Hanover Browsing
I FEEL that for too long I have been neglecting the readers of murder stories, or whodunits, and I am going to devote this month's column to books lome of you may not know which I have found entertaining and, in some cases, absolutely splendiferous.
I place first among the detective stories I love The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Conan Doyle, in one volume. No comment is necessary except to say that I still find these stories fresh and undying. Incidentally the London Mystery Magazine is published from 221 B Baker Street, London, and a year's subscription can be had for $2.25 by writing to that address. A superior magazine.
Next, I think, of perennial interest is R. Austin Freeman's single volume, Dr.Thorndyke: His Famous Cases (Hodder & Stoughton, London), which contains 37 criminal investigations by the sagacious and intrepid doctor. A darned good volume to own and I find that I read and reread it.
Dorothy B. Hughes' Terror, consisting of a reprint of three of her best stories, The So Blue Marble, The Cross-Eyed Bear and The Bamboo Blonde, is worth possessing. Also good is her novel The FallenSparrow. Some of her most recent books seem to me not to be up to the high standard of suspense set by the above.
Peter Cheyney, though variable, is on the whole very entertaining, and I can recommend his books. A list follows which can be had sometimes in paper-covered books, or in regular trade editions: Oneof Those Things, with a new agent Terence O'Day; Lady, Beware'., starring Johnny Vallon; Sinister Errand, one of his best with the suave and deadly Ernie Guelvada; Dark Wanton, one of those adventures started by "the old man," Everard Peter Quayle; Dark Interlude, with the fascinating Shaun Aloysius O'Mara; You Can Call It A Day, with Johnny Vallon; and two vintage Cheyneys, No Ordinary Cheyney (Faber), and Making CrimePay, describing the underworld of Mayfair, etc. Whatever you may think of Cheyney, he is a whole ladder higher than Charteris' comic strip character The Saint (which is not to be construed as meaning that I don't enjoy reading about Simon Templar).
Look into the work of Roy Vickers, especially his The Department of Dead Ends and his more recent Murdering Mr. Velfrage. Both published in London.
Another good English detective story recently read is Douglas Rutherford's Comesthe Blind Fury, telling of the thrilling and suspenseful adventures of Special Agent Regan in London and Paris. The English do this kind of thing very well, and this is one of their best examples.
John Rhode is a steady and trustworthy old war-horse, and his most recent adventure of Jimmy Waghorn is called FamilyAffairs.
I would like to pause for a moment in memory of R.A.J. Walling, who has gone to his reward, taking with him, I presume, the slow-going, pipe-smoking and likeable Mr. Tolefree. I shall miss them both, but after all there are all the old adventures to re-read. Mr. Walling's last serious work was a history of Plymouth, England, where he made his home.
Hammond Innes is getting better known over here. He writes quite well, and his backgrounds are authentic and an integral part of his fascination. The BlueIce is about Norway, The Lonely Skier about London and the Dolomites, KillerMine about Cornwall, and a recent one, I didn't like quite so well, about Antarctic whaling vessels. There are others.
Most everybody has read E. C. Bentley's justly famous Trent's Last Case, and his more recent flop about the elephant. It may be that you are unaware that he has a son Nicholas Bentley who is right in the groove and has already turned out two very slick mysteries. An earlier one, TheTongue-Tied. Canary, has been followed by one I just finished, The Floating Dutchmanwhich concerns one Alexander James, the sleuth, his accomplice Rose Reed (love interest, too), the ex-war hero Victor Skinner who makes a good living out of chicanery, and the deadly "Snow White" who aids him as strongarm man and murderer. Slickly done, and one I feel sure that you will enjoy. The London underworld and night club world are well described.
Agatha Christie, an old favorite, has recently published her fiftieth mystery, not her best, called A Murder is Announced. Clever if not plausible, it will be liked by most.
I tried one of the Peter Gayleigh stories, written by Colin Robertson, called DeathWears Red Shoes, and though better than the average American murder story it still is not really top-drawer.
Robert Gaines' Final Night reveals the professional secrets of a news hound and was considered by the London elite as being a most promising first mystery. Newspaper background.
If I have neglected American writers it is because on the whole I prefer the British. I recommend Wade Miller's CalamityFair, Uneasy Street, and Devil on TwoSticks. Max Thursday is a worthy companion to Philip Marlowe, and they probably know one another.
Happy Sleuthing!
