GEORGE HARMON COXE – Woman at Bay. Alfred A. Knopf, hardcover, 1945. No paperback edition. Kindle edition available.

   When one thinks of Coxe, one usually thiks first of Flashgun Casey or Kent Murdock, ubiquitous photographers for Boston newspapers, but Coxe often did switch his non-series mysteries to scenes of the Caribbean, If this book were the only evidence, however, I’d say it’s awfully difficult to distinguish a round of nightlife in the Boston area from night clubs, cafes and liquor spots in Havana.

   This adventure occurs just before the end of the war, when Cuba was useful for European refugees as a stopping-off place before entry into the States. Paul MacKinnon is sent by a secret government agency on a hunt for the diary of a top-rank Vichy official whose window once was Mrs. MacKinnon. His job is the diary and not to fall in love again – he keeps telling himself.

   The key to the resulting murder is an obvious one, but Coxe has always been capable of a pleasant shuffle surrounding the charade. This one’s no exception. by far.

–Very slightly revised from The MYSTERY FANcier, Vol. 1, No. 2, March 1977.