Sun 27 Jan 2013
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: PETER HUNT – Murders at Scandal House.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Reviews[17] Comments
William F. Deeck
PETER HUNT – Murders at Scandal House. D. Appleton-Century, hardcover, 1933; Dell #42, paperback, mapback edition, no date [1944].
In this, the first novel featuring Alan Miller, chief of police of Totten Ferry, Conn., when he isn’t doing his various other jobs, Miller is on a vacation he feels he doesn’t need and is definitely not enjoying the Adirondacks. Who could blame him if his description of the mosquitos, flies, and gnats is accurate?
In fact, the mosquitoes are the first murder weapon in the novel. Miller and a game warden check out some overactive buzzards and find a man tied to a tree, drained of blood and filled with poison by the mosquitoes. This is a first in my reading of mysteries, and I hope it’s a last. I can’t think of many less pleasant ways to die.
The dead man was a chauffeur at the Balmoral Camp, inhabited by Lydia Whyte-Burrell, relict of the unlamented Edgar Burrell, infamous for his evil ways and his various by-blows, some of Burrell’s relatives, various hangers-on, and servants.
Though not a genuine detective, Miller is asked to investigate since the police are focusing on the more obvious but unlikely suspects. When asked how he is going to operate, Miller replies:
In a review of the second novel by Hunt, Murder for Breakfast, in another publication, I said that Miller, though out of his depth professionally — remember, he is only a part-time policeman — is nonetheless an intelligent man with a sense of humor. That is still true here in a not-strictly-fair-play novel.
For those who may be interested, Hunt was a combination of George Worthing Yates and Charles Hunt Marshall.
NOTE: The third and final book in the Alan Miller series was Murder Among the Nudists (Vanguard, 1934). (If the title sounds just a little intriguing, too bad. A quick check on the Internet showed that currently there are no copies up for sale.)
January 27th, 2013 at 4:25 am
I read Murders at Scandal House back in 2011 and noted in my review that it appeared as if the book was written by someone who suffered from a dual personality, “with one individual being a reasonable gifted writer, equipped with enough imagination to churn out a half decent mystery, and the other a second-rate hack who couldn’t plot his way through a lunch appointment,” but a joined pseudonym explains everything!
By the way, I also picked your blog as one of the best (criminally inclined) blogs of 2012.
January 27th, 2013 at 5:19 am
Sounds a bit like Columbo, that Miller .
The Doc
January 27th, 2013 at 9:35 am
Without the aspect of the reader knowing who the killer is ahead of time, I’d say yes, I agree.
January 27th, 2013 at 10:04 am
What a fine cover art by Gerald Gregg. As this Dell Book is a mapback edition it is very collectible.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
One of the “Holy Grails” of the early days of collecting vintage paperbacks was a complete set of Dell mapbacks. There are still many collectors who are very active in the field, but I think the emphasis has shifted over to the hardboiled publishers, such as Gold Medal and Lion, and “sleaze” books. As far as mysteries are concerned, the Dell series consisted largely those of the “traditional” variety, the authors of which are mostly forgotten today. (This book that Bill Deeck reviewed being an obvious case in point,)
I have a feeling that most mystery readers today have no idea what a mapback is: a paperback with a map on the back illustrating where much of the action of the book takes place.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
TomCat
Sorry that I missed seeing your comment waiting to be approved until now. What a perceptive review you wrote of this book. That you spotted the split personality of the author is quite remarkable, though you make it sound obvious.
And thanks for the honor of naming M*F as one of the year’s best blogs. Much appreciated, and right back at you as well!
January 27th, 2013 at 4:39 pm
In the 1970’s one of my main interests was collecting the Dell Mapbacks. I remember at one point in the 1990’s I figured I had them all but I’ve lost interest over the last decade or so and now I’m not sure. In the 70’s and even 80’s I was getting some good trades for my duplicates, including some original cover paintings.
Now, I’m not even sure I could get $5 each. I know at Pulpcon about 5 years ago, I had a table full of vintage paperbacks priced at $5 each and no one was interested except for the Guest of Honor. Larry Niven was so bored and ignored by pulp collectors that he wandered over and bought one paperback to read.
At the paperback show in NYC I saw many Dell Mapbacks priced at a couple bucks each.
January 28th, 2013 at 3:14 am
Walker- are you saying the prices are actually going down, and is this a phenomeneon across the paperback- collectibles market ?
The Doc
January 28th, 2013 at 4:49 am
I presume the impression of a split personality of the author is caused by a failed co-operation of the writers Yates and Marshall who are Peter Hunt.
January 28th, 2013 at 9:56 am
The Doc asks about the prices of vintage paperbacks over the years. There are some exceptions of course with certain authors and oddball titles, but as a general rule and across the board, paperback prices have indeed gone down over the years.
I first started to seriously collect paperbacks in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I soon had enough Ace Doubles, Gold Medals, Dell Mapbacks, Signets, etc to fill what I call my paperback room. Many genres and titles would not fit into the room and are presentely stored in my basement, such as western, SF, and mainstream novels.
At one time back in the 1970’s, I thought that prices would increase on vintage paperbacks but I was disappointed to find out that they decreased over the years. The internet probably had something to do with this because abebooks.com and ebay made it obvious that many paperbacks were not as rare as we once believed.
For instance before the internet I sold the 13 Hammett digest sized paperbacks for a few hundred dollars. But after the internet it was apparent that these paperbacks were not rare(Jonathan Press, Mercury, Bestseller). Now they are available at far lower prices.
Each year I attend the NYC Paperback Convention put on by Gary Lovisi. There have been over 20 annual shows. The last few years the average price of many vintage paperbacks were a dollar or two. Many were priced at 2 or 3 for $5.00. Discounts were available for quantity buyers. I found the same thing at the Windy City Pulp Convention and PulpFest.
Like I said, there are exceptions like JUNKIE and Jim Thompson firsts. But for the most part, paperback values have gone down since the 1970’s and 1980’s. In fact they have dropped so much that it’s not worth my time to bring them to sell at the conventions at $5 each. They won’t sell at that price and to sell at a buck or two is just like giving them away. I’ll keep them instead.
January 28th, 2013 at 11:25 am
It is like some sort of stock market, obviously .
The Doc
January 28th, 2013 at 12:08 pm
I am afraid I have paid too high prices for the Gold Medal and Lion Books I bought in the last months. Mostly the condition was good or very good only, but I nearly always paid more than ten Euros, sometimes twenty and more. For a comparison of the prices of various offers I use “Justbooks” or Amazon. Obviously the books at fairs etc. are much cheaper.
January 28th, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Well, Walker’s info can be very helpful, if you collect, josef !
The Doc
January 29th, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Ramble House have republished the Peter Hunt book MURDER AMONG THE NUDISTS
January 29th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Now that’s a real WOW, Jamie !
The Doc
January 29th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
It is already available on amazon.com .
And from Ramble House, directly, of course .
The Doc
September 8th, 2017 at 3:50 pm
Ramble House has reprinted Murder Among the Nudists if you are trying to find the last book.