GAD Archives - Black Mask

“Fatal Descent”

Carter Dickson, Cecil Street, classic mysteries, Funny Mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, impossible crimes, John Dickson Carr, John Rhode, locked room mysteries, Locked Rooms/Impossible Crimes, mysteries, mystery, Reading Challenges Comments Off

May 192013

You might think of it as a disgruntled author's revenge: an arrogant and well-disliked publisher gets into his small, private elevator on the top floor of his office building. The door locks automatically and the elevator descends. The publisher can even be seen through windows in the locked access doors, and he is standing in the elevator as it descends. The elevator never stops. Yet suddenly a gunshot is heard, and when the elevator car reaches the ground floor, the publisher is dead - shot through the heart. And there is no way anyone could possibly have shot him in that elevator, especially as there is no gun to be found either in the car or in the elevator shaft.

Impossible? Why of course! Welcome to Fatal Descent, by Carter Dickson and John Rhode - or, to give them their correct names, John Dickson Carr and Cecil Street. Both authors were masters of the impossible crime novel as well as being friends - and they collaborated on just this one book, in 1939. Fatal Descent is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.

Fatal Descent is a fascinating mystery, with two sleuths who team up to solve it. One, the Police Surgeon, Dr. Horatio Glass, is very much the type of detective favored by John Dickson Carr - full of ideas that give elegant solutions to impossible problems, brilliant in their conception and flawed only in that they are invariably wrong. Chief Inspector David Hornbeam is a realist who seeks the scientific explanations for crime, and he is quite representative of the kind of sleuth that Street wrote about under his "John Rhode" pen-name. Between them, they will eventually solve the case - but only after a second murder.

It’s a fine story, written with wit and good humor, quite fairly clued for the reader who can find the hints, and with some first-rate characters. It’s a pity that Street and Carr only wrote this one mystery together. Readers who enjoy a good impossible crime story really should read Fatal Descent. It’s been out of print for a while, but there is now an e-book edition available.

This is another entry in Bev's My Reader's Block blog Vintage Mysteries Reading Challenge. As this 1939 mystery was originally published under the title Drop to His Death, I am entering it in the category called "A Mystery by Any Other Name," a book that has been published under more than one title.

Withers on the Vine

classic mysteries, Film, Funny Mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Hildegarde Withers, Looking Back, mysteries, mystery, Mystery Publishers, Open Road Media, Stuart Palmer Comments Off

May 162013

Some very good news today from Open Road Media, a company which has been making a significant number of Golden Age mysteries, both from the US and from England, available in electronic editions. The latest author to benefit from this treatment is Stuart Palmer, whose series detective, Hildegarde Withers, is one of my perennial favorites. Palmer frequently referred to her more-or-less affectionately as "that meddlesome old battleaxe," but Hildy Withers is nobody's fool, and she makes an interesting team with New York City Inspector Oscar Piper, with whom she maintains a rather prickly friendship.

Palmer created the character of Hildegarde Withers with actress Edna May Oliver in mind, In fact, Oliver did star as Hildy in several popular movies in the mid-1930s, opposite James Gleason as Inspector Piper.

As a general rule, the stories are well-plotted and told with some nice humorous touches. I've already reviewed nine of Palmer's books on this blog, and you can find a full list on the backlist page - just scroll down (the authors are listed alphabetically). I'll be reviewing more books from the series, now that Open Road is making them available. If you haven't met Hildegarde Withers...now is the time! I should mention that Open Road is also publishing some additional Stuart Palmer titles that do not have Hildy - I'll be looking forward to trying them as well.

Of Gladys Mitchell and the Saint

classic mysteries, Film, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Looking Back, mrs. bradley, mysteries, mystery, The Saint Comments Off

May 132013

Exciting news for lovers of classic mysteries: Amazon will be republishing all 49 of Leslie Charteris's books featuring the character Simon Templar, known as "The Saint," as well as all 65 of the Mrs. Bradley books by Gladys Mitchell along with six of her other books that do not feature Mrs. Bradley.

Although I don't think I have ever read any of the original books, I remember The Saint from the series of "B" movies which were always on television when I was growing up, often featuring George Sanders in the title role. And I've written here - frequently - about some of the Mrs. Bradley mysteries, many of which have never been published in the U. S.

Apparently these will start appearing sometime later this year, under Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint.

S. T. Karnick has more details at his blog, The American Culture.

“Murder at Cambridge”

classic mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detection, mysteries, mystery, Reading Challenges Comments Off

May 122013

Another of England's ancient and long-respected universities is the setting for an entertaining Golden Age mystery by Q. Patrick. His 1933 book, Murder at Cambridge, follows the adventures of an American undergraduate student at that extremely English university, as he first falls in love at first sight with a young woman student - and then finds himself involved in a murder in which that young lady may have played a critical part. Murder at Cambridge is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

In Murder at Cambridge, we meet Hilary Fenton, an American who finds much to like at the university. He enjoys student life, his studies, the occasional escapades and pranks of his fellow students. But one day, sitting in class, he sees an unknown young woman sitting across the lecture hall from him. He immediately falls in love with her (all right, this IS Golden Age fiction, after all!), and tries to learn who she may be.

But before he can do so, he finds the body of another student, a young man who lives on the same stairway at Cambridge as Hilary does. And he thinks he sees the mysterious young woman coming down the stairs from the victim's rooms at what must have been right around the time of the murder.

So Hilary does what any young man (at least of the period) would do: he proceeds to meddle in the investigation, hiding potentially critical evidence and generally being a nuisance. Fortunately for him, and for the course of justice, the police officer in charge, Inspector Horrocks, is nobody's fool. He sees through Hilary's deceptions pretty quickly and still invites the young man to help him investigate. Working together, they must discover the relationship between that mysterious young woman and the victim and the secret that lies hidden at the heart of the murder. There will be a second murder, and the young woman herself will narrowly escape becoming a victim.

While all this is going on, we are given a student's-eye view of Cambridge University life in the early 1930s - perhaps too much so for some tastes. The author even includes a glossary of student terms, in an effort to help readers decipher some of the jargon - though even he cannot make me understand the game of cricket.

A word about the author: "Q. Patrick" was one of several names used by four different writers working together in various combinations between the 1930s and 1950s. Some books appeared under the names of "Patrick Quentin" and "Jonathan Stagge." Murder at Cambridge, though, appears to have been the solo work of Richard Wilson Webb, the only book he wrote without collaborating with another author. It is an entertaining book, and the university setting certainly adds to the reader's enjoyment of a pretty tight mystery. A British publisher, Ostara Publishing, has brought Q. Patrick's Murder at Cambridge back into print as one of a series of mysteries set in that fine old University town. The paperback, I think, is a bit on the pricey side, but there is also an edition for the Amazon Kindle which is available for less than half the price of the paper copy.

Murder at Cambridge is another entry in the My Reader's Block Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge. Its setting makes it a natural for the category called "Jolly Old England."

I would be remiss if I did not tell you that I came to Murder in Cambridge through a post by mystery writer Martin Edwards, on his excellent blog, "Do You Write Under Your Own Name," which you will find linked from my blogroll on the right. His review includes more information about "Q. Patrick," and I commend the article to you.

“Vintage Murder”

classic mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detection, mysteries, mystery, Ngaio Marsh, Reading Challenges Comments Off

May 062013

You can do a lot of celebrating with a jereboam of champagne. The giant bottle, four times the "normal" size of a bottle of wine, was to be the centerpiece of a theatrical birthday party. Instead, it became a murder weapon. Fortunately for the New Zealand authorities, one of the witnesses to the entire sorry affair was an English detective - Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard. And that proved to be most unfortunate for someone who had carefully plotted what must have seemed like a perfect murder.

In essence, that's the story told in Vintage Murder, by Ngaio Marsh. First published in 1937, the fifth book in Marsh's long series of mysteries starring Detective Inspector Alleyn, it is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

In "Vintage Murder," we are introduced to the members of the Carolyn Dacres Comedy Company, a small but mostly successful English theater company which, at the time of this novel, is on tour, traveling to a town in New Zealand for a series of performances. Riding in the same compartment of the train with members of the theater group is Scotland Yard detective Roderick Alleyn, who is traveling on holiday through the area while recovering from surgery.

Tensions are running high among some of the members of the company. Alleyn, despite his efforts to avoid any possible involvement, finds himself present at a birthday party held onstage after a performance of the show for the company's leading lady. During the course of the party, arrangements have been made for a jereboam of champagne to be lowered gently from the flies above the stage, as a surprise. Instead, it comes crashing down, killing the person sitting underneath it.

Despite Alleyn's reluctance, he finds himself advising the local police in their investigation - for he, and they, quickly determine that it was no accident. And, among the limited field of suspects, it is up to Alleyn to identify the villain.

There is a great deal to enjoy in Vintage Murder. Ngaio Marsh, in addition to her writing, held a "day job" as producer/director for a successful New Zealand acting troupe, and her mysteries placed in theatrical settings are among her best works. She is wonderful at evoking character in a few lines. For example, here is how she describes one of the character actors in the company:

"Old Brandon Vernon looked a little the worse for wear. The hollows under his cheek bones and the lines round his eyes seemed to have made one of those grim encroachments to which middle-aged faces are so cruelly subject. A faint hint of a rimy stubble broke the smooth pallor of his chin; his eyes, in spite of their look of sardonic impertinence, were lackluster and tired. Yet when he spoke one forgot his age, for his voice was quite beautiful, deep, and exquisitely modulated. He was one of that company of old actors that are only found in the West End of London. They still believe in using their voices as instruments, they speak without affectation, and they are indeed actors."

As a New Zealander, and a theatrical producer, Marsh was writing about the things and people she knew and loved. That comes across very strongly in Vintage Murder. It has been republished by the Felony & Mayhem Press. It is highly recommended.

Vintage Murder is another of my entries in the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge under way at the My Reader's Block blog, in the category, "Staging the Crime." If you haven't been checking the challenge, you are missing some great reading - it's not too late to start!

“Blind Drifts”

classic mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, ILAM, ILoveAMystery Newsletter; locked rooms, impossible crimes, Locked Rooms/Impossible Crimes, mysteries, mystery, Reading Challenges Comments Off

Apr 082013

When one of the directors of the Virgin Queen Gold Mine was shot, deep inside the mine, it happened in front of seven witnesses. Unfortunately, none of them apparently saw the shot fired, nor did they have any idea who might have fired it. And there was no sign of a gun. It was, to be blunt, an impossible situation. So it was probably a good thing that one of the witnesses on hand was a professor of Roman history and amateur detective named Theocritus Lucius Westborough, a man who had earned something of a reputation for solving impossible crime puzzles. He does so again in "Blind Drifts," a 1937 "impossible crime" novel by Clyde B. Clason which is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here.

Professor Westborough, having inherited a large amount of stock in the Virgin Queen mine from his brother, finds himself at the mine in Baddington, Colorado and caught in the middle of a power struggle between two groups of directors seeking control of the mine. The more he investigates, the more he finds himself caught up in the remarkable violence that seems to befall some of the key players in the power struggle. Another of the mine’s directors has vanished, and may be the victim of foul play. That director’s daughter has also vanished, last having been seen walking onto the campus of the local university – and apparently vanishing. As the situation grows more complicated and dangerous, the local sheriff is more than happy to have assistance from Professor Westborough.

In the 1930s, writing during America's Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Clyde B. Clason made a reputation for himself as an author with a knack for coming up with ingenious locked room/impossible crime situations. Although I find his stories are less exciting than those of John Dickson Carr, whose gift for creating eerie atmospheres was unequalled, I think Clason's books about Professor Westborough are clever and quite enjoyable. "Blind Drifts" takes the reader into a very unusual world - a world of gold mining, drifts, adits, crosscuts, stopes, vugs, strikes and more. The action is fairly slow to start, but once it picks up and the bodies start falling, and believe me they do, it moves to a good, tight conclusion.

"Blind Drifts" is another book read for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge under way at Bev's Reader's Block blog. I'm putting it in the category called Amateur Night: a book with a "detective" who is not a P.I., police officer, official.

It's also another book which I have reviewed for the I Love a Mystery newsletter, edited by Sally Powers, who has graciously given me her permission to use portions of that review here and on my podcast. She also provided me with a copy of the new Rue Morgue Press edition of "Blind Drifts" for my review.

“A Hearse on May-Day”

classic mysteries, GAD, General Suggestions, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, mrs. bradley, mysteries, mystery Comments Off

Mar 252013

“No maiden be safe, except under lock and key, at the Mayering of Seven Wells.”

That extremely odd, and rather ominous, warning is given to a young woman named Fenella Lestrange. Her car having broken down in the tiny English village of Seven Wells on the afternoon before May Day - the festival the locals call "Mayering" - she has no choice but to spend the night at the local pub. But the locals warn her to stay locked in her room, for her own safety.

Fenella, not being one to pay attention to efforts to restrict her freedom, rather naturally refuses to stay locked up. That, in turn, leads to a number of very bizarre adventures which, eventually, will involve Fenella's great-aunt, Dame Beatrice Bradley, in an investigation of a local murder. And that's really just the beginning of "A Hearse on May-Day," by Gladys Mitchell, featuring one of England's more eccentric detective characters, Mrs. Bradley, a woman of amazingly keen intellect, reptilian appearance and a truly appalling sense of fashion. "A Hearse on May-Day" is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

Fenella is a strong-willed young woman, and she is determined to find out what is going on in Seven Wells. What she discovers, among other things, is some distinctly odd fertility rites, an odd gathering of people wearing face masks and costumes based on the signs of the zodiac, and a number of local residents who are muttering ominously about a decided shortage of skeletons. She also hears about the murder of the local squire, who is to be buried on May Day. When Fenella leaves the village the next morning, she travels to nearby relatives and gets a visit from her great-aunt, Mrs. Bradley, who has been asked to investigate that murder. Among the many questions to be answered: Why would anyone kill the popular squire? Who are the people hiding behind those Zodiac masks? Why did the original hosts and servants at the pub in Seven Wells disappear suddenly, to be replaced by an entirely new staff? What is the real story behind some newly-uncovered skeletons? And are the very odd activities observed by Fenella on Mayering Eve connected in some way with the murder?

Gladys Mitchell is not as well known in the US as the other "crime queens" of the English "Golden Age," but her mysteries can be thoroughly enjoyable, filled as they are with eccentric (and occasionally downright insane) characters, odd situations, a great deal of very dry and, sometimes, very dark humor and the wonderful personality of Mrs. Bradley. "A Hearse on May-Day" is one of Mitchell's later books, first published in 1972; this edition, from the invaluable Rue Morgue Press, is the book's first American publication. I think it's one of the most accessible (to an American audience) of Mrs. Bradley's appearances. By all means, give it a try.

My thanks again to Sally Powers, of the "I Love a Mystery" newsletter, for letting me use portions of the review which I originally wrote for that publication and for providing me with a copy of the book for review.

“Gaudy Night”

classic mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detection, Harriet Vane., Lord Peter Wimsey, mysteries, mystery, Reading Challenges, vintage mystery reading challenge Comments Off

Feb 252013

As I am writing this post on an evening when the entertainment industry gathers for a glittering showcase of Oscar presentations at the Academy Awards, "Gaudy Night" might seem like a good description of those annual festivities. But the "Gaudy Night" to which I am referring is something that endures far longer than the glitter of an awards show. It is the title of a delightful mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers that studies the perils endured by a pioneering college for women at ancient Oxford University. The book is "Gaudy Night," published in 1936, and it is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

A "Gaudy Night" in the British academic sense is a kind of formal reunion of "old grads," who return to their college for a sort of academic festival. They renew old acquaintances with their professors and with each other. That is how Harriet Vane, a graduate of the fictional Shrewsbury College, the first college entirely for women at Oxford, is drawn into the mysterious and dangerous goings-on at her old school.

The newly republished edition of "Gaudy Night" from the Bourbon Street Books imprint of HarperCollins says, on the front cover, "A Lord Peter Wimsey mystery with Harriet Vane." This is backwards; it is really a Harriet Vane mystery with occasional appearances by Lord Peter. This is fine; Harriet is more than capable of handling things quite nicely, even if Wimsey does come in towards the end to help unravel some of the mystery. For readers who may be new to Sayers, and to Wimsey and Vane, Lord Peter first met Harriet when she was on trial for murder a couple of books earlier in the series. His investigations saved her life. He has been wooing her ever since, to her general consternation - she worries whether she is mistaking a natural gratitude for love. There will be some resolution in the course of "Gaudy Night."

The main plot has Harriet pressed into service to help investigate a series of poison pen letters aimed at students and officials at Shrewsbury College. The letters are quickly augmented by a series of increasingly dangerous practical jokes. It appears that somebody is trying to destroy the reputation of the school and of its scholars. Harriet and Lord Peter must determine what is happening - and try to head off the growing possibility of tragedy.

As with most of Sayers' other books, "Gaudy Night" is written with humor and wit and a great deal of insight into the personalities and conflicts of the central characters. The tension between Lord Peter and Harriet in their relationship is also at the heart of the novel. At one point, for example, Harriet, having just read a rather surprising letter from Lord Peter - one that clearly accepts her as his equal in every way - muses:]

"That was an admission of equality, and she had not expected it of him. If he conceived of marriage along those lines, then the whole problem would have to be reviewed in that new light, but that seemed scarcely possible. To take such a line and stick to it, he would have to be not a man but a miracle."

Mystery readers frequently argue over the merits of "Gaudy Night." Some are put off by its length, some object to its frequent literary quotes and allusions and some complain that not enough "happens" to suit their taste. All may be fair complaints, but I don't join in them. Sayers has a wonderful writing style that keeps the story moving while providing insightful and witty and, yes, thought-provoking comments that I find extremely entertaining. It's also a well-plotted and gripping mystery with a fair number of surprising twists that lead to a thoroughly logical conclusion. This should not be your only Sayers novel - almost certainly not your first. But it should definitely be on your "To Be Read" list as an example of the kind of elegant writing that made the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in England so memorable.

My thanks to Sally Powers, the editor of the "I Love a Mystery" Newsletter, where portions of this review also appeared, for permitting me to review the book here as well.

"Gaudy Night" is also another of my entries in the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge, in the category "Murder is Academic: a mystery involving a scholar, teacher, librarian, etc. OR set at a school, university, library, etc." "Gaudy Night" is both.

"The Tau Cross Mystery"

classic mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, mysteries, mystery Comments Off

Jan 212013

Looking for a classic Golden Age mystery with fair (and rather prolific) clues, interesting characters, good detective work, and even an intelligent "Watson" to help the detective? Let me suggest "The Tau Cross Mystery," by J. J. Connington, the subject of this week's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here.

This 1935 classic by Connington, an author sadly neglected today despite having written about two dozen very good traditional mysteries, examines the murder of an unknown man in a deserted apartment. The local chief constable, Sir Clinton Driffield, and his good friend, Squire Wendover, are confronted with plenty of clues, none of which seems sufficient to make clear what happened here. Among other clues, the investigators find a bloody handkerchief, an extra pair of shoes, a spilled pot (can) of paint, a corpse wearing rubber gloves...and a small gold ornament, shaped like the Greek letter "T," or Tau - a Tau cross. It is up to Driffield's investigators to find out who was murdered, how - and, of course, why.

The astute reader may well figure out the solution before the end of the book, as the clues, when properly interpreted, certainly point in one direction - but that really doesn't detract at all from the reader's enjoyment of this book. The characters are fascinating and, for the most part, quite well rounded, Sir Clinton is quite smart, but, for once, so is his friend and assistant, Squire Wendover, who may not grasp the significance of all the clues as quickly as Driffield but who can still provide some occasionally surprising insight into the real course of events.

Most of Connington's books remain out of print, but Coachwhip Publications has re-issued three of them, including "The Tau Cross Mystery," in trade paperback print-on-demand editions, all of which feature a first-rate introduction by Curtis Evans. He says, in his introduction, that "The Tau Cross Mystery" and the other two books "should give considerable enjoyment to mystery readers of today, just as they did with mystery readers of the Golden Age." I quite agree.

"Laurels Are Poison"

classic mysteries, Funny Mysteries, GAD, Golden Age, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, mrs. bradley, mysteries, mystery Comments Off

Dec 172012

Are you acquainted with Mrs. Bradley? Mrs. Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, noted psychiatrist, frequently employed by the police as a criminal investigator? Mrs. Bradley does not laugh, she "cackles." Her features have frequently been described by her author, Gladys Mitchell, as "reptilian," even as a "benevolent crocodile"; her students and other acquaintances often refer to her as "Mrs. Croc." It is safe to say that Mrs. Bradley is one of the most original and unusual protagonists to come down to us from the so-called Golden Age of Detective Fiction in England.

Mitchell's books about Mrs. Bradley - more than 60 of them - are something of an acquired taste, but to those of us who have been captivated by Mrs. Bradley's odd behavior, her belief that witchcraft has its uses, her insistence on doing things her way (even, on at least one occasion, committing murder herself), she is a marvelous companion. Take the events in "Laurels Are Poison," first published in 1942, which is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. It is said to have been Mitchell's favorite among her own books. You can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

In "Laurels Are Poison," we find Mrs. Bradley acting as the Warden - the person in charge - of a residence hall at the Cartaret Training College, where young women are trained to become teachers. The previous Warden unaccountably disappeared one night - simply wandered off and vanished - and Mrs. Bradley has been asked to move in and see if she can figure out what happened.

To that end, she enlists three of the students (who refer to themselves throughout as "The Three Musketeers") to help in her search. And there are more inexplicable phenomena, including a variety of apparent pranks, some innocent, others quite dangerous. Eventually, of course, there is murder.

All of which, I fear, gives very little idea of the general mayhem that is going on in this highly enjoyable book. It is enjoyable, that is, if you enjoy some of the extreme forms of English eccentricity. The writing is high-spirited, frequently funny, sometimes grimly so. Some of the events are quite surreal, if fascinating - take the discovery, for example, of a female drowning victim's corsets floating in the river. There are occasional attacks against Mrs. Bradley, too. And, as is often the case with Gladys Mitchell, while some events are quite thoroughly explained, others sort of...well, just happen, and the reader is left to go back and figure out precisely how, when and why.

During Gladys Mitchell's lifetime and her remarkably prolific and long writing career - her first book appeared in 1929, her last in 1984, after her death - remarkably few of her books about Mrs. Bradley were published in the United States. I think it's the occasional runs into the surreal and the amazing eccentricities of Mrs. Bradley and the other characters that may explain why she never really caught on among many American readers. But I am delighted to find some of her books, such as "Laurels Are Poison," being republished by the Rue Morgue Press and others. In fact, this book - and other Mitchells - are now available in a Kindle edition for Amazon.

I have written in some more detail about this book in a recent edition of Sally Powers's excellent "I Love a Mystery" Newsletter, and I thank her for letting me re-review it here.

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