Review: The Eye in the Museum by J. J. Connington

by Mary

As this novel opens, Leslie Seaforth and his fiancee Joyce Hazlemere are visiting the Struan Museum. Its eccentric collection includes examples of the taxidermist's art in the forms of a stuffed five-legged calf and a crocodile, jars of water from great rivers, somewhat suspect pottery, and the titular glass eye which replaced one Mr Struan lost in a childhood accident. In fact, the museum possesses two ocular items, the other being its camera obscura.

Under the terms of Joyce's father's will, she must live with her aunt Mrs Evelyn Fenton at The Cedars until she is 25, otherwise her inheritance will go to her aunt. It is a strained relationship to say the least since Mrs Fenton is vindictive and spiteful towards her niece, going so far as to blame her for her heart troubles, perhaps hoping to drive Joyce out of the house and so receive her inheritance. It would be welcome indeed given Mrs Fenton is addicted to betting. Dr Simon Hyndford, an intimate friend who often visits her, also likes to bet but neither is very successful at it. However, Simon shares a house with his brother Richard, who after years spent in Japan returned a rich man and is generous with loans to him.

Mrs Fenton is found dead in her home and the jury returns a verdict of wilful murder by a person or persons unknown.

Enter Superintendent Ross with a mixed bag of suspects. Was the culprit Mrs Fenton's husband John, who left her and the town after they separated? He wishes to marry his mistress but his wife refuses to divorce him. Now the couple are free to marry and since the Fentons are childless the money he settled on his departed wife when they wed will be returned to him. Furthermore, he was seen back in town not long before Mrs Fenton was murdered.

Then there's Joyce. Her aunt's death frees her from domestic tyranny and she will be able to claim her inheritance. She tells her fiance Leslie Mrs Fenton's treatment has brought her to the end of her tether so might the young couple have collaborated in a deadly plot? What about Mr Wachet, who manages properties Mrs Fenton owned? She intends to consult her solicitor unless he immediately pays her the rents collected on her behalf. If the culprit was Mr Wachet, Mrs Fenton's death would certainly be convenient.

My verdict: Superintendent Ross untangles a case that comes to include graphology, the puzzle of The Cedars' locked French window, IOUs worth thousands of pounds, a tumbler of a certain design, missing betting books, financial shenanigans, an overheard conversation suggesting plans for murder, and the dynamics of the Hyndford family. His summing up of evidence for the prosecution, including providing the names of those who will be able to confirm his reasoning, is a welcome feature in explaining a complicated case.

My verdict: Readers may deduce at least part of the solution but the full explanation of the affair is shocking and completely blindsided me. I award it an A, with a rueful smile at missing what was so obvious in hindsight.

E-text: The Eye in the Museum by J. J. Connington

Review: The Dream Detective by Sax Rohmer (1925)

by Mary

Moris Klaw is a colourful fellow who runs a ramshackle curio emporium (some would call it a junk shop) at East London's Wapping Old Stairs on the shore of the Thames. Assisted by his daughter Isis, his method of solving a case is to sleep at the scene of the crime on what he terms an odic pillow. Based on his theory thoughts are imprinted on the atmosphere, he has trained his sleeping mind to capture them as psychic photographs, developed in some unexplained way by his daughter Isis.

Note this collection is unusual in that the usual leading The...is not used in the titles.

Kicking off a mixed bag of investigations narrated (with one exception) by Klaw's biographer Mr Searles, the first begins when Martin Coram, curator of the Menzies Museum, asks Klaw to look into the CASE OF THE TRAGEDIES IN THE GREEK ROOM after the museum's night attendant is found murdered therein. All the public rooms of the museum were locked overnight and the keys used by the attendant on his nightly rounds were found on the floor of the Greek Room -- which was also locked.

The next episode is narrated by J. E. Wilson Clifford. He and his friend Mark Lesty occasionally call on Mr Halesowen, owner of a small collection of antiquities. During their latest visit he shows them the artifact central to the CASE OF THE POTSHERD OF ANUBIS. Halesowen tells them it is very valuable and he's already refused a generous offer for it. An uncanny event occurs about an hour after Clifford and Lesty return home.

Klaw's third investigation deals with what appears to be murder by supernatural means at Crespie Hall. The titular weapon in the CASE OF THE CRUSADER’S AX is so large and heavy that none but a man of Herculean strength could possibly wield it. Isaac Heidelberger, recent purchaser of the Hall, is found dead, his skull cleft almost to his backbone. The ax lies nearby. Part of the solution to the case may be deduced by a close read and the concluding proof of a suspect's innocence features a nice twist.

Sir Melville Fennel commissioned sculpture Roger Paxton to execute a statue depicting a reclining girl wearing genuine antique ornaments worth a small fortune. Searles and Coram are guests at a private viewing before the statue is displayed publicly. Later the same night, despite Paxton sleeping in his locked studio, the statue disappears, resulting in the CASE OF THE IVORY STATUE. I found this one of the collection's lesser entries, given about half way through the solution became obvious.

A committee of commercial magnates are about to take possession of the titular Indian diamond which, for once, has no curse attached. Their intention is to present it to the Crown on behalf of the City of London. To this end, a number of high officials gather in a locked room to conclude the deal but despite their presence the gem disappears. Klaw is called in to solve the CASE OF THE BLUE RAJAH. I managed to miss the vital clue despite its flashing lights and siren sounding!

The next investigation begins when Searles introduces Klaw to Shan Haufmann, an American friend in England with his daughters to recuperate from a wound sustained in the course of his duties. He's leased The Grove, the house central to the CASE OF THE WHISPERING POPLARS. It's said to be haunted after three strange deaths there over the years. After Haufmann reveals he's heard his name called among the poplars' whispering a nocturnal vigil is kept. A well-done creepy atmosphere invades the later part of this entry.

The following episode finds Klaw investigating the locked studio death of portrait painter Pyke Webley. Another artist leases Webley's house and studio and Searles, Klaw, and Isis attend his house-warming party. Fellow guest Russian pianist Serg Skobolov agrees to play, enabling Klaw to solve the CASE OF THE CHORD IN G. Those musically inclined may well solve the case.

The house of archaeologist Mark Pettigrew is burgled but nothing is stolen. The intruder, however, decapitated a valuable mummy in his collection, leaving its head behind and launching the CASE OF THE HEADLESS MUMMIES. The same outrage follows at Sotheby's auction rooms and Klaw's home. His investigation leads to an overnight vigil at the Menzies Museum's Egyptian Room and a culprit with a motive that may well be unique in novels of detection.

Klaw and Searles are dinner guests of Sir James Leyland, who invites Klaw to investigate the family ghost. As related in the CASE OF THE HAUNTING OF GRANGE, its latest manifestations have taken a nasty turn, including disturbing Sir James' sleep by what he describes as a filthy mumbling of obscene suggestions. The reader will Likely guess the solution but I'll give a hint: what is often found in historic stately homes?

Egyptologist Otter Brearley has completed his translation of a papyrus detailing the ceremony by which the priest Khamus was initiated into the cult of Isis. Searles, Klaw, and Dr Ralph Fairbank are asked to witness Brearley's attempt to recreate the ritual. The CASE OF THE VEIL OF ISIS also involves Brearley's sister Ailsa, who is to play an important part in this plan, by which he hopes to substantiate Khamus' claim that the goddess appeared to him. This final story strongly hints at the supernatural.

My verdict: Moris Klaw is one of the most eccentric characters I've come across in detective fiction and in some ways this overpowers the plots. Even so, the cases are interesting though I felt of uneven quality. Still, the collection kept me reading along and overall I enjoyed trying to solve the adventures of this "humble explorer of the etheric borderland" so I'll give this collection a B. YMMV.

E-text: The Dream Detective by Sax Rohmer (1925)

Review: The Dangerfield Talisman by J. J. Connington (1927)

by Mary

The Dangerfield family is an ancient one, having resided in their mansion Friocksheim since before the Norman Conquest. Their titular Talisman is a gold armlet studded with diamonds. Valued at £50,000, according to family legend it is the Luck of Friockshelm and will continue to be so as long as it remains there.

The majority of the large cast of characters are introduced playing bridge at a house-party at Friockshelm. Host Rollo Dangerfield's guests are by and large financially comfortable. Conway Westenhanger's wealth derives from his mechanical invention patents, Douglas Fairmile possesses a large private income, and Mrs Caistor Scorton inherited her deceased husband's war-generated fortune. Then there's Mrs Brent, wealthy enough from unnamed sources to own a steam yacht. Cynthia Pennard's financial circumstances are not revealed but Eileen Cressage is anxious about money, having run through most of her quarterly allowance with bills still to pay.

Also present at the house party: American collector Mr Wraxall, who wishes to acquire the Talisman, an unpleasant fellow named Morchard whom Westenhanger considers has more money than is good for him, and Freddie Stickney, who economises by sponging on others and invited himself to the gathering.

As a result of losses at bridge Eileen Cressage has run up a debt she knows she cannot pay, foolishly giving Mrs Caistor Scorton a cheque that cannot be honoured. A scandal must be avoided at all costs and Morchand offers to cover it but it is obvious he expects something in return, the brute. Meantime Westenhanger leaves for a couple of days to deal with a patent infringement. While he is away Rollo Dangerfield shows his guests the Talisman, displayed in a room featuring a floor chessboard on which games are played with iron chessmen over a foot high. A quarrel in that very room led to the dueling death of Mr Dangerfield's rakehell grandfather, who left behind an unfinished game with its giant pieces still in place along with a manuscript depicting their positions and featuring a couple of Biblical verses as well as a toy for his young son. What the manuscript means remains a conundrum still unsolved. Also in the mix is the Dangerfield Secret, revealed only to the male heir and the daughter of the house when she is 25.

That very night the Talisman is stolen but Mr Dangerfield brushes the incident off. The Talisman, he says, always comes home within seven days so the family does not bother to insure it and the police are never called in. They do have a burglar alarm since his wife is nervous but it was not triggered. Since he declares the servants above suspicion it follows a guest must be the culprit. Freddie Stickner pours petrol on the flames by insisting on a gathering where all the guests are expected to explain their movements the previous night. Talk about bad manners!

As a result, Eileen Cressage is prime suspect, having been seen in a corridor after everyone retired. But as it turns out, she was not the only person moving about the house during that fateful night.

Other suspects? Did Mr Wraxall, whose more than generous offer for the Talisman was rebuffed, resort to stealing it? Did Westenhanger secretly return to nab it for unfathomable reasons? What about the odious Morchard or the ghastly Freddie?

My verdict: There's plenty to mull over while seeking to deduce the guilty party. How do a missing silver mirror and gold wristwatch cast light on the matter? Might the Dangerfield Secret have any bearing on the theft? How do guests' favoured hands provide a pointer to the culprit? Why did Mrs Brent go off in her yacht and what is the reason Eileen Cressage is keeping a vigil for her return? These and other conundrums are cleared up in due course, the Talisman's theft is solved, the Dangerfield Secret revealed, and the meaning of the items left by Mr Dangerfield's grandfather clarified. With a doff of my chapeau at the ingenuity displayed in its clueing, I award The Dangerfield Talisman an A.

E-text: The Dangerfield Talisman by J. J. Connington (1927)

Review: Murder At Ravensthorpe by J. J. Connington (1927)

by Mary

Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield is being shown around the extensive grounds of Ravensthorpe, home to Cecil Chasewater and his siblings Maurice and Joan and their mother. It is Joan's 21st birthday that very day and a celebratory costume ball is to be held the following night.

As the two men walk around, Cecil points out an example of the miniature Fairy Houses scattered throughout the estate. Apparently every Ravensthorpe will includes a clause providing for these small dwellings to be kept in good repair for otherwise a curse will fall on the family. Or so legend has it.

On a more down-to-earth note, Driffield points out given ball guests will be masked it's possible outsiders with criminal tendencies might mingle with them and carry off valuable objects from the Ravensthorpe private museum, which will be open as part of the celebrations.

Cecil confides in Driffield that he's unhappy their father left everything to the oldest son Maurice, trusting him to provide for Cecil, Joan, and their mother. Unfortunately this was not specifically laid down in the will and Maurice has indicated he does not intend to subsidise Cecil forever. Tension between the brothers is further exacerbated because both have fallen for Una Rainhill, who favours Cecil. As a result he expects to be thrown out of Ravensthorpe at any moment without a bean to his name.

Furthermore, to the horror of those who hear of it, Maurice intends to sell off the Ravensworth collection of objets d'art, the most valuable of which is a set of Medusa Medallions created by da Vinci. In fact, a Mr Foss is currently a house guest as agent for Mr Kessock, an American millionaire wishing to purchase the medallions.

Bright Young Things that they are, Cecil, Una, and their friend Foxcroft "Foxy" Polgate decide to stage a jolly jape during the ball just to annoy Maurice, to wit, a sham burglary. Their plot includes plunging the house into darkness to allow them to mount a smash and grab of the medallions but events do not go as planned. There is a shot just as Una turns off all the lights in the house. A body is found in the museum, all the medallions have gone, and the perpetrator gets away despite being pursued and cornered by a number of male guests. More mayhem is to come.

There's a positive plethora of possible perpetrators. Was the culprit a family member wishing to thwart the sale of the medallions or an outside party who took advantage of the masked ball as Driffield had feared? It is unthinkable of course but could the thief be one of the ball guests? Even friend Foxy comes under suspicion, having made gold electrotypes of the da Vinci medallions for Maurice for display with the originals until the latter are sold. Apparently Maurice thinks copies will look just as well as the real ones.

The investigation comes to include an impossible escape, a sighting of the family's ghost, and a Japanese sword said to be unlucky plus a lesson on safe-cracking with the aid of a Marconi otophone. The case also involves a pair of trousers with peculiar pockets and a revelation via a childhood nickname.

My verdict: Connington is a master of misdirection. He presents a particular incident in plain sight but when the reader knows what it means, the new information puts a completely different complexion on what happened and explains much. I also admired his revelation of how what seems to be an impossible escape was accomplished and therefore award Tragedy At Ravensthorpe this week's Obfuscation Award, along with an A for its enjoyably devious plot.

NOTE: Alternate title is Tragedy at Ravensthorpe

E-text: Murder At Ravensthorpe by J. J. Connington

REVIEW: Murder in the Maze by J. J. Connington (1927)

by Mary

Being particularly fond of mazes, this title naturally leapt out at me and indeed a maze plays a major part in the plot given at one time or another almost every character spends time in or near it for various reasons.

The reader first meets the Shandon brothers, an unlikely trio. There's King’s Counsel Neville, currently prosecuting an important breach of contract case, and his twin Roger, who's rich enough to own Whistlefield with its maze and tennis court. The source of his wealth is obscure and a man from his past is attempting to blackmail him. And then there's their younger brother, Ernest, basically a parasite living at Whistlefield on an income composed of an allowance from Roger plus a bit of betting on the side.

Also in residence: the brothers' niece Sylvia and nephew Arthur Hawkhurst. The latter is recuperating from encephalitis and spends much of his time playing the piano. Very badly. Roger's private secretary Ivor Stenness lives in Whistlefield as well and on this particular day there are a couple of visitors -- Vera Forrest, a friend of Sylvia's, and Howard Torrance, a decent young fellow fond of Vera.

As the novel opens Roger expresses fears Hackleton, the defendant in the case mentioned, will have Neville attacked but his brother dismisses the possibility. Meantime Arthur's dreadful piano-playing is so annoying Neville decides to go over his notes on the case by seeking solitude in the maze. Unusually, by the way, it has two centres. Later Roger decides to make his way to the other centre as he is sleepy and, given the distance of the maze from the house, it will be quiet and out of ear shot of that awful piano playing.

Much of the action takes place in or near the maze, described as covering about half an acre with thick twelve feet high hedges, more than one entrance, and a complex layout said to far exceed those at Hatfield House and Hampton Court. Then Howard and Vera make a bet on who would reach one of the centres first. As they blunder around the labyrinth out of sight of each other, ominous sounds are heard and Howard suddenly shouts "Murder!". Since he cannot reach Vera he instructs her to leave the maze as soon as possible.

There follows a tense sequence describing Vera's attempt to escape while expecting to turn a corner and meet a murderer any minute. Instead she finds Roger Shandon's body. Howard, meantime, cannot find his way out but by sheer chance Vera manages it and races off to the house to get people to rescue him, search for the intruder, and call the police.

Once rescued, Howard, accompanied by secretary Stenness and a gardener -- both armed and familiar with the layout of the maze -- return to it to guard the body until the police arrive. In the course of navigating their way to the dead man, they capture a suspicious stranger. The corpse they reach is identified by Stenness as Roger and they realise the first body was actually Neville's.

Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield soon arrives to investigate the matter and the reader is off to the races.

My verdict: Murder In The Maze rattles along well. I particularly enjoyed the description of Vera's terrified escape from the maze. The murder weapon is a novel pairing of two fairly common methods -- in detective fiction at least. All in all, an engaging read I award a B plus. Next on my TBR: Mr Connington's The Case With Nine Solutions, another tempting title!

E-text Murder in the Maze