"She Left Her Sense of Humor Behind Her"

THE MAXWELL MYSTERY.
By Carolyn Wells.
J. B. Lippincott.
1913. 302 pages. $1.25

Two contemporary reviews:

This is a pleasant, but rather conventional, detective story involving the usual murder mysteries, love stories, and amateurs with "detective instincts."

Finally, we have a solution by Fleming Stone, the greatest of American detectives, whose "eagle eye and massive brain" always surmount difficulties.

Philip Maxwell has a house party at the home of his wealthy uncle with whom he lives, and whose heir he is, a party made up of fascinating young people and including even a "belted Earl."

On the night of the big dance, Philip is found murdered and in such circumstances that almost every one in the house comes under more or less suspicion. The tracing of clues gives opportunity for the development of detective and erotic elements. The reader has a chance to make brilliant deductions for himself before the perpetrator of the crime is tracked and punished.

Exciting combinations of the expected and the unexpected attend the development of the search for the criminal. The suspense keeps the interest always at fever heat. — Unsigned, "Novels of the Season," THE LITERARY DIGEST (April 19, 1913; scroll to page 900)

Miss Carolyn Wells as humorist and writer of vers de societe and as author of a detective story are two quite different people. It is unfortunate that in going from one field to the other she left her sense of humor behind her. —  Unsigned, "The New Books," THE OUTLOOK (May 3, 1913)

Resources:
- John at PRETTY SINISTER BOOKS (December 10, 2011): "The Carolyn Wells Technique, or: How I Learned to Stop Thinking and Love the Mess."
- The GAD Wiki ("Carolyn Wells").
- A previous ONTOS article.
- Wikipedia ("Carolyn Wells").
- Online text.

Category: Detective fiction