Tue 22 Jul 2008
A Review by Mary Reed: MELVIN L. SEVERY – The Darrow Enigma.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Crime Fiction IV , Reviews[10] Comments
MELVIN L. SEVERY – The Darrow Enigma. Dodd Mead, US, hardcover, 1904. Grant Richards, UK, hardcover, 1904. Copp Clark, Canada, hardcover, 1904 (the cover of this edition is the one shown below).
The Darrow Enigma is narrated by an unnamed doctor, consulted by chemist and lawyer George Maitland for a bit of a nerve tonic. They become friends, for the narrator is greatly interested in science, and it is through this friendship that our anonymous physician becomes involved in the case.
Ultimately Maitland confesses the real reason he visited the medical man is because he is the Darrow family’s physician, and Maitland has fallen for Gwen, daughter of the house, and wishes to be introduced. Needless to say Gwen is beautiful even though, whisper it quietly, she does not imprison herself in corsetry.
Well, then, an introduction to the young lady is effected and it is while the two friends are visiting the Darrow household and Gwen is appropriately singing “In The Gloaming” as dusk falls when her father John clutches his throat, cries out he has been murdered, and dies.
Yet there is nobody in the room other than the Darrows, Maitland and the doctor, and two other visitors. How then was it done?
The doors into the room were closed or locked, the only open window was perhaps six inches ajar and locked in that position and John Darrow was sitting in a high-backed chair over eight feet from it in any case, plus there were no niches or cupboards or curtains behind which the unseen assassin could hide.
Or was it suicide? Either way what was the weapon and where has it gone? To find out the police bring in three investigators: Mr. Osborne, Mr. Allen, and French-born Louis Godin, now reportedly the best detective in the U.S.
And so begins a tale with a dab of woo woo and a touch of gothic. John Darrow had had dreams foretelling he would be murdered, as a result of which Gwen makes him a certain promise that will later cause romantic havoc.
It is established there’s a connection to India long ago — though it is nothing to do with gems stolen from Indian temples — and Maitland steams off to pursue investigations there. After that he is off to San Francisco to find and interview a couple of Darrow’s former servants, who are Chinese and so, we might say, automatically suspect.
There follows a series of Strange Coincidences involving Anthony and Cleopatra, leading to what can only be described as a brilliant piece of deductive reasoning — involving reading detective novels! — that puts them on the track of certain parties of interest.
The culprit is brought to trial but is it the right person? Was the murder committed by the bizarre method the man on trial describes? What about the motive?
My verdict: First, the method employed is one that fits a clue hidden in the text, though I must say that more clues are needed so the reader can deduce the culprit. There are red herrings and side trips and everything seems to fit together very well until the final confrontation in the court room when the entire case is turned upside down.
Thus The Darrow Enigma is a bit of a mixture, though unlike the proverbial curate’s egg, on balance I would give it a nod rather than a frown since, despite the weakness mentioned, I found this novel enjoyable enough and the weapon utilised so outrageous and yet simple that points must be awarded on that alone!
In an aside, I was intrigued by Severy’s description of the eavesdropping device employed at an important point and consulted an electrical engineer about it. He said theoretically it was possible but the technology was not up to it at the time.
However, invention of this gizmo is not surprising as Severy held at least 90 patents. His fictional bugging device involves a piece of burnished silver fastened to a diaphragm, a small beam of light trained on the silver being reflected onto a sensitised moving tape photographically registering movement of the diaphragm for later conversion to an ordinary record.
Needless to say the result is a vital piece of evidence.
Etext: http://www.freeread.com.au/ebooks/c00040.txt
[BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA] Taken from the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin:
SEVERY, MELVIN L(inwood) (1863-?)
The Darrow Enigma (Dodd, 1904, hc) [George Maitland; Boston, MA] Richards, 1904.
-Fleur-de-Lis and other stories (Boston, MA: Esoteric, 1889, hc)
Maitland’s Master Mystery (Ball, 1912, hc) [George Maitland]
The Mystery of June 13 (Dodd, 1905, hc) [George Maitland] Stevens, 1905.
[UPDATE] 07-23-08. Here’s an email I received from Victor Berch this afternoon:
Steve:
On your blog, there was an entry for Melvin Linwood Severy taken from CFIV as 1863-?.
I’m assuming that by now Al may have his death date and other tidbits about him. But just in case,he was born in Melrose, MA Aug. 5, 1863 and died in CA on Oct. 12, 1951. He was an engineer, musician, an inventor and author. He was married to Elizabeth Ann Flint, born in Jackson, MO.
Most of this was verified on his passport application for travel abroad. Google has lots to say about him as an inventor. (Follow the link for one such page.)
Victor
September 7th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
He also wrote 3 books for King C. Gillette…
I have 2 of them:
Gillette’s Industrial Solution (1908)
Gillette’s Social Redemption (1907)
I also have a book [bound by Derwin Severy (grandson)] with 77 reprints of melvin’s patents, the second of which is “Apparatus for Utillization of Solar Heat” (9-15-1896).
I think I have “The Mystery of June 13” somewhere, as well as “The Awakening”, another of his novels, as well as an oil-on-canvas he painted of a scene from it.
rj severy
June 25th, 2012 at 3:03 am
I am curious if anyone has read, has any further info and/or has access to a copy of Maitland’s Master Mystery, the third Maitland novel? I just finished The Darrow Enigma and found it quite intriguing– surprisingly multi-layered, particularly given its publication date. I am rather shocked that Severy is not more recognized in the mystery canon. Quite well-crafted and intelligently written.
August 29th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
Melvin was my great grandfather. There are some super photos of him on Ancestry.com. His inventions were outstanding–2nd solar cell 1894-1st iron lung-the choracello- helped Disney with sound /image syc [for which Disney rec. credit]. And so forth-
April 30th, 2013 at 6:08 pm
Melvin was my great grandfather too.. victor was my grandfather I am trying to find out as much as i can about him.. he was also a great artist .. I have many of his paintings and some in a museum in Virgina… I would like to know more about my family They were and are amazing people… I know my children would appreciate the history and I would love to talk to someone that knows more.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:18 am
Follow-up post: I have just finished the second Maitland novel, The Mystery of June 13th, and found it to be even more entralling than The Darrow Enigma. The book clocks in at 569 pages and the central mystery crosses generations, continents, and cultures–including several episodes that take place in New Zealand. After several months, I was finally able to track down a microfilm copy of the third and final novel– Maitland’s Master Mystery– through Ohio State University –which I am now reading. In the early pages, there is reference made to the Darrow case, the Moreton case (the two previously mentioned novels) as well as a cryptic reference to a case subsequent to both which Maitland solved: “the Russian mystery connected with Count Leo Mengart”… Hmmm. I am wondering if there is a lost short story or perhaps unpublished novel out there somewhere that has somehow been overlooked…? The reference is striking in light of the fact that the other two cases mentioned by name in that same paragraph were indeed the cases that formed the basis for his two other published novels.
A mystery within a mystery…
September 16th, 2013 at 4:52 pm
Robert, could it be this intriguing reference is akin to those sprinkled in the Holmes canon? Perhaps the author meant to write the work (short story?) but did not get round to it. Also my thanks for the reference to The Mystery of June 13th. I just located it on archive.org (hopefully not too spotty a copy) and will begin it in the next few days.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:14 pm
Mary: Definitely a possibility… I wonder if any of Severy’s heirs have knowledge of the whereabouts of his papers or correspondence wherein we might find a clue? I am currently halfway through his third Maitland novel, Maitland’s Master Mystery, written in 1912 after a hiatus of seven years: a period in which he apparently was commmisioned to write two non-fiction works for King Gillette. Slightly narrower in scope–only one central crime so far–it nonetheless involves an impossible crime– a banker commits suicide by pistol shot in public and in full view of twenty random witnesses–and Maitland sets out to prove it was actually murder. Severy certainly took pleasure in challenging the reader and himself to keep upping the ante with each new entry to the series. Modern readers may take exception to some of the purple prose–or the omnipresence of swooning damsels in distress–as well as some of the ‘science’ put forth on racial inferiority of Africans, Pacific islanders, etc. etc.– but we certainly find the same in O. Henry, Twain, and others of the day. What we don’t find are the clever, cutting-edge (for his era) inventions that tie in to solutions of each mystery. Being a non-scientist, they seem quite ingenious and impart a flavor to the stories that harken back to Doyle or even Verne. Perhaps the greatest mystery is why–after three Maitland mysteries in a period of eight short years– Severy seems to have abandoned the mystery genre forever–and for that fact, all fiction writing itself –until one final general fiction novel –decades later in the 1940s. Surprising for an author who displayed such verve (and to my mind, genuine ingenuity and talent) so early on in the history of the genre. Did his passion for the mystery genre fall casualty to the tragic events of WWI (much like Doyle)–or did he simply abandon the scientific mystery form to devote his life to pure science?
October 2nd, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Mini review of The Mystery of June 13th by Melvin L. Severy
The fateful date occurs more than once over more than a quarter century, in a saga involving Maoris on a mission of vengeance, an eloping couple whose ship passes that captained by the scorned fiance, the naive and about to be swindled inventor of a method of wireless telephony somewhat reminiscent of cell phones, a villainous businessman who out-Jaspers Sir Jasper, an actress taking the town by storm, assorted love affairs, and a number of other matters, all wrapped in a densely woven plot featuring among other things a cypher solved in a scientific manner, impossible locked room type disappearances, the struggle of rival groups of stockholders to gain control of a company following an event the author calls a “cool display of commercial depravity”, and more than one twist along the way.
George Maitland is called in to investigate a series of threatening letters, communications bearing the same device as that on the blade of the dagger used to murder the recipient’s father 25 years before, as well as on the hand of the assailant of a major character, and seen in various other places. And so murderous doings are set afoot and even Matiland admits “the method employed [for a murder] was unparalleled, fantastic, outre and bizarre in the extreme.”
I found this novel difficult to get into because of the lengthy opening sequence in a Maori village describing events that set the plot in motion. It might, I venture to suggest, have worked better if shortened and presented as a prologue, but don’t skip it! The story may unfold too slowly for some readers, but patience is advised as once into the thick of the plot, it rattles along like all get out. I liked the idea of recurring fateful events on June 13th, and the explanations of how various matters were accomplished are fascinating. Some readers will guess the who and why since they are privy to information Maitland has not, but the how is what will almost certainly puzzle to the end, so it’s worth persisting with the novel even if you read a rather spotty copy on archive.org as I did!
January 11th, 2015 at 12:46 pm
Maitland’s Master Mystery is now available online on Google Books.
https://books.google.com/books?id=mK1EAQAAMAAJ
January 10th, 2020 at 4:01 pm
Jann Haworth & Brittany Lovelace
I have a watercolor signed by M.L. Severy. It is of a Southern street scene, possibly Charleston SC or maybe somewhere in Florida. It is dated 1902. I assume it is by your great Grandfather.