THE TATTERED DRESS. Universal International Pictures, 1957. Jeff Chandler, Jeanne Crain, Jack Carson, Gail Russell, Elaine Stewart, George Tobias, Edward Andrews, Phillip Reed, Edward Platt. Director: Jack Arnold.

   Back in the 1950s, Universal Studios had two really fine trashy directors under contract: Douglas Sirk did garish melodramas like Written on the Wind, and Jack Arnold handled the more overtly pulpy stuff, Westerns and monster movies like Tarantula and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

   The Tattered Dress finds Arnold encroaching on Sirk’s territory with a tawdry tale penned (or typed, as the case may be) by George Zuckerman, who churned out Written on the Wind and the engaging scripts for Dawn at Socorro and The Brass Legend. The results in Tattered maybe aren’t purely successful, but they’re at least fun to watch.

   The story starts in a small desert town where wealthy Phillip Reed murders the guy who seduced his wife (said wife played with classy trampiness by Elaine Stewart, one of three actresses here who deserved better). Reed gets arrested by that perennial comic foil Jack Carson, playing a hick-town Bozo-Sheriff, and Jeff Chandler shows up as a high-powered attorney hired to defend him in court.

   Chandler coolly gets Reed acquitted by making a fool of Carson on the witness stand (not a terribly difficult task, given Carson’s persona) and prepares to go back to the Big City — only to find that the sheriff isn’t such a hick ass he seems, and Chandler is on the receiving end of some rather sticky and perhaps deadly revenge.

   Jack Arnold always seemed to like desert locations, and he does well with this one, evoking a lonely isolation where passion and violence seem to simmer below a hot, dusty and deceptively still surface. Zuckerman’s script has its slack moments, but director Arnold gets through them as quickly as possible to highlight the occasional scenes of tension and violence.

   As far as the acting goes, Jeff Chandler delivers his usual clapboard performance, and Jeanne Crain simply marks time in a role so thankless as to make her casting seem positively churlish, but Gail Russell, a sad-eyed actress who died tragically young, does a fine job in an interesting bit, and Jack Carson trades on his buffoonish image impressively as the apparently-dumb cop.

   It’s not a totally riveting ninety minutes, but The Tattered Dress has its moments, and it sure won’t put you to sleep. I might add that this was produced by one Albert Zugsmith, an auteur too colorful to explore here in any depth, but definitely a subject for further research.

Editorial Note: The video you see above consists of only the first four minutes of the movie. For some reason I haven’t been able to embed the entire movie, but you can watch it on YouTube, here.

It took a little longer than expected, but the comments are back. While I probably won’t post anything more tonight, things will be back to normal here by this time tomorrow, if not before.

I don’t know why things happen the way they do, but my daughter Sarah and her husband Mark left for a two week vacation in England on Thursday, and it’s Mark who does the heavy lifting around here: backing up data and doing the repairs. Sure enough, as soon as he got out of the country, bingo! That’s when the blog went down.

It took a few emails back and forth with GoDaddy to solve the problem, but solved it is, and we’re back. Thanks, Mark!

PS. The last comment that was processed correctly was a suggestion made by Paul Herman that The Shadow should be counted as one of the Triple Threat Franchise Players. He is correct:

https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=19550#comments

If you tried to leave a comment anytime after Paul’s, it disappeared into Voodooland. If you’d like to try again, please do.

The comments have disappeared from all my posts. It should be temporary but the repairs are beyond my pay level. Let’s put everything on hold until I can get it fixed. Don’t reply to this or any other post until I send an all clear.

GEORGETTE HEYER – Footsteps in the Dark. Longman Green, UK, hardcover, 1932. Berkley, US, paperback, 1986. Reprinted several times, especially in the UK.

    “…the whole story is told with such good nature and humor that it is hard to take it as anything more than a fine evening’s entertainment – which it is. You’ll enjoy the characters – there are a few mysterious strangers running around, after all – and the Priory makes a wonderful setting – and there’s much more going on there than may meet the eye.”

— Les Blatt, “Classic Mysteries”

http://www.classicmysteries.net/2012/09/footsteps-in-the-dark.html

       See also:

    “A light-hearted thriller about a group of young people and their aunt who inherit a haunted house and unmask a gang of forgers. The main influence seems to be Allingham’s early thrillers … The elements are conventional … but it’s steadily entertaining.”

— Nick Fuller, GAD Wiki

http://gadetection.pbworks.com/w/page/7930599/Footsteps%20in%20the%20Dark

    “I had not guessed what was going on until it was all revealed; however I did work out the identity of the monk several chapters before he was unmasked; I also guessed correctly about the occupation of another of the significant characters. Heyer wasn’t as good as Agatha Christie at laying false trails and surprising her readers – her talent was, instead, in making the people three-dimensional. That’s perhaps a disadvantage in crime fiction, since it becomes clear from people’s characters whether they are ‘baddies’ or not!”

— “Sue’s Book Reviews”

http://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/02/footsteps-in-dark-by-georgette-heyer.html

    “In a nutshell: Fun, wacky, and a wee bit silly, Footsteps in the Dark was a light, charming read.”

— “Bibliolatry”

http://bookworship.blogspot.com/2010/03/classics-circuit-georgette-heyer.html

    “Heyer’s novels show some signs of Realist school influence… Her first mystery, Footsteps in the Dark (1932), shows villains engaged in the sort of criminal scheme we associate with Crofts’ The Pit-Prop Syndicate (1922) and The Box Office Murders (1929)… Footsteps in the Dark has a small time, not especially hard-boiled British private detective as well, the type that also shows up regularly Crofts’ novels.”

— Mike Grost, “A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection”

http://mikegrost.com/ngmarsh.htm#Heyer

J. H. WALLIS – Murder by Formula. Dutton, hardcover, 1931.

   During a meeting of the elite Aristoi Club, the Hanging Committee — art, let me hasten to say — discusses crime novels. Several members urge Andrew Wingdon, best-selling author who writes, according to one character, “readin’ books,” to write his own detective novel, or “trash” book. The formula proposed to Wingdon, as he iterates it:

   Wingdon begins making notes and the others depart. The next morning Wingdon is found dead in the club, killed more or less in the manner discussed the previous evening.

   At the end of his novel, Wallis claims in verse that he himself followed the formula. For the most part I agree with his contention, particularly since fair play was not a criterion.

   The investigation by Inspector Jacks, in the first of several novels featuring his alleged abilities, is slipshod or negligent. For example, Jacks is unaware that apartments and houses have rear entrances and that a murderer might use them.

   A locked-room murder occurs that is given no thought by Jacks and is explained in one unlikely sentence during a most unlikely denouement. Jacks gives Wingdon’s widow, with whom he is smitten — see the last sentence in the formula — an automatic to protect herself at a meeting she shouldn’t attend but provides no instruction about use of the weapon, though this may be excused, I suppose, because the automatic turns out to be a revolver.

   Maybe in his later novels Wallis either is more careful with his plot or writes more persuasively. Maybe.

        The Inspector Wilton Jacks series —

Murder by Formula. Dutton 1931.
The Capital City Mystery. Dutton 1932.
The Servant of Death. Dutton 1932.
Cries in the Night.Dutton 1933.
The Mystery of Vaucluse. Dutton 1933.
Murder Mansion. Dutton 1934.

   J. H. Wallis has four other works of crime fiction listed in Hubin, including Once Off Guard, which was the basis of the film The Woman in the Window (1944), directed by Fritz Lang. Dan Stumpf reviewed both the book and the film here earlier on this blog.

THE SNOOP SISTERS: “THE FEMALE INSTINCT.” NBC. Pilot for TV series, 18 December 1972. Two hours. Helen Hayes (Ernesta Snoop), Mildred Natwick (Gwendolyn Snoop Nicholson), Paulette Godddard, Jill Clayburgh, Lawrence Pressman, Bill Dana, Kurt Kazner, Edward Platt, Craig Stevens, Fritz Weaver, Art Carney. Teleplay: Leonard Stern & Hugh Wheeler, based on a story by Leonard Stern, who also directed.

   The series that followed this pilot episode began a year and day later, but as part of NBC’s Wednesday Mystery Movie, there were only four additional 90-minute episodes that ever aired. Other segments in the monthly rotation were Banacek, Tenafly, and Faraday and Company. Of these, the only one I remember watching on a regular basis was Banacek, which is also, I’m sure – without looking it up – the one that lasted the longest.

   The entire season of The Snoop Sisters has been released on DVD, but this is the only one I’ve watched, so far. As a mystery, it is not very successful, but it was intended to be as much of a comedy as it was a detective series, and even at that, the pilot, at least, was not as funny as I think was intended. Amusing, yes, and enjoyable, but not out-and-out funny.

   One thing I did not know before watching is that the Snoop Sisters were actually named Snoop, although Gwendolyn was widowed. The premise is that they are elderly and less than conventional in their approach to life, but still very sharp and far from dotty. Ernesta, as it happens, is a writer of detective novels, while her sister transcribes them and types them out.

   Their nephew (Lawrence Pressman) is a lieutenant on the police force, which enables them to interfere (the right word, I think) in his cases. To keep them out of trouble (good luck with that) Lt. Ostrowski has assigned an ex-policeman named Barney (Art Carney) to chauffeur them around in an ancient Lincoln touring car.

   You may have noticed Paulette Goddard’s name in the credits. This is the last time she ever appeared in either the movies or on TV. It’s a short role, unfortunately. She plays an old time movie actress who’s in the process of writing her memoirs, and “hot” is the understatement of the year if you had to describe them in only one word. And “dead” is the word that comes next, as there are any number of people who would do anything to keep the book from being published.

   You may have also noticed Jill Clayburgh’s name in the credits. She was very young when she made this movie but also very beautiful, and you can tell from every moment she’s on the screen that she was going to be a star. (Hindsight, of course, is valuable, too, but I will stand on the previous statement as being 100% correct.)

   The problem with so many suspects is that the writers of the screenplay (one of the them being half of the “Patrick Quentin” pen name) had a very easy task of it. Pick one out of a hat, and he’s it. There is a long scene in which explanations are made, but with it taking place with the two Snoop sisters in the back of their car during a long chase after the killer across one of New York City’s many bridges, it is very difficult to make out many of the details.

   One nice touch is the use of some footage from The Ghost Breakers (1940), and one of the props in that film, to help solve the case. Paulette Goddard was a knockout then, but she still had a fine stage presence in this, her last appearance, as well, at the age of 62. It was good to see her again, one last time.

REX STOUT – The Golden Spiders. Viking Press, hardcover, October 1953. Bantam #1387, paperback, November 1955. Reprinted many times in both hardcover and soft. Episode of TV series: Nero Wolfe: 16 January 1981 (Season 1, Episode 1), with William Conrad & Lee Horsley. TV movie: A&E, 5 March 2000, with Maury Chaykin & Timothy Hutton.

    There is a scene in The Golden Spiders involving a shootout in a garage, and I must be getting old. When I came to this passage when I read it earlier this week all I could think of was what on earth is Archie doing, getting involved in a shootout in a garage?

   Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe’s right hand man, is a man of many talents. Besides following orders, wising off to the guys on the Homicide squad, interviewing suspects and transcribing his notes perfectly, he carries a gun and is as tough as he needs to be when the case calls for it. It still took me by surprise, that’s all. I think of Wolfe himself as a man of intellect, not even needing to leaving his home to solve cases, doing it all upstairs, so to speak.

   The case starts out in striking fashion. Two of Wolfe’s clients are later found murdered, run over by the same car, one of them a lady with a distinctive pair of earrings, shaped in the form of golden spiders. Says Wolfe on page 55: “I resent the assumption that people who come to me for help can be murdered with impunity.”

   So begins a path that many a PI has had to take, but this case, involving an organization devoted to helping Displaced Persons, while suitably complicated, just isn’t very interesting. Even the ending, with all of the people involved gathered together with Inspector Cramer, Nero Wolfe and Archie failed with me this time out. With the hands of everyone dirty of something, who cares who the actual killer is?

   Nor do Wolfe’s well-noted powers of deduction come into play. He decides to investigate one of people involved only because the police were checking on everyone else and why should he duplicate their effort, and of course he’s right. Even more distasteful, in a theoretical purist sort of way, is the fact that much of information that Archie produces is by means of torturing one of the guys in the garage after the shooting. I know I’m in the minority on this, but Pfui.

THE RAINBOW TRAIL. Fox, 1925. Tom Mix, Anne Cornwall, George Bancroft, Lucien Littlefield, Mark Hamilton, Vivian Oakland, Doc Roberts, Carol Halloway, Diana Miller. Screenplay by Lynn Reynolds, based on the novel of the same name by Zane Grey. Cinematography by Dan Clark. Director: Lynn Reynolds. Shown at Cinevent 38, Columbus OH, May 2006.

   A sequel to the film of Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage (Fox, 1925) in which Mix played the role of Jim Lassiter, a Texas Ranger pursued by an outlaw posse who evades his pursuers by sealing himself in a remote valley with a young woman he has rescued from the villain who held her and her mother captive.

   Now, some years later, Lassiter’s nephew John Shefford (played by Tom Mix) tracks his long-missing uncle to the valley into which he had disappeared, with the only road to the refuge leading through a “rough frontier settlement” controlled by surviving enemies of Lassiter.

   This handsomely photographed and exciting film is climaxed by an assault on Lassister’s cabin in Paradise Valley that takes great scenic advantage of the treacherous terrain. This film may lack some of the visual poetry of Riders but it’s an exceptional Western with a splendid performance by Tom Mix in top form.

   What is a franchise character? Let’s adapt the word as used in the film business and apply it to books. So our franchise character is any character that has been featured in three or more books. Good golly, look at them all.

   A franchise character should be special, unique among the rest, so lets narrow it down a bit. The character must appear in three or more original novels. No comic books, short stories, screenplay adaptations, folklore or ballads. And since this is Mystery*File, we will limit our choices to the mystery genre.

   Considering there are countless mystery books series released every month, it is shocking how many of fiction’s most beloved and remembered characters don’t have a book series to his or her name.

   Dashiell Hammett’s NICK and NORA CHARLES, the most famous and best of the detective couple appeared in only one novel The Thin Man. There is good news for the two. November 2012, Mysterious Press plans to release Return of the Thin Man, featuring two novellas Hammett wrote to be used as the basis for the movies “After the Thin Man” and “Another Thin Man.” But it is still not enough to make a book series.

   Others who failed to make the list due to a lack of a series of original novels include CONTINENTAL OP, BOSTON BLACKIE, BATMAN, SUPERMAN, CISCO KID, DICK TRACY, and ROBIN HOOD.

   Still too many characters for a list, so let’s add films. It is only fair since we stole their word, franchise. Of course in the past, a movie franchise was called, oddly enough, a series. So how can we define a movie series, oops, franchise (and limit our number of characters on the list)? Let’s require three or more original theatrical films shown in America featuring the same studio or independent producer, and/or actor. They must be original films for the movie theatre, doing what Thrush never could do and eliminate MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. with its films made up of TV episodes.

   While there have been several films featuring PHILIP MARLOWE and ZORRO, none were a part of a series of three films featuring the same studio and/or actor. Also off the list are: LEW ARCHER, NERO WOLFE, JOHN J. MALONE, MIKE HAMMER, FLASHGUN CASEY, TRAVIS MCGEE, RAFFLES, FLETCH, and MR AND MRS NORTH.

   Still too many characters, so let’s add a weekly TV series, a miniseries of three or more episodes, or three or more TV Movies, but no network pilots or foreign productions that have not aired on American TV. You are welcome to add in the comments any, such as the reported PHILO VANCE Italian series, which would restore the character to the list.

   A surprising number of popular mystery characters have never had a TV series such as SAM SPADE, THE SHADOW, NICK CARTER, MR. MOTO, BULLDOG DRUMMOND, JAMES BOND, JACK RYAN, JASON BOURNE (only a two part TV movie), and HARRY PALMER (who has only two TV Movies so far).

   One character will qualify soon, making him lucky number thirteen on our soon to be revealed list. Thomas Harris created HANNIBAL LECTER, the villain with an odd diet, in a series of four books that began with Red Dragon (1981). A famous movie series of four films has followed beginning with Manhunter (1986). Sometime in the upcoming TV season (most likely in 2013) a TV series featuring the serial killer and cannibal will premiere on NBC.

   What should we include in the mystery genre? Should we include the action/adventure series of INDIANA JONES and TARZAN? How about horror and JASON VOORHEES from Friday the 13th? All have a series of original books, series of films, and a weekly TV series. I’m not adding them to our list of mystery characters, but feel free to argue in the comments why I should or suggest others.

   So who survived? Who can be called a franchise character in all three major formats?

         THE LIST OF THE TRIPLE THREAT FRANCHISE CHARACTERS:

CHARLIE CHAN – Created by Earl Derr Biggers as a minor character in the book House Without a Key (1925) that was serialized in the magazine Saturday Evening Post. Five more books were to follow. CHARLIE has appeared in many films, the first being a ten episode serial from Pathe House, Without a Key (1926), with George Kuwa playing the minor role of CHAN. Fox produced sixteen films between 1931 and 1938 starring Warner Oland. After Oland’s death, Sidney Toler took over the part with eleven for Fox, then eleven more for Monogram Studios. After Toler’s death, Roland Winters took over the Monogram series for six films between 1947 and 1949. J. Carrol Naish played the detective in the syndicated TV series The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1957 – thirty-nine episode). The character played a minor role in the animated children cartoon featuring Chan’s children solving crimes called The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (CBS, 1972). Keye Luke was the voice of CHARLIE CHAN.

         http://charliechanfamily.tripod.com

ELLERY QUEEN – Created by “Ellery Queen” (Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee) in the novel The Roman Hat Mystery (1929), the first in a decades-long book series. Movies have proven unkind to ELLERY, but he was featured in a Columbia film series that lasted seven films, four starring Ralph Bellamy and three with William Gargan. There have been four different TV series featuring the character. The Adventures of Ellery Queen (DuMont, 1950-51; ABC 1951-52) starred Richard Hart then after Hart’s death, Lee Bowman. Adventures of Ellery Queen (Syndication, 1954, thirty-two episodes) starred Hugh Marlowe in the series also called Murder is My Business. The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (NBC, 1958-59) starred George Nader until the production left New York for Hollywood where Lee Philips took over. Finally (so far), perhaps the best TV adaptation of a traditional mystery detective was Ellery Queen (NBC, 1975-76) starring Jim Hutton.

         http://www.elleryqueen.us

DR. FU MANCHU – Created by Sax Rohmer. The character began in short story “Fu-Manchu,” published October 1912 in the magazine The Story-Teller. A long series of books would follow. Harry Agar Lyons was the first in films to portray the evil Doctor in the silent British movie serial The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (1923). Warner Oland starred in three Paramount films starting with Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu (1929). Better remembered is the film series with Christopher Lee that lasted five films beginning with The Face Of Fu Manchu (1965). Glen Gordon played the role in the syndicated TV series “Adventures of Fu Manchu” (1955 – thirteen episodes).

         http://njedge.net/~knapp/FuFrames.htm

HERCULE POIROT – Created by Agatha Christie, the Belgian PI first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1916) and lasted thirty-three novels before he met his end in Curtain (1975). Austin Trevor (Alibi, 1931) was the first to play the character in film. Peter Ustinov played the private detective in three theatrical films (Death On the Nile, 1976, Evil Under the Sun, 1982 and Appointment With Death, 1988) and three TV-Movies for Warner Brothers (Thirteen at Dinner, 1985, Dead Man’s Folly, 1986, and Murder in Three Acts, 1986). The most popular portrayal of the character has been by David Suchet who has played POIROT since 1989 for various productions usually seen in the United States on PBS series Mystery.

         http://www.poirot.us/poirot.php

LONE WOLF aka MICHAEL LANYARD – Louis Joseph Vance created the ex-thief turned adventurer that appeared in a series of eight books beginning with The Lone Wolf: A Melodrama (1914). The character first appeared on film in silent movie The Lone Wolf (1917) starring Bert Lytell, who would star in five films, the other four for Columbia. Most of the LONE WOLF films came from Columbia Pictures with Warren William starring in nine and Gerald Mohr in three. The syndicated TV series, The Lone Wolf (also known as Streets of Danger) turned him into a PI. The series starred Louis Hayward and lasted thirty-nine episodes.

         http://thrillingdetective.com/lone_wolf.html

MATT HELM – Created by Donald Hamilton, the government agent appeared in over twenty-five books beginning with Death of a Citizen (1960). MATT HELM changed from tough-guy to campy spy in a movie series of four films starring Dean Martin beginning with The Silencers (1966). In 1975 a TV series starring Tony Franciosa as ex-spy turned PI aired for one season on ABC.

         http://thrillingdetective.com/helm_matt.html

MICHAEL SHAYNE – Created by “Brett Halliday” (David Dresser). The character first appeared in Dividend on Death (1939) and continued in a series of seventy-seven novels. Lloyd Nolan played the red headed PI in a 20th Century Fox film series of seven movies beginning with Michael Shayne, Private Detective (1940). PRC followed with five movies starring Hugh Beaumont. Richard Denning played the PI in a NBC-TV series (1960-61).

         http://thrillingdetective.com/shaynemike.html

MISS JANE MARPLE – Agatha Christie is the only author with two franchise characters. MISS JANE MARPLE first appeared in Murder at the Vicarage (1930) and would last a total of twelve novels, the final one being Sleeping Murder (1976). Arguably the best of the entire “Little Old Lady” turned detective subgenre. Margaret Rutherford played the character in the popular “Murder” film series for MGM that lasted four films beginning with Murder She Said (1961). The character has PBS to thank for showing the British productions of her TV series starring such actresses as Geraldine McEwan and Julie McKenzie.

         http://www.poirot.us/marple.php

PERRY MASON – Created by Erle Stanley Gardner. The only lawyer on the list, he first appeared in The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933) and continued for eighty-five novels. Warner Brothers film series began with The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) and lasted six films, four starring Warren William. Raymond Burr starred in the CBS TV series that lasted between 1957 through 1966. CBS would bring back the character in New Adventures of Perry Mason (1973-74) with Monte Markham playing the lawyer. In 1985, Raymond Burr would return to star in thirty TV Movies between 1985-1993 (CBS).

         https://www.thrillingdetective.com/mason.html

THE SAINT aka SIMON TEMPLAR – Created by Leslie Charteris in Meet–The Tiger! (1928). The former thief turned adventurer Simon Templar has been featured in over ninety books. The character has appeared in many films including an RKO series of eight films with George Sanders starring in five. Two series featuring the character have appeared on America television. The Saint starring Roger Moore began in 1962 on British television and later in syndication to American television stations. In 1966 NBC aired episodes from the series. CBS’s Return Of The Saint starred Ian Ogilvy and ran twenty-four episodes during the 1978-79 season.

         http://www.saint.org

         http://www.lesliecharteris.com

         I have left off one consulting detective and one amateur detective who belong on the list. Can you name who they are? One of the missing is obvious while the other is a surprise. Please use the comments for your answer, as well as other suggestions and comments.

     ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

Wikipedia

IMDb.com

http://mikegrost.com

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/mystery/index.html

ELLERY QUEEN – The Spanish Cape Mystery. Frederic A. Stokes, hardcover, March 1935. Pocket #146, 1st printing, February 1942; 17th printing, May 1951 (shown to the right). Many other reprint editions, both hardcover and soft.

   The titular Spanish Cape is a small hunk of land sticking out into the ocean somewhere along the North Atlantic seaboard. There is only one home there, that of Walter and Stella Godfrey and their family, along with assorted summer guests, none of whom knew him before they were invited, nor he them. Which is a good way to get a good detective puzzle started, but wait, you haven’t heard how this mystery really gets going.

   Which is with the kidnapping of Rosa, Stella and Walter’s daughter, along with Stella’s brother and Rosa’s uncle, by a giant one-eyed pirate-like figure who has made a big mistake. By his own account, what he really meant was to drag a fellow named John Marco out of the house and dump his body at sea. On whose orders? After the error was discovered, it must have been the person who followed through with Marco’s death back at the Godfrey manor.

   A death, however, which is even more puzzling. Marco is found strangled on an outdoor terrace, totally nude except for a cape, hat and walking stick. Most of the Ellery Queen detective puzzles are larger than life, and this one, as you may have surmised, is no exception.

   Ellery is called upon to lend a hand while on vacation. Inspector Queen, however, is not along with him. Working with Ellery on this case is Judge Macklin, a long time friend whom he is traveling with, and the local police, headed up by one Inspector Moley, who growls in frustration about as well as Ellery’s dad does when the deduction seems to get derailed, so the latter is not particularly missed.

   As intricately plotted as any of Ellery’s early cases, this ninth case in novel form (and the last with this particular title pattern), finds Ellery a lot looser and less formal in his approach, with his pince nez mentioned only once, if I recall correctly. (I may be wrong about this.)

   Ellery Queen, the authors, still don’t know much about proper police procedure, nor does the occurrence of sudden, unexpected death cause nearly as much stir as surely it would in real life, but that’s not the point. This is a puzzle mystery, through and through, which each piece of the jigsaw needed to point the finger in the end at only one suspect, and one suspect only.

   I enjoyed it all very much, thank you, even though I decided very early on who the killer was, and even though I was right about that, I failed to catch the significance of the naked body of the not-very-well-liked Mr Marco. Having thought about it now for 24 hours since I finished the book, there’s simply no way for me to write around it. The killer’s behavior was simply too bizarre for me.

   It’s a shame that all of Ellery’s deductions are based on such a single weak point, but if you can give the authors the benefit of the doubt, everything else snaps into place in absolutely perfect fashion.