"You Fancy Yourself Quite a Toff But I'll Show You I'm Toffer Than You Are"

DEDUCE, YOU SAY.
Warner Brothers.
1956.
Video: 7 minutes and 8 seconds.
Online HERE.

"Watkins, in a moment there will come a knock at the door heralding the start of the Mystery of the Shropshire Slasher. Answer it. My pants are caught on a nail."

Category: Sherlock Holmes parody

OLD-TIME DETECTION, Summer 2014

(GIVE ME THAT) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Summer 2014. Issue #36.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
44 pages (including covers). $6.00

If you like mystery and detective fiction of ANY era, OLD-TIME DETECTION is the perfect choice. Editor Arthur Vidro has done a brilliant job of retrieving "lost" or simply neglected nuggets from the past and bringing them back from undeserved obscurity.

This issue covers a lot of ground: detective fiction from the '20s all the way up to news about the latest reboot of the Poirot series.

Contents:

HAYCRAFT-QUEEN LIST:
- A look at BEFORE THE FACT.

. . . BEFORE THE FACT is not a traditional crime novel. In this psychological suspense novel told from the point of view of the victim, we follow her life for several years.  . . .

35-PLUS YEARS AGO:
- Reviews by Jon L. Breen of books published in 1972, 1976, and 1977.

REFERENCE SHELF:
- Charles Shibuk examines two important works about the genre.

. . . I am, however, less than enchanted by Mr. Symons' casual unmasking of too many villains, and this includes the character who was responsible for the demise of the late Mr. Ackroyd, and his revelation of too many plot devices whose inventors took a great deal of time and effort to keep concealed.  . . .

MINI-REVIEWS:
- Critiques of books by Therese Benson, Goodwin Walsh, Neil Gordon, Harry Kemelman, Frank Gruber [THE MIGHTY BLOCKHEAD], and John Dickson Carr [THE BLACK SPECTACLES = THE PROBLEM OF THE GREEN CAPSULE].

. . . Carr so often proclaimed his adherence to the fair-play rule that it is unexpected when he engages in a bit of misdirection that few readers would consider fair. Carr's plots are puzzling enough without having the additional challenge of trying to discover when to believe the sleuth.  . . .

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS:
- A quick look at Ngaio Marsh and James Hadley Chase.

AT THE CINEMA:
- William Everson tells us about THE CRY OF THE CITY.

LOOKING BACKWARD:
- Reviews by Charles Shibuk that originally appeared a generation ago [including Christie's PASSENGER TO FRANKFURT and titles by R. L. Goldman and F. J. Whaley].

. . . PATTERN IN BLACK AND RED is an excellent detective novel and a welcome reminder of the Golden Age in America.  . . .

"LOST" FICTION:
- Ellery Queen solves "The Man Who Wanted to Be Murdered," last published in 1940.

. . . There in the room next to him sat a man who had wagered over a million dollars he would be dead in less than a week, a man who had practically offered four different people a fortune to kill him. And here, pacing up and down the hall outside—waiting—seemingly helpless to prevent whatever crime the old man was bent on, was Ellery Queen.  . . .

MEETING FRED DANNAY:
- In 1946, young Don Yates set out to meet half of the Ellery Queen team.

. . . What followed—his accepting my manuscript and promising to give it a careful reading, his patient signing and inscribing of all my books, the hours he spent lovingly displaying and describing the treasures in his collection—occurred in a magical dimension out of time. When I left, with a handshake and his good wishes for a safe trip home, evening was settling in over Brooklyn.  . . .

MEGA-REVIEWS:
- A look at THE BEST OF ELLERY QUEEN and a look at TEN DAYS' WONDER.

. . . Suddenly he sees the motif, the pattern for all the crimes that have been occurring. He counts the crimes. No, not all the crimes, for one crime is missing. Let's see, which one is it? And then it hits him. The one crime that hasn't happened, but must happen, is murder.  . . .

CHRISTIE CORNER:
- Updates in the world of Dame Agatha Christie.

THE READERS WRITE.

PUZZLE.

Subscription information:
- Published three times a year: spring, summer, and autumn.
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- One-year overseas: $40.00 (or 20 pounds sterling or 25 euros).
- Payment: Checks or cash or U.S. postage stamps.
- Mailing address:
Arthur Vidro, editor
Old-Time Detection
2 Ellery Street
Claremont, New Hampshire 03743
- Web address:
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Category: Detective fiction

"The Reader Will Hurry Breathlessly Through the Twenty-six Chapters"

When shallow critics characterize all Golden Age mysteries as involving "the body in the library," they're wrong of course; you have to wonder, however, if they might not have this particular book in mind as the template upon which they've been basing their stereotype:

THE YELLOW STREAK.
By Valentine Williams (1883-1946).
Houghton Mifflin Co.
1922. 341 pages, $1.75
Online HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Other editions listed HERE.

[Review excerpt] IMAGINE a billiard-room of an English country house where Mary Trevert has just refused Robin Greve, the man she loves, announcing at the same time her engagement to their host, Hartley Parrish, a man of unknown antecedents but enormous wealth.

This is a great blow to Robin who abruptly leaves the billiard-room and, passing through the hall where many of the guests are seated, goes past the library into the garden.

Fifteen minutes later a shot is heard from the library where Parrish was busy and, on an entrance being forced, he is found lying on the floor, a pistol in his hand, a bullet in his heart.

The police are summoned, the guests and servants are questioned, the usual procedure followed. Was it murder or suicide? Opinion is divided.

Thus the scene is set for those who enjoy a good detective story, and their name is legion, and to them "The Yellow Streak" by Valentine Williams, can be recommended.  . . . — "A Lover Not a Murderer," THE LITERARY DIGEST (June 10, 1922)

[Full review] When a critic confesses to having neglected many other pressing duties in order to unravel the mystery of a detective story a considerable efficiency in its construction may be argued. The supposed suicide of a millionaire, Hartley Parrish, occurs in the very first pages of the book, and the reader will hurry breathlessly through the twenty-six chapters which lie between him and the unravelling of the mystery. — THE SPECTATOR ARCHIVE (30 June 1922)

[Full review] Good old fashioned country house novel which I quite enjoyed. Sort of locked room, suicide or murder mystery. There is a wealthy industrialist with a mysterious past, poor gentlefolk, etc. A love interest, a will and most of the other necessary components of the genre. Not outstanding but fans of these between the wars crime novels like myself will probably quite like it. — John, GOODREADS (January 26, 2013)

Resource:
- A previous ONTOS article about Valentine Williams's writing philosophy is HERE.

Category: Thriller fiction

The Hext Files

Most Golden Age aficionados have heard of Eden Phillpotts, but only a few might know that he wrote under another name, "Harrington Hext," something he managed to keep hidden from his contemporaries for a while. Apparently, when Phillpotts wanted to escape the confines of ordinary fiction and let his imagination run wild he used the "Hext" alias.

As the following shows, for reviewers of his time Phillpotts was like the little girl with the curl: When he was good, he was very, very good, but when he was bad . . . .

NUMBER 87.
By Harrington Hext [Eden Phillpotts, 1862-1960].
The Macmillan Company.
1922. 255 pages. $2.00

[Review excerpts] ON ONE occasion a certain Alexander Skeat was the guest of honor at a certain Club of Friends in London who met together for social relaxation. From time to time they entertained distinguished visitors who addrest them on some subject of interest which was afterwards discust.

The impression made by Skeat was not altogether pleasing, yet the club was horrified to read a week later in the Times, an account of his murder. A policeman in St. James Park heard a cry from one of the paths and hurrying thither found Skeat lying on his face. This policeman declared that close by he saw dimly in the fog a large animal, unlike anything he had ever seen before, with a long neck, narrow head and glowing eyes. He blew his whistle, whereupon the thing, evidently alarmed, hopped twice, spread a large pair of wings, ascended into the air and disappeared.

An examination of Skeat's body revealed only a small red speck under one shoulder-blade, from which proceeded an incision, no larger than a thread, which reached the heart, while a further analysis showed a sudden and unaccountable disintegration of the component parts of the body.

All London is aroused, for it appeared as if Skeat had been killed by a force unknown to science, for the story of the strange animal is hardly considered.

. . . The next startling event is the entire destruction of the Albert Memorial. An event that would doubtless be welcomed by thousands of English.  . . .

. . . Some readers can not enjoy a mystery story unless everything is clearly explained in the end. Of course the explanation is necessarily based upon a hypothesis, which, being granted, is satisfactory. The book is extremely well written and the various discussions held in the Club of Friends enlarge the interest beyond the mere solution of the mystery. — "The Mysterious and Murderous 'Bat'," THE LITERARY DIGEST (May 13, 1922)

[Full review] A pseudo-scientific mystery story that would raise gooseflesh on a billiard ball. — "The Bookman's Guide to Fiction," THE BOOKMAN (June 1922; go to page 412, top)

[Excerpt] . . . Phillpotts's first sf [science fiction] novel was a thriller, Number 87 (1922) as by Harrington Hext, which revolves around a powerful new Power Source and an [SPOILER]; other thrillers as by Harrington Hext engage occasionally in the supernatural. — SFE: THE ENCYLCOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION ("Eden Phillpotts")

THE THING AT THEIR HEELS.
By Harrington Hext [Eden Phillpotts, 1862-1960].
The Macmillan Company.
1923. 334 pages.

[Full review] A story of fanaticism, dealing with the strange nemesis that pursued an English family. — "The Bookman's Guide to Fiction," THE BOOKMAN (December 1923; go to page 454, top left)

WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN?
By Harrington Hext [Eden Phillpotts, 1862-1960].
The Macmillan Company.
1924. 350 pages. $2.00
[a.k.a. WHO KILLED DIANA?]

[Full review] Why "Cock Robin" for a girl? One is a trifle annoyed with Mr. Hext for having assigned to Diana this meaningless and unexplained masculine nickname, apparently for no other purpose than to provide a catching title.

The first part of the book, in presenting facts preparatory to the later mystery, keeps the reader a little too long in the company of people who are no more than disagreeable and antipathetic until they become enmeshed in actual crime. After that point is reached the remainder is satisfactorily enlivened by the doings of a super-villainess, whose little tricks with arsenic are daring and diabolical. She is interesting, if untrue. — "The New Books," THE OUTLOOK (May 21, 1924)

THE MONSTER.
By Harrington Hext [Eden Phillpotts, 1862-1960].
The Macmillan Company.
1925. 328 pages. $2.00

[Full review] Thriller, by an author who does far better when he writes under his own name. — "Notes on New Books," THE OUTLOOK (June 24, 1925)

[Full review] If only the enigmatic gentleman who writes detective stories under the nom de plume of Harrington Hext—said to be the alias of an author of prominence in another field—had suppleness of manner and were able to make his people talk like everyday human beings instead of handing each other solid chunks of conversational bricks, or even of set speeches, we should have the mystery story raised to an nth degree. For he has not only rare ingenuity in the building of his plots but a constructive imagination.

The stage setting for this one of his tales is particularly good: its centrepiece is an immense, ruinous old warehouse at the edge of a small channel port, a town that has lost its maritime importance with the coming of the railroads but which was once a favorite resort of smugglers. Of course there is an underground passage from the store house to a neighboring farm, and, of course, the assortment of murders takes place in the old building. — "The New Books," THE SATURDAY REVIEW (September 12, 1925)

Resources:
- The GAD Wiki page for Phillpotts is HERE. ONTOS previously featured him HERE; Curt Evans has an overview of Phillpotts's career HERE.
- The Internet Speculative Database (ISFDb) has listings of Phillpotts's non-detective fiction HERE, while SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction has an extensive rundown of his fantasy and science fiction HERE.

Categories: Thriller fiction mixed with Fantasy/Science fiction

"There Are Murders, There's a Detective, and Sleuthing of a Sort, but the Solution Is in the Stratosphere"

When it comes to Golden Age mystery writers who have virtually zero presence on the World Wide Web, Sidney Williams just about tops them all; when his books did get reviewed (and the six below are the only ones we presently know about), they rarely got more than one liners. Williams's series detective was Jabez Twombley, characterized by one reviewer as an "American J. G. Reeder."

THE BODY IN THE BLUE ROOM.
By Sidney Clark Williams (1878-1949).
The Penn Publishing Co.
1922. 318 pages.

[Full review] The literary editor of the Philadelphia "North American" indulges in a spree and affords thrilling entertainment. — "The Bookman's Guide to Fiction," THE BOOKMAN (May 1922; go to page 297, bottom)

IN THE TENTH MOON.
By Sidney Clark Williams (1878-1949).
The Penn Publishing Co.
1923. 325 pages.

[Full review] Murder, mystery, love—from whatever point of view, this is excellently well done. — "The Bookman's Guide to Fiction," THE BOOKMAN (September 1923; go to page 63, bottom right)

MYSTERY IN RED.
By Sidney Clark Williams (1878-1949).
The Penn Publishing Co.
1925. 320 pages. $2.00

[Full review] There is none of the usual preparatory tinkering evident before this yarn takes a swift and early plunge into the seething waters of tempestuous action.

Three gentlemen, Dr. Caswell, the elderly host, his younger friends, Anthony and Delancey, land from the sailing yacht, Viva, on Nyatt Island off the New England coast. They crave adventure, and all unsuspected it greets them the moment they set foot on the shore.

"Are you Griffis?" asks a burly club-footed individual of Delancey. "Suppose I am," answers the latter, and thereby lets himself and his two companions into the three most thrilling days they have ever experienced.

The hostility and persecution of a powerful rum running aggregation, with receiving quarters on the island, immediately centers upon the newcomers, but there are numerous other characters and complications continuously supplied which insure a ceaseless round of excitement for the reader.

In totalling the list of attractions which combine to present a first class show of its kind, we may cite conspicuously: One murder, two abductions, two rapid-fire love affairs, intrigue, and mystification, all materializing with an adroit swiftness which keeps one constantly, if blindly, on the alert for what will happen next.

And not the least agreeable feature of the whole lies in Mr. Williams's style which, for a novel of this sort, is singularly readable and cultivated. If there must be mystery stories (we are one who owns to a secret weakness for them), their quality could be immeasurably bettered were less creditable workers in the field to study Mr. Williams's prose as a guide to the mastery of pure and yet intensely vital diction. — "The New Books," THE SATURDAY REVIEW (May 9, 1925; go to page 749, first column, middle)

[Full review] Bootleggers spoil a holiday, and their punishment provides numerous thrills. — "The Bookman's Guide to Fiction," THE BOOKMAN (June 1925; go to page 468, right bottom)

THE DRURY CLUB CASE.
By Sidney Clark Williams (1878-1949).
The Penn Publishing Co.
1927. 318 pages.

[Full review] Well contrived murder mystery—guess it if you can! — "The Bookman's Guide to Fiction," THE BOOKMAN (April 1927; go to page 212, right bottom)

[Full review] "The Drury Club Case" is much the best of his murder mysteries. It is bright, amusing, and almost impossible of solution until the final untying of knots. This is an unusual story, and one which all lovers of this kind of fiction should read at once. — J. F., "The Editor Recommends," THE BOOKMAN (April 1927; go to page 215, left bottom)

THE MURDER OF MISS BETTY SLOAN.
By Sidney Clark Williams (1878-1949).
D. Appleton-Century Co.
1935. 293 pages.

[Full review] Unfortunate lady found dead in her Phila. apartment after wild party. American "J. G. Reeder," name of Twombley, called in by D.A. - Miss Sloan was poisoned. Other occasional deaths prop up interest in Twombley's plodding among the too gay, too rich suspects. - Verdict: O.K. for t.b.m. — "The Criminal Record," THE SATURDAY REVIEW (April 27, 1935)

THE ACONITE MURDERS.
By Sidney Clark Williams (1878-1949).
Dodd, Mead, & Co.
1936. 248 pages.

A check on a bank in Massachusetts, the print of a heel in the soot-crusted snow in an alley, offer the only clues for detective Jabez Twombley to unravel the murder plot that linked the lives of three widely separated people. — WorldCat summary

[Full review] Reporter, city editor, and woman jabbed with aconite. Jabez Twombley bumbles through case. - There are murders, there's a detective, and sleuthing of a sort, but the solution is in the stratosphere. - Verdict: Very puzzling. — "The Criminal Record," THE SATURDAY REVIEW (April 4, 1936)

Category: Detective fiction

"The Explanation Is Logical, If Not Quite Probable"

MIDNIGHT.
By Octavus Roy Cohen (1891-1959).
Dodd, Mead & Co.
1922. 281 pages. $1.75
Online HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

For this author, detective fiction was a sometime thing:

Octavus Roy Cohen was born in South Carolina. He was educated at the Porter Military Academy, and then attended the Clemson University. He worked as a newspaper editor from 1910 to 1912. He wrote a series of stories about African-Americans that were published in The Saturday Evening Post. In 1913, he was admitted to the South Carolina bar and practiced law in Charleston for two years. Between 1917 and his death he published 56 books, including humorous novels, detective novels, scripts and plays, and short stories. — OPEN LIBRARY

[Full review] The mystery of a murder is cleverly put before the reader. A woman, carrying a bag, gets into a supposedly empty taxicab at midnight at a railway station and orders the driver to take her to a certain address.

When he gets there, the woman is not in the cab, but a murdered man is; and the bag handed to the driver by the woman turns out to belong to this murdered man and contains his clothes. The driver is honest and innocent. The explanation is logical, if not quite probable. — "The New Books," THE OUTLOOK (February 22, 1922)

[Full review] Octavus Roy Cohen's "Midnight" is an intriguing detective story contingent on the murder of a man of wealth and position. The charming fiancée of the murdered man, her brother, the beautiful and unhappy wife of a middle-aged financier, her sister the young flapper who plays such an important part in untangling the mystery, a valet, a taxi driver, and the chief of police are all well drawn characters who fit smoothly into the plot and in their turn excite our sympathy, amusement, and distrust, feeding the flame of curiosity to the end. — "Recent Books in Brief Review," THE BOOKMAN (April 1922)

. . . Midnight features a fairly complex plot unreeled at a slower pace than in many works. Older novels of detection often display social mores that seem strange to modern eyes, for example not mentioning a woman's name at the club or the terrible consequences of cheating at cards or in some other way being touched by the rancid breath of scandal. [Amateur criminologist] David Carroll must navigate these treacherous waters to solve the mystery of the who and how and why of the crime. — Mary Reed, MYSTERY*FILE (10 January 2009)

Resources:
- Mike Grost discusses other works by Cohen HERE, as does Jon Breen HERE.
- Wikipedia has an article about Cohen HERE.

Category: Detective fiction

"Heartily Recommended As a Thoroughly Interesting and Absorbing Story"

SCARHAVEN KEEP.
By J. S. Fletcher (1863-1935).
Knopf.
1922 [1920 in U.K.]. 316 pages. $2.00
Online HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

In this one, Fletcher wobbles between thriller and detective story with, according to these reviews, pleasing results:

[Full review] MYSTERY, character, love, a setting that combines the romance of the theatrical profession with the oddity of a quaint village on the Scottish border: satisfying ingredients for a detective yarn.

"Scarhaven Keep" is, I think, J. S. Fletcher's best. There seems to be no writer of this type of fiction who is able to keep so well his sense of plot and of characterization.

If you like detective stories, here is one that I can recommend with vigor. It is well written, too. Think of it! — "The Editor Recommends," THE BOOKMAN (March 1922; Jump To page 65, top left)

[Excerpts] BASSETT OLIVER, the well-known actor, was missing. He had closed his engagement at Northborough on Saturday night and was to open at Norcaster, a neighboring town, on the following Monday evening.

He left the hotel at Northborough at eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, had taken a ticket for Scarhaven, a little village on the coast reached by a branch line, and that was the last heard of him.

His failure to turn up at Norcaster for a rehearsal on Monday morning started an inquiry which elicited these facts, and consternation reigned in the company, where he was much liked.

This is the agreeably thrilling opening of Mr. J. S. Fletcher's "Scarhaven Keep," one of the best of his many good mystery stories.  . . .

. . . There is plenty of incident, both by sea and land, and the book may be heartily recommended as a thoroughly interesting and absorbing story.  . . . — "The Missing Actor," THE LITERARY DIGEST (April 15, 1922)

Resources:
- A mostly favorable collection of GOODREADS reviews is HERE.
- Previous ONTOS encounters with Fletcher are HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Category: Detective fiction