Wed 2 Jan 2019
A PI Mystery Review: SAM McCARVER – The Case of Compartment 7.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[7] Comments
SAM McCARVER – The Case of Compartment 7. John Darnell #2. Signet, paperback original; 1st printing, February 2000.
When the book begins, the year is 1914, and the drums of war are beginning to echo their way across the European continent. It seems hardly the time to take a train ride from Paris to Bucharest on the famed Orient Express, much less a honeymoon trip, but paranormal investigator John Darnell is mixing business with pleasure. He’s been hired to investigate why compartment number seven is being haunted by a female ghost who keeps appearing in it while dressed in bloody clothing.
As it turns out, ,however, his primary task is shoved off to the side once several deaths and near deaths start occurring. Europe is a hotbed of intrigue, and thefts, aborted bomb attempts, and various secret plots of all kinds find the train a perfect setting to take place.
This is one of those works of historical fiction in which purely fictional characters are mixed in with others who are real (or were), most notably Mata Hari, traveling under her name at birth, and a nurse named Agatha Miller, a year before she married a certain Mr. Christie. The conceit of course being that she is taking notes for a career, she hopes, in writing mystery fiction.
With all of the plotting going on in such closed confines, the overall story has a continual tension to it, there’s no denying it. It’s all the more disappointing then, that the ending fails to rise to the occasion as greatly as it does, in comparison to everything that’s gone before.
Mysteries that take place on trains are always a lot of fun, though, as long as the Orient Express remains in motion, making its way across the European landscape, so is this one.
The John Darnell series —
1. The Case of Cabin 13 (1999)
2. The Case of Compartment 7 (2000)
3. The Case of the 2nd Seance (2000)
4. The Case of the Ripper’s Revenge (2001)
5. The Case of the Uninvited Guest (2002)
6. To Die, or Not to Die (2003)
January 2nd, 2019 at 11:11 pm
Totally missed this one, but sounds like some fun.
January 2nd, 2019 at 11:56 pm
I enjoyed this one, with the reservations I’ve already expressed, but I don’t believe the I’ll be going out of my way to read others. It’s not relevant to anyone but me, but I’m not a big fan of mixing real life people in fictional stories.
The first book took place on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, for example, and showing up in Darnell’s future cases are Conan Doyle, Ernest Hemingway, Bernard Shaw and others. Some readers like this sort of thing, but generally speaking, it’s a tough sell to me.
January 4th, 2019 at 9:27 am
I believe Max Allan Collins wrote a series of mysteries featuring “real” historical figures mixed with made-up characters. Like you, I’m not a fan of that genre either.
January 4th, 2019 at 12:16 pm
Right you are, George. I’m traveling today, but soon after I’m home again, I’ll add some details.
January 5th, 2019 at 4:35 pm
Home again. Max Allan Collins actually did two historical series. The better known ones were his Nathan Hlller books, of which there are (so far) 18. In them they cover Heller’s career over the years, starting with Al Capone in the first one with Joe McCarthy in the most recent.
The books I was thinking of in my previous comment, though, were his ‘disaster” books, in which well-known authors just happen to be on the scene and have some sort of related case to solve. Her e they are:
1. The Titanic Murders (1998) with Jacques Futrelle
2. The Hindenburg Murders (2000) with Leslie Charteris
3. The Pearl Harbor Murders (2001) with Edgar Rice Burroughs
4. The Lusitania Murders (2002) with S. S. Van Dine
5. The London Blitz Murders (2004) with Agatha Christie
6. The War of the Worlds Murder (2005) with Walter Gibson
I think my problem with books like these is I have to suspend my disbelief too much. I know the real life people didn’t have adventures like these, so as fictional events, I lnow they didn’t really happen. Totally made up, in other words, if that makes sense.
January 5th, 2019 at 6:25 pm
There is some difference between meeting historical figures ala Flashman or Heller and having them as the protagonist as the Collins books did.
For me it depends on how well it is handled. I loved Clifford Irving’s TOM MIX AND PANCHO VILLA or Carlos Fuentes THE OLD GRINGO and recently Francine Mathews’ JACK 1939 and TOO BAD TO DIE, WW II spy dramas with JFK and Ian Fleming respectively. I forgive a lot for audacity. I’m afraid I’m still a sucker for John Dickson Carr’s “A Gentleman From Paris.”
January 5th, 2019 at 6:50 pm
Quite right!
And speaking of audacious, I am positive that Nate Heller goes to bed with Marilyn Monroe in BYE BYE BABY. Nice work for a PI if you can get it.
(I also have vague memories, or someone told me, so this is only rumor, that Heller also had a short affair with Jayne Mansfield.)