They Do It With Mirrors – Agatha Christie (1952)

Vintage Scattergories Category – Gold – 25. A Mystery By Any Other Name
Date finished: January 2, 2022

Miss Marple visits an old school friend at her country home and juvenile delinquent reform school and soon finds herself involved with murder. A complicated family, with various step-siblings, adopted daughters, half-brothers, and associated delinquents can be the only culprits.

As with many of the Christie stories, those with solid, unshakeable alibis are often the guilty parties, and it is clearly evident here. Nevertheless, it is enjoyable, quick, and entertaining.

The Violent World of Michael Shayne – Brett Halliday (1965)

Vintage Scattergories Category – Silver – Malicious Men
Date finished: January 1, 2022

Hired by the daughter of a powerful U.S. Senator to prevent her father from becoming involved with a scarlet woman, Mike Shayne travels to Washington, D.C., and gets involved with political intrigue.

Written by frequent Brett Halliday ghost writer Robert Terrall, this one takes Mike outside of the usual Miami, cognac-swilling, knock-down brawling world to an unusual backroom dealing word of aerospace corporations and political power. I found it a successful, enjoyable transition, as long as you could forget your expectations of the usual Mike Shayne behavior. Better than I expected it to be.

Vintage Scattergories 2022

Time to dust off this blog and get back to reading. My reading has suffered during the last two years of Covid, but new year, new attitude. I’m going to shoot for both the gold and silver versions of Bev’s Vintage Scattergories challenge. Categories below to remind me what I’m doing:

Categories:

1. Colorful Crime: A book with a color or reference to color in the title
2. Murder by the Numbers: A book with a number or quantity in the title
3. Amateur Night: A book with a detective who is not a P.I.; Police Officer; or other official investigator (Nurse Keate, Father Brown, Miss Marple, etc.)
4. Leave It to the Professionals: A book featuring cops, private eyes, secret service, professional spies, etc.
5. Jolly Old England: A mystery set in the United Kingdom
6. Yankee Doodle Dandy: A mystery set in the United States
7. World Traveler: A mystery set in any country except the U.S. or U.K.
8. Dangerous Beasts: A book with an animal in the title
9. A Calendar of Crime: A mystery with a date/holiday/year/month/etc. in the title
10. Wicked Women: A book with a woman in the title–either by name (Mrs. McGinty’s Dead) or by reference (The Case of the Vagabound Virgin)
11. Malicious Men: A book with a man in the title–either by name (Maigret & the Yellow Dog) or by reference (The Case of the Haunted Husband)
12. Murderous Methods: A book with a means of death in the title (The Noose, 5 Bullets, Deadly Nightshade, etc.)
13. Staging the Crime: A mystery set in the entertainment world (theatre, musical event, pageant, Hollywood, etc)
14. Scene of the Crime: A book with the location of the crime in the title (The Body in the Library, Murder at the Vicarage, etc)
15. Cops & Robbers: A book that features a theft rather than murder
16. Locked Rooms/Impossible Crimes: A locked-room or otherwise impossible crime mystery (locks not necessary).
17. First Impressions: Randomly select four books from your TBR pile. Read only the first line of each book and select one of them to read based on your first impression of the book.
18. Country House Criminals: A standard (or not-so-standard) Golden Age-style country house murder
19. Murder on the High Seas: A mystery involving water
20. Planes, Trains, & Automobiles: A book with a mode of transportation in the title
21. Murder is Academic: A mystery involving a scholar, teacher, librarian, etc. OR set at a school, university, library, etc.
22. Things That Go Bump in the Night: A book with something spooky, creepy, gothic in the title (The Skeleton in the Clock; Haunted Lady; The Bat; etc)
23. Repeat Offenders: A mystery featuring your favorite series detective or by your favorite author or reread an old favorite
24. The Butler Did It…Or Not: A mystery where the butler is the victim, the sleuth…(gasp) the criminal…or is just downright memorable for whatever reason.
25. A Mystery by Any Other Name: Any book that has been published under more than one title (Murder Is Easy–aka Easy to Kill [Christie]; Fog of Doubt–aka London Particular [Christianna Brand], etc.)
26. Dynamic Duos: A mystery featuring a detective team (Holmes & Watson; Pam & Jerry North; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin, or a little-known team that you introduce to us)
27. Size Matters: A book with a size or measurement in the title (Death Has a Small Voice; The Big Four; The Weight of the Evidence; etc.)
28. Psychic Phenomena: A mystery featuring a seance, medium, hypnotism, or other psychic or “supernatural” characters/events
29. Book to Movie: A book that has appeared on screen (feature film or TV)
30. The Old Bailey: A courtroom drama mystery OR a mystery featuring a judge, lawyer, barrister, district attorney
31. Serial Killers: Books that were originally published in serial format (from the pulp era) OR a book that includes three or more deaths–all committed by the same person.
32. Killed in Translation: A work that originally appeared in another language and has been made available in English–original publication date determines Gold or Silver Age–OR if your native language is not English, then a work that originally appeared in English which you read in your native language.
33. History Mysteries: The bulk or focus of the mystery must take place at least 15 years prior to the date of publication. Flashback stories are fine as long as the modern events frame the story OR the historical events are absolutely vital to the present day story. Example: A Study in Scarlet by Sir Artur Conan Doyle.
34. International Detectives: A variation on “World Traveler”–but instead of the crime being set in another country, the detective is not from the U.S. or U.K.
35. Somebody Else’s Crime: Read a book that someone else has already read for the challenge.
36. Genuine Fakes: Read a book by an author who wrote under a pseudonym (Josephine Tey [Elizabeth Mackintosh]; Nicholas Blake [Cecil Day Lewis]; etc.)
37. Hobbies Can Be Murder: A mystery that involves a hobby in some way: stamp, coin, book collecting, etc; knitting; birdwatching; hunting; etc.
38. Snatch & Grab: Read the first book you pick up off your shelf or TBR stack/s
39. I’ve Got You Covered: Pick a book to read based on the cover
40. Get Out of Jail Free: One per customer. You tell me what special category the book fits and it counts–the only thing I won’t accept is “It’s a vintage mystery!” The genre/time period is a given.

Octavus Roy Cohen – Love Has No Alibi (1945)

Vintage Golden Age Mystery
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza category: 2011 #5
Date Finished: January 29, 2020

Architect Kirk Douglas is in love with the female half of a nightclub dance team. She is still married to her dancing partner, however, who will not give her a divorce. Mysteriously a $100,000 has been deposited in Douglas’ bank account, but he has no clue as to its source. Meanwhile a woman he doesn’t know turns up dead in Douglas’ apartment. Also, a wealthy young socialite who has recently been kidnapped turns up at the nightclub and persistently pursues Douglas. Are these strange events tied together in some sort of frame up, and if so, to what purpose?

This is a enjoyable and entertaining mystery, though somewhat far fetched in coincidences if you stop to think. So don’t stop to think. Read and have fun.

Frank Kane – Johnny Liddell’s Morgue (1956)

Vintage Golden Age Mystery
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza category: 2011 #4
TBR #3
Date Finished: January 25, 2020

Eight Johnny Liddell short stories originally published between 1947 and 1955 are collected here. The stories are well told, but several felt familiar as if they had been reworked into longer Johnny Liddell novels. Several of these stories were first published in Manhunt appropriately as these are not cerebral whodunits, but tough action stories. Good, not great.

Mystery Book Magazine – Summer 1950

Vintage Golden Age Mystery
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza category: 2011 #3
Date Finished: January 22, 2020

Fredric Brown’s “The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches” anchors this issue of Mystery Book Magazine with short stories by John D. MacDonald and D.L. Champion among others. Brown’s story involves a detective trying to clear a man of murder whose story is related to a New Jersey nightclub that nobody can prove exists. It isn’t as clever as many of Brown’s stories, nor does it have a great setting, but still entertaining. MacDonald’s story “Dead on the Pin” is a bowling-related crime story.

Perhaps the best story here is “Murder in Bright Lights” by Jonathan Joseph and Bryant Ford, two writers with whom I was not familiar. Neither seems to have written much else. This short novel is set on Broadway, with a domineering actor-producer-director slain just after opening night.

 

Stephen Marlowe – Model for Murder (1955)

Vintage Golden Age Mystery
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza category: 2011 #2
Date Finished: January 20, 2020

Jason Chase, just released from a two-year stretch in prison for a real estate crime committed by his brother, who has also married Jason’s former fiancee, returns to New York and hooks up with an old girlfriend. She’s been working for a sex researcher and steals all the survey responses as a practical joke on her professor boss. Blackmailers find out about this and kill her roommate in order to steal the papers. The brother, sister-in-law, and sister-in-law’s sister are also all involved, causing Jason to start digging into the world of scandal sheets and mobsters.

A good story that was entertaining to read, but not terribly memorable afterward. Adequate.

W.T. Ballard – Murder Can’t Stop (1946)

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Vintage Golden Age Mystery
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza category: 2011 #1
Date Finished: January 19, 2020

Hollywood movie studio troubleshooter Bill Lennox takes his actor friend to a lake resort to have him dry out and pull himself together. The lake resort used by the various Hollywood types is also the home to a small mining town. A Hollywood mogul with whom Bill’s studio is fighting in court turns up dead in Bill’s bed. Convoluted family connections between him and people in the mining town are investigated with many others turning up dead.

The setting is good here, but the breakneck pace at which every suspect is soon murdered with various motives and back stories makes this it difficult to keep characters straight. I do enjoy Ballard’s writing, but this one has too much plot and not enough characterization.

Edward S. Aarons – Assignment Stella Marni (1957)

Vintage Golden Age Mystery
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza category: #19 Espionage
TBR #2
Date Finished: January 11, 2020

Sam Durrell returns for his fourth adventure, largely centered around New York City, as he investigates Eastern Bloc refugees who now suddenly want to return behind the Iron Curtain rather than stay in the U.S. One in particular, Stella Marni, is the latest who is also involved with his friend Art Greenwald’s brother Frank. Art calls in Sam to investigate, despite the resentment of the F.B.I. to the C.I.A. being involved, including one F.B.I. agent in particular who may have other motives behind his resentment.

Danger, bad guys, beautiful women, suspense — what more could you want? Aarons again writes an exciting, well-made story.

Richard Foster – The Green Lama (1940)

Vintage Golden Age Mystery
Vintage Mystery Extravaganza category: #2 Supernatural aspects
TBR #1
Date Finished: January 11, 2020

The first Green Lama story from Double Detective magazine, April 1940, was reprinted here in High Adventure #70 (2003), along with other stories from that issue, plus a bonus D.L. Champion story from the December 1938 issue. The supernatural aspects of the Green Lama are not as evident as later adventures, but he uses his ability derived from radioactive salts to do super-human things. I’m not sure that’s the wise course of action in the long run. The other stories are short story fillers with only the D.L. Champion one standing out.