 

Put Out that Star - Harry Carmichael

THE STORY: Movie actress Madeleine Grey leaves the set of her film in progress up in Scotland to travel to London where she plans to meet with her insurance agent John Piper. Shortly before the meeting she appears to have vanished from the hotel. No one saw her leave: not Quinn, Piper's reporter friend waiting in the lobby; not the receptionist; not even the elevator operator. Where did she go? And how did she get out unseen? This apparent impossible mystery is soon complicated by two deaths, one a questionable accident and the other a definite murder.

THE CHARACTERS: Put Out That Star (1957) first attracted my attention because it was listed in Adey's Locked Room Murders as being an impossible mystery.  But the ostensible mystery surrounding Madeleine's disappearance is easily figured out.  Not just because there were multiple ways to leave the hotel (an emergency exit door leading to a fire escape, and a stairwell that leads to the ground floor right near the brasserie and cocktail bar) but because of the rather obvious way anyone can leave unnoticed. And I figured that part out instantly. But the story is a gripping one for the way Piper approaches the problem, for the intriguing friendship between Quinn, the nosy and often intrusive reporter who is friends with Piper, and the way Carmichael handles the supporting players who all seem to be acting a little too suspiciously or too indifferently regarding the disappearance of a celebrity guest in the hotel.

The oddest of the suspects is Sydney Noble, the hotel assistant manager who first treats Madeleine's disappearance aloofly.  She'll turn up, he says repeatedly to Piper. But when days pass with no sign of the actress he gets nervous and worries about the hotel's reputation being damaged. That's on the surface. In reality he's more worried about himself and his job. He manages to convince Piper to turn private agent to try and locate the movie star before the press gets hold of the news and before he may be forced to call the police. Piper reluctantly agrees more because he wants his own curiosity satisfied.

Piper also interviews Mrs. Airey. the hotel housekeeper for the third floor where Madeleine was staying, and learns about the flawed fire escape door that cannot be properly closed from the inside of the hotel. He also deals with Benny Seagar, talent agent, who has a couple of secrets he'd rather be left buried. But Piper digs them up all the same. Then there's Roy Mitchell, Madeleine's husband and the scriptwriter on her film. When his wife does not call him at 9 pm as they agreed he calls the hotel and learns that his wife is not there. He insists on driving down to the hotel and plans to do so in a single night.

INNOVATIONS: It's a shame the impossibility of sorts is so unimaginative. With the introduction of a single character at the story's midpoint it's fairly simple to solve the problem of how Madeleine left the hotel. Much of the mystery involves the recurring discussion of Madeleine and her fur coat which made her distinctively noticeable for anyone who a wasn't a film buff and could recognize her by her face. The fur coat is missing from her hotel room, though all of her luggage and clothing was left behind. Some bloodstains on one of her suitcases and the used washcloth in the bathroom are two major clues that bother Piper for the entirety of the story. They are also clues to figuring out what happened to Madeleine.

Carmichael has a neat way in rendering cinematic action sequences. The story opens on February 27 and play outs over the following three days. The winter season plays a major part in the story and a severe winter gale acts as a menacing minor character endangering Piper's life as he pursues a lead involving a missing movie magazine. The outdoor sequences are handled sinisterly with the threatening weather conditions becoming almost a persona of villainy itself. These lent a noirish feel to the novel.

THE AUTHOR: "Harry Carmichael" was a pseudonym used by Leopold Ognall (1908-1979) who was born in Montreal then emigrated with his family to Scotland. In his early adulthood Ognall moved to Leeds where he married in 1932 and remained there for the rest of his life. He worked as a goods manager, a warehouse employee and was an ARP warden during the war years. He began his writing career as a journalist for a Scottish newspaper and apparently later gave up it to become a full time novelist. He wrote at least 84 novels using two different pseudonyms. As "Harry Carmichael" his mystery novels feature either John Piper or Quinn or both and follow the dictates of traditional whodunit style mysteries while as "Hartley Howard" he created Glenn Bowman, a private eye, and Philip Scott, a British Intelligence agent.

EASY TO FIND? There are a handful of the paperback reprint (Fontana Books #286, 1959) editions offered for sale from online booksellers. The UK 1st edition is rather scarce and I turned up only one copy with the equally scarce DJ from a well known vintage crime fiction seller on eBay. Five copies of the US edition retitled Into thin Air (Doubleday/Crime Club, 1958) are available for purchase, all with the DJ.

Exit to Music - Neal Shepherd (aka Nigel Morland)

THE STORY: Chief Inspector Michael "Napper" Tandy attends a party at the home of musician John Farnham for what he thinks will be a private performance of a new composition for piano, violin, cello and clarinet. After being dared to attempt a complicated clarinet passage in the new piece Farnham drops dead. He's been poisoned with strychnine. Everyone is sure that the whisky he drank was poisoned but Tandy proves that Farnham never drank from the glass. How was the poison administered?  Was it that specially ordered bowl of sweet almonds that Farnham was so fond of? Or some other way?

THE CHARACTERS: There certainly are a lot of suspects to choose from and a many of them seem to have strong motives.

Myra Farnham - The victim's young and (of course) beautiful wife who seems to be the object of many of the musicians' attention. She's the only woman in the story which should come as no surprise to those familiar with the "Neal Shepherd" books which tend to deal with realms of übermacho businessmen and maverick scientists and engineers. In this case the world we are visiting is the milieu of contemporary composers of new chamber music. Not one female musician among them. Ugh. But Myra is presented as sensitive, intelligent and a bit complicated.  She is discussed at length rhapsodically by the men but when Tandy
finally interviews her he finds a woman of intelligence, indomitable spirit and a repressed independence.

Felix Hinton - the founder of a modern music quartet (piano, cello, violin, clarinet). He teaches violin to college students and gives private lessons to budding musicians. Not well thought of by the other members of his quartet. He is obsessed with Myra having once been engaged to her but losing her to Farnham, the clarinet player. Felix also has some depression issues and when his violin case reveals a hidden bottle of strychnine he descends into his morass never to return.

Dr. David Wylie - one of Myra's closest friends who has managed to move in with the Farnhams. Tandy soon learns that Wylie was receiving large payments from Farnham related to stock manipulations. Wylie is a gambler both in casinos and in the stock market. His medical case was broken into and the poison used to kill Farnham was certainly taken from a bottle stolen from him. Arrogant, suspicious and his greed knows no bounds. Tandy discovers nearly everyone in the house
was approached by Wylie who asked for loans of large sums of money.

Leslie Farnham - the victim's son.  Currently a 4th year medical student.  He asked for strychnine from Dr. Wylie to experiment with because his toxicology classes were fascinating to him.  That's what he claims. But was he planning to kill? Has a very eccentric religious belief system he calls "New Morality".  Has written a manifesto that Tandy finds among the young man's possessions. Comes across as a religious maniac to Sgt. Holland.  Tandy, however, sees Leslie's extreme beliefs as thoroughly sincere if utterly dispassionate and lacking in humanity. Views his father's death as a just end the result of Divine Intervention for his adultery and betrayal of his first wife, Leslie's mother Lily, who is long dead at the start of the novel.

Brian Tweed - composer who has finagled his way into the Farnham household as a lodger. Pretentious wanna-be, known to mimic the behavior, speech and dress of well known artists, writers and musicians. Still Myra finds him charming and he exploits his rare moments of charm in manipulating others.

Medlicone - Farnham family lawyer who talks with Tandy about the strange will that gave Farnham his wealth and cheated Dr. Wylie out of a fortune he thought he was going to inherit. The lawyer also provides some very interesting details about the odd financial relationship between Farnham and Wylie that seems to have bound Farnham to his lodger.  Also, early in the book and during the music party the lawyer inadvertently reveals the contents of Farnham's will and who will inherit what.

Anton Cheveral - cellist in the quartet. A despicable gossip who enjoys maligning everyone involved in the case. Builds on rumors of Myra's infidelity with two different men and disparges all the musicians, especially Farnham's lack of skill with the clarinet.

Jarvis - butler in the Farnham household.  Devoted to his former mistress Lily Farhman. Myra is treated with disdain by the butler. Slightly sinister in his omniscience of what goes on in the house. His refusal to accept the new Mrs. Farnham gives off a strong Mrs. Danvers vibe. I thought he was a baddie for most of the book.

Douglas Rome - clarinetist in the quartet. He dares Farnham to play the clarinet solo in the piece by composer Holt Linray (who does not appear in story).  When Farnham dies Rome flees the house without anyone noticing him.  Tandy sends police off to locate him.  Rome never appears again in the book.  Odd little plot element that I thought would pan out to a surprise, but nothing really comes of this.

INNOVATIONS: The murder method is diabolical and worthy of John Rhode's complicated death traps. Obviously I'm not going to discuss it. But I will mention that the portion of the book in which Tandy and Holland together review evidence about the whisky glass determining it could not have been used to administer the poison (even though the glass contains enough strychnine to kill five men) is extremely well done.  Overall, there is an emphasis on excellent detective work related to physical evidence.

Morland's fascination with abnormal psychology is on strong display here. By the mid 1940s and beyond this aspect of crime led Morland to write some non-fiction works on criminal pathology. In Leslie Farnham, the victim's son, Morland has created quite a religious zealot. He may remind modern readers of the new crop of neo-conservatives trying to revert Christian beliefs back dozens of centuries to the days of antiquity when God was truly the only Force to reckon with and the laws of men were negligible. Morland also delves into the consequences of men who become obsessed with women and the danger of falling in love and never getting over rejection. Felix Hinton suffers from an obsessive attraction to the victim's widow coupled with severe depression and it leads to his own demise.

Nigel Morland (1905-1986)
(aka Neal Shepherd, John Donavan,
Roger Garnett, et al.)

In the final pages Morland also attempted to introduce a moral dilemma for Tandy in his dual professions. he is not only a policeman but a scientist. Throughout the book some of the characters refer to him as Dr. Tandy. MD or PhD? I was never really sure. Tandy in previous books uses his knowledge of chemistry to help him in solving impossibilities in the murders he investigates.  But in this book he also acts as a physician.  In any case, during one crucial scene a character while recovering from a poisoning attempt and in a delirium re-enacts a conversation with another suspect. This rambling "conversation" reveals the murderer's motivation. Tandy doesn't know how to act on this. Has he eavesdropped? Has he heard this in a capacity as a physician? If so, then it's private and should not be revealed. But can he use this information he has overheard as a policeman to help capture the criminal?

Interesting idea, but I found the whole scene utterly contrived in that an entire conversation is re-enacted in a form of delirium and yet is done lucidly and clearly to deliver all the salient points. Other than that flaw in the story I thought this was the best of the Chief Inspector Tandy detective novels. It's rich with complicated characters, psychology and is teeming with wonderful detection set pieces throughout the story.  Even Sgt. Holland gets his due in three scenes when Tandy asks for his insights. 

And now the bad news... Ridiculously scarce! I think it's a genuinely rare book. My copy was the only one I've come across in over 20 years of looking for the book. And it's gone already. Sold to a lucky reader in Australia. Good luck finding another. Perhaps in a library in the UK, Canada or Australia? There must be a copy...somewhere!