M. SCOTT MICHEL – The Black Key. Alexander Cordell #1. Mystery House, hardcover, 1946. Handi-Book Mystery #61, paperback, 1947.

   A pretty victim of hysterical amnesia calls for help on forty-three-year-old Dr. Alexander Cornell after finding herself standing over the body of a young woman with a knife in her throat in a New York City playground. She is unaware that Cornell is a special advisor to the D.A., functioning in the Bureau of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine.

   Cornell lets his new patient stay overnight until he can decide bow to proceed. In the meanwhile, she has a nightmare in which an ugly man’s· scolding finger is a Black Key. With the strange dream as a starting point, rather than narco-synthesis. Cornell tries to produce a clue to the woman’s identity and perhaps even the name of the murderer, whom she may have seen and known.

   Cornell is eventually led to the household of the semi-invalid Dudley Briggs as well as two more murders, a near fourth, and blackmail with roots in the distant past.

   Alexander Cornell is a very blunt individual, saying exactly what he thinks in order to test reactions. The final dream interpretation is rather clever, even if ,the method by which it is achieved is medically questionable. There are a couple of surprises in store as well.

   While the culprit is fairly obvious early on, the plot twist and motivation are good. Characterization and pacing,  however, are not as well done as in the author’s Wood Jaxon novels, and I found Alexander Cornell less interesting and convincing as a detective.

Bibliographic Update: The second case Dr. Cornell solved was recorded in Dear, Dead Harry (Phoenix, 1949) under the author’s pen name Milton Scott. As Jim pointed out in his review, Michel wrote two books with Wood Jaxon as the leading character, both from Coward-McCann in the early 40s. He also wrote one standalone mystery