Sun 3 Mar 2013
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: WILLARD RICH – Brain-Waves and Death.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Reviews[7] Comments
William F. Deeck
WILLARD RICH – Brain-Waves and Death. Charles Scribner’s Sons, hardcover, 1940.
Don’t be misled by the title, which sounds like some-thing Phoenix or Arcadia would have published. According to Hubin, this is the only novel by Rich, a pseudonym, and that’s a pity, for it’s a good one.
One of those not too bright blackmailers has not only let himself be known to his victims but is spending the weekend with some of them. He also volunteers to undergo a brain-wave test in the early days of electroencephalography. When the blackmailer’s brain is presumably fried, Inspector Noonan is called in from Boston to investigate. It’s a complicated case, but Noonan gets it all straightened out. Unfortunately, he then has to start all over again.
Nothing much happens after the murder except for Noonan’s interrogations of the suspects, a well-assorted and interesting group of scientists, scientific pretenders, and a few hangers-on. Noonan’s personality and humor and the odd characters are more than sufficient, though, to keep a reader’s interest.
Hubin says this novel is set in Boston, but it actually takes place in the country. Fair play is present — I think. My brain tends to become more numb than usual when timetables are involved. Still, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the novel, nor did the package of Chesterfields turning into Lucky Strikes.
Bibliographic Notes: Hubin’s most recent edition of Crime Fiction IV still says the novel takes place in Boston. Of the author, Al says: “[A] pseudonym of William Richards, (?-1940); Professor of Chemistry at Princeton.
The book itself is scarce. While there are currently seven offered for sale on ABE, the least a copy will cost you is $650.00. Says one dealer of the book:
“Brain-Waves and Death was published posthumously under the pseudonym “Willard Rich” a few weeks after its author, William T. Richards, took his own life. Richards worked for Alfred Lee Loomis and his novel was a thinly veiled account of a real-life laboratory located about 40 miles north of New York City nicknamed “Tuxedo Park.” This “secret palace of science” was founded and funded by Loomis, arguably one of the most significant and uncredited figures in the history of modern military science. Loomis, a world-class tinkerer in his own right, was a visionary who saw that technology would win the looming war-and indeed that an investment in “big science” would be the key to national strength in the future. Loomis went on to establish the MIT Rad Lab and later was instrumental in setting up the Manhattan Project. According to legend, Loomis had all copies of Richards’ roman-a- clef bought up and destroyed. Obviously he missed a few copies, but the book is uncommon , especially in jacket.”
January 11th, 2016 at 5:14 pm
Do you know where I can find an e-copy or reprint of this book? REALLY would like to read it. (or someone that would be willing to photocopy pages?!) Probably doesn’t exist but thought I’d ask. Thanks!
January 11th, 2016 at 5:38 pm
Mike
Try http://www.bookfinder.com and keep trying. I found one for $500 on Amazon just now, down a bit from when this review was first posted. Not in my price range but maybe yours?
I didn’t find any reprints.
Good luck on the hunt!
May 8th, 2016 at 6:51 am
Google Books has this in a number of formate, including PDF. The link is https://books.google.com/books/about/Brain_waves_and_Death.html?id=SQFUAAAAYAAJ
May 8th, 2016 at 12:21 pm
Thanks, Bob!
June 13th, 2016 at 7:36 am
Dear Steve and Bob,
I would also love to read this book, as I am looking for examples of early popular representations of EEG (1930s, 1940s). Can you tell me how to access this google book (I only see ‘limited preview’ no option to access a pdf). Thank you so much for your help!
best wishes, Flora
June 13th, 2016 at 9:34 am
Flora
Perhaps this will help. I see that the link brings you to a page that says only selected pages of the book are available, but when I go down further to Contents, there are links to 14 sections that seem to cover the entire book. I confess that I haven’t checked page by page to see whether they actually do, however.
Steve
August 28th, 2016 at 10:49 am
I enjoyed very much reading this book! It has a good pace, an interesting inspector, a twist with an amateur detective, eccentric set of characters, a glimpse to the knowledge of EEG in 1940 (it was established as a science in 1933) and most important – an ingenious impossible crime method for two murders: one under observation the second in a locked room.
One of the few books that can bear two adjectives simultaneously – rare and great.