The Penguin Pool Murder by Stuart Palmer

 

First line:  Two little black penguins were the first to know the secret.

First published:  1931

The plot:  Hildegarde Withers, 39, pragmatic, no-nonsense, single teacher of third graders, teams up with New York City detective, Oscar Piper, to solve the murder of Gerald Lester, who she discovers floating, dead, in the penguin pool at the New York Aquarium. And playing detective is what she's always wanted to do.

"I can get a substitute for a few weeks," suggested Miss Withers eagerly. "I'm having the time of my life. ... That's why I came to New York ten years ago, instead of keeping on teaching school out in Iowa. I wanted a little excitement, though it's little enough I've got at Jefferson School. This is great fun, and better than any detective story I ever read....It's the ambition of my life to play detective."

 My thoughts:  This is not a mystery to be taken too seriously, but it is an entertaining step back in time. Oscar Piper and Hildegarde Withers are amusing characters. I enjoyed how they worked together to figure out the murder; their disagreements and arguments were equally amusing. Derbys and hat pins, the stock market crash, guesses and interrogations, all play a role in this fun 1930s mystery. I liked it, and wouldn't mind reading some of Palmer's other Hildegarde Withers mysteries. 

Happy Reading!

Death From a Top Hat by Clayton Rawson

 

When an occultist is found dead in a locked room, and the only suspects are an escape artist, a ventriloquist, a clairvoyant and her husband, and a professional medium, the police call in the Great Merlini, a master magician himself, to help them figure out who the murderer is. Because it takes a magician to catch one. And Merlini is very skilled in magic and misdirection. And they're going to need all his skills of deduction when a second magician is murdered just like the first.

"Of course, Inspector," Merlini said, "the really difficult crimes to solve, as you know, are the ones in which anyone might have popped in and done it. But when, as in this case, it seems that no one could possibly have murdered either man, it means that, once we find out how they were done, we will know who did them. The impossible situation, by its very uniqueness, ultimately limits the possibilities." 

Clayton Rawson, a talented magician himself, wrote this mystery in 1938. And it is so much fun! I loved Merlini and how he and Ross Harte, the writer/journalist narrating the story, banter with the police and discuss all the possible ways a murderer could escape a locked room, quoting from the best detective novels and crime fiction afficianados. Their discussion of classic magic tricks was also fun. And while I didn't figure out whodunnit, the clues were there. And the Great Merlini was more than happy to explain them all at the end. I've read several Golden Age mysteries this year, and this is one of my favorites.

Happy Reading!

The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars by Anthony Boucher

 

This classic mystery was first published in 1940. And it's very entertaining, especially if you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes. As the Baker Street Irregulars are. This group is dedicated to the great detective and know every story written about him. So when they learn Metropolis Pictures is planning to make a movie of The Adventures of the Speckled Band and have hired Stephen Worth to write the screenplay, the Irregulars are horrified. As a group, they begin a letter campaign threatening the producer F.X. Weinberg unless he fires Worth.

"...this man Worth, hereinafter to be known as that rat, is the author of many stupid and illogical mystery novels...and has many times expressed in public print his contempt for the exploits of Holmes."

Stephen Worth doesn't have a much better opinion of the Baker Street Irregulars:  "These cockeyed pantywaist deductionists. These silly-frilly nancy-pantsy dabblers who think they can write about detectives....they're going to learn something in this picture, and they're not going to like it."  

Wanting to get the Holmesians off his back (and unable to fire Worth because of an ironclad contract), Weinberg and his secretary, Maureen, devise a plan to bring five of the most well-known Baker Street Irregulars to Hollywood to oversee the script. But when Worth is murdered at their welcome reception, they all become suspects. Banding together, the Irregulars try to solve this puzzling murder. But they're stumped when every clue and red herring they find seems to point back to one of Sherlock Holmes's famous cases. It can't be a coincidence. But who's behind it all? 

Irreverent, engaging, humorous and a little zany, I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. Boucher creates quite a cast of characters, even including a police sergeant named Watson. I found all the nods to Holmes and Watson lots of fun; though you don't have to be familiar with anything Sherlock Holmes to appreciate this mystery because the Irregulars are more than happy to explain each and every connection. There's a touch of screwball comedy in this one that I wasn't expecting, but found amusing. And while I didn't have a clue whodunnit, I loved watching the police and the Irregulars try their best to solve the crime. And the ending made me smile.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

An Agatha Christie Mystery...

"I am the best!" said Hercule Poirot. "I do not need to bend and measure the footprints and pick up the cigarette ends and examine the bent blades of grass. It is enough for me to sit back in my chair and think. It is this" -- he tapped his egg-shaped head -- "this that functions!"

 

Carla Lemarchant will need Poirot's best if she hopes to prove that her mother did not poison her father, the well-known artist Amyas Crale, sixteen years ago. Even though her mother is now dead, Carla still wants Poirot to find the real murderer. There are five other suspects for him to consider:  Philip Blake, Crale's best friend, Meredith Blake, an amateur herbalist and Crale's neighbor, Elsa Greer, the lovely young girl who was having an affair with Crale, Cecilia Williams, the governess, and Angela Warren, Caroline Crale's tempestuous younger sister. As Poirot gets each of their stories, he hopes to find the truth lying somewhere between the lies. It won't be easy, but Poirot is nothing if not persistent. 

Five Little Pigs is an entertaining mystery. There's a lot of questioning by Poirot, both of the police and of the five suspects, and each account of the murder he hears paints a little more of the total picture. But questions always linger. I had fun trying to figure out the who, how and why. Although Poirot did it much better than me, I did guess one of the twists at the end before he revealed it. But I couldn't figure out the real murderer. Still, I had a lot of fun trying. I really enjoy the way Agatha Christie writes; she's one of my favorite authors. And I love Hercule Poirot. Which makes this the perfect book to fill the New-to-you Classic by a Favorite Author category in this year's Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Karen over at Books and Chocolate.

Happy Reading!

A few other Christie novels I've reviewed over the years:

The Seven Dials Mystery (a favorite!)

Murder on the Orient Express

Peril at End House

Hickory Dickory Dock

And Then There Were None