Wed 4 Nov 2020
H. E. WHEELER – The Third Attempt. Chief Inspector Stephen Rant #2. Herbert Jenkins, UK, hardcover, 1946. Probably never reprinted.
When a wealthy widow of several years standing unexpectedly decides to marry a man who everyone assumes (correctly) is doing so only for her money, it gives all of her relatives and hangers-on who are living with her plenty of motive for doing away with her before she can change her will.
And from the title of this rather obscure mystery novel, you may easily deduce that the third attempt is the one that calls in Inspector Rant to handle the investigation that follows. Accompanying him is Sub-Inspector Barry Ellingham, who serves him extremely well as his Watson – even though Rant sees no reason to confine in him very much.
Rant himself is of an extremely miserly nature, a man who is called “Blister†behind his back by his subordinates, and in particular considered “a cross-grained old curmudgeon†by Ellingham. But the mystery is an interesting one that’s well-plotted with a clever twist or two. There’s not much to the story but a lot of questioning of the witnesses, but the characters are clearly delineated, even if their appearances in the tale are there only for the sake of the mystery.
Most of Wheeler’s books fall into the “hard to find†category. The Third Attempt seems to be easiest, probably because it’s the last one he wrote, and post-war at that. Lots of equally little know mystery writers from the same era are being reprinted today. Based on this particular one, I see no reason why he shouldn’t be among them.
The Inspector Stephen Rant series –
Death Takes a Ride. Jenkins 1942
The Third Attempt. Jenkins 1946
Wheeler also wrote three novels about a fellow named Kandal Graydon, profession unknown, plus one standalone crime novel, all within the span of twelve years, 1935-1946, all published by Jenkins.
November 4th, 2020 at 9:29 pm
I found the following information about Wheeler on one bookseller’s website:
“We are also indebted to Geraldine Wheeler for furnishing us with the following:
H E Wheeler (Harold Ernest) was born Ipswich 1899 and died Hornchurch Essex 1976. He worked as an Insurance executive in Ipswich and the City and wrote in his spare time. His son is my husband David Wheeler who has published two novels (not detective fiction).”
November 4th, 2020 at 9:40 pm
Some of these lesser knowns offer some actual entertainment value for those of us who love the British mystery of this era.
December 3rd, 2023 at 8:49 am
I have both the Rant mysteries and have reviewed them on my blog. If it were not for Geraldine Wheeler’s information above I would have guessed Wheeler might be an alias of another mystery writer. It’s a shame he didn’t continue to publish work as his writing is good – definitely worthy of reprinting or even just being made available as ebooks.