A Proposition

Mystery bloggers everywhere, lend me your ears! I come to you with an idea! It is an extreme idea. It might even be an arrogant idea. But it's an idea I had some time ago, and I figure that I might as well give it a test run. What if we, and by we I mean mystery bloggers, tried to create a third edition of Locked Room Murders?

See why I said that this was arrogant? I really don't want to seem like I'm insulting Robert Adey here, I just want to know why we can't create something like this, or something similar. We'd have many different people working on it. We'd have different areas of expertise. Heck, e-publishing gives us a chance to get it out there. I'm not saying that it'd be easy, but maybe we could discuss it and see how it works? Again, I'm sorry for the arrogance, and I'm sorry if this turns out to be infeasible. I just want to see it discussed...

(And yes, I'm working on the next review. I had an algebra test this week; cut me some slack and show some mercy on this poor soul!)

Queenly Air

(Image taken from Ellery Queen, a website on deduction.)

Sorry for the lateness...

It might surprise you to know that mystery radio shows were apparently very popular at one point, and there were few more popular than the Ellery Queen radio plays. Written by Manfred B. Lee and Fredric Dannay, and later by Lee and Anthony Boucher, (another author on my to-be-read list) the series ran from 1939 to 1948 and had a listenership of 15 million a week at its height. Unfortunately, it faded away... until the Church of Crippen and Landru, headed by St. Greene, released some of the scripts in The Adventure of the Murdererd Moths and Other Radio Mysteries.

The stories are said to contain the Queen staples of fair-play cluing, along with a Challenge to the Reader Listener, but can they stand proud in the Queen canon?

The Adventure of the Last Man Club

A simple exercise in showing off takes a dark turn when Ellery and his assistant Nikki Porter witness a hit-and-run. Before dying, the victim coughs out information that leads Ellery to the Last Man Club, who are indulging in that second-most fatal of mystery clichés, (the first being blackmail) the Tontine. And that's before the member are all nearly killed off by a poisoned wine bottle...

And excellent start to the collection. The story is good, the clueing is fair, and the reveal is very well done. My only complaint is some bizarre kidnapping thing that shows up without reason, but everything balances out. Though I do have a question now: Why would anyone be part of a Tontine? It seems like a excellent way to get murdered.

The Adventure of Napoleon's Razor

Ellery and Nikki are travelling on a train from California, when murder is done. A man is stabbed to death in one of the booths with, of all things, a razor that belonged to Napoleon. That mystery pales in comparison to the true mystery here, the one that easily overshadows this trivial murder; where did his stolen emeralds go? Everyone and everything is searched, and no trace is found...

Another great mystery with a well-hidden killer and an clever hiding place for stolen jewels. I do wonder what the point of the (SPOILER G-men were supposed to be, besides making me think that we were suddenly in a Half-Life crossover. I know that they were meant to be a red herring, but they have so little to do with anything... END SPOILERS) Also, there's either a major cheat pulled or a clever misdirection (SPOILERS You will not convince me that it was unintentional that they mention a historical error from Queen right next to the intentional historical error. END SPOILERS)

The Adventure of the Bad Boy

Bobby Hayes is a brat and a holy terror to his mother and aunt. But does that mean that he poisoned his aunt's rabbit stew?

Another good story! Despite the dark premise, this story never falls into the trap of being all ANGST!!! and delivers a very good story with a nice surprise twist. There's some specialized knowledge, though to be honest the story gives you enough to work it out anyway. Though I have to wonder...(SPOLIERS what happened to Gordini? I know that he indirectly committed murder, but it was by turning someone else's plan back on them. What would the courts think? END SPOLIERS)

The Adventure of the March of Death

Samuel March is a jerk. Really, he is. He's cruel to his children, even when they don't deserve it (for one of them anyway) and treats his servant like crap, even though he's willing all of his money to the man. Even Ellery can tell that he's gonna die. And die he does, with a knife rammed in his back. At least he was able to leave a dying message...what do you mean that it implicates every suspect...?

Ah, a good dying message story. The dying message is fair and requires no specialized knowledge. There's not much more to say, other than that Ellery's knowledge of how this was going to turn out made me smile.

The Adventure of the Haunted Cave

A paranormal researcher believes that he has found an instance of genuine paranormal phenomenon. In a cave where a man strangled many victims. This being a murder mystery, he decides to spend the night in the cave with a rival, but when day breaks, he's gone in early, and been strangled early. And only his footprints are in the mud surrounding the cave's entrance...

Ah, my favorite kind of locked room mystery; the no footprints story! As usual, the story is fairly clued, and the solution is beautifully simple. (SPOILERS The killer's method of getting out of the cave was pretty weak compared to how they got in though... END SPOLIERS)

The Adventure of the Lost Child

Harvey Morrell, owner of the Hessian Chronicle, is a man with many enemies. But which of those enemies kidnapped his daughter? It will take all of Ellery's skill to reach the truth, and he may not like it...

Probably the best story in the collection. The story is dark, yet never crosses into Warhammer 40,000 levels of dark. It's well executed on almost every level, and almost guaranteed to gut punch you. (SPOLIER Though why the cop out with the whole "the killer is her stepmother, not her mother thing?" It really wasn't needed... END SPOLIERS)

The Adventure of the Black Secret

The C.D. Black Company is the oldest rare book dealer in the city. Unfortunately, they're having a spate of thefts; so many thefts that the insurance company is getting suspicious, and they're sending in their own version of Ellery Queen to figure things out. Now Ellery has to juggle a thief who can steal things in plain sight, Black's mysterious secret, a murder, and his own ego...

I do enjoy this one. The clueing for the thefts is slightly weak, but not by much. The dying message near the end is ingenious too. Really, my only complaint is some weird comedy bit in the story. I get why it's there, but I just couldn't enjoy it...

The Adventure of the Dying Scarecrow

A country trip takes a bizarre turn when Ellery and co. find a man yelling about a bleeding scarecrow. Who turns out to be a propped-up half-dead guy. This leads Ellery to the Mathew Farm, a place of mental instability and tragedy. Just what did that unknown man have to do with them anyway...?

Another good story. The usual rules apply, blah blah good pacing blah blah fair clueing blah blah I like the whole anonymous victim idea... this really is a good, if somber, story.

The Adventure of the Woman in Black

Philip Jurney, a famous author, is having trouble. Namely, a mysterious woman in black, who can apparently shrug off bullets, seems to be following him around... and it's said that when she appears to a member of his family three times, they'll die...

The last of the longer stories, this is yet another solid tale with fair clueing and an interesting situation. My main gripe is that the trick behind the Woman's seeming intangibility is too easy to solve. (SPOILERS This also makes one of the people involved very obvious. Sure I didn't figure it out, but it's still very easy. END SPOILERS) The Oscar Wilde clue is very clever too.

The Adventure of the Forgotten Men

A group of homeless men find out that a new member is stashing items in their camp. They drive him away, but he later turns up again, murdered...

This is the first of the shorter scripts, but it isn't a reduction in quality. Instead, it still manages to be a fairly-clued story that should satisfy any mystery fan. I really don't know what else to say. (I'm running into the Hoch Effect(TM) here...)

The Adventure of the Man Who Could Double The Size of Diamonds

I reviewed this already under Please Lock The Door On Your Way Out. Though I did come up with a new complaint (SPOILERS Why did Kenyon plant the British guy's diamond in Lazarus' hand? Why not his own? Then he'd get it back. That's actually why I thought that the British guy had something to do with it. END SPOLIERS)

The Adventure of the Dark Cloud

When Ellery was invited aboard the Valentine's yacht, he (foolishly) assumed that there would best rest and relaxation. He didn't expect the family patriarch to be shot while recording his will...

This...is good? Really, there's not much to say about it other than that. I mean, sure (SPOLIERS you could argue that the opening shouldn't give away the fact that there's a dying message here, but that's not the story's fault, is it? END SPOILERS)

The Adventure of Mr. Short and Mr. Long

Napoleon Short is a professional scammer, and Richard Queen has finally cornered him. He and the police wait outside his home, see him come out... and then turn around and vanish...

A reference to that famous case that Sherlock Holmes failed to solve, the disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore, this story presents a very good picture of that famous case. This story seems to be a version of the whole "searching for some object" device that I've heard is common in Queen stories. It's good, but (SPOLIERS how could Mr. Short ensure that no one would walk out to the portico? It's right outside after all...END SPOILERS) It didn't hit me until I started writing this, so I guess that it can't be too big of a complaint... The clueing is also slightly thin.

The Adventure of the Murdered Moths

A stop at a run-down country inn places Ellery and co. in the center of young love. Thankfully, this is soon overshadowed by the far more interesting event of the bride's father being gassed to death, and by the fact the case turns on dead moths...

Well... this is a good story, no doubt, but I wonder why it was the title story. I mean, there's really nothing that sets it apart or anything. It does make a cool title though, so that's probably the reason.

So that's this book taken care of. It's good. Very good. The stories have a very even quality to them, and there isn't a story that I can say is "bad."

I give this book an 8 out of 10.

Now then...I am very sorry for the long wait. I'm trying to balance this with my life, and it's proving difficult. That being said, I think that I found a way to balance it, so I should be faster! If my procrastination doesn't get in the way...

As an apology, I'll mention that The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries will be out on October 28!


Next time, we'll take a look at some more radio mysteries, from one of the greatest mystery authors ever. Especially of a certain genre...


Thanks for reading!

A Tragedy of Shakespearian Pretentiousness

I'm pretty sure that the people on this blog know about Ellery Queen, but if not, let me elaborate.

 

Ellery Queen is the creation of Manfred B. Lee (the writer) and Fredric Dannay (the plotter). Ellery Queen also served as their pen name, which probably led to people assuming that this was some early form of self-insert fanfiction. The books are known for twisty plotting, serious attempts at making more psychological mystery novels. and for being hilariously overwritten. To me anyways.

The Tragedy of Errors and Others' main feature is an unpublished novel, the outline of which was sent to Lee before he died. Crippen and Landru got their hands on it and published it, along with a few other stories and essays, for the 70th anniversary of the first book, The Roman Hat Mystery. Does this novel live up to Queen's standards, as much as I can judge as I've never read one of their novels so I'm probably completely unqualified and I'll stop now.

The Tragedy of Errors

Morna Richmond could've been a star. She was great in the silent films, but when she actually had to act, things fell apart. Now she spends her days in a castle estate, waiting for her big break, which she will receive. Posthumously, of course. She is found dead on her estate, murdered by someone who did a terrible job of making it look like suicide. The murderer is obvious, but Ellery can't shake the feeling that there's more to it...

Pros

+ Fairly clued, as far as I can see. Impressive, considering that this is just an outline.

+ The killer is hidden well.

+ The plot is good and twisty.

+ I enjoy what was done with the will. Unrealistic, but this is pointed out in-story, and I can still appreciate the effort.

+ I just love Dion Procter, because he just goes through the book with this "I don't give a crap" attitude. Considering how insane the plot gets...

Cons

- Let's start with the simple one; this thing feels overwritten. This is something I see in almost every novel snippet I see, these two just keep inserting unnecessary pretentiousness. But that's a matter of personal opinion.

- What was the point of (SPOLIERS Dion Procter? A red herring? If so, he worked on me, but I kind of wanted more to be done with him. END SPOILERS)

- This is probably more personal stupidity more than anything, but... what was the killer's motive again? I know they'd end up with enough money to buy at least two copies of Locked Room Murders, but their final conversation implied that there was more to it. Am I being dense? Was Dannay being too lofty?

- While the killer's plan mostly works, I do have one complaint. (SPOLIERS Why didn't Buck rat Rago out? Ellery says that he manipulated Buck, and unless he used subliminal messages, I don't see how Buck could be unaware of it. Why didn't he tell the police that "Oh by the way, Rago gave me this idea." For that matter, how would Rago be sure that he would off himself? END SPOLIERS)

This is a pretty good story. A complete judgment is impossible, due to it being an outline, but I believe that it would have been good if it had been completed. (Also, as a side note, Let me boast to TomCat that I did not fall into the same trap he did. I didn't solve it, but I take my victories where I can get them. Even if I achieved that victory through ignorance.)

 

Terror Town

 

Tommy Cooley walked away one October day. The town searched and searched but never could find him...until the spring rains turned up his body. And that was only the beginning of a series of murders that would shake the town to its core...

 

This story mocks me. It has good atmosphere, the clueing, while sparse, is fair, and I liked the motive for the murders. The main problem is the Dang. Romance. Plot! Look, I'm not like S.S. Van Dine, marching up the isles going "Harumph!" at romance plots. Heck, I don't mind when one is part of a story; it gives more emotional investment. But it's never done well in mysteries, as I learned here. It's annoying and gets in the way of the story. Heck, I could write a better romance! The rest of the story's good though.

 

Uncle From Australia

 

Ellery has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet a real uncle from Australia. Complete with fortune to be willed away! As well as a knife in his back, and the dying message "Hall". If only all the people with a motive to kill him didn't share the same last name...

 

A simple story, with a good dying message. Not much more to say.

Note: The next three stories all have the same device of Ellery receiving problems from the Puzzle Club, a group of smart and rich people with nothing better to do.

The Three Students

Take a valuable ring. Now give three students access to it. End result: one missing ring and one strange note...

Unfortunately, this is one of those stories where there's only one clue, and if you don't have the knowledge to decipher that clue, you're outta luck. It's ultimately a guessing game.

The Odd Man

An undercover agent is murdered while looking into drug trafficking. The only clue he leaves behind is the killer is the "odd" one of the three...

Better than the last story. There are three possible solutions, so you have a pretty good chance of being able to figure out at least one. The knowledge required is also less specialized.

The Honest Swindler

Old Pete said that he was looking for uranium, and that he needed money. He got $50,000, because he said that his investor would get their money back. He doesn't find a thing, but he lives up to his promise...

Probably the best of these three stories. The situation is clever, and the solution is obvious once it's pointed out.

The Reindeer Clue (by Edward D. Hoch)

A two-bit blackmailer is shot to death in a reindeer pen. Of course, this being an Ellery Queen story, he's able to leave behind a dying message... that accuses Santa's reindeer...?

This is a fun story. It's short, to the point, and the dying message is clever, with only the bare minimum of specialized knowledge required.


The rest of the book contains reminisces and essays, and those are a little out of my expertise. I will, however, recommend Robert Adey's "The Impossible Mr. Queen" for a look at the locked room mysteries in the novels and short stories.

I really like this collection. The stories are of almost consistently good quality, the essays and the like are interesting, and the unfinished Queen novel is bound to excite the Queen fan boys.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10

Next time, Ellery Queen: Radio Personality. Thanks for reading!
 

Please Lock The Door On Your Way Out

So, I decided on the anthology.

 

Death Locked In is an anthology revolving around locked rooms (I hear your mind being blown) and

is edited by Douglas G. Greene (author of John Dickson Carr's biography) and Robert Adey (who wrote the definitive guide to locked rooms that is now about two decades out of date and costs the GDP of Switzerland. I still want it.) The book starts with a historical mystery before moving on into locked room. Then, it goes into uncategorized impossible crimes. It then details some impossible disappearances before wrapping up with a soft science fiction story.

Needless to say, there's a lot of variety here, but variety does not make an anthology. Is this worth your time and money?

 

(Thanks to P.J. Bergman of The Locked Room for reviewing this first. Not because I'm ripping you off, but because I can just copy and paste the titles instead of typing them myself! And your picture too!)

The First Locked Room by Lillian de la Torre

Three women lie dead. Two have been strangled and one beaten. The door is locked. An innocent woman stands accused. and guess what? It all really happened...

This is more de la Torre showing off a historical curiosity rather than a straight mystery, but it's a good historical curiosity. de la Torre's research is to be applauded and while the solution is simple, I can't say that I cared in the face of the fact that we don't have enough real-life locked rooms. We take what we can get!

Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
 

A young woman finds herself in the care of her uncle. Genre conventions already establish this as a Bad Thing (TM) and it just gets worse when you consider the lecherous son and the fact that the uncle was accused of murdering a man in a locked room...

Why is this story here? It's a good suspense story, no doubt, but there really isn't a reason to have this in, considering the small role the locked room plays in the plot. Is it because (SPOLIER we get to see the locked room from the would-be victim's point of view? END SPOLIER) It's interesting, but not a story I would have chosen, personally.
 

I Can Find My Way Out by Ngaio Marsh
 

Theater's are hotbeds of murder and mayhem. Just ask Cann Cumberland, a drunken actor who steals the spotlight from his betters... until he gets gassed in a locked dressing room that is...

Well. This story. Ngaio Marsh is well-loved right? Because I didn't enjoy this story. At all. It's bizarrely paced, I don't even think that the solution was clearly stated (I just might not understand gas heaters though), and the story just has no life ,which ultimately killed it for me.

The Suicide of Kiaros by Frank Baum

Felix Marston needs money, and he needs it now. Rather than turn to J. G. Wentworth, he comes up with a better plan. Ask a Greek moneylender for some money, and when that fails, kill him, and make it look like a suicide...

Yes, this was written by the author of The Wizard Of Oz. And it's a good story too, even though the trick is simple. Though the idea of a reverse whodunit locked room holds quite an appeal...

The Spherical Ghoul by Fredric Brown

A part-time morgue worker is looking forward to an easy night's work. Then the unidentified body gets it's face eaten off, and he was sitting in front of the locked door the whole time. Could a ghoul have slipped in through a twelve inch vent...?

The set-up is creative, and the clueing is mostly fair. The solution is somewhat iffy, though it is executed better than some other mysteries that have used the same thing.

Out of His Head by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

A young woman is found with her throat slit in a room with the door locked and the windows too high up to allow escape. It doesn't help that the detective here is a lunatic...

This story is really only interesting for the detective who, it must be said, is interesting. The solution is a pure cheat though.

Murder by Proxy by M. McDinnell Bodkin

A man is shot to death while napping and the killer vanishes from the room in spite of witnesses. That is, unless the old "it-was-the-first-person-who-found-the-body" trick applies...

Obviously it doesn't, as Not-Sherlock-Holmes proves. The main trick isn't much better, but it works, and I would like to see it in a different context. (The fact that this is an older story might've left me without much confidence in a good solution.)

Out of This World by Peter Godfrey

I've reviewed this story already under Large And In Charge, so I'll just link that.

The Mystery of the Hotel de L'Orme by M. M. B.

A woman is smothered behind her locked bedroom door, and her jewels are stolen. The only one who could have done it was her servant, who claimed to see a face in a mirror in a locked room shorty before the murder...

Not that good. It's old, so the dread overwriting appears, and the solution (to me) makes no sense. (SPOLIERS Considering the distance, could a single board really support a man? END SPOLIERS) This could just be my ignorance though. (The solution still isn't particularly good anyhow though...)

The Magic Bullet by Edward D. Hoch

In the country of Beneu, trouble is brewing. It looks like a rebellion is brewing and tension are running high. Not that this is really important when you have a United States ambassador shot to death in his locked and bulletproof car...

Just when despair sets in, Hoch comes to spark this anthology's rise in quality with his usual near-perfection. The clues are well-laid, the solution is the best kind of simple solution (it's so simple and obvious that you kick yourself when you miss it) and it's just great all around. My sole complaint is the sheer "Wait, what?" in the interaction with the token female, and I'm sue you'll notice it when you see it. Also... I wonder how much the guy named Harry PONDER knows about magic... (Sorry)

A Terribly Strange Bed by Wilkie Collins

A young man, fresh from victory at the gambling tables, is invited to celebrate at an inn. Little does he know that he will soon find his life in mortal peril...

...I'm torn. On one hand, this is a good story, and a good example of the "room that kills" idea. On the other hand, It's really not a locked room except for a mention of the protagonist locking his door. It's good, I'm just wondering why it's here. (Also, I'm ashamed to admit that it took me a long while to recognize Wilkie Collins as the author of The Moonstone.)

The Room with Something Wrong by Cornell Woolrich

Room 913 has problems. Oh, it's a nice enough room on its own, it just has a nasty habit of throwing people out of it at random...

The longest story in this anthology, but well worth it. I has a few flaws (SPOLIERS We get no hints that the killer has a keycard, for example END SPOLIERS) but they're all pretty minor. This story actually makes me want to read more Woolrich...

Invisible Hands by John Dickson Carr

King's Arthur's Chair is a small natural rock formation that sits on a beach. Considering who the author is, it should come as no surprise that someone is strangled to death near that chair with only her footprints in sight...

My first exposure to Carr! And it could have been better! The set-up is good, but the characters seemed... off in a way that can't be justified by, "It's Carr." The solution never set right with me either (SPOLIERS I can't seem to wrap my head around the idea that a whip was used. You'd only have one shot, and your aim could get off too easily. I could buy it better if it was a lasso... END SPOLIERS) The irony in the killer's motive is good though.

The X Street Murders by Joseph Commings

Once again, already reviewed. Please check the above link.

The Mystery of Room No. 11 by Nicholas Carter

All Willie Gray wanted to do was find his mother. Instead, he finds himself caught in a police stakeout, faced with the possibility that his mother is dead, and having to explain how his mother, dead or alive, could have left a building surrounded by police...

Merely okay. The set-up is good, but the solution is too simple. (This may or not be because the editors say where the solution probably came from, which leads the mind in a certain direction.) As said, merely okay.

The Man Who Disappeared by L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace

After years at sea, Oscar Digby returns with the location of vast amounts of gold. Not that he'll be able to make use of it after he walks into an observed house and vanishes...

About the same as above. Clichés run rampant, but the story is passible. The solution is merely okay. (SPOLIERS Would those chemicals really dissolve a body like that? END SPOILERS)

The Invisible Man by G.K. Chesterton

Years ago, Laura Hope promised two men that she would marry whoever made his way in the world. One became an inventor. The other seems to have found the power to turn invisible...

This is the Chesterton story everyone has heard of! If his name or Father Brown's name is mentioned, this is the story everyone thinks of. And I didn't care for it's solution. (SPOLIERS While I believe that this trick can work, both Carr and Christie have done it, it can't in this story. Everyone has been told to watch out for someone, whereas in the other stories, the people being fooled aren't paying attention. END SPOLIERS) It's a good story, just not as good as everyone says it is.

The Adventure of the Man Who Could Double the Size of Diamonds by Ellery Queen

Professor Lazarus, currently on leave from Doctor Who, claims that he can double the size of diamonds. Amazingly, people believe him and set him up in a tightly guarded lab where he can't leave without going through procedures that would make the TSA complain about invasions of privacy. Not this it stops him from spiriting the diamonds out of the lab...

This actually isn't a story, but a radio play, so it might take a bit to get used to the script format. But it's well worth it, as this is a good story. The solution is simple, yes, but it's designed to fly straight over your head. And hey, I didn't solve it, so clearly something was done right.

The Mystery of the Lost Special by Arthur Conan Doyle

A train carrying an important man with important papers leaves its station, and never arrives at its destination. With no other routes off, the only answer is that it vanished into thin air...

Ah, the "vanishing train" plot. Incredibly difficult to pull off, amazing if you do, and Doyle does and doesn't. The solution works (and is kind od terrifying when you think about it from the victim's point of view) but the idea that this would leave no evidence that the numerous authorities investigating this wouldn't notice is bizarre.

Off the Face of the Earth by Clayton Rawson

Bela Zyyzk is a lunatic. Who else but a lunatic would proclaim that a woman will vanish of the face of the earth? A correct one, for not only does she vanish, but a judge he makes a similar proclamation to vanishes as well, this time from an observed phone booth...

Excellent story. The solution is long, yes, but it's easily followed, and clever to boot. Not much more to say here, except that I believe that I saw through Merlini's trick when I first read it.

The Grinning God by May Futrelle/The House that Was by Jacques Futrelle

A young man gets messed up in a storm and drawn into a living nightmare. Ghostly women rising into the air, a man who seems to completely ignore him, and a mysterious grinning idol...

The first story is a ghost story, and the second is a solution presented by The Thinking Machine. It's a interesting concept, but it's clear that Futrelle's wife made this too difficult, as the answers really don't hold up to scrutiny. (SPOLIERS How didn't the protagonist notice that the woman was climbing? How does a blind, deaf, and mute man take care of himself and his insane sister? What was that fire all about? etc. END SPOLIERS)

Thin Air by Bill Pronzini

Pronzini's nameless gumshoe has a simple task ahead of him; follow some lady's husband, and gather proof that he's cheating on her. Then the husband vanishes from his locked car, which Nameless was watching at the time...

This is good. The story flows at a nice pace, there's a good reason for the disappearance, and the story seems more fairly clued than some of Pronzini's other stories.

Elsewhen by Anthony Boucher

Harrison Partridge has built a time machine. Sure, you can only go so far with it, but it's still a time machine! Too bad that he soon embarks upon the road of the comic book supervillian, and instead of making it public, he uses it to commit the perfect crime...

An excellent end to the collection. It's a well-done reverse whodunit, and a good example of how to incorporate soft- science fiction and mystery. My only two complaints are that time paradoxes are involved, and that means headaches (though they are done very well), and that I find it hard to believe that no one would be interested in a time machine! Even if you can't remember or explain exactly how it's done, you'd think that the science community would be all over this! This guy's sister is an idiot.

And that's Death Locked In for you. It's certainly better than the last anthology I reviewed, if just because their are more actual locked rooms here, but the quality just jumps around too much. It makes reviewing harder too.

I give this anthology a 6.5/10

Next time, we'll get to that lost Ellery Queen novel! Thanks for reading, and be sure to comment!

(Sorry for the long wait. The first picture I used caused this to glitch out a little, and then I got distracted. I'll try to have another entry this week.)

Diagnosis: Somewhat Difficult

Hey, more Hoch! I know it seems a little quick to look at the next set of Dr. Sam Hawthorne stories already, but this was the next book I read in my epic quest to read locked room mysteries and I did say we were going roughly in my reading order.

 

More Things Impossible: The Second Casebook of Dr. Sam Hawthorne, is the second collection of Dr. Sam Hawthorne stories released by Crippen and Landru after which they proceeded to leave us hanging for years before they released the next one. For those who missed the last post and/or have the memory span of a goldfish, Dr. Sam Hawthorne was one of the creations of Edward D. "I've Written Over 950 Short Stories" Hoch. Dr. Sam practices his trade in the New England town of Northmont, which is like Cabot Cove, if Cabot Cove had people dying in impossible manners every week instead of just dying. Yep, just about every Dr. Sam story has a locked room mystery or an impossible crime. And they're all completely solvable! You can also count them as historical mysteries, as the stories start in the 1920s and go on to the 1940s.

 

Now that I've got the recap out of the way, it's time for some locked rooms!

The Problem of the Revival Tent

A man travelling with his wife and son comes to Northmont with the extraordinary claim that his son can heal people. Too bad his son can't heal him when he's stabbed to death in his revival tent. And too bad that Dr. Sam fought with the man before his death and saw no one else in the tent when the victim died...

A great start to the collection. The usual praises about fair clueing, interesting situation, and good solutions all apply here. The murderer is well-concealed even if the solution is a little obvious. Heck, I figured that part out (partly because I was kind-of-sort-of spoiled on it, but still!)

The Problem of the Whispering House

When ghost hunter Thaddeus Sloan comes to Northmont to look into the Bryer house, it has a reputation for ghostly whispers in the front room. By the time this case is over, it will have a reputation for the man seen walking into a room with one observed exit and vanishing, leaving only his corpse behind...

I'm a little torn on this story. On one hand, the killer is well-concealed. On the other, the solution makes me iffy. It works (and to be honest, makes sense) with the location, but it's not normally a solution I prefer. Still, that's more personal opinion more than anything else. (Incidentally, I came within a hair's breadth of the killer when I first read this story. It more because SPOLIERS I was getting better at recognizing important characters END SPOLIERS than any real skill, but hey, progress!)

The Problem of the Boston Common

Dr. Sam arrives in the big city of Boston just for a medical conference. He wants nothing to do with any crime at all. Obviously, he soon gets wrapped up in the hunt for the serial killer 'Cerberus". A man who poisons his victims with curare in the Boston Common even though no one sees anything...

First off, let me say that I solved this one. I didn't get the method, but I did get the killer. And not because it was a reverse whodunit! Sadly, while the killer is hidden well, I have to question why nether the police nor the doctor helping them tumbled to the method. It's still a good story though.

The Problem of the General Store

Maggie Murphy is talking about women's rights...in 1928. Needless to say, she's not getting far. In fact, she looks like she's making things worse when she turns up unconscious inside a completely locked general store with a dead man...

Once again, the killer is well-hidden, but the solution doesn't ring as true as it normally does. This seems to be a recurring thing. Nonetheless, the solution works, it just seems too simple and the cluing felt a liiiiiittle off.

The Problem of the Courthouse Gargoyle

Aaron Flavor stands trial for killing his employer and Dr. Sam is stuck on jury duty. Fortunately(?) the trial is interrupted when the judge kneels over on the stand form poison that could not have gotten into his cup, with the word gargoyle on his lips...

A neat story. The killer is well-hidden and the solution is also good. I do have to gripe about (SPOLIERS the dying message not having much to do with the murder END SPOLIERS) but that's a personal thing (and yes, I know that the outro says that someone dies when they don't. I chalk this up to Hoch not being done with the story.)

The Problem of the Pilgrims Windmill

A black doctor has taken up a job at Northmont's new hospital, which apparently is cause for much waling and gnashing of teeth. Soon, that waling and gnashing of teeth will turn into cries to God as the Devil starts setting people on fire in the old windmill with only the victim's footprints around it...

My favorite story in the collection hands down. Another well-hidden killer is on display here, and the solution is good (if technical) but the main reason I love it is that the concept is that the Devil is going around burning people! How can you write a bad mystery when that's your idea?!

The Problem of the Gingerbread Houseboat

Dr. Sam has found love in the form of Miranda Gray. The course of true love never has run smooth though, but whoever came up with that phrase probably never thought that it would apply to four people vanishing out of a houseboat...

Sadly, this is probably the worst in the collection. Just not enough is done with this idea, and the solution is too simple. Then again, motive was a bigger question throughout the story and there is a nice bit of tension near the end, so it's certainly not all bad.

The Problem of the Pink Post Office

The Great Depression is beginning to hit, but Northmont is blissfully unaffected. That is, unless you count the banker running in with a $10,000 bond and having it vanish under everyone's noses in spite of thorough searches...

Huh, no murder this time. Anyway, this is another good story that manages to strike a balance between the culprit and the clever solution. It is a little easy though. How easy? I solved it! This story's main problem isn't the mystery but the character of Miranda Gray. After this, I find myself wondering, "Why was she here again?" (Yes, it's possible that Hoch just changed his mind about having her as a love interest, but he could have ended it better.)

The Problem of the Octagon Room

Sheriff Lens and Vera are tying the knot and Dr. Sam is looking forward to the wedding, which is supposed to take place in a octagon room. Unfortunately, Dr. Sam is the best man, making it inevitable that his Detective Curse (TM) will kick in and leave the dead body of a tramp in the looked room as a greeting for the happy couple...

This is a pretty even story. the killer is well-hid and the solution, for once, comes without any complaints, even my nitpicky ones! It should be noted that, as Mike Grost points out, (SPOLIERS that this is primarily a physical trick as opposed to the psychological tricks that are more often used END SPOLIERS) Just an interesting fact.

The Problem of the Gypsy Camp

 

Dem dirty gypsies have returned to Northmont (fine, they're a different group) and they're bringing more trouble with them as demonstrated by the man who runs into the hospital screaming about being cursed...and then kneeling over with a bullet in his heart in spite of his unbroken skin. And that's before a whole camp pulls a vanishing act...

This was the story I looking forward to this whole book. I actually save this one for last! And it... mostly lived up to expectations. It wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, but it was still good (and isn't the mystery author supposed to defy your expectations?) I do have to wonder if the vanishing act was completely clued, but the rest of the story (including it's clever reversal at the end) make up for it.

 

The Problem of the Bootlegger's Car

Dr. Sam is not having a good day. First, he gets kidnapped by gangsters so he can look at their boss. Then he finds out that said boss his exaggerating his injuries in order to find a mole. Then he gets to witness of an illegal transaction. Then the seller of said illegal goods vanishes from his car...

Probably my second favorite story in the collection. It's all very tightly held together with the usual praises that make up a Hoch work. I honestly have no real complaints.

The Problem of the Tin Goose

The barnstorming pilots have come to Northmont, and with them, murder. Very extravagant murder to as their star isn't just stabbed to death in his cockpit, he's stabbed to death in his cockpit while it's in midair... 

I... don't have much to say here. This is probably the blandest story in the collection. It's good but... there's not much to say. Err...the solution seemed simple but I didn't get it anyway so maybe it isn't that simple?

The Problem of the Hunting Lodge

Dr. Sam's parents are in town and they're looking forward to seeing their  son again and his father is ready to shoot some animals. Unfortunately, Dr. Sam never told them about the Detective Curse (TM) so they're surprised when the leader on a hunt is found dead in his cabin with only the footprints of Dr. Sam's father leading to it...

A pretty good story. The solution is good and the killer well-hidden  (yes, I know I'm repeating myself), but not much was made of the whole "Dr. Sam's father looks like the killer" thing. I also have to wonder at some bizarre line the narration makes earlier in the story about Dr. Sam's mother. It has noting to do with the story and doesn't really add much so I have to wonder why it's in (It's the last line while Dr. Sam's parents are staying over.)

The Problem of the Body in the Haystack

 

There's a bear running around Northmont and a few concerned citizens, Dr. Sam among them, are ready to kill it to death. The bear however, is the least of their worries, especially when a dead body turns up on top of a tarp-covered haystack, one that was nailed down earlier...

 

This is a good one. The premise is neat and the solution is simple, yet almost bound to give you the slip. Of course, it has to be simpler than normal, otherwise we might have a hard time believing that Sheriff Lens solved it first! (Again, I kid. I like Sheriff Lens.)

 

The Problem of Santa's Lighthouse

 

Dr. Sam is travelling and notices an advertisement for Santa's Lighthouse... and sees that it originally read Satan's Lighthouse. His investigation into this drags him into a murder committed when no one was near the victim and into a direct confrontation with some vicious gangsters...

 

This...wasn't the best story to end on. It's merely okay with both the murderer and the solution being a little to obvious. (though this might be because of the way other reviews and summaries I read beforehand discussed this story.) It's decent, but not much else.

 

Well, there's our second round of Dr. Sam. All in all, this could have been better. The stories are still top-notch, but they seem to have more flaws than the ones in the last collection, mainly in regard to solutions.

 

Despite these flaws, this collection in more than worthy of your time. I give it a 7.5 out of 10. Next time, either a lost Ellery Queen novel, or another locked room anthology. Be sure to comment! But first, a question. Should I continue doing short story collections? I've got about five or six more before we start hitting any novels, and I want to know if you all would mind that. If not, I have a few Monk novels I can insert in. Thanks for reading and thank you Ho-ling for linking me (I'd do the same if I knew how) on your blog! It's official, I'm popular!

 

(Also, I know I said I would look at Dr. Sam's justice bending here, but that will probably be a separate post.)

Totally Not Father Brown

Let's get this party started!

The Mysteries of Reverend Dean is a short story collection written by Hal White. It revolves around the titular Reverend Dean who expects a boring retirement, but soon finds himself dragged into a variety of impossible murders both in and out of his hometown of Dark Pine (which gives off some Silent Hill vibes in the opening, but I digress). This book also has the distinction of being the first set of locked room mysteries that I ever read, so if it seems like I'm pouring out a bunch of undue praise, remember that.

Murder at an Island Mansion

In the first of many stories in which Hal White lies in the title, Reverend Dean is called out to a mansion by the daughter of a former church member. She's going through a bit of a rough patch in her life: her father died, there was a creepy note left behind saying that anyone who tries to sell the house will die with no footprints near their bodies, and one of her siblings has just died. On a beach. With no footprints in sight. And that's just the first...

A good start to the collection. The story is fairly clued, the deaths are creative (or at least they were to rookie me), and there's a nice little bit at the end that I choose to interpret as the strangest use of "God moves in mysterious ways" that I've seen. But I do have to acknowledge that the murders won't fool the experienced reader (except maybe the first one), the stupidity of the later victims is mind boggling ("Two of my siblings have been killed by a deranged lunatic because they wanted to sell the house. Let me publicly announce my intent to sell the house to every possible suspect!), and Hal White lies in the title ( there are three not one!). Get used to it, he does this a lot.

Murder from the Fourth Floor

Reverend Dean is prepariong to act as a councilor between a feuding couple, when the wife shoots her husband. From her fourth flour apartment. But he doesn't die (WHIIIITE). The police move in and think that everything's in the bag. There's an attentive witness outside who saw the apartment's door close and saw no one leave and a later a stereotypical teen will say that no one left by the fire escape, but when the police barge in, the woman has vanished, leaving only the smell of a fired shot to show that she was there...

This story really is a guilty pleasure. Looking at it now, it really is too complex; it takes the reverend about a fourth of the story to explain everything, and you're left with the impression that there had to be an easier way of doing this. But to rookie me it was glorious to see this story unfold. It might not be the best, but it's a personal favorite.

Murder on a Caribbean Cruse

When the reverend receives a free trip on a cruse from a deacon, he expects sun, the sea, and a good time with some singles he's met on the ship. Then a mysterious bearded man punches one overboard. And another is found hanging in her cabin, which is barred on the inside...

Another good story that makes up for the complexity of the last one with a simple and to-the-point solution. My main gripe is that the killer is obvious to anyone with the slightest familiarity with mysteries (Guess who didn't solve it!). There's also a theological digression, but it doesn't slow the plot down, in my opinion. Also, Hal White finally doesn't lie in a title.

Murder at the Lord's Table

A friend of the reverend comes with some disturbing news, a couple of weeks ago, an angel apparently made a vague threat against him during his service. The next week, no authority less than Jesus Christ clarified the original threat, more or less going, "Yep, you're gonna die." Then he vanished from the pastor's locked office, just to rub it in. The reverend is happy to attend the Lord's Supper at his friend's church to make sure nothing goes wrong, but he cannot stop his friend from kneeing over thanks to poison in his communion cup. How is this impossible? Communion is taken from multiple cups and there are no set cups for a person. Hence, there should be no way for someone to poison a cup knowing that it will kill a certain person. That is, unless the poisoner is God...

This was probably the most disappointing story in the collection. Not because the solution is bad; it's a little simple but that doesn't mean bad. It's because the situation is disappointing. This is a murder that is planned to be attributed to God, you don't just use poison, you use lighting, flaming swords, bears, something more dramatic! Also, the disappearance is easy, I was able to solve it from reading the snippet on Hal White's website. And this was when I was still a rookie!

Murder in a Sealed Loft

The reverend is down with influenza, but that won't stop his police officer friend from bringing him an impossible crime to solve and it's a doozy. The victim was stabbed in her locked apartment. Which had three locks. The windows were locked. No one was seen leaving. Oh, and there was a guard dog too. And yet the reverend believes that the main importance is the strange disappearance of some paperweights and a stapler...

On a pure technical level, this is probably the best story in the collection. It manages to present two solutions to the locked room and integrates both of them well. The "bizarre clue" you often see in stories like this is also well handled. Though...I do have a slight question (SPOLIERS I thought that none of the men were out of sight of each other. Or was that just the husband? The set-up obviously took time, so why didn't the others notice, or at least mention, the killer leaving? END SPOLIERS). I admit that this could be a misunderstanding, but it still bothers me.

Murder at the Fall Festival

The annual Fall Festival has come to Dark Pine and murder follows...and it doesn't even wait for the festival to start! (You were doing so good there Hal White...) During the preparations, one of the organizers is found dead, smothered in his garage. Which was under observation all day and no one saw anything suspicious at all. Throw in the interference of Totally-Not-Leland Stottlemeyer , and the reverend has his work cut out for him...

He really doesn't. This is probably the easiest story in the collection simply because Hal White over-clues the story. You'll know what I'm talking about when you read the story. (SPOLIERS I can't fault the author for making sure that you know what you need to know to solve the mystery, but couldn't that information have come by something other than an info dump? END SPOLIERS) Still, it's not bad and the solution works, even if it is a little...bizarre. There's also a neat little scene where the reverend explains what could drive a man out of his secured bedroom into the arms of a burglar. It's like something out of the Monk novels.

Pros
- The clueing is, as far as I can tell, perfectly fair.
- The solution to the locked rooms all work even if the second story pushes the suspension of disbelief more than it should.
-Reverend Dean himself is a very relatable character. He honestly comes off as someone that I'd actually want to know in real life. EDIT: Also, he's a religious character portrayed positively!

Cons
-The killers are very obvious. Sure, I didn't solve these things when I read them, but I was still floundering in this new world. I'm sure that most regular readers will have no trouble spotting these people if just by basic genre knowledge.
-While it doesn't get in the way too much, the reverend's constant mourning for his wife does get a tiny bit annoying. One ill-timed comment or otherwise ordinary experience and BANG! Despair! Despair! This random incident is causing me to despair! If these stories were published separately then it'd make some sense but they were all (as far as I know) written for this collection. We don't need a large reminder of the protagonists problems every chapter.
-I acknowledge that this is petty, but I wish that more was done with Dark Pine itself. It has some creepy vibes in the opening and...that's it. I'm not asking for shotgun duels with the Esoteric Order of Dagon, but some exploration of this would have been nice.

All in all, this was a pretty good book. It's by no means the best, but I think that we can appreciate when someone puts in a pretty good effort to craft fair-play locked room mysteries in our "enlightened" modern age. (And, yes, I know that this book was written about five years ago. It's still one of the few locked room mysteries to come out in that time.) If nothing else, it makes a great introduction to locked room mysteries.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Next time: An anthology! Feel free to comment, either about the book or my review. I'm always up for improvements!

An Introduction for the Connoisseurs in Murder

Welcome, welcome! I was wondering if you would show up! Come, take a seat and...Your shoes got muddy? Well of course they would! This house is surrounded by mud. Er...this is a odd question but did you notice any other footprints? No? Great! And you locked the door after you came in, right? Hm, too many locks you say? I see. You did get them all though, right? Wonderful!

Anyway, I'm glad you could come here. I've decided to follow in the footsteps of others and create a blog dedicated to giving my horribly biased opinion on mysteries. I assure you that I seek only the best...or at least the readable. Despite the name of this blog, I'll review whatever catches my fancy, though locked room mysteries do hold a special place in my heart. My only real criteria is that the mystery be fairly clued. I intend to go through almost every mystery I own (except for collections of really short stories) in about the rough order I read them. This will give you a peek into my evolution as a mystery fan, give you the joy at laughing at my early (and current) stupidity, and give me a very large backlog to make sure that I'm never short a review!

Now, because I'm terrible at keeping my writing coherent enough for in-depth criticism, I intend to give individual pros and cons for any books I review. I looks neater, it's easier for me to sort, and I don't see anyone else doing this exact thing, so I get to be different! I do want to warn you that I can and will indulge in spoilers, though they will be marked and you'll have to highlight them to see them.

That's about it for right now. Next time, we'll take a look at the book that truly started my current love of mysteries. I look forward to seeing you again. Be sure to comment and give criticism, opinions, and discussion.

Oh, you did lock the study door, right? Good, good, you can't make it easy these days...oh, never mind, he's already inside. Nice knowing ya!