Thu 27 Sep 2012
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: DOROTHY GARDINER – The Seventh Mourner.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[3] Comments
William F. Deeck
DOROTHY GARDINER – The Seventh Mourner. Doubleday Crime Club, hardcover, October 1958. Popular Library, paperback, 1964, as The 7th Mourner.
Sheriff Moss Magill, of Notlaw, Colo., population 415 counting two unborn babies and home of the third worst hotel in the country, is left $100,000 in the will of a late citizen of Notlaw — though her death does not seem to deplete the population — if he will escort her ashes to Scotland and bury them on top of a mountain.
For reasons not made clear, Magill is not interested in the money and does not want to go to Scotland. However, the stipulations in the will lead him to believe, again for reasons not made clear, that one or more of the legatees might be murdered if he doesn’t.
Magill is an engaging character and worth meeting despite his not preventing murder. In addition, Gardiner presents the Scottish Highlands lovingly. But more should have been done with Magill’s culture shock, and the mystery aspect undoubtedly could have been handled better. For example, the villains are obvious and witless.
Enjoy Magill and the scenery and try not to pay too much attention to the plot.
The Sheriff Moss Magill series —
What Crime Is It? Doubleday 1956.
The Seventh Mourner. Doubleday 1958.
Lion in Wait. Doubleday 1963.
Editorial Comment: Considerably more about the author and a complete crime fiction bibliography for her may be found following my review of The Trans-Atlantic Ghost, her first book, written in 1933. (Be sure to read the comments, too.)
September 27th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
I first learned of this author from your review a year and a half ago.
Since then have tracked down and enjoyed the three Moss Magill mysteries.
They are the sort of fun, light-hearted mysteries that used to be produced back in that era. They remind one a bit of the Lockridges.
They can really make one nostalgic!
This one set in Scotland is my favorite.
September 27th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
It was a little hard for me to get a good picture of this book from Bill’s comments, so your perspective helped me a lot, Mike. Any book that reminds anyone of the Lockridges is worth seeking out. Not that I have to go far. I have all three Magill books stashed away downstairs. I might have read one, but not this one.
May 23rd, 2016 at 4:20 pm
Sheriff Magill was first introduced in a short story by Ms. Gardiner entitled “Not a Lick of Sense.”
It first appeared in the MWA anthology CROOKS TOUR (1953) edited by Bruno Fischer.
In her introduction, Ms. Gardiner claimed that both that Magill was a fictionalized version of a real-life Colorado sheriff she was acquainted with, and that the story was based on an actual case that real-life sheriff investigated.