In the opening chapter a reporter is deputised and invited to join a murder investigation which was immediately so unbelievable and weak that I didn't hold out much hope for the rest of the story.
For a murder mystery there was very little actual investigation, just people saying 'maybe x did it for x motive?' with nothing to back it up. None of the characters were particularly interesting or memorable and the big reveal fell flat.
I'm not really surprised this never quite made it as a Golden Age classic, although the front cover artwork is great...maybe I made the rookie mistake of judging a book by it's cover and have paid the price.

If you want a fairly good Bristow and Manning mystery then try The Invisible Host.2 s Davida Chazan675 109

3.5/5 Stars. This Bristow and Manning murder mystery isn't quite as good (nor as creepy) as their novella "The Invisible Host" but it is still pretty good... My full #bookreview is here https://tcl-book.com/2021/12/1...
2021 classics co-authors ...more2 s Anne427

A wild Bible story

Purchase of 9 leaves of the Gutenberg Bible leads first to theft and then to murder. And murder. And murder. Who and how? Finding the how leads to the who. The book starts off a little bit slowly. And then I was up all night reading the end. Well worth reading. Davida Chazan675 109

3.5/5 Stars. This Bristow and Manning murder mystery isn't quite as good (nor as creepy) as their novella "The Invisible Host" but it is still pretty good... My full #bookreview is here https://tcl-book.com/2021/12/1... Pat265

can’t really recommend. .

The reasoning in the will at the end is appalling….to me. And caused horrible deaths. This is definitely a golden age murder mystery. The standards were not so stringent as today. Juan Carlos274 1 follower

Típica novela policial whodunit. Intriga interesante y desenlace algo previsible. Mejor desarrollo que su predecesora, The Invisible Host.golden-age-mystery Rick Mills490 7

Principal characters:

Dr. Prentiss, head of the Sheldon Library
Quentin Ulman, assistant librarian; whose racket is "wine, women, and books."
Luke Dancy, secretary of the library, cultivates an English accent
Marie Catillo, employee of the library
Terry Sheldon, nephew of the library's founder
Alfredo Gonzales, head trustee of the library
Winifred Gonzales, man-chasing wife of Alfredo
Wade, reporter for The Morning Creole
Dan Farrell, District Attorney
Captain Murphy, Homicide

Locale: New Orleans

Synopsis: The prize possession of the Sheldon Library is nine leaves of a Gutenberg Bible, worth a small fortune. The leaves are stolen from the library's safe. DA Dan Farrell and reporter Wade (tapped as a special investigator) discuss possible identities of the thief.

Dr. Prentiss and Alfredo Gonzales have been at odds over the years. Prentiss obtained the Gutenberg leaves, but Gonzales claims they are forgeries. Quentin Ulman has been known to steal various items from the library but has never been prosecuted - and he is having relationships with two different women. Winifred Gonzales chases every man she encounters.

Almost immediately after the theft, Quentin Ulman is found dead, his body torched on the little-used road in front of the library's off-site bindery building where books are repaired.

The investigation gathers facts, and after a society party, Winifred is found dead in her burned out car.

Wade looks into the deaths, and finds love triangles as well as complications arising from a convoluted will left by the library's founder.

Review: This story takes place primarily in the Sheldon Library of New Orleans, and the nearby bindery in which books are repaired. The beginning was good - two characters, assistant librarian Quentin Ulman and ingenue Winifred Gonzales - meet separate deaths in strange yet similar manner. The middle of the book mostly involves various drama between four (suspect) characters, who form various love triangles; and speculation on motives. Complicating the case is the will left by the library's founder which is so convoluted it provides plenty of motives to go around. At the end we find out the murders occur by an obscure, scientific method much too outrageous to actually work, or be believed today; but in the 1930's mystery writers were always trying to outdo each other with arcane methods of murder. This murderer drew his/her inspiration from the Greek play Medea by Euripedes. If you want to bone up on that play first, here it is >> http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35451/35451-h/35451-h.htm

For additional indexed by author, please visit The Mystillery Blog and try The Mystillery Reading Challenges!


mystery-league Kate1,205 56

Autor del comentario:
=================================