RUTH SAWTELL WALLIS – Too Many Bones. Dodd Mead, hardcover, 1943. Dell #123, mapback, no date stated [1946].

       — No Bones About It. Dodd Mead, hardcover, 1944. Bantam #72, paperback, 1946.

   The first mystery in Too Many Bones is why the William Henry Proutman Museum, named after the aforesaid gentleman who started the institution to house some Indian relics and his corset exhibit — Proutman manufactured those undergarments at one time — would buy the 600 skeletons in the Holtzman Collection.

   Undoubtedly the skeletons were useful for studying a group that had indulged in extensive inbreeding, but why did this obscure museum, in a nearly dead town of 1,200 people, pay $50,000 for them? That is a question Kay Ellis, recently graduated anthropologist, is asked by her instructor before she goes to the museum to assist in cataloging the material. She never provides him with an answer.

   Ellis arrives to find that the museum is owned by the relict of Proutman, a still lovely woman between 40 and 50 and for whom the word bitch was invented. She makes life hell for everyone but John Gordon, Ph.D. — him she just makes miserable — the anthropologist in charge of studying the skeletons.

   When a death occurs that may be murder with a suicide following it, the sheriff is satisfied that things happened the way they seem. However, some unexplained details rouse Ellis’s curiosity, particularly since she has fallen in love with Gordon. Though she comes to learn too much, she luckily had joined the D.A.R.

   This is a competently written non-fair-play mystery with an unusual setting and one of the few hands-on anthropology novels before Aaron J. Elkins’s Gideon Oliver came on the scene.

   For reasons best known to herself, Wallis set No Bones About It in 1932. My theory is she did it because the coincidences and a major unlikelihood might have been even less acceptable at a later date.

   The Carters, Wests, and Peckhams are, one gathers, a very proud group of families in Weston, Mass., who live in some rather odd houses. The Peckham house, for example, “smelled of owls in the attic and suicides in the cellar. It was not a house you would want to meet on a lonely road at midnight.”

   When some of the younger generation return to Weston along with a mysterious movie star, Mattie Peckham, a grasping and unpleasant old lady, begins scattering hints of evil from the past involving the families. As is to be expected, Mattie isn’t around long to continue her nasty ways, she having inhaled a bit too much of the vapors of a cleaning fluid.

   What Mattie’s death has to do with a suicide 12 years earlier is cleared up at the end of the book, which some readers may reach. Wallis writes well, but the plot is preposterous.

Bio-Bibliographic Data:   Ruth Sawtell Wallis, when not writing mysteries was (not surprisingly) a well-known archaeologist, with a number of noteworthy accomplishments, which you can read about here, along with a small photo of her.

   And of course she did write mysteries. Five in fact:

  RUTH SAWTELL WALLIS, 1895-1978.   Series character: Eric Lund, in those marked (*).

   Too Many Bones. Dodd Mead, 1943.
   No Bones About It. Dodd Mead, 1944.   (*)
   Blood from a Stone. Dodd Mead, 1945.

   Cold Bed in the Clay. Dodd Mead, 1947.   (*)
   Forget My Fate. Dodd Mead, 1950.   (*)

REED FARREL COLEMAN – Innocent Monster. Tyrus Books, hardcover, November 2010; trade paperback, January 2012.

Genre:   Private eye. Leading character:  Moe Prager; 6th in series. Setting:   New York City.

First Sentence:   Katy’s blood was no longer fresh on my hands and after 9/11 people seemed to stop taking notice.

   It has been six years since Moe worked his last case; the case that created an estrangement from his daughter, Sarah. When Sarah asks him to find 11-year-old Sashi Bluntstone, an art prodigy who has been missing for three weeks, he can’t refuse her. What he didn’t expect were the dark secrets and betrayals hidden in that world of apparent refinement.

   Coleman’s background in philosophy and poetry are clearly reflected in his writing. The story’s opening conveys the mood of the story while providing back-story to new readers. Achieving both, without bogging down the story’s beginning, is only one example of Coleman’s talent.

   His style and imagery is one which both tells a good story, but makes you stop and think about what he’s saying… “There are lies to hate and lies to adore. Even now, seeing it clearly maybe for the very first time, Coney Island was a lie I adored.”

   The strong sense of place nearly becomes extra character and the dialogue brings the characters to life. Moe is a character I particularly like. He is not perfect, has known and contributed to tragedy, is definitely not a super-PI, but he is intelligent, determined and has a wry sense of humor.

   He has an overriding morality and ethical core along with a certain vulnerability. It is for others who are vulnerable that he does his job; not for the money.

   The book is very well plotted and engrossing. Exposing the dark side of the art world is fascinating as is the reminder that we should all “Beware the innocent monster” as the one we don’t suspect is the one who is often most dangerous.

   Although there is certainly a case to be resolved, the story is very much about Moe. Many of the issues in his life are, if not resolved, at least confronted, acknowledged and accepted. This feels to be a pivotal book in a series one should read in order from the beginning. I look forward to seeing where the series goes from here.

Rating: Very Good.

      The Moe Prager series —

1. Walking the Perfect Square (2001)

2. Redemption Street (2004)
3. The James Deans (2005)     [Shamus, Barry, and Anthony awards; nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, and Gumshoe awards]

4. Soul Patch (2007)     [Barry and Edgar award nominees]
5. Empty Ever After (2008)

6. Innocent Monster (2010)
7. Hurt Machine (2011)

TIM MYERS – Room for Murder. Berkley, paperback original, September 2003.

   If you haven’t read any of the previous ones in the series — and this is the fourth so far — Alex Winston is an innkeeper, and he helps solve mysteries. What’s unusual about the inn is that it’s next to an exact replica of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, but snugly nestled in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, way over on the other end of the state.

   North Carolina, that is. It’s a terrific location to set the stage for some fine detective work, but as fine as the camaraderie between Alex and the local townspeople is; as fascinating as the busted romances between Mor and Emma, and Alex and Elise, are; and watching them getting patched up again — or do they? — and as interesting as being shown the vicissitudes of running a modern-day hostelry establishment is, there’s not a heck of a lot of time left in not too many pages to solve a murder or two.

   Emma’s ex is the first body to be found, followed by one of the two candidates for mayor of Elkton Falls, but the election must go on, and since it’s now a matter of husband running against wife (Tracy Shook vs. Connor Shook), the campaign is getting nastier and nastier, and that’s what’s on everyone’s mind.

   Which is all well and good, but perhaps you know what I’m thinking, and you might be right. The solution to the murders boils down to (a) a slip of the tongue on the part of the guilty party, (b) a wild leap in logic on the part of Alex, and (c) an unconvincing change of character on the part of the party in part (a).

   Nor is there anything fancy about Myers’ level of writing, pitched at, say, advanced middle school students. Which makes it sound terrible when it isn’t, but you shouldn’t read this book and expect to find much worth quoting to anyone sitting in the same room with you.

   And the book is entertaining, don’t mistake me there either. It’s just that as a mystery, it has awfully weak legs.

      The Alex Winston “Lighthouse Inn” series:

1. Innkeeping With Murder (2001)     [Agatha Award nominee, Best First Novel]

2. Reservations for Murder (2002)
3. Murder Checks Inn (2003)

4. Room For Murder (2003)
5. Booked for Murder (2004)

6. Key to Murder (2010)
7. Ring for Murder (2011)

        #10. OSCAR VAN DUYVEN & PIERRE LEMASSE, by Robert Brennan.

   Oscar van Duyven & Pierre Lemasse appeared in a short series of ten stories by Robert Brennan that were published in Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction between 1926 and 1927. The series involves the adventures of a pair of men who wander the French countryside looking for matters of interest. They usually find mysteries to solve.

   Oscar van Duyven is an American millionaire from New York, owner of an electric fan corporation. Pierre Lemasse is from Paris, France, and is the companion to the millionaire. Lemasse is younger than van Duyven and is the more mystery oriented person. He has a knack of finding clues and matters of interest in the various cases the two are involved in.

   Van Duyven usually goes along with what Lemasse wants, although Lemasse is described as his assistant and is the driver of van Duyven’s automobile.

   In the first story in the series, “The Maltese Cross,” the pair are on the French coast doing nothing in particular when a mystery arises. From an island just off the coast a man escapes from the prison on it, and from a French coast town opposite a wife disappeared the same day. Lemasse finds all sorts of interesting facts and clues about the events, and ties the two disappearances together. Still, a somewhat disappointing debut.

   The second story in the series, “Pierre Rides the Storm,” is a direct sequel of the first story and continues the story of the escaped convict, Bruneau. He is caught in the severe storm that hit the French coast, and van Duyven and Lemasse endeavour to rescue him from the stranded ship in which he tried to make his escape.

   The third story, “A Murderer’s Refuge,” continues the story of Bruneau the escaped convict. This time van Duyven and Lemasse are in Spain, and have brought Bruneau with them in order to ask the local church for sanctuary for him.

   The two men then go to Avignon in France to investigate the crime Bruneau supposedly committed. While there Lemasse quickly solves the case and clears Bruneau. A bit of an anti-climax with the solution literally falling into their laps.

   The fourth story, “The Changeling,” is a new story and self contained without any continuations. The two “investigators” are appealed to for help in locating a missing child. The child not only is missing, but a different child was substituted in his place. Lemasse tracks down the missing child and restores him to his mother.

   The following story is “Blind Lanneau,” which concerns the murder of a blind peddler. The two investigators are still in France. This story is anticlimactic, because Lemasse discovers the murderer early in the story, and a lot of space is taken up by the murderer telling his own story (which includes what happened years before).

   The next story, “The Crooked Star” is a sequel to the previous one. This one involves the two investigators looking for a hidden treasure using a cipher the murderer from the previous story had given them before he died.

   Blind Lanneau, who was mentioned and discussed in the previous story but not seen, shows up in this story to compete with them for the treasure. Some deductions and deciphering of the cipher sheet is performed by the two as the story progresses.

   â€œThe Highwayman” comes next, and is a sequel to the previous one. Having lost the treasure when their boat sank, the two investigators suddenly find themselves the target of a criminal who wants the treasure and thinks they have access to it. Suddenly Blind Lanneau pops up who also wants the treasure and is searching for it.

   â€œThe Little Angels” refers to a French street gang who are extremely vicious. When a newspaper editor named Maurice Duverne writes an editorial against the gang and is immediately attacked, there is public outrage against the gang. The police move in to the district and clean out the gangsters. However, Lemasse is not convinced the gang committed the attack, and induces van Duyven to help him investigate.

   â€œThe Fugitive Footman” is probably the best story in the series. The two investigators come across a man in distress. They agree to help him, learning that the man is Bernard, a footman at the Deauville mansion. Deauville has just been murdered, and the footman is running away because he is accused of the crime.

   The two investigators go to the Deauville mansion, where they find an inspector named Croissart in charge of the case. Croissart is an old friend of theirs, and relates the facts of the case. Lemasse sees more than meets the eye, and deduces the real murderer and the motive.

   â€œTwo Chests of Gold” is a direct sequel to the previous story, and involves the chests that were a part of that story. Now there is a search on for the missing chests, also involving a Scotland Yard man who asks van Duyven and Lemasse for their assistance.

   This is an average series, with some good stories, but mostly average. There is no element of humor in the stories. The series is of interest to those interested in simple detective stories.

   The problem I have with this series is that Lemasse makes all of his deductions and discoveries and clues seem overly simple. There is very little complexity to the series. The closest it comes is the cipher in “The Crooked Star.”

      The Oscar van Duyven & Pierre Lemasse series, by Robert Brennan:

The Maltese Cross     July 31, 1926
Pierre Rides the Storm     August 7, 1926
A Murderer’s Refuge     August 14, 1926
The Changeling     August 21, 1926
Blind Lanneau     September 4, 1926
The Crooked Star     September 11, 1926
The Highwayman     September 18, 1926
The Little Angels     December 18, 1926
The Fugitive Footman     January 1, 1927
Two Chests of Gold     January 15, 1927

    Previously in this series:

1. SHAMUS MAGUIRE, by Stanley Day.
2. HAPPY McGONIGLE, by Paul Allenby.
3. ARTY BEELE, by Ruth & Alexander Wilson.
4. COLIN HAIG, by H. Bedford-Jones.
5. SECRET AGENT GEORGE DEVRITE, by Tom Curry.
6. BATTLE McKIM, by Edward Parrish Ware.
7. TUG NORTON by Edward Parrish Ware.
8. CANDID JONES by Richard Sale.
9. THE PATENT LEATHER KID, by Erle Stanley Gardner.

TECH DAVIS – Terror at Compass Lake. Doubleday Crime Club, hardcover, 1935.

   Occasionally when I am on the fringes of a group of diehard mystery fans — which is about as close as they’ll let me get — the name Tech Davis is mentioned. Then when I am spotted, the subject is immediately changed.

   Why this happens I do not know. Oh, I know why I’m allowed only on the fringes; it’s their not wanting me to hear about Davis that baffles me. While Davis is not a good author; he isn’t an exceptionally bad one.

   His prose doesn’t elevate, indeed may be said to enervate. His detective, Aubrey Nash, is so bland that I wish he’d been given the one or two idiosyncrasies that I usually deplore in other fictional detectives whose creators can’t seem to make come alive. But he does plot well.

   In this novel, the first of three by Davis, Aubrey Nash is asked to come to the wilds of upstate New York to investigate the apparent suicide of a chauffeur — it must be suicide since everyone has a perfect alibi — and the later stabbing death of his employer in a locked room. Nash isn’t interested until he receives a telegram telling him the crime is insoluble and he shouldn’t waste his time with it.

   Recommended for locked-room fanciers, and other problem solvers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mystery fiction by TECH DAVIS, pen name of Edgar Davis (1890-1974). Series character: Aubrey Nash in all.

      Terror at Compass Lake. Doubleday, 1935.
      Full Fare for a Corpse. Doubleday, 1937.

      Murder on Alternate Tuesdays. Doubleday, 1938.

Editorial Comment:   Just in case anyone is tempted by Bill’s last line into putting together a complete set of all three Tech Davis mysteries, there are five copies of his books currently listed on ABE. Four of them are of Compass Lake, available at $75 and up, and there’s one of Full Fare, the latter having an asking price of a fairly solid $250.

   And not a single copy of Alternate Tuesdays.

UPDATE. 01-08-12.   Thanks to Bill Pronzini, I can now show you cover images for all three Tech Davis mysteries, in jacket.

ELIZABETH CURTISS – Nine Doctors and a Madman. Simon and Schuster, hardcover, 1937.

   The subgenre of mysteries dealing with insane asylums seems to be few in number but high in quality. Now Curtiss’s novel can be added to the list, and it is a fine addition.

   One of the nine doctors at Brandmere Hospital is murdered by an inmate, or so it would appear. The inmate says he did it, is in a room alone with the corpse, and has the bloody skewer; the other physical evidence, however, contradicts his claim.

   Nonetheless, he must have done it since no one else in the hospital seems to have had the opportunity, though most of them had a motive. A simple mind, my mind, but I would judge that there’s tricky fair play here.

   Curtiss writes and observes well: “Her hair had been meticulously pinched and plastered into waves which would have turned a Greek sculptor green with envy.”

   Her detective, Nathaniel Bunce, M.D., whom the publisher describes as a psychologist but must be a psychiatrist, is a character who might have achieved greatness if he had appeared in more than two novels, assuming the second matches the quality of this one. [The second being Dead Dogs Bite (Simon & Schuster, 1937).]

   Describing the narrator of the novel, young and naive Dr. Theophilus Bishop, Bunce says: “Your mind … is like a kangaroo. It jumps, high, wide and handsome. It leaves, therefore, vast areas untrodden.”

ADDENDUM:

   For those who may be interested, the novels that I have read that have as a setting mental institutions or have reason to believe deal with that sort of establishment are:

Murder in the Madhouse, by Jonathan Latimer
The Deadly Chase, by Carter Cullen
Shock Treatment, by Winfred van Atta
Night World, by Robert Bloch
The Drowning Pool, by Ross Macdonald
The Goodbye Look, by Ross Macdonald
No Face in the Mirror, by Richard Copeland in the UK, Hugh McLeave in the US
Death in the Doll’s House, by Hannah Lees and Lawrence Blochman
Crazy to Kill, by Ann Cardwell
The Odor of Bitter Almonds, by James G. Edwards
A Mind to Murder, by P. D. James
The Spectacles of Mr. Caligostro, by Harry Stephen Keeler
Snow White and Rose Red, by Ed McBain
A Puzzle for Fools, by Patrick Quentin
Shadow of a Doubt, by June Thomson.

ROBERT J. RAY – Merry Christmas, Murdock. Delacorte, hardcover, 1989. Dell, paperback, 1990.

   L.A. private eye Matt Murdock is back, celebrating a holiday in decidedly unfestive fashion in Merry Christmas, Murdock, by Robert Ray.

   Here the past rises up before Murdock in two ways. Cindy Duke, a teen-ager who had maybe saved his life a couple of years earlier by driving him out of a burning canyon, asks him to find her father. He teaches in Wisconsin and came to L.A. in response to Cindy’s cry for help, raged at his ex-wife, battered her brother’s car with a baseball bat, ranged through a shopping mall in a failing search for Cindy, and disappeared.

   Meanwhile, another teenager, Heather Blasingame, lies in a coma from a hit-and-run encounter with a vehicle at that same mall. She’s the daughter of Jane Blasingame, feisty Texas state senator, and the senator (though with considerable reluctance) hires Murdock to supplement what seems an inept police investigation.

   These two cases are of course related, and powerful interests — not only Cindy’s grandfather Wheeler Duke and Duke Construction — are willing to go to about any lengths to keep Matt’s nose out of these matters.

   Vivid, active tale.

    The Matt Murdock series —

Bloody Murdock. St.Martin’s, 1986.

Murdock for Hire. St.Martin’s, 1987.
Dial “M” for Murdock. St.Martin’s, 1988.

Merry Christmas, Murdock. Delacorte, 1989.
Murdock Cracks Ice. Delacorte, 1992.

THURMAN WARRINER – Method in His Murder. Macmillan, US, hardcover, 1950. First published in the UK: Hodder & Stoughton, hardcover, 1950.

    “Unquestionably, if Rhoda had been his wife, Mr. Ambo would have contemplated murder.” Ambo’s godson, John Wainfleet, who is married to Rhoda, contemplates nothing but a life of obedience to her demands.

    Or so it seems, until he reveals to Ambo that, after producing a satirical crime novel that had a modest success and a play that was still going strong, and after being told by Rhoda that he would have to stick to being a solicitor, he has a secret life in which he lives, though perish the thought not in sin, with another woman two days a week and writes successful novels under a pseudonym.

   Things are in this state temporarily, and then Rhoda’s brother ostensibly dies in an auto accident. The young doctor who examines the corpse believes death occurred before the accident, and apparently so do the police.

   Wainfleet and another man who were with Rhoda’s brother before the accident have perfect alibis. Well, Wainfleet does until Ambo starts investigating and discovers more than he wants to.

   This is the first novel featuring the investigations of Charles Ambo; Archdeacon Grantius Fauxlihough Toft, an unusual clergyman who believes in the Devil and burglary; and John Franklin Cornelius Scotter, private investigator. It is well worth discovering by those who enjoy humor, a fine prose style, and three engaging characters.

     Bibliographic Notes:

 The Ambo, Toft & Scotter series —

Method in His Murder (n.) Hodder 1950.
Ducats in Her Coffin (n.) Hodder 1951.
Death’s Dateless Night (n.) Hodder 1952.

The Doors of Sleep (n.) Hodder 1955.

Death’s Bright Angel (n.) Hodder 1956.
She Died, Of Course (n.) Hodder 1958.
Heavenly Bodies (n.) Hodder 1960.

   Only the first of these was published in the US. Warriner wrote one other mystery under his own name, another twelve as by Simon Troy, and one as John Kersey. Inspector Charles Smith appeared in all but one of the Troy books, the most well-known probably being Road to Rhuine (1952), and had a cross-over appearance in She Died, Of Course above.

ANNA DEAN – A Woman of Consequence. Allison & Busby, UK, hardcover, 2010. St. Martin’s/Minotaur, US, hardcover, April 2012.

Genre:   Historical Mystery. Leading character:  Miss Dido Kent; 3rd in series. Setting:   England, 1806–Georgian era.

First Sentence:   My dear Eliza, I promised yesterday that just as soon as I had leisure for writing should send you a full and satisfactory account of Penelope Lambe’s accident at Madderstone Abbey; and so I shall begin upon it.

   Unconscious after Penelope Lambe falls down stone steps in the ruin of Madderstone Abbey, it is thought she saw the ghost of the Grey Nun. Miss Dido Kent is skeptical and believes the cause was more corporal than spiritual.

   When a skeleton, identified as Elinor Fenn, governess, is found within a lake being drained on the property, the verdict is self-murder. A friend does not believe Miss Fenn would have committed suicide and, in order to save her being buried in unconsecrated ground, asks Dido to investigate.

   With a wonderful opening, I am reminded how much I enjoy the voice of Anna Dean and, therefore, her character Dido Kent. With shades of Jane Austen and her own delightful, wry humor, we are transported back to Georgian England… “I believe that every family which has any claim at all to grandeur should have a ghost. I consider it a kind of necessary which should be attended to as soon as the fortune is made and the country estate purchased.”

   Ms. Dean writes her books in both third person narrative and first person through letters from Dido to her sister. While some may find this annoying, for me it is an interesting and amusing way of conveying relevant information without slowing down the story. It allows us to see both all the events and be privy to Dido thoughts at the same time.

   At 36 years old, Dido is considered a spinster, yet is anything but shy and retiring. She has a logical mind and approach to solving problems by investigating the clues. The secondary story of her relationship with Mr. Lomax provides an interesting look at relationships and social mores of the time. Mr. Lomax discomfort at Dido discussing “unsuitable” subjects, including the vulnerability of women, and the proprietary of the interactions between them are both delightful and most honest representations I have read.

   Ms. Dean has written a mystery of twists and turns, of relationships and unexpected revelations. I was intrigued by some of the history, particularly the doctor trying to determine the cause of asthma.

   With more substance than a cozy, this was a very good traditional mystery. I anxiously await her fourth book.

Rating:   Very Good.

       The Dido Kent series —

1. A Moment of Silence (2008). Published as Bellfield Hall in the US.

2. A Gentleman of Fortune (2009)
3. A Woman of Consequence (2010)

        #9. THE PATENT LEATHER KID, by Erle Stanley Gardner.

   The Patent Leather Kid is another leading character created by Erle Stanley Gardner. Someone with that identity first appeared in “The Gems of Tai Lee,” a story in the March 25, 1930, issue of Clues, but when the Kid showed up again, in the May 28, 1932, issue of Detective Fiction Weekly, he was a new character, the star of the first of a series of adventures that ended two years later.

   He had a dual identity in the DFW stories – normally rich Dan Seller most of the time, and The Patent Leather Kid when he is ready for one of his somewhat illegal adventures. The patent leather in the name comes from his wearing not only patent leather shoes but also a patent leather face mask to hide his identity.

   The Patent Leather Kid “was always on the lookout for adventure, and anything sufficiently out of the usual called him with an irresistible attraction.” (The Kid Stacks a Deck)

   There is a cast of regular characters for each of his identities. The stories usually start out with a scene of Dan Seller and his fellows at their club, discussing the latest criminal event or activity. The other club members are firstly Police Inspector Phil Brame, then Renfroe the bank president, and Bill Pope the explorer.

   Brame usually brings up a criminal event, which causes disagreement among the others and ends with Seller or Bill Pope often betting on the outcome with him. Brame always loses these bets, but that does not keep him from trying again. Renfroe agrees with the Inspector much of the time, but also tries to avoid antagonizing Seller because he is a large depositor in his bank. It is not revealed how well off Dan Seller is, or where his money comes from.

   In his identity of the Patent Leather Kid, he has another group of people. There is Bill Brakey, The Kid’s bodyguard and assistant. He is also called “A walking encyclopedia of the underworld,” and this comes in handy for The Kid’s adventures. Brakey usually knows the answer to any question about the underworld, or can get the information easily.

   Another person in this group is Gertie, the telephone operator in his apartment house. She keeps track of his messages and also keeps an eye on The Kid’s special elevator which was constructed for his own use. She also knows his identity as Dan Seller. Interestingly, Gertie is also the name of Perry Mason’s telephone operator.

   There are only three people in the apartment house hotel who know Dan Seller’s dual identity: Bill Brakey, Gertie, and the desk clerk who is never named.

   The Patent Leather Kid lived in an apartment house hotel penthouse, with his special security extras such as a steel door and alarms systems. According to one story (The Kid Clips a Coupon), with these security arrangements: “no one could get through the roof without a warning coming over the telephone, without an automatic alarm shrilling a strident warning should the only elevator which communicated with the penthouse start on its way without The Kid’s having first unlocked an electrical contact.”

   The stories involve various kinds of adventures. In “The Kid Clears a Crook,” a reformed criminal trying to go straight is framed and taken advantage of by underworld crooks, and the police don’t care. The Kid sets out to clear the ex-crook and set the blame where it belongs, thereby infuriating both the underworld and the police.

   Neither group likes interference from The Kid in their affairs, and try repeatedly to eliminate him. The police even (according to Inspector Brame) give the underworld the green light to eliminate The Kid, but this never happens. Brame even states that if they catch the Kid, they will frame criminal charges on him in order to keep him in jail for a long time.

   The Kid enjoys this, in his words: “In this game of matching wits with the law, The Patent Leather Kid found his most fascinating recreation. He gambled with life and liberty, and enjoyed the game.” (The Kid Stacks a Deck) So the acquisition of money or property gained illegally is definitely not the goal of The Kid.

   The first story to appear in DFW, “The Kid Stacks a Deck,” is a bit different than the others in the series. Bill Brakey does not appear in this story, and Gertie is present but not named. Inspector Brame is given the title of Commissioner, which he loses in later stories. Possibly the author thought the stories more effective with a lower ranking policeman.

   In the story, The Kid finds out that a criminal gang is out to kill him, so he sets a trap for them. He breaks into a jewelry store, steals a few items and mails them to Brame and his family. The gang is waiting outside to shoot and rob him as he leaves. However, The Kid alerts the police who attack and wipe out the gang as The Kid escapes.

   The story presents the image of The Kid as a master burglar without peer in the underworld and with a high reputation for those talents. However, he seems to have gained nothing from his burglary of the jewelry store. In fact, a point is made throughout the series that “The police had never been able to brand him specifically as a crook. He was a big shot, and his ways were the ways of the underworld, but they had never as yet pinned any definite crime upon him.” (The Kid Wins a Wager)

   Inspector Brame’s chief complaint about The Patent Leather Kid was that his activities damaged the dignity of the police and made them look bad and caused people (and The Kid) to laugh at them. That was a terrible offense to Brame. He seems to have cared more about the dignity of the police department than anything else.

   In “The Kid Throws a Stone,” The Kid is involved in a case where someone is impersonating him. The impersonator has already pulled one robbery before the real Patent Leather Kid starts his complex counter-offensive.

   In another case of impersonation told in “The Kid Wins a Wager”, a criminal burglarizes a jewelry story and leave a note supposedly signed by The Patent Leather Kid. Fortunately, The Kid catches him in the act and clears that up.

   One of The Kid’s favorite tactics was to get criminals, who are after him, into confrontations with the police, where they invariably wind up shot. Rarely does The Kid have to use a gun on the criminals themselves, but this does occur in the story “The Kid Cooks a Goose,” where he and Bill Brakey are trying to protect a woman from a gang of killers. They shoot it out with the three killers and wipe out the gang.

   This is a fun series, and Gardner is obviously enjoying himself writing these improbable situations. On a “Writer’s Almanac” episode on NPR (National Public Radio), Garrison Keillor quotes Gardner as saying about his pulp work: “I write to make money, and I write to give the reader sheer fun.”

      The Patent Leather Kid series by Erle Stanley Gardner:

The Gems of Tai Lee     Clues, 25 March 25 1930     [This story features a different “Patent Leather Kid,” as it turns out. See comment #12.]

   The Patent Leather Kid discussed above appeared as a character only in Detective Fiction Weekly:

The Kid Stacks a Deck     May 28, 1932
The Kid Passes the Sugar     July 16, 1932
The Kid Wins a Wager     September 10, 1932
The Kid Throws a Stone     October 22, 1932
The Kid Makes a Bid     February 18, 1933
The Kid Muscles In     April 15, 1933
The Kid Takes a Cut     May 20, 1933
The Kid Beats the Gun     August 5, 1933
The Kid Covers a Kill     November 4, 1933
The Kid Clears a Crook     February 3, 1934
The Kid Clips a Coupon     April 21, 1934
The Kid Cooks a Goose     July 14, 1934
The Kid Steals a Star     November 17, 1934

NOTE: The 13 stories that appeared in Detective Fiction Weekly have been collected in The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid, edited by Bill Pronzini (Crippen & Landru, 2011).

    Previously in this series:

1. SHAMUS MAGUIRE, by Stanley Day.
2. HAPPY McGONIGLE, by Paul Allenby.
3. ARTY BEELE, by Ruth & Alexander Wilson.
4. COLIN HAIG, by H. Bedford-Jones.
5. SECRET AGENT GEORGE DEVRITE, by Tom Curry.
6. BATTLE McKIM, by Edward Parrish Ware.
7. TUG NORTON by Edward Parrish Ware.
8. CANDID JONES by Richard Sale.