Last Update 12/24/24

Cain’s Girl Friend by William Grote, Ace, 1957

The protagonist of this mystery novel is a professional strong man, but he’ll need more than muscles to discover who killed his brother. The brother was no prize, a hothead who had a string of petty crimes in his past and who kept troublesome company. This is a tried and true plot in mystery fiction and few readers will doubt the outcome. The pleasure, if any, is in the journey. The author tries a couple of novel twists, but they don’t work very well and the story moves very slowly at times. 12/24/24

The Album by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1933 

Five families live in a secluded neighborhood. Their privacy is in jeopardy when a bedridden woman is hacked to death with an axe. The mystery becomes increasingly complicated with more murders, an accidental death, and a natural death. There are too many clues to keep straight. It turns out that there were two separate plots underway to steal the first victim’s hoard of gold coins, involving four different people, and a couple more were tricked into helping. There is also a man missing for decades who turns out to have been back for some time under a false name and with a different appearance. This was one of her better novels but it probably should have been shorter. 12/24/24

The Noh Mask Murder by Akimitsu Takagi, Pushkin Vertigo, 2024 (from the 1951 Japanese edition)

A hidden family fortune. Multiple cases of insanity. A woman confined illegally in an asylum. A locked room murder with no evidence of a weapon or wound. A brilliant amateur detective. Hidden motives. Obvious motives. More murders. This is actually not a great mystery, although I’ve liked other work by the author. The plot is clunky, some of the plot elements are implausible, and it is very obvious that we are supposed to consider the oldest son as the killer. There is, I am happy to say, a rather clever reversal at the end, although it leaks logic around the edges. It is quite short and written in the form of a diary. 12/24/24

Uneasy Lies the Head by William Rohde, Ace, 1957

This one was a likable if unmemorable detective story that reminded me plotwise of John D. MacDonald, although the prose was not as good. A private investigator is looking into an odd Florida family and discovers a plot to steal some valuable artifacts, but the conspiracy has odd aspects that suggest that there is more to it than meets the eye, private or otherwise. Some mildly sexy scenes and the protagonist is not without a few bits of actual characterization. I’d read more by the author. 12/15/24

Lady in Peril by Lester Dent, Ace, 1959

The chief witness in a scandal so big that it has attracted the attention of Congress is murdered before he can deliver crucial testimony. No one believes that it is actually murder except his sister, who sets out to prove her theory, and promptly disappears. The protagonist is the husband of the missing woman, who now has a double reason to discover the truth, and he must do so quickly if she is to be saved. Not to mention the fact that he is putting himself in jeopardy. Dent wrote most of the Doc Savage books, which are very inept, but I’ve read a couple of his standalone mysteries before and this one, like those, is considerably better written. 12/15/24

Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1932

Aka Double Alibi. Miss Pinkerton is actually Nurse Adams, who works with the police as a kind of spy inside homes where some sort of mystery is involved. She was introduced in a novelette in 1918 but this was the first of two full length novels. A dissolute young man is found shot to death in his room. Some evidence suggests suicide, but some also points toward murder. A mysterious woman hovers in the area – but her motives are never adequately explained. The dead man’s aunt is very ill, providing the excuse to introduce Adams to the household, although the mechanism is never explained. The family doctor does not want her there. A second murder convinces the police, who have already arrested the wrong person. Not bad, but clunky. 12/15/24

Murder in Black Letter by Poul Anderson, 1960 

This was the second case featuring Trygve Yamamura, a priv ate investigator. A teaching assistant is tortured to death and the police are making little progress. His family had been feuding with another, he had a disagreement with an obnoxious professor, and his brother was involved with some shady characters, so there are several likely suspects. The solution comes out of nowhere. A man about whom we know nothing wrong and very little at all was involved with some criminal activity outside the country and the dead man had tumbled to this. The ending feels like a cheat. 12/15/24

Wired for Scandal by F.L. Wallace, Ace, 1959

This one has a nice setup. An amateur radio enthusiast happens to pick up a broadcast that tells him that someone has bugged the office of a psychoanalyst and is listening to his sessions with his patients. The obvious purpose is blackmail. But how can he track down the perpetrator, particularly when there has already been one murder and the police are likely to be suspicious of anyone who admits to having listened to the eavesdropping. Competently done. 12/8/24

The Fast Buck by Ross Laurence Ace, 1953

I intensely disliked this book. The protagonist decides that he doesn’t want to work for a living any more and involves himself in a major jewel heist. But he is small potatoes and the other people involved in stealing the gems are much more experienced, more intelligent, and more ruthless. But the man is a self centered, not too bright thief with no concern for others and his troubles are all of his own making. Hard to sympathize with him. Hard to care what happens to him. Hard to enjoy the book, which is at least mercifully short. 12/8/24

The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1930

This is the novel frequently mentioned in connection with “the butler did it.” He does, but he has a partner, so even knowing that you will have a mystery to resolve. The case involves a woman who goes for a walk, and is found murdered. Another murder follows. The house where she had been staying is burglarized more than once. A revolved is stolen. A surprise, secret will turns up after a wealthy man dies, but some people suspect that it is a forgery. There is a secret identity. Although there are lots of different clues and events, the story moves rather too slowly for my taste and is sometimes repetitive. Even if I hadn’t known about the burglar, I would have suspected him because he was just a bit too good to be true. 12/8/24

The Crime at Diana’s Pool by Victor L. Whitechurch, Spitfire, 2024 (originally published in 1927)

Although this is a very standard detective story it has some interesting details. The host of an elaborate party is stabbed to death, apparently by a member of the band, who had joined them for this single engagement only and other peculiar circumstances. Even more peculiar is the fact that the dead man was wearing the band member’s distinctive jacket at the time he died. The chief suspect also manages to vanish and elude a police dragnet until he foolishly betrays himself by trying to reclaim a bag he checked. The dead man had spent some years in South America, about which he is secretive, and the accused man is from that part of the world. There are some important clues early in the book that I completely missed. 12/8/24

You’ll Die Next by Harry Whittington, Ace, 1954 

A fairly typical but minor Whittington novel about a man who gets mixed up in a murder and has to solve it on his own to stay out of trouble with the police, and alive with the bad guys.. His wife is frequently in jeopardy as well but it feels a bit like painting by the numbers this time. Before long he is having  increasing trouble with the police as well as the bad guys. Whittington wrote in a clear, entertaining style and I have never found any of his books to be boring, but this one came close.  12/1/24

Drag the Dark by Frederick Davis, Ace, 1953

An above average crime novel with two interesting two detectives hired to track down a young woman who has gone missing. Naturally things are not as straightforward as that might suggest. There is a valuable gem lusted after by some bad guys. The police are not entirely free of criminals in their ranks. The circumstances of the disappearance are more complicated than they initially appear. A few nice twists though nothing spectacular. Davis was a reliable though now mostly forgotten pulp writer who was at his best in this kind of story.  12/1/24

The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Rinehart, Zebra, 1987 (originally published in 1925)

I was tempted to list this in horror because it contains about twenty supernatural events, only about half of which are ever rationalized and some of which are confirmed to be paranormal. The author was a believer in spiritualism. The story involves a man who inherits his uncle’s large and reportedly haunted house following the older man’s sudden death. About the same time, someone begins ritually slaughtering sheep belonging to the local farmers. A young man who catches sight of the marauder disappears and is found murdered, Another woman disappears and is later also found dead. There are cold spots, ghostly appearances, inexplicable smells, lights in the night, footsteps in empty buildings, items moved inside a locked room, a mysterious red lamp used in psychic experiments, several seances, a Ouija board, psychic dreams, apparitions, and so forth. The ending is completely absurd – two of the characters turn out to be the same person.  Not one of her successful books. 12/1/24

A Telegram from Le Touquet by John Bude, British Library, 2024 (originally published in 1956)

An irascible but wealthy woman is traveling from her home in England to her villa in France when something happens. She does not arrive on schedule, but her trunk appears in the house as if by magic. And her dead body is inside the trunk. This follows a violent event between two of her acquaintances that resulted in a stabbing, although this turns out to be a red herring. Hints of blackmail, fortune hunting, infidelity, and other crimes dance around one another. A French detective solves the crime with only a slight assist by coincidence. I figured out the killer, the motive, and most of the details in advance, but only during the final chapters. Bude was a steady producer of good crime novels. 12/1/24

The After House by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1914

Most of this novel take place aboard a yacht owned by a bellicose drunkard who abuses his crew and his guests. One night his captain, one of the guests, and a maid are all murdered with an axe. It appears that he was passed out in his bed at the time, so suspicion turns toward the first mate, who is unpopular and of doubtful character. A young man who had been hired as a kind of glorified gofer and back up butler takes command – not a very plausible development – and orders the ship to turn back to New York. But that trip will take as much as two weeks. 11/23/24

The Devil’s Punchbowl by Duane Decker, Ace, 1960

The protagonist receives a note from his girlfriend indicating that she is leaving for the big city. They were good friends but not in love, so initially he is not overly concerned. But the circumstances of and reasons for her departure are not what they appear to be. He soon finds himself caught up in a deadly game not of his own making, and his missing girlfriend is the key to solving the mystery and probably saving his life. Fairish crime adventure but nothing noteworthy. A bit awkwardly written in spots. 11/23/24

Run If You Can by Owen Dudley, Ace, 1960

A businessman becomes concerned when he talks to his partner on the phone and realizes the man is very drunk. This is concerning because he has control of the company assets and is supposed to be completing a lucrative business deal. So he decides to investigate, even though the town where it is happening has bad memories for him – a failed marriage and a complicated and unsolved murder mystery. But it is more than bad memories that are waiting for him. Someone is determined that this visit will be his last, to there or anywhere else. About average for crime fiction. 11/23/24

The Great Mistake by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1940

Although not a bad mystery, this is another one that feels constantly padded. Various prowlers and weird incidents plague a house owned by a wealthy widow. Then a neighbor is murdered, the older woman appears to have committed suicide, a servant is assaulted and then vanishes from the hospital, a husband long believed dead turns out to be alive, invalidating a subsequent marriage, the rights to the estate are called into question, and a troublesome wife who is also a blackmailer throws more wrenches into the works. The solution did not work for me. Too many coincidences, too many villains, too complicated their various plans.  11/17/24

The Meiji Guillotine Murders by Futaro Yamada, Pushkin Vertigo, 2023 (originally published in 2012)

This unorthodox murder mystery is set in mid-19^th Century Japan, shortly after the fall of the Shogunate. The fledgling police authority is largely corrupt and a new government bureau has been established to crack down on them. Two officers of this group are friendly rivals with very different styles. When a series of grisly murders begins to cause unrest in Tokyo, they compete to solve the crimes and advance their careers. Although this was entertaining, it really didn’t feel like a mystery novel. Most of the book is about the historical period and its idiosyncrasies.  The presence of a group of Keystone Cops style police officers does not help any, and clashes with the horrific murder plot. The author was not primarily interested in mystery novels and wrote several historicals, so this is probably not surprising. 11/17/24

My Pal the Killer by Chester Warwick, Ace, 1961

This one is a pretty average short thriller in which the protagonist decides to help a friend who is in trouble. The friend is on the run from the police, who believe that he is guilty of murder and arson. Our hero has to find out who is really responsible, and that puts his own life in jeopardy as he starts to get close to the truth. There is a vaguely mysterious and seductive woman to add a little spice to the plot, but it’s basically a pretty familiar story retold in pretty familiar ways. 11/6/24

The Case of Jennie Brice by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1913

A relatively short mystery about the disappearance of a woman during a flood in Pittsburgh. Her landlady believes that she was murdered by her husband, and there is enough circumstantial evidence that he is arrested and brought to trial. But fresh testimony suggests that the missing woman was seen days after the supposed murder and that she had stated her intentions of vanishing completely. The ultimate solution results more from chance than logic and the amateur detectives involved – there are two of them – do not demonstrate any talent in their avocation. 11/6/24

Cornered by Louis King, Ace, 1958

This crime novel was a bit too contrived for me. The protagonist resigned from the police force because he was afraid that the bad guys would retaliate against his daughter. Some time later, a highly placed criminal is forced to become a fugitive, and he decides that the ex-cop is the perfect person to arrange everything and guarantee his safety. He threatens the daughter in order to force compliance, but the father realizes that he could solve his problem by ensuring that the villain dies. People make inexplicable choices and ignore obvious alternatives.  10/31/24

The Man in the Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1909

The narrator is a lawyer named Blakely who is about to embark on a business trip, carrying some incriminating forged documents, when his partner insists that a lurker in an untenanted adjacent building has been spying on them. Then there is murder on a train, apparently directed at Blakely, who by chance slept in the wrong bed. Circumstantial evidence makes it appear that he is the killer, but a train wreck upends the entire situation. He and his partner, aided by an amateur detective, track down a man who jumped from the train and eventually find the real guilty party – who actually was hardly even mentioned and she died in the train wreck. Okay, but not as good as her first novel. 10/31/24

The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1910

This one is a rather frantic mystery that has so much plot there is almost no room for dialogue, characterization or anything else. A prominent businessman disappears and is later found shot to death at the White Cat, which is a house converted to a private club for city officials. One of two elderly sisters who knew him also disappears, snatched from her house in the middle of the night. There are lots of burglars, knocking at windows, stolen documents, and although it is clearly a murder, the police for some reason are convinced that it was suicide. There was no gun at the scene and no powder burns. This one was rather awkward. The characters do things that make no sense. The narrator – a lawyer – constantly makes poor decisions in order to keep the mystery moving. 10/31/24

Scratch a Thief by John Trinian, Ace, 1961

I didn’t particularly like this short novel grand theft, murder, and kidnapping. The protagonist is not a particularly likeable character even if he does find himself in an unenviable situation. He is caught between the police and the bad guys, because he has the stolen loot. The situation seems awkwardly contrived at times and the writing is lackluster. The story felt as though the author had set up the problem for his hero but did not have a clear idea of how it would be resolved and rushed an ending that is not entirely convincing. 10/31/24

Free Lance Murder by Vic Rodell, Ace, 1957

This is a decent but undistinguished murder mystery. The protagonist has to settle his uncle’s estate when he dies in an apparent riding accident. But it was the second death of this kind in recent weeks, which is a bit suspicious. Throw in a mysterious young woman and an equally mysterious man who wants to buy the horse involved in the uncle’s death and you have enough oddities that our hero decides something is going on behind the scenes. He decides to look into matters and finds more than he bargained for, including a couple of well disguised murders and the possibility that his name might be added to the list.  10/14/24

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1908

The narrator and her niece and nephew rent a large home for the summer while their house is being renovated. Almost immediately they are troubled by strange intruders, unexplained noises, and articles moved even though the house was locked. There is also a serious case of embezzlement at a local bank. Then the son of the bank’s owner is found shot to death in the house. Various people appear and disappear and several of them refuse to explain themselves to the police. There are almost too many clues and plot twists as the author adds a blackmailer, a man in disguise, a pair of thugs, a secret room, false identities, a woman pushed in front of a train, a young boy whose origin is uncertain, the abduction of the nephew and the near fatal consequences, and a doctor who appears to be hiding something. This was Rinehart’s first novel and is often cited as the beginning of the Had I But Known school of suspense writing. It’s pretty good. 10/14/24

The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart, Dell, 1954 (originally published in 1926)

Rinehart’s first novel, The Circular Staircase, was adapted for the stage with the criminal mastermind known as the Bat superimposed upon it. Rinehart did not want to rewrite her own novel, as the novelization so despite this having her name on it, the book was actually written by Stephen Vincent Benet. I suppose that makes it a collaboration. The plot is fairly simple. Various parties try to sneak into a large house rented by a feisty older woman to look for a hidden room which contains a large amount of embezzled funds. One of the servants is the man suspected of the embezzlement, who is innocent. A detective is asked to stay and investigate, and eventually we learn that he is the Bat. The plot runs pretty close to the first book other than his presence. 10/11/24

The Three Taps by Ronald Knox, Brownstone, 2024 (originally published in 1927)

A man is found dead in a locked room in circumstances that suggest suicide, but there are some anomalies. An insurance inspector still believes that it is suicide, but the police detective assigned to the case thinks it was murder. They both turn out to be wrong. The solution hinges upon a system of taps and pipes that provide gas to the room in question. The dead man had planned to disappear, not be found dead, but through a combination of errors, he inadvertently caused his own death. So it was an accident. Knox’s prose is not very smooth and the story drags at times. 10/11/24

Silenced Witnesses by Norman Rosenthal, Ace, 1955

A death appears to be an accident, but a young woman asks a police officer to look at it again. When he does so, he is offered a bribe mixed with a threat to drop the matter, and the young woman nervously withdraws her request as well. Although he turns down the bribe and decides to continue his investigation, the bribe money appears in his banking account anyway. He does not drop the case - although some of his subsequent actions are rather inept - and eventually determines that it was murder. Palatable. 10/7/24

The Dangling Carrot by Day Keene, Ace, 1955.

Keene was a reliable producer of entertaining crime novels and this is one of them despite my antipathy toward the protagonist. That is a judge, who decides to cheat on his wife with another woman at his remote cabin. He has no idea that the cabin is connected to the recent disappearances of two prominent citizens. But in fact it is the means by which he is to be implicated in multiple murders and his own political career brought to a premature end, along with his life. Well written and often compelling. 10/7/24

The Brass Shroud by Bruce Cassiday, Ace, 1958

The protagonist of this pretty good crime novel is a skip tracer who is trying to track down a bank clerk who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The search leads to a small town where our hero runs into a musician who is trying to make a comeback after his career foundered. He clearly knows the missing man but before this lead can go anywhere, the musician is murdered. Intrigued, the skip tracer decides to look into the matter rather more deeply and that almost makes him the next murder victim. Enjoyable. 10/7/24

Odd Woman Out by Joseph Linklater, Ace, 1956

A private investigator is suspicious about the circumstances of an election in a small suburb. It appears that neither of the candidates is an experienced politician, or even shows much interest in winning and taking office. His suspicions grow stronger when one of powerful men who lurk behind politicians is murdered. The investigation turns up a potentially very lucrative real estate deal that depends on the right sequence of events and the acquiescence of several powereful people. Not surprisingly, our hero finds himself in danger when his interest in the matter comes to light. Okay, but not great. 10/7/24