"I Am Harassed by a Woman. She Is Busily Engaged in Killing Me."

ISAAC ASIMOV wrote a short introduction to today's story that places it in that species of detective fiction which most of us are quite familiar with:

  "The whodunit is one of the most widely recognized forms of mystery, and for many its name has become synonymous with the entire field. It gives the reader a chance to discover the identity of the criminal, usually a murderer, before the detective does, and therein may be its special appeal. In the classic version, the crime occurs in an isolated place, such as a manor house, there is a limited number of suspects, and near the end of the story the survivors are assembled to hear the detective's solution.

  "While science fiction can only boast of a moderate number of whodunits, some of its authors, like the incomparable Jack Vance, show great facility in handling this kind of story. And from the adventures of Mr. Vance's irascible detective, Magnus Ridolph, we have selected the following gem."

"Coup de Grace" (a.k.a. "Worlds of Origin").

By Jack Vance (1916-2013).

Magnus Ridolph No. 10.

First appearance: Super-Science Fiction, February 1958.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Novelette (22 text pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 155, PDF page 159).

   "Police routine might solve the case through the use of analyzers and detection machines. I hope to achieve the same end through cultural analysis."

There's been a murder in The Hub ("a fashionable resort, a glamor-island among the stars—something more than a mere stopover depot and junction point"), and it's hard to imagine a more diverse collection of possible suspects who might have done it. For Magnus Ridolph the usual approaches to crime solving will not do and he must employ all of his advanced sociological knowledge plus a technique that always proves useful, the old-fashioned process of elimination . . .

Comment: Rather than ending with an action-packed denouement, the ultimate solution depends entirely on the mental acuity of an armchair detective.

Main characters:

~ Magnus Ridolph:

  "At the moment I do not care to accept employment."

~ Pan Pascoglu:

  "We've never had a killing. It's got to be cleaned up!"

~ Lester Bonfils:

  "I seem predisposed to failure and defeat. I consider myself a man of good-will—yet there is no one with more enemies. I attract them as if I were the most vicious creature alive."

~ Dr. Scanton:

  "Beside the cage stood a thin young man, either inspecting or teasing the paleolithics. He turned hastily when Pascoglu and Magnus Ridolph stepped into the cottage."

  . . . and a starship-load of suspects:

  1. Lester Bonfils (the victim), with

     a. Abu

     b. Toko

     c. Homup

  2. Viamestris Diasporus

  3. Thorn 199

  4. Fodor Impliega

  5. Fodor Banzoso

  6. Scriagl

  7. Hercules Starguard

  8. Fiamella of Thousand Candles

  9. Clan Kestrel, 14th Ward, 6th Family, 3rd Son

  10. (No name).

  

Resources:

- The ISFDb has complete information about the Magnus Ridolph series (HERE). Kevyn Winkless at Castalia House has an article about Ridolph (HERE) that explains Jack Vance's approach to these stories.

- Our last encounter with Magnus Ridolph was "The Kokod Warriors" (HERE), where you'll also find a list linked to all our previous postings about the "irascible" galactic trouble-shooter. At the time "Coup de Grace" was hard to come by, as we noted in the posting, but fortunately for us anglophones Isaac Asimov and his editors chose to include it in their 1979 anthology, linked above.

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"Dead. Murdered. Stabbed in the Back."

NORBERT DAVIS can justifiably be grouped with the "hard-boiled screwball" school of detective fiction writers such as Craig Rice, who were more concerned with pushing the story along and the devil take the inconsistencies, inserting at times their own peculiar brand of logic into the narrative—which is no knock against them, however, because they could produce truly entertaining stories on a regular basis. Since the majority of Norbert Davis's output conformed to that pattern, we were mildly surprised by the following story, in which a crime gets solved according to . . .

"The Lethal Logic."

By Norbert Davis (1909-49).

First appearance: Detective Fiction Weekly, April 29, 1939.

Reprinted in Dark Lessons (1985).

Short story (11 pages).

Online at Roy Glashan's Library (HTML HERE).

   "It won't take me more than a couple of hours. It's a stupidly simple problem."

"A couple of hours," he says—but he does it, when the solution of a murder of a 

student in a law school university's library proves susceptible of straightforward 

logical thinking. From what we've been reading, we're not sure whether Wittgen-

stein would approve or be disappointed . . .

Principal characters:

~ Langdon:

  ". . . missed being murdered by just those three steps."

~ Carlson:

  "My God! You don't mean to tell me that any modern police officer follows that antiquated bit of flubdub. Cherchez la femme! Faugh! It makes me sick!"

~ Vaster:

  "Carlson, watching him as he talked, thought he could see the small, dull brain behind the slope of Vaster's skull, see it actually groping around in the mist, blindly and stubbornly trying to find and follow Carlson's logical path."

~ Dieckmann:

  ". . . had a mind as sharp as a razor. He was sitting on the top of the steps, absently smoking a pipe."

~ Janice Lee:

  ". . . came around the corridor at the end of the last stack. She was a small girl with smooth, blue-black hair. Her face was very white and smooth, and her soft, small lips framed a whispered answer to Carlson's greeting."

~ Reeve:

  ". . . was slumped down in the chair. He bent forward slowly from the waist until his face bumped against the book he had on his lap."

~ Dean Michels:

  "'What—' Michels began, and then his big, loose face seemed to stretch grotesquely. 'Dead! You said—'"

~ Lieutenant Harms:

  "I got to arrest somebody—quick."

~ Dogan:

  ". . . looked like the movie version of a gangster's bodyguard except for the fact that he was cross-eyed and wore thick glasses."  

Resources:

- This is our first full-on encounter with the fiction of Norbert Davis, who, sad to say, committed suicide. For all the details about our author, see Wikipedia (HERE), Black Mask (HERE), The New Thrilling Detective (HERE), The GAD Wiki (HERE), and the ISFDb (HERE).

- Davis had a tenuous connection with the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who had an affinity for detective stories. See Josef Hoffmann's Mystery*File article (HERE) and the extensive Wikipedia article about Wittgenstein (HERE).

- Roy Glashan has a fine developing collection of Davis's novels, novelettes, and short stories (HERE) in both HTML and EPUB formats.

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"Reed Turned Slowly, Staring Down the Barrel of a Thirty-two"

"The Story Escapes Me."

By Leroy Yerxa (1915-46; ISFDb HERE; SFE HERE).

Illustrated by Rod Ruth (1912-87; ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Fantastic Adventures, December 1945.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Novelette (17 pages).

Online at Roy Glashan's Library (HTML HERE).

(Parental caution: Strong language.)

   "What would have happened if Curt Reed had met Curt Reed?"

Dreaming up and committing a story to paper is often hard enough, but when it comes to actually living through it without getting killed — that's something else . . .

Main characters:

- Curt Reed:

  ". . . knew that his editor couldn't use a gangster yarn. This had been a strictly-plotted love story. Now it wanted to make a gang war out of itself, and he couldn't stop it."

- Joan Freemont:

  "She's a stubborn wench. I ought to kill her and start all over again."

- Howard Dean:

  "'. . . is mixed up in some manner with a gang of jewel thieves,' she said. 'His name is never linked with any of the robberies, but there has never been one robbery by this gang that took place outside of his clubs. My paper, for one, won't even touch him'."

- Smug Farley:

  "An ugly smile lighted his pimply face as he recognized Reed. He kept coming, his right hand in his pocket, eyes frozen, an ugly grin on his face."

- Marie Weems:

  ". . . you know her, the old society hellion. She had fifty thousand dollars' worth of diamonds taken from her at the 'Romantic Adventure'."

- Grant Owen:

  ". . . owned the Journal. He didn't like to have his employees tell him how to run it. His face turned an off shade pink."

- Dizzy Darrow:

  ". . . was an invaluable partner. He looked his part perfectly. Dizzy had that gaunt, my-God-how-I-suffer look on his face most of the time. He lived on a diet of mixed drinks, managed to keep his ears open and his mouth shut. Dizzy did the foot-work for her, and she kept him in money that allowed him to drink himself into one stupor after another. Dizzy wanted it that way . . ."

- Mrs. VanWry:

  "Joan had lost her appetite. She was thinking very hard. Thinking that whenever Mrs. VanWry threw a party there would be a lot of expensive gems wrapped around fat necks and thick wrists. There hadn't been a jewel robbery for six weeks. A private room at the 'Romantic Adventure.' A perfect setup."

- Droop-Lip:

  "You wouldn't know nothing about that safe would you, Bud?"

References and resources:

- "Female Winchell":

  At the time of our story any reference to "Winchell" would be universally understood:

  "Walter Winchell (1897–1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and columnist for New York tabloids. He rose to national celebrity in the 1930s with Hearst newspaper chain syndication and a popular radio program. He was known for an innovative style of gossipy staccato news briefs, jokes, and Jazz Age slang. Biographer Neal Gabler claimed that his popularity and influence 'turned journalism into a form of entertainment'." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Reed passed the night-club":

  As the Wikipedia article (HERE) shows, nightclubs have evolved over time.

- "watching the orchestra practice swing music":

  "Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early '30s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, known as the swing era . . ." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- A movie with a similar premise to "The Story Escapes Me" is Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), made forty years later; see Wikipedia (WARNING! SPOILERS! HERE).

- Like our latest Leroy Yerxa story "Sentimental Monster" (ONTOS HERE), you can find a fine collection of Yerxa's fiction at Roy Glashan's superb library (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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Little-known Titles from 1929-30

THANKS to the determination of aficionados (but no thanks to idiotic copyright laws), some detective fiction books that have fallen into obscurity in the past century haven't been entirely lost to us. Even if you're an experienced tec-fic fan, you might not have heard of some of these, which we found in . . .

The Bookman Advertiser Notes on New Books.

"Detective Fiction."

In The Bookman, January 1930.

Online at UNZ (HERE and below).

~ THE PRESSURE-GAUGE MURDER by F. W. B. von Linsingen (DUTTON. $2.00)

   A STORY of modern diamond smuggling, in which the precious stones are hidden in fake tire-pressure gauges, and transported abroad from Johannesburg, the diamond section of South Africa. A perfect racket until one smuggler becomes too avaricious and double-crosses his pals, committing murder to secure the whole booty. Mistaken identity keeps up the suspense.

 - Related: Martin Edwards (HERE) - Can be purchased (HERE).

~ CRIME IN INK by Claire Carvalho and Boyden Sparks [sic] (SCRIBNER'S. $2.50)

   THANKS to Miss Carvalho's intimate knowledge of her father's affairs, this book, covering the outstanding cases in which he participated as handwriting expert, describes in detail the methods by which David N. Carvalho detected forgeries. Among the more spectacular records we find Carvalho's testimony at the trial of Captain Dreyfus, and in the Molineux case, which shook the social world of New York.

 - Related: Book online (HERE) - Very brief Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology review (HERE).

~ THE SILENT MURDERS by Neil Gordon (DOUBLEDAY, DORAN. $2.00)

   EIGHT murders with only one connecting link. With this wholesale slaughter going on, and the press hounding Scotland Yard, Inspector Dewar is put in charge of the case. After combing the police archives of London and Reading for weeks, during which another crime is committed, he finds a clue that leads him to his quarry. A highly exciting tale of a hatred fostered for twenty years. 

 - Related: J. F. Norris's review (HERE).

~ CLUES OF THE CARIBBEES by T. S. Stribling (DOUBLEDAY, DORAN. $2.50)

   IN THE course of a voyage through the West Indies, Professor Henry Poggioli, Ph.D., finds opportunity to exercise his criminologistic mind to his heart's content. Mr. Stribling has displayed in his previous books a knowledge of these superstitious people that inhabit the shores of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and brings his readers a sympathetic understanding of their short-comings.

 - Related: Wikipedia (HERE) - The GAD Wiki (HERE) and (HERE) - Fantastic Fiction (HERE) - "The Cablegram" (short story) (HERE).

~ THE MUSEUM MURDER by John T. Mclntyre (DOUBLEDAY, DORAN. $2.00)

   AN UP-TO-DATE murder in the John Gregory Art Museum of New York. The curator is found stabbed to death with a Moorish dagger, and a millionaire art patron, two of the trustees of the institution and the grandson of the museum's founder, are all involved. Chalmers, a chubby connoisseur, remarkably fond of his food and comfort, takes charge of the investigation, within twelve hours picks out the perpetrator — and goes back to his gourmandizing.

 - Related: The GAD Wiki (HERE) - Goodreads (HERE) - ONTOS (HERE).

~ THE HOUSE OF CAIN by Arthur W. Upfield (DORRANCE. $2.00)

   HIDDEN in the wilds of South Australia is the House of Cain — refuge of murderers and home of evil. The long trek that takes Martin Sherwood and his brother Monty there is fraught with danger. But the spirit of adventure that is Monty's and his solicitude for his brother carry them through safely to a smashing finish. A veritable find for mystery and adventure lovers.

 - Related: The GAD Wiki (HERE) - Goodreads (HERE).

~ ODDWAYS by Herbert Adams (LIPPINCOTT. $2.00)

   TWO brothers are killed on the same evening and an innocent girl is held as a murderess. Her old lover, Martin Patton, atones for his past by sending his cousin Ronald to search for means of acquittal. The trail leads from London to a country road house and a hidden underground chamber where death lurks.

 - Related: Wikipedia (HERE) - The GAD Wiki (HERE) - ONTOS (HERE).

~ FOOL ERRANT by Patricia Wentworth (LIPPINCOTT. $2.00)

   HUGO ROSS, secretary to Ambrose Minstrel, eccentric inventor, defeats a plot to defraud England of a new invention that will revolutionize warfare. Romance and mystery hold the interest while England's fate is in the balance.

 - Related: Wikipedia (HERE) - Fantastic Fiction (HERE) - The GAD Wiki (HERE) - Online (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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UPDATE: OLD-TIME DETECTION, Spring 2018

Added online link for T. S. Stribling's "Judge Lynch" (HERE; item 9).

"A Magnificent Symphony and a Magnificent Murder Are Equally Admired by the Populace"

HERE we have appearing in the same magazine issue a review of Sherlock Holmes's swan song (at least from his creator) and the disturbing links between music and homicide:

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.

By Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930).

London: John Murray, 1927. 7s. 6d.

"Books Abroad" in The Living Age, August 1, 1927 (HERE and below).

(A reprint of Gerald Gould's article in the Observer.)

  SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE announces positively the last disappearance of Sherlock Holmes. How many moons have waxed and waned since Holmes fell over that precipice, with (I suppose) the words Moriarty te saluto on his ascetic lips? He has been a good goer and a good stayer, but I part from him less regretfully than from Watson. I have always held Watson to be greater than Holmes, just as I have always held Boswell to be greater than Johnson.

  I cannot feel free to criticize this new collection of stories. It is not now as it hath been of yore; but the change is just as likely to be in the reader as in the writer. The great detective does not seem quite the man he was — in the first story he does no detection, and commits only a very elementary burglary; and he is betrayed on the very first page as the last man who ought to have been entrusted with a confidential document, since he leaves it in his coat pocket while he has a Turkish bath!

  But probably it is we who are not the men we were; and certainly Sir Arthur has good grounds for the modest hope he expresses — that 'Sherlock and his Watson' may find a corner in the Valhalla of literary characters. Watson certainly will be wafted to bliss by police officers from Scotland Yard, all brainlessness and boots, with no ratiocinatory processes to reproach his sublunary infirmities. And if there is any boggling at the gate, Holmes will be there to smooth it over with the welcome and welcoming phrase, 'Elementary, my dear Watson!'

Resources:

- About James Boswell and Samuel Johnson: Wikipedia (HERE) and (HERE).

- In the same year this review appeared, Arthur Bartlett Maurice acknowledged Holmes's "passing" in The Bookman; see ONTOS (HERE). However, Gilbert Seldes, also writing at The Bookman, didn't hesitate to let us know what he thought of the book:

  "Sir Arthur is obviously weary of his detective and weary of writing; almost all the stories are pretty bad, largely because there is hardly a trace of detecting in them; something mysterious occurs and Holmes remembers an odd bit of information which explains it, or guesses something pretty obvious and it turns out right. One would suspect from the present book that Doyle has discovered the one way to rid himself of Holmes — by writing such stupid yarns that even editors would stop plaguing him for more. But you never can tell about editors." (ONTOS HERE.)

- Here is the FictionMags content list ("nv" = novelette; "ss" = short story):

  

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by A. Conan Doyle (John Murray, June 16, 1927, 7/6d, 320pp, hc). Simultaneous with US (George H. Doran) edition.

  - Preface · A. Conan Doyle · pr 1927

  - "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · nv Collier’s, November 8, 1924

 - "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · nv 

Liberty, October 16, 1926

 - "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · ss 

The Strand Magazine, October 1921

  - "The Adventure of the Three Gables" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · ss 

Liberty, September 18, 1926

 - "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · ss 

The Strand Magazine, January 1924

 - "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · ss 

Collier’s, October 25, 1924

 - "The Problem of Thor Bridge" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · nv 

The Strand Magazine, February 1922 (+1)

 - "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · nv 

The Strand Magazine, March 1923

 - "The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · nv 

Liberty, November 27, 1926

 - "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · ss 

Liberty, January 22, 1927

 - "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · ss 

Liberty, March 5, 1927

 - "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" [Sherlock Holmes] · A. Conan Doyle · ss 

Liberty, December 18, 1926.

Life, Letters, and the Arts: "Music and Murder."

The Living Age, August 1, 1927 (HERE and below).

  ERNEST NEWMAN, the most stimulating of all English musical critics, finds so much in common between the murderer Nathan Leopold and the musician Richard Wagner that he says, 'From music to murder is probably only a step.' The comparison was suggested by a book entitled World Famous Crimes, by F. A. Mackenzie, in which the author gives a thorough psychological analysis of the Leopold and Loeb case, showing how both young men, in different ways, exhibited the same abnormal mental traits that Mr. Newman declares exist in many artists. 'While yet a child,' says Mr. Mackenzie, 'Nathan F. Leopold began to strive to be the cold-blooded intellectualist.' It appears that he also 'wants to write a book or books, particularly his autobiography, because he thinks he is different from the others, and has led an unusual and most interesting life, and one that is worth recording.' With perhaps more reason, Wagner shared the same overweening egotism, and Mr. Newman feels that some of his remarks in Mein Leben would be the sort of thing Leopold might say.

  Krueger, the Stockholm humorist who blew up one of his friends by putting him in a taxicab and setting off a charge of dynamite with a time fuse under the back seat, might have been a jazz drummer. This man's personality 'conveyed the impression of hustling restlessness and nervousness' that, according to Mr. Newman, Wagner also revealed. In short, the whole thing boils down to the old question of genius and madness. The musician, like every other artist, is just as obnoxious to conventional society as the murderer. When we consider that this unpleasantness does not arise from his work, — for a magnificent symphony and a magnificent murder are equally admired by the populace, — but from his eccentricities, we find ourselves agreeing with Mr. Newman that music and murder are, indeed, sister arts.

Resources:

- About Ernest Newman: Wikipedia (HERE).

- About Leopold and Loeb: Wikipedia (HERE).

- About Wagner: Wikipedia (HERE) and Mein Leben (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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Two More from '28

The Mystery of the Blue Train.

By Agatha Christie (1890-1976).

London: Collins, 1928. 7s. 6d. net.

Reviewed in The Living Age, June 1, 1928 (HERE and below).

Full review:

  Mrs. Agatha Christie knows that the familiar ingredients of mystery story will serve an author who can cunningly enough vary their mixture, and she is content, without straining at any fanciful significance, to engage our attention for her Blue Train tale by the old lure of the Heart of Fire ruby. The clues are many and well crossed to the crime of Ruth Kettering's murder, they lead us tantalizingly to and past good people and bad alike, and surprise us in the end with a properly unexpected villain. The result is still, another score for the intuitive method of the vain but likable Monsieur Poirot.

Resources:

- The GAD Wiki (HERE) - Wikipedia (HERE) and (WARNING! SPOILERS! HERE) - and the ISFDb (HERE).

The Metcalfe Mystery.

By (Horace William) Elliot Bailey (1887-1977).

London: Geoffrey Bles, 1928. 7s. 6d. net.

Reviewed in The Living Age, June 1, 1928 (HERE and below).

Full review:

  The Metcalfe Mystery, too, is a plain tale of villainy, frankly meant to pass an idle hour. For that reason we need not criticize impertinently the adoption of the popular novelist, Lance Wilmot, by Scotland Yard into the affair of the Bedford Row solicitor's disappearance. The amateur, it may be said, shows up foolishly beside the professional. Between them, however, they keep us hunting merrily along false trails until such time as the criminal is unearthed, and Brenda Metcalfe's love story crowned.

Resources:

- The Goodreads review is (HERE).

- 1928 produced some good books but also some clunkers. See ONTOS (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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