I’ve been continuing with the alphabetized listings for the online Addenda for the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin. I’m now in the C’s, as you may recall.

   Note that many of these new listings are of film versions of stories and novels already included in CFIV. If such is the case, bibliographic details for the books themselves are omitted.

CHARLES, ROBERT. Pseudonym of Robert Charles Smith, 1938- . Other pseudonym: Charles Leader. Author of numerous spy and adventure novels included in the Revised Crime Fiction IV. Add the titles below, and SC: Capt. Mark Falcon = MF, for the two books so indicated.
      Falcon SAS: Blood River. Linford pb, 1999. Setting: Borneo. MF
      Falcon SAS: Firestrike. Linford pb, 1999 MF

      Persons Reported. Linford pb, 2000

CHARLES, THERESA. Pseudonym of Irene Maude Mossop Swatridge, 1905-1988 & Charles John Swatridge, 1896-1964. Add birth and death dates. Under this name, the author of seven books published in the US as gothic romances. Other pseudonyms for Irene Swatridge: Leslie Lance & Jan Tempest. For a short discussion of this author’s books, see this earlier post on the Mystery*File blog.

CHARTERIS, LESLIE
      The Saint Goes West. Show second film as: Lux, 1960, as Le Saint mène la danse, aka The Dance of Death (scw: Albert Simonin, Jacques Nahum, Yvan Audouard; dir: Nahum). SC: Simon Templar (Félix Marten).
      Vendetta for the Saint. [ghostwritten by science fiction writer Harry Harrison] TV movie: ITC, 1969 (scw: Harry W. Junkin, John Kruse; dir: Jim O’Connolly). SC: Simon Templar (Roger Moore).

CHASE, JAMES HADLEY
      My Laugh Comes Last. Film: MGM, 1995, as The Set Up (scw: Michael Thoma; dir: Strathford Hamilton)

CHASTAIN, THOMAS
      Death Stalk. TV movie: Wolper, 1975 (scw: John W. Bloch, Stephen Kandel; dir: Robert Day)

CHESTER, PETER. Pseudonym of Dennis Phillips; other pseudonyms Simon Challis, Peter Chambers & Philip Daniels. As “Peter Chester,” the author of five mystery stories listed in the Revised Crime Fiction IV. A series character named Johnny Preston is in three of them, although not the one below. A British writer, Phillips was much prolific as “Peter Chambers.” Under this byline he wrote over 35 mystery and detective novels, many with American private eye Mark Preston. Whether Johnny Preston is also a PI is not known. Note that “Peter Chambers” is also the name of the PI who was one of US writer Henry Kane’s most frequent series characters.
      The Traitors. Herbert Jenkins, UK, hc, 1964. Add setting: England

CHESTERTON, G. K. TV movie, based on the Father Brown stories: Marble Arch, 1979, as Sanctuary of Fear (scw: Don M. Mankiewicz, Gordon Cotler; dir: John Llewellyn Moxey). SC: Father Brown (Barnard Hughes)

CHILD, LEE. Add: Pseudonym of James D. Grant, 1954- . Born in England; studied law; living in NYC; TV director turned writer. Author of four “Jack Reacher” novels included in the Revised Crime Fiction IV through the year 2000; the series continues through the present day. Twelve have appeared so far, with a 13th scheduled for 2009. Reacher is a former Army MP officer who attracts trouble wherever he goes.

BILL S. BALLINGER – Not I, Said the Vixen

Gold Medal k1529; paperback original, 1965.

   Ballinger had a long career as a mystery writer as well as working for television and the movies, but for some strange reason, this is the first book of his I’ve read. So, whether this one is any way typical or non-typical of his fiction, I couldn’t tell you.

   His one-time protagonist in this largely courtroom affair is Cyrus March, perhaps the best defense attorney in the country. But unlike Perry Mason, say, March also has a drinking problem. And somewhat unlike Perry Mason, his client admits to pulling the trigger in the fatal shooting of a wealthy female socialite.

   Like so many of Perry Mason’s clients, Cyrus March’s is a beautiful woman, perhaps even narcissistic, and her story is that the victim was an unknown intruder in her apartment. March’s problems with the bottle began with the death of his wife, and unlike Perry Mason, he soon declares his love for person he’s defending.

   The dialogue is sometimes stilted, and the action often stagy, but every once in a while Ballinger mixes in a brilliant turn of phrase that makes you remember why you’d rather be reading instead of watching the tube. He also alternates chapters between first and third person, an unusual format that doesn’t quite click, even though you know why he’s using it.

   Lesbianism is a key ingredient of what makes the courtroom drama go — it’s seemingly kept at arm’s length at first, but the nuances become less and less subtle as the story works its way out.

   Rather a minor effort overall, but if you ever find a copy to read, I think it’ll keep you interested all the way through. It did me, and sometimes that’s all you need.

[UPDATE] 12-05-08.   Out of curiosity, I checked again to see if Cyrus March showed up in any of Ballinger’s other mystery fiction, but I’ve found nothing to suggest that he did. Ballinger did have a series character named Joaquin Hawks, who was in five paperback originals put out by Signet in the two year period 1965-66.

   As a Native American detective, tribal affiliation unknown, Hawks is mentioned in my list of N.A. sleuths on the primary M*F website, but I’ve not read any of his adventures. Another website says that he “is a case officer in the Central Intelligence Agency. His normal beat is Southeast Asia.”

   If you follow that last link, you’ll find a lot more information about him. For the record, here’s a list of all five of the Joaquin Hawks books, expanded from the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin:

             HAWKS, JOAQUIN:
      The Spy in the Jungle (n.) Signet D2674, pbo, May 1965 [Viet Nam]
      The Chinese Mask (n.) Signet D2715, pbo, June 1965 [China]
      The Spy in Bangkok (n.) Signet D2820, pbo, Dec 1965 [Thailand]

      The Spy at Angkor Wat (n.) Signet D2899, pbo, May 1966 [Cambodia]
      The Spy in the Java Sea (n.) Signet D2981, pbo, Sept 1966 [Far East]

FREDRICK D. HUEBNER – The Joshua Sequence.

Fawcett Gold Medal; paperback original. First printing, November 1986.

   [Rather than make any changes, I’m going to leave this review pretty much as it was written, back in early January 1987. You’ll see why in a moment. Keep reading.]

   I guess I’m getting old. It’s not so much that I’ll be 45 years old tomorrow, because I really don’t think that’s what I’m feeling. It’s more that for the past few semesters I’ve gotten the feeling that for the students in my classes, the Vietnam War is something they’ve only read about, in history books, and not from newspapers.

   And here in The Joshua Sequence we have a mystery novel with the root causes based in the early 70s, with the various underground movements, the bombings, the thoughts (carried over from the 60s) that protests could change the world. The longer Seattle lawyer Matt Riordan searches for the killer of former student activist Stephen Turner, now a computer programmer, the more sure he becomes that the reason is connected with Turner’s days with the Weathermen and the Northwest Nine.

   Ancient history. Has it been 15 years ago, already? In the passage of time, most of Turner’s co-conspirators have gone establishment, in one form or another, depending on how you define the term, but there is a secret from those earlier days that one of them does not want revealed. And therein lies the mystery.

   Drugs, and a government cover-up, are also involved. Lacking sufficient muscle, Riordon has to call in a private eye friend from Montana. He also gets too closely involved with his client, the dead man’s sister. You can probably write the rest from here.

   Huebner is also a lawyer, so here in his first novel, he is writing largely what he knows, but every so often I thought his ear for dialogue was off. It may look good in print, but as opposed to the recently reviewed Death of a Harvard Freshman, I don’t think this is the way people really talk. There are an awful lot of typos, too.

   Or maybe I’m just getting cranky in my old age?

[UPDATE] 12-05-08.  No further personal comment is necessary from me, I don’t believe. My copy of the book is packed up and stored away where I can’t get to it, so I don’t have a cover image to show you. Next best thing, though: a cover shot of one of his other Matt Riordan books, then a scan of his most recent book. And why not a complete bibliography for him also, expanded from the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin:

HUEBNER, FREDRICK D. 1955- .     MR = Matthew Riordan.
      * The Joshua Sequence. Gold Medal, pbo, 1986, MR
      * The Black Rose. Gold Medal, pbo, 1987. MR
      * Judgment by Fire. Gold Medal, pbo, 1988. MR
      * Picture Postcard. Columbine, hc, 1990; Gold Medal, ppbk, 1991. MR

      * Methods of Execution. Simon & Schuster, hc, 1994; Gold Medal, ppbk, May 1995. MR
      * Shades of Justice. Simon & Schuster, hc, 2001; Signet, ppbk, Jan 2003.

WALTER SATTERTHWAIT – Dead Horse. Denis McMillan Publications, hardcover, 2006.

   Sattherwait’s novel speculates on the private relationship of [pulp author] Raoul Whitfield and his socialite wife, Mrs. Emily Davies Vanderbilt Thayer Whitfield, who was found dead of a gunshot wound in 1935, a death that was never explained to anyone’s satisfaction.

   Satterthwait’s extensive research only serves to strengthen the plausibility of his depiction of the doomed marriage and ill-matched couple, and the terse, finely honed prose is a fitting tribute to a mystery writer of uncommon stylistic gifts.

      ___

   Bibliographic data: RAOUL WHITFIELD.   Expanded from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin. Criminous novels and collections only:

WHITFIELD, RAOUL (Falconia). 1896-1945; pseudonym: Temple Field.

      * Green Ice. Knopf, 1930; No Exit Press, UK, 1988. Hardcover reprint: Grosset & Dunlap, early 1930s. Reprinted in 3 Star Omnibus: Trent’s Last Case, Green Ice, The Middle Temple Murder, Knopf, 1936. Later hardcover reprint: Gregg Press, 1980. Also published as: The Green Ice Murders. Avon Murder Mystery Monthly #46, pb, 1947. Later paperback reprints: Avon PN373, 1971; Quill, 1986.

      * Death in a Bowl. Knopf, 1931; No Exit Press, UK, 1988. Paperback reprints: Avon PN337, 1970; Quill, 1986.

      * The Virgin Kills. Knopf, 1932; No Exit Press, UK, 1988. Paperback reprint: Quill, 1986.
      * Jo Gar’s Casebook. Crippen & Landru, hc, 2002. Story collection. RD = Originally published as by Ramon Decolta:

FIELD, TEMPLE. Pseudonym of Raoul F. Whitfield, 1896-1945.

      * Five. Farrar & Rinehart, 1931.
      * Killer’s Carnival. Farrar & Rinehart, 1932.

NICK O’DONOHUE – Wind Chill.

Paperjacks, paperback original, 1985.

   By rights, in a world that was absolutely perfect, this would have followed my review of L.A.Taylor’s Only Half a Hoax, as here is another book taking place in the twin cities area of Minneapolis-St. Paul. And if that weren’t connection enough, in 180 degree contrast (well, at least well over 60), this one takes place in the dead of winter, whereas what happened in that earlier book occurred instead in the balmy breezes (relatively speaking) of April.

   Ice fishing on a Minnesota lake on New Year’s Day is not my idea of a lark, nor that of private eye Nathan Phillips either. Especially when the first catch he and his fishing buddy, homicide lieutenant Jon Pederson, make that day is that of a waterlogged corpse which has been mutilated beyond recognition.

   And as a coincidence beyond belief, the body is somehow related to a case Pederson and the FBl have been working on, and now Phillips is involved too. As is the IRA, and a host of new clients for Phillips, attracted by the publicity, he guesses, but all of them, strangely, with Irish-sounding names.

   There is also a great deal of blackmail going around. You would not believe who is blackmailing who — and that is the problem with this book. I didn’t believe it. While O’Donohoe tries hard, he never did convince me. He has a nice easy style, for the most part, but every once in a while I found myself stopping short with a passage that simply stumped me for a moment.

   It is like listening to someone who is either afflicted with a faulty (or very selective) memory or (less seriously?) with an incurable habit of going off at wrong angles.

   Angles, at least, I wasn’t expecting. I don’t know if the problem was in the editing and the proofreading (or lack thereof), or if it was just me. Simply say that something failed to click — but when Phillips admits on page 194 that “I’d been stupid,” I could only nod my head, in complete agreement.

[UPDATE] 12-01-08.  Even with my review notes on the book, I don’t remember anything more about it than what I said back then, over 20 years ago. I may not have sounded very positive about it in my comments, but if I’m willing to give him another try, then I see no reason why you shouldn’t.

   I also don’t have a cover image to show you, since my own copy is buried away somewhere and essentially inaccessible. We’re therefore making do with the cover of another of Nathan Phillips’s adventures, as you’ll see here to the right:

   Besides the three of them in the same series (see below), O’Donohue has one other entry in Al Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV, an SF-fantasy novel with some criminous content. He also wrote a small handful of other fantasy paperbacks, but none of them cry out to be mentioned here.

O’DONOHOE, NICK   [i.e., Nicholas Benjamin O’Donohoe].   1952-  .

      * April Snow. Raven House, 1981. [Nathan Phillips]
      * Wind Chill. PaperJacks, 1985. [Nathan Phillips]
      * Open Season. PaperJacks, 1986. [Nathan Phillips]
      * Too Too Solid Flesh. TSR, 1989. [New York City, NY; Future]

   Of perhaps major significance or importance, let me announce first that I recently uploaded Part 30 of the online Addenda to Al Hubin’s Revised Crime Fiction IV, 1749-2000. It’s a long list of recently discovered additions and corrections, largely a matter of birth and death dates and setting of stories, but as always, there are books newly listed, new series characters determined, and new biographical data about the authors.

   I’ve not had a chance to do any of the annotating that I usually do: adding links and cover images and the like. It’s just the facts, as some TV detective is well-known for saying, or is supposed to have said, which are not quite the same thing.

   What I have been doing in this regard is merging Parts 1 and 2 with Part 3 in alphabetical order, A through H so far. To demonstrate, here’s a section of authors whose last names begin with B. And as always, if you know anything more about any of these authors, do let me know about it.

CAREY, BASIL. 1898-? Born in Plymouth, England; author of a number of thriller novels published between 1926 and 1937, some reprinted in the US.
      Gray Amber. Add British edition: Constable, hc, 1930. US edition: Clode, hc, 1930.

CAREY, DONNELL. Pseudonym of Joe Barry Lake, 1909-1961; other pseudonym: Joe Barry. Under this pen name the author of one book included in the Revised Crime Fiction IV; see below:
      Kisses Can Kill. Phantom, US, pb, 1951. Comyns, ca.1952. “The amazing story of a birthmark that solved a savage murder!”

CARR, JOHN DICKSON.
      The Burning Court. TV movie [series episode/Dow Hour of Great Mysteries]: NBC, 1960 (scw: Kelley Roos [Audrey Roos & William Roos]; dir: Paul Nickell). [Note: Audrey and William Roos won an Edgar from the MWA for their television script.] Note: For more on the Dow TV series, see this earlier post on the M*F blog.

CARTER, ANGELA.
      The Bloody Chamber and other stories. Film: The Company of Wolves, based on ss in this collection: Cannon, 1984 (scw & dir: Neil Jordan)

CARTER, JOHN.
      The Eagle’s Nest. Novelization of TV movie [series episode/The New Avengers]: TV1, 1976 (scw: Brian Clemens; dir: Desmond Davis). SC: The New Avengers: John Steed (Patrick Macnee), Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Joanna Lumley).

CARTER, MARY. Pseudonym.
      Prisoner Cell Block H: Trials of Erica. Pinnacle, 1981. (Novelization of the Australian TV series Prisoner; distributed in the UK and the US as Prisoner: Cell Block H, and in Canada as Caged Women.) SC: Regular cast members including prison governor Erica Davidson (Patsy King).

CASTLE, JOHN. [Joint pseudonym of John William Garrod & Ronald Charles Payne.]
      Flight Into Danger (with Arthur Hailey). TV movie: CBS, 1971, as Terror in the Sky (scw: Elinor Karpf, Steven Karpf, Dick Nelson; dir: Bernard L. Kowalski)

CAUSEY, JAMES O(LIVER, JR.) 1924-2003. Replace tentative years of birth and death with correct ones and add full name. Author of three crime novels included in the Revised Crime Fiction IV.
      The Baby Doll Murders. Gold Medal, US, pb, 1957; Fawcett, UK, pb, , 1959.

      Frenzy. Crest, pb, 1960. [Reviewed by Bill Crider on his blog.]

      Killer Take All! Graphic, US, pb, 1957. Hale, UK, hc, 1960.

THEODORA WENDER – Murder Gets a Degree. Avon; paperback original, October 1986.

   A slim book, at 150 pages (of large print), it still packs a wallop of intensity, emotional drive and impact.

   It is also the second fictional collaboration of Wading River’s chief of police Alden Chase with Glad Gold, female professor of English at Turnbull College, the first being Knight Must Fall (Avon, pbo, 1985), in which the former president of the school was murdered and his body thrown into a pool.

   Wading River is based on a good many New England towns of the same type — this time apparently of the Rhode Island variety. Providence, H. P. Lovecraft’s hometown, is nearby, and witchcraft, black magic and secret covens figure prominently in the death of poor addled Adah Storm, the last descendant of a long line of permanent Wading River residents.

   She even dies on Halloween, but the none of all this has much to do with her murder or the destruction of her home by fire. The motive lies elsewhere, for which I give thanks, as in the context of detective fiction I often find sorcery and contact with evil spirits invariably making for barely tolerable reading.

   As another of the new authors recently published by Avon, Theodora Wender does a capable job of misleading the reader with the real clues uncovered by Chase and Gold, but any reader who is paying attention should easily decipher the killer’s identity.

   The occasional propensity for using four-letter words seems misplaced in this particular setting and type of story, however, and I while I am happy for Chase and Gold’s delight in each other, I found their tendency to jump into bed (or the equivalent) at every opportunity (so to speak, and hardly explicitly) something I’d somehow (curiously) rather they’d do off-page.

[UPDATE] 11-27-08.   I know a little more about the author than I did in 1987. The two books were the only two mysteries she wrote, and from Al Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV we learn that the author’s real name was Dorothea S. Wender. She was born in 1934 and died in 2003.

   This helped me use Google to good advantage, allowing me to discover that “Dorothea Schmidt Wender was born in 1934 in Ohio and graduated from Radcliffe College, and then went to the University of Minnesota and Harvard University. She has been Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Classics at Wheaton College, Massachusetts. Her publications include book reviews and scholarly articles.”

   One of her scholarly publications was a translation of a book by ancient Greek authors Hesiod and Theognis: Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies (Penguin Classics).

   I confess that at this relatively late date I do not remember much about the book, but what I said at the time makes me (a) feel like reading it again, and (b) wish that there had been more in the series.

JOHN PENN – A Deadly Sickness.

Bantam, reprint paperback; 1st printing, Nov 1986. Hardcover edition: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1985. UK first edition: Collins Crime Club, hc, 1985.

   There is a type of British detective story I read and greatly enjoy, and I’d have to say that Agatha Christie represents it best.

   It’s an old-fashioned sort of story, one seldom taking place in London, but rather in one of the many villages England seems to be endlessly populated with. The police may take part, but the primary focus is often on other main characters, all of whom are more or less involved with the mystery, some more than others.

   And so, I have discovered John Penn. Everything I said above seems to apply. The first case Detective Superintendent Thorne and Sergeant Abbot worked on together seems to have been A Will to Kill, also recently published by Bantam. As in this one, a young girl is the key figure, and the same local doctor makes an appearance in each.

   In fact he is more of a main character in this one, as the police make only a late and mostly routine appearance in finally solving the death of the wealthy Sir Oliver Poston. The identity of the killer is unknown to the reader, of course, but what’s also a mystery, for a while, is what actually happened after his heir’s drunken accident on the occasion of his 40th birthday, preceding the death of his father. (Of the whole crowd, only the young girl mentioned above seems not to know.)

   As I am aware that most of you are completely capable of reading between the lines, I have probably said too much already. For that reason, I liked A Will to Kill more, but sometimes even when you know what’s going to happen, it’s fascinating to watch well-developed characters as they go through their paces.

[UPDATE] 11-24-08.  By some strange coincidence, when I used my computer to check the date just now, it also told me the time, which was exactly 11:24. I think this may be the day I should buy a whole stack of lottery tickets!

    When I wrote this review, over 20 years ago, I was rather down on British mystery and thriller fiction. How do I know? I deleted the first two paragraphs, neither of which do you see here, nor will you ever see them.

    I’ve changed my mind about British detective stories in the meantime. Maybe I’ve slowed down and I enjoy the pace of the older “humdrums” (of which category I do not consider the above to be an example) a lot more than I did when I was younger, but the glitz and glamour of present-day London and other larger cities, with all of their problems with the younger generation and immigrant populations, holds a lot of interest for me as well.

    I believe what remains of the review reads smoothly enough. Enough time has elapsed enough since I wrote it that I cannot tell you, however, whether the doctor figure that I mentioned was the same person, or if I meant to use him as a generic character.

    “John Penn,” and I did not know this when I wrote the review, was the joint pseudonym of Paula Harcourt and John H. Trotman. The latter did not write any mystery fiction of his own, but the former, who died in 1999, has a list of over 20 books to her individual credit in Al Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV, mostly of the espionage thriller variety, from what I can deduce from their titles.

    From CFIV then, here’s a list of all of John Penn’s work. Series characters: GT = Insp. (Supt.) George Thorne; DT = Chief Insp. (Supt.) Dick Tansey. (Most of the Tansey books have never been published in the US.)

* Notice of Death (n.) Collins 1982
* Deceitful Death (n.) Collins 1983
* A Will to Kill (n.) Collins 1983. GT
* Mortal Term (n.) Collins 1984. GT

* A Deadly Sickness (n.) Collins 1985. GT
* Barren Revenge (n.) Collins 1986. GT
* Unto the Grave (n.) Collins 1986. GT
* Accident Prone (n.) Collins 1987. GT
* Outrageous Exposures (n.) Collins 1988. DT

* A Feast of Death (n.) Collins 1989. DT
* A Killing to Hide (n.) Collins 1990. DT
* Death’s Long Shadow (n.) Collins 1991. DT
* A Knife Ill-Used (n.) Collins 1991. DT
* A Legacy of Death (n.) Collins 1992. DT
* A Haven of Danger (n.) Collins 1993. DT
* Widow’s End (n.) Collins 1993. DT
* The Guilty Party (n.) Collins 1994. DT
* So Many Steps to Death (n.) Collins 1995. DT
* Bridal Shroud (n.) Collins 1996. DT

* Sterner Stuff (n.) Collins 1997. DT

DENISE DANKS – Phreak.

Orion, UK, paperback reprint, 1999; reissued 2001. Hardcover edition: Gollancz, UK, 1998. No US edition.

   Big cities in England in today’s mass computer and telecommunication age are no longer very much like what they were like in Agatha Christie’s day (to pick an obvious example) and hard-bitten investigative journalist Georgina Powers might well be the most complete antithesis of Miss Marple (to pick another) I think you can find.

   Miss Marple was a pretty sharp lady, and there were quite a few secrets in rural English villages that she was aware of, but in her wildest imagination, I just don’t think there’s any way she could have foreseen anything as hard on the senses as this.

   A world of neon lights, computer hackers and phone phreakers, booze and dope, dingy buildings and easy sex, that is; a London teeming with Asians, informants and other unsavory and often unkempt individuals operating “at the edge of the post-modern world.” Without much warning, it’s like stepping into the science-fictional world of a Philip K. Dick, except that his worlds were often only props, and this is real.

   The first death of that of a young Muslim phone hacker Georgina had been cultivating for a story. His T-shirt has her lipstick on it, making the police as interested in her as they are in finding the killer.

   Since this is fifth Mrs. Powers novel, it takes some time to catch up with all of her friends and acquaintances. Other than that, there’s no need to ask questions. It’s sit back and go along for the ride time, and perhaps take a shower afterward. This is Raymond Chandler territory, without a doubt. Chandler is far the better writer, but Ms. Danks’ streets are darker and meaner, and the edges, if possible, are even sharper.

   Not for everyone’s taste, but if you’re a fan, say, of the SFnal cyberpunk movement, here’s a mystery novel that’s very much in sync.

Bibliographic data:    [Expanded from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin.]

  DANKS, DENISE. Journalist and screenwriter living in London.

         Georgina Powers series:

   1. The Pizza House Crash. Futura, UK, paperback, 1989. Published in the US as User Deadly, St. Martin’s, hardcover, 1992.

   2. Better Off Dead. Macdonald, UK, hc, 1991.
   3. Frame Grabber. Constable, UK, hc, 1992; St. Martin’s, US, hc, 1993.
   4. Wink a Hopeful Eye. Macmillan, UK, hc; St. Martin’s, US, hc, 1994.
   5. Phreak. Gollancz, UK, hc, 1998.
   6. Torso. Gollancz, UK, hc, 1999.

   7. Baby Love. Gollancz, UK, hc, 2001.

   All of the books have been reprinted in the UK as Orion paperbacks.

[UPDATE] 11-12-08. Noting that the last book in the series came out in 2001, one wonders what has happened to Denise Danks’ career, and what she has been doing in the past seven years. If anyone can say, please let us know.

NATALIE SUMNER LINCOLN – The Red Seal. D. Appleton & Co., hardcover, 1920. Hardcover reprint: A. L. Burt, n.d. Trade paperback reprint: Dodo Press, 2007.

   Twins Helen and Barbara McIntyre arrive at court to give evidence against one John Smith, caught burgling the McIntyre mansion. Strange to relate, the sisters ask lawyer Philip Rochester, who happens to be present, to defend Smith, which task he undertakes.

   Smith is taken ill as he leaves the witness box and dies, whereupon he is discovered to be in disguise. He is James Turnbull, cashier of the Metropolis Trust Company, Helen’s fiance, and Rochester’s room mate. Incredibly, all three claim not to have recognised him. Turnbull’s angina pectoris is thought to have caused his death, but Helen insists on an autopsy.

   It transpires Turnbull was burgling the house because of a silly wager made with Barbara that he could not pull it off. Barbara asks her sweetheart Harry Kent, Rochester’s partner in a legal practice, to find out who murdered Turnbull, for she and her sister are convinced his death was the result of foul play.

   Soon the deceased Turnbull is suspected of forgery, Rochester goes missing, an eavesdropper lurks at a window, and a handkerchief is suspected as being the murder weapon. To further the busy plot, various characters play pass the red-sealed envelope, whose contents turn out to be the last thing most readers will expect.

My verdict: While the initial pace is slow, it picks up after a few chapters. The solution is complicated, not to say outrageous, so don’t try reading The Red Seal if there is anything to distract you from noting every nuance.

   Cleverly worked red herrings mislead, and the explanation of the characters’ roles in the tragedy and subsequent events features what must be the largest number of culprits-named-and-then-it’s-someone-else’s-turn-to-be-accused many readers will have read — and all in a single chapter!

   Or to put it another way, the plot features twists galore. I suspect not many readers will guess whodunnit.

Etext: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=1747

      Bibliographic data (taken from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin) —

LINCOLN, NATALIE SUMNER. 1881-1935.

* The Trevor Case (n.) Appleton 1912 [Washington, D.C.]
* The Lost Despatch (n.) Appleton 1913 [Washington, D.C.; 1865]
* The Man Inside (n.) Appleton 1914 [Washington, D.C.]
* C.O.D. (n.) Appleton 1915
* The Official Chaperone (n.) Appleton 1915 [Washington, D.C.]
* I Spy (n.) Appleton 1916 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]

* The Nameless Man (n.) Appleton 1917 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]
* The Moving Finger (n.) Appleton 1918 [Insp. Mitchell; Virginia]
* The Three Strings (n.) Appleton 1918 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]
* The Red Seal (n.) Appleton 1920 [Detective Ferguson; Washington, D.C.]
* The Unseen Ear (n.) Appleton 1921 [Detective Ferguson; Washington, D.C.]
* The Cat’s Paw (n.) Appleton 1922 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]
* The Meredith Mystery (n.) Appleton 1923 [Insp. Mitchell; Virginia]
* The Thirteenth Letter (n.) Appleton 1924 [Maryland]
* The Missing Initial (n.) Appleton 1925 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]
* The Blue Car Mystery (n.) Appleton 1926 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]

* The Dancing Silhouette (n.) Appleton 1927 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]
* P.P.C. (n.) Appleton 1927 [Insp. Mitchell; Washington, D.C.]
* The Secret of Mohawk Pond (n.) Appleton 1928 [Connecticut]
* The Fifth Latchkey (n.) Appleton 1929 [Maryland]

* Marked “Cancelled” (n.) Appleton 1930 [Washington, D.C.]

* 13 Thirteenth Street (n.) Appleton 1932 [Washington, D.C.]