Short(est) Lived Comic Series #38 - Emergency Doctor (Charlton Comics)

Here's another one-issue series that should have had more issues.  It's a shame when you find a comic, you enjoy it, and you discover that it only had the one issue - and it seems that a number of the golden, silver, and bronze age independent companies (such as Gold Key, Dell, Charlton, and others) were infamous for this.  While I ignored the whole genre of medical comics (as well as romance comics) back when I was a kid, I have developed a new appreciation for these books as an adult.  I have discovered that they have some truly great art by some well-known comic artists who were just getting their start back in the day ... plus, the stories are actually pretty good, quite often episodic in nature like a daytime soap opera (in fact, Charlton published two short-lived titles that reprinted earlier work under soap opera names:  the five issue Soap Opera Romances and the three issue Soap Opera Love).  Alas, so few of those medical / romance titles lasted, and this one is certainly no exception.

 

Emergency Doctor was published in the summer of 1963, with the indicia indicating it was to be published on a quarterly basis.  While the title seems fairly generic, it actually refers to a specific doctor - one Dr. Jerry Starr, a resident doctor at the County General Hospital.  And, yes, if you look at the cover, you will see that his name is misspelled as "Terry" rather than "Jerry" in that caption under the title.  The cover art is allegedly by Dick Giordano, who was working at Charlton when this comic was published, so it the credit is potentially correct.  The cover depicts a rather dramatic scene of surgery being performed on a patient of indeterminable gender, which scene was taken from the second story in this issue to feature Dr. Starr and his faithful nurse, Anne Adair.  I find it amusing that the lower portion of the cover is taken up by an add for a contest being run by Bonomo Turkish Taffy, in which readers could potentially win "sensational prizes," with pictures of board games, a television, and a bicycle as what I am guessing to be potential prizes.  The details about this contest are in the middle of the comic, right across from a prose story entitled "Recluse Pattern" (whose author is unidentified and remains a mystery today).

 

This comic features two main stories starring Dr. Jerry Starr and Nurse Anne Adair.  The first 10-page story is titled "Fatal Holiday," and it opens with a scene of excitement and danger as the doctor is seen climbing a ladder to get into a burning building.  Readers are quickly taken back to the previous morning, when Jerry and Anne are preparing for the day ahead of them - the day before the Fourth of July!  From a drowning boy (who does not survive, which is surprising to see in a comic like this!) to a horrible car accident involving a pregnant woman about to give birth; from a child who burned her eyes to a gunshot victim who is bleeding out; from a man who swallowed his car keys to that final emergency of men trapped in a burning building - in which Dr. Starr must make a daring rescue that ultimately requires him to jump three stories before the building collapses - readers are given the reality of the lives of emergency room doctors and nurses, who are forever rushing to save one life after another!  Of course, there is time to sneak in a bit of romance, as Jerry more than hints that he would like to make Anne his wife!  Joe Gill is credited with the script for this story, and Norman Nodel is given credit for the art chores.  Gill is best known for co-creating Charlton heroes such as Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judo Master; Nodel is recognized for the large amount of work he did for Classics Illustrated comics.

 

The second story featuring Dr. Starr and Nurse Adair is another 10-pager that focuses more on romance than medical drama.  In "The Perfect Doctor's Wife," Jerry saves the life of a rather beautiful woman who turns out to be Sandra Rees, daughter of the industrialist Alvin Rees.  Mr. Rees is so grateful to Jerry that he offers to fund whatever dream Jerry has - which happens to be the establishment of small neighborhood clinics for the poor.  Before you know it, Jerry is swept into the world of the rich and powerful, and he finds himself drawn to Sandra (much to Anne's chagrin!).  Before the two can marry, however, Jerry learns exactly what it will cost him to marry into such a wealthy family, and he's unwilling to leave his desire to help other behind.  The story has a very strong lesson for its readers, and a happy ending for Jerry and Anne.  The last two panels feature an intercom page for Dr. Starr to report to surgery - and a final caption that reads, "He heard and he answered the call ... just as he does every time an ambulance rolls!  This is Dr. Starr, the Emergency Doctor ... and he's doing a hard, dangerous job ... and he loves it!"  Gill and Nodel are credited with the writing and art for this story as well.

 

In-between the two stories, there is a 3-page story that is a reprint from Sweetheart Diary (another Charlton title), issue 34 from July 1956.  The story is "Last Chance for Love," and it shows readers what could happen when a woman cannot make up her mind between two men that she would love to have for different reasons.  When she finally agrees to make a decision, it turns out both men walk away before she can decide!  There is uncertainty as to whether Joe Gill authored this tale, but the art chores are credited to Charles Nicholas (pencils) and Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio (inks), with lettering by Joe D'Agostino.  It's funny to think that an entire story can be told in three pages, when today's creators cannot seem to fit a complete story into just one full issue!

 

As indicated above, there is a two-page prose tale about a doctor at Mercy General Hospital who must take drastic action in order to convince a wealthy woman that she must eat in order to survive.  There is also a one-page comic strip at the end of the book titled "The Wilderness Scout," which provides some details about the life of Christopher "Kit" Carson.  The writer and artist are not identified, but online sources indicate Gill could have been the writer, and Maurice Whitman might have been the artist.

 

Overall, I would say this was a winning issue for me.  The two main stories kept my attention, with art that, while not exactly eye-catching by today's standards, definitely appeals to me as perfect for the content of the story.  The writing was a bit fast-paced, but Gill superbly integrates just enough of Jerry and Anne's personalities into the story that by the end of those first 10 pages, you feel like you know the characters, and by the end of the second 10-page tale, you are truly rooting for them.  I would have liked to have seen more stories with these two, but alas, that was not meant to be.

 

RATING:   9 cocktail parties in a hospital suite out of 10 for well-written and nicely drawn medical stories with just the right mix of drama and romance!

Fire of the Witches - a Queen-Size Gothic

This is only the third "Queen-Size Gothic" novel that I've read, but it is definitely the longest of the three, weighing in at 319 pages.  The author, Lyda Belknap Long, is a pseudonym used by horror and sci-fi author Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994), who also wrote comic books back in the day.  This is now the second Gothic novel of his that I have read, the first being To The Dark Tower nearly a year ago.  And there is no doubt the same author wrote both books - the style of writing and plotting is exactly the same - even though the plots may differ slightly (although both stories deal with cults), Belknap Long has a very bad habit of spending way too much time focused on the inner fears of his characters without actually moving the story along.  While I can see that he is attempting to build some level of suspense, in order to keep the reader on edge, it does not work very well when it is basically the same repetitive fear discussed ad nauseam, without actually advancing the plot.

 

Fire of the Witches, which is rather unique title, I must admit, has very little to do with witches; rather, the reader finally learns nearly half-way through that there is a Satanic cult operating in the vicinity of the house that features in the story, and the cult is involved in some very grotesque rituals.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  The book tells the story of Janice, who gives up her life in New York City to join her brother-in-law, Kenneth, in moving her sister, Marna, out to an old, abandoned mansion outside the small town of Lynnbrook.  You see, Marna has been ill (of course, that illness is never actually defined anywhere in the story; rather, readers are simply to accept that Marna is paranoid to the point of near-delusion, and her recovery depends solely on moving to a dark, isolated house surrounded by woods on all sides), and at her doctor's direction, Janice and Kenneth are moving to a quiet area to give her peace.  Janice and Kenneth arrive ahead of poor Marna, with plans to get the house cleaned up and ready for Marna's arrival.  But, as one might expect in a Gothic novel like this, nothing goes according to plan.

 

While Belknap-Long's previous book that I read dealt with a witch cult, this one (despite the name) deals with a Satanic cult.  Just as soon as Janice and Kenneth arrive at the mansion, they are confronted by a hideous man on the property ... then Janice is nearly attacked by another grotesque man who overpowers and outwits Kenneth before escaping ... then Kenneth is attacked by robed men wearing animal masks ... then Janice "sees" more of those masked men nearly setting fire to the house (of course, that last one turns out to be a vision, for readers learn that Janice may very well be clairvoyant, as she sees furnished rooms that are actually empty, and she sees people that are not actually there ... yet).  When Marna does finally arrive, along with her nurse and chauffeur, before they can even get into the house, they are attacked by the animal-headed cultists, with the nurse and chauffeur being dragged off into the woods, while a conveniently placed squatter by the name of McGowan manages to be there at that exact time to save Marna and bring her in the house to safety.

 

It may sound like there is a lot of action going on in this story, let me make it clear - the author spends an inordinate amount of time inside Janice's head, reminding readers over and over again of all her fears, her suspicions about the house and its surroundings, and her concerns about whether the supernatural is real or not.  In fact, nearly 300 of the 319 pages of story relate only about eight hours worth of "real" time - from the evening that Janice and Kenneth arrive until the wee hours of the next morning when the true villains are revealed and Janice is saved from certain doom.  And the revelation as to the true culprits of this story is somewhat of a cheat - there are literally no clues whatsoever to lead you to the identity of these individuals, and, in fact, much of the story is actually one huge red herring that misleads you to believe one thing is going on, when in reality, that has nothing to do with what is happening to poor Marna!

 

Something else that left me puzzled is the description on the back of the book.  The back proclaims:  "STRANGE, SINISTER LOVE ... Janice came to the old estate to save her sister's sanity.  Instead she found strange witchcraft, sinister love, and her sister dead.  And yet Janice stayed?  What kept her there? Was it the secret allure of the old mansion? The eerie mystery of her sister's death?  Or was it the darkly attractive charm of the young stranger, the gold young man she'd grown to love so much ... yet did not understand ...?"   Wait, what?  Did the person who wrote this synopsis even read the book, or did they get bored of Janice's constant rambling thoughts and gave up half-way through?  Janice's sister never dies!  And there is no young stranger, unless they are referring to the police lieutenant (MacGrath) who comes on the scene - but he does not become a love interest (despite my expecting to see that happen).  So where in the world did the publisher come up with this description for this book?  The only "love" in this book is the love Kenneth feels for Marna and his desire to see her sanity restored.  Talk about misleading the reader with false advertising!

 

The cover art is provided by the ever-talented Hector Garrido, who always manages to paint some of the most beautiful women on these covers (I just wish his art was as well presented on the covers he painted for the Nancy Drew books back in the late '80s).  What is funny about the cover is the house in the background - not at all how the house is described in the book.  In fact, any fan of Alfred Hitchcock will readily be able to identify that house from one of his greatest films - Psycho!  There can be no mistaking Garrido took his inspiration from the house in the 1960 film - from the porch, the stairs leading up to the house, even the planters on the stair corners.  I'm guessing there is no way to copyright or trademark an image of a house like that, but since this was published just 11 years after the film, I can't imagine too many people would miss recognizing the house on the cover.

 

It took me a bit to get through this book - since it was nearly twice the length of Belknap Long's other book I read, the stream of consciousness writing got tiresome very quickly.  Both books dealt with cults - the first a witch cult, this one a Satanic cult - and both books feature some gruesome deaths and some misdirection as to the cult members and the true culprits.  This leaves me to wonder if the author simply cashed in on a single story idea and merely retread it throughout a number of books by changing setting and character names.  I suppose we will find out the next time I read one of his Gothic novels.

 

RATING:  6  waxen witch dolls out of 10 for stepping outside some of the normal tropes to avoid romantic entanglements and direct the danger to someone other than the protagonist.

The Mystery of the Chimeric Cornucopia - the Third (new) Three Investigators Mystery

I honestly have given this series a whole-hearted try, as I wanted to like the series, since I enjoyed Robert Arthur's Three Investigators' books so much as a pre-teen.  But this book merely reinforced many of the things that I do not enjoy about the series, and as such, it is the last book that I will read in the series (thankfully, I did not purchase any books beyond this first three breeder set).  I know nothing about the authors, Elizabeth Arthur and Steven Bauer, other than the fact she is the daughter of the original author, Robert Arthur, and is married to Steven.  The author bios in the back of the book provide the authors' educational backgrounds and some writing history; however, none of that supports either Arthur's or Bauer's ability to carry on Robert Arthur's legacy with these characters.  It is a real shame, too, as I would have loved to have seen a truly great series of Three Investigator mysteries for the present day.

 

The Mystery of the Chimeric Cornucopia follows the sequential lettering of the series' titles, with this book being the letter "C."   The main mystery in this book seems to surround Jupiter Jones' family and the real identity of the woman he believed to be his mother.  However, there is a secondary mystery that has a very familiar plot - a counterfeiting scheme, where the counterfeiters have their equipment set up in a cave located at the edge of a property line.  Gee, sound familiar?  (And if it does not sound familiar to you, then clearly you need to go read the early Nancy Drew mystery stories, and you'll quickly learn from where this plot appears to have been derived.)  Honestly, the sub-mystery felt completely unnecessary to the overall story, and while portions of it were weaved into the mystery surrounding Jupiter's mother and her ancestors, they were not so intricate that the same result could not have been had without them.  Instead, it felt as if the counterfeiter elements were inserted to add some "excitement" and "danger" to the story, as the boys go into the cave, are startled by bats, discover the engraving equipment, and face off against a truly vile counterfeiter who had killed his criminal partner nearly thirty years prior!

 

Now, as to the mystery surrounding Jupiter Jones' family - for me, this was not especially enjoyable.  This sudden impulse of Arthur and Bauer to superimpose all of these overly-diverse cultural backgrounds into not only the Three Investigators, but also in every single person they know, meet, and come in contact with is tiresome.  As I mentioned in my reviews of the last two books, the authors' decision to imprint these characters with multi-cultural ethnicities is wholly unnecessary and does nothing to "flesh out" the characters, as the authors' website indicates.  Instead, it feels like the same old forced diversity for the sake of diversity and does not in any way make these characters more relatable or more relevant.  Bob is half-Chinese.  Pete is half-Mexican/American.  Jupiter is half Serbian.  Mallory is Scottish.  Worthington is British.  Mallory's friend, Califia, is half-Spanish, half-African-American.  Arthur and Bauer spend so much time reminding readers of the ethnic background and heritage of each character, that you wonder how short the book would be without all of this extraneous material.  Don't get me wrong - I don't mind knowing that each of these characters has a multi-cultural background; what I do mind is having it thrown in my face repeatedly, and having the characters talk about it pretty much every time they open their mouths.  The Three Investigators are supposed to solve mysteries, not give readers a history lesson on the countries from which their ancestors came.

 

Additionally, the mystery (aside from the threat of the counterfeiter) was a bit too convenient.  Jupiter knows he has a Serbian background.  The family he met in the last book happen to be Serbians.  They go to visit that family, meet another family who happens to turn out to be related to his mother, and Jupiter suddenly discovers he has a ready-made family consisting of his mother's aunt, her son and his wife, and her grandchildren.  Granted, series books rely heavily on coincidences for their sleuths to solve the mysteries, so this really shouldn't be that far-fetched.  However, it may have had a bit more impact if Arthur and Bauer had held off on this reveal for several books, to allow it to build a bit before making such a revelation.  Perhaps if this book had been more about the counterfeiters (even if the plot was borrowed from Red Gate Farm) and less about pushing Jupiter's Serbian roots and missing family, I might have enjoyed it more.

 

With all of that being said, there were some things I did like about the story.  I enjoyed the moments with Bob as he was researching Jupiter's family tree, and his discovery of how Jupiter's mother changed her name.  With the advancements of technology, it would make you think that solving mysteries would be much easier than it was back in the 1930s when Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were first getting their start; but Arthur and Bauer show that even with all the technology we have at our fingertips, it still requires someone with the knowledge and ability to work with that technology to dig up the information you need.  And Bob was able to do just that.  I am glad Arthur and Bauer gave some of the details of what Bob had to do in order to locate the information and connect the dots, as THAT gives readers a lot more definition of Bob's character and personality than any ethnic background imprints.

 

I also liked the exploration of the cave, the discoveries made therein, and the unexpected turn of events when they come face to face with the counterfeiter.  I think it was these scenes that really allowed Pete to shine as the one who stays calm in the face of danger and is quick-thinking when it comes to defusing what could be very volatile situations.  His attempts to talk down and "make friends" with the counterfeiter, despite having a knife held to his throat, really made me appreciate just how mature he can be when needed - while, at other moments in the story, he embraces his child-like nature with playing games of Go Fish and Slapjack,  Again, these are the things that truly define the boys' characters - not their cultural and family histories.

 

Finally, I did rather find the boys' new car to be fun - the Flex with the Chimera sticker on the back of the car.  Since they no longer had use of the Rolls Royce (after all, that contest won wayyyyyyy back in the first book of the original series) was bound to run out sooner or later.  And this new car is unique in it own way, and the chimera sticker gave the boys a new way of looking at their partnership, even helping them create a new logo to go right alongside the three question marks that have been their trademark for so long.

 

I am disappointed that the series did not meet up with my expectations, but with the cost of each book being what it is, it is simply not worth it for me to continue buying them when I have no intention of reading them.  Perhaps if I ever find them second hand for a few dollars, I might pick them up; otherwise, this is one series that will end with the third book on my bookshelf.

RATING:  5 wax-sealed barrels of wine out of 10 for at least making an attempt to keep the Three Investigators series alive and well. 

The Brownie Scouts and Their Tree House - Book Four of the Brownie Scout Books

After the hints of what was to come with the third book, I have to admit that I was very disappointed with what took place in this fourth entry in the Brownie Scouts series by Mildred A. Wirt (Benson).  For those who read the last book, the Scouts were voted to be Rosedale's representatives in Washington, D.C. after being elected as the "queens" of the cherry festival, and as the story ended, the Scouts were all excited about heading to Washington and the opportunity to meet the President of the United States!  Since the book ended with this huge announcement, it would only stand to reason the next book would share with readers that fantastic trip!  But, alas, such is not the case.  I wonder if, back in 1951 when this book was published, those young readers who bought this book (or, perhaps, were given this book) opened up the pages to the first chapter and discovered that this book has absolutely nothing to do with the Scouts' trip to Washington!  Somehow, it feels like Wirt cheated her readers out of what could have been a very exciting story...

 

The Brownie Scouts and Their Tree House, instead, focuses on the mysterious tree house that the girls discover built in the limbs of a sturdy tree within the metropolitan national part in Rosedale. Wirt opens the book with the girls exploring the various trees of the part, only to discover that the signs identifying the types of trees do not match what the girls and their scout leader know the trees to be.  Someone has been messing with the signs - but who could it be, and why? That mystery is soon forgotten when Veve McGuire wishes that the brownies (fairies) on which the name of their group is based would provide them with a tree house that they could enjoy whenever they visited the park.  Oddly enough, a stone is thrown at them, which bears an odd message - come back in two days to see if her wish comes true!  No one actually believes it will happen - but sure enough, when the girls come back in two days, there is a tree house built right there in the limbs of the very tree where they stood and made the wish!  Thus, the second mystery takes root (see what I did there?), and the Brownies have two questions before them - who is messing with all the signs around the park, and who built their tree house?

 

Wirt does not make the mysteries complicated, and the reader is easily able to discern who is doing what throughout the course of the story.  Even when more wishes are granted (furniture in the house, a warm meal cooked on a cold afternoon, etc.), the girls remain oblivious to the identity of their benefactor (even though they meet him during their many trips to the park).  And, with all of this going on, Wirt manages to throw in a third mystery involving Minnie Myles, an old woman who comes into the park with an empty sack, but leaves with it full.  The girls soon discover that she is extremely poor and about to lose her house - the one person who can help her is her brother, but she refuses to allow it, choosing rather to go to the poor house than to accept a dime from him!  Connie, Veve, and the rest of the Brownies decide they have to help the poor woman before she is thrown out on the street!

 

While Wirt tries to keep the mysteries an integral part of the story, it reads more like a Brownies' adventure tale than a mystery story.  The girls take no real active part in tracking down clues or unlocking secrets in an effort to solve the mysteries; instead, their story involves surviving a storm in the tree house, collecting buttons, figuring out ways to provide food to Mrs. Myles, and the farewell ceremony for Eileen, as she "flies up" to the Rosedale Girl Scout Troop (having aged out of the Brownies).  Yes, all three mysteries get resolved, but very little of those resolutions have anything to do with the Brownies.  In fact, the only one that has any input by the Brownies is the secret that has kept Mrs. Myles from accepting help from her brother - a resentment that gets resolved when Veve buys a pillow from the auction of Mrs. Myles' home that turns out to hold the very thing that clears up a misunderstanding and reunites Mrs. Myles an her brother after all these years.

 

For those who read the previous book, you'll recall Wirt described a number of different quilts that the girls obtained for their quilt show; well, in this book, it's all about collecting old and unusual buttons - from embroidered taffeta buttons made in a star pattern (p. 79) to opaque glass buttons (p. 80) to a coat cuff button in the shape of a horse head (p. 80) to a tintype button popular in the Victorian time (p. 87) to a glass swirlback button, a Czechoslovakian button, and an old Sheffield silver button (p. 164).  Just as Veve was the last one to find a quilt in the prior story, she is the last one to locate a button in this one.

 

Wirt does not forget to include some Brownie and Girl Scout history within the book.  In the first chapter, we get a very brief re-telling of The Brownies, the 1865 story written by Juliana Horatia Ewing (incorrectly identified as "Julianna" in the book) from which the organization took its name (p. 7).  Near the end, when Eileen is inducted into the Girl Scouts, she must recite the Girl Scout Promise (p. 193), which is almost identical to the actual promise one can find at the Girl Scouts website (Girl Scouts Promise).  The Girl Scout Law (which can be found at that same website) is set forth rather differently in the book (p. 194); however, that could have been what is was back in 1951, or it could simply be Wirt taking some artistic liberties in setting forth the characteristics of a Scout.  In either event, Wirt makes an effort to keep her Scout stories grounded with some real Scout history.

 

Marguerite Gayer continues to provide the cover art (her signature is clearly seen on the bottom right hand corner of the cover).  The internal frontis piece does not contain a signature, but it appears to have the same style as Gayer's previous internal illustrations for this series, so one can assume that she also did the internal, as well as the cover. 

 

While not my favorite book in the series (that would be The Cherry Festival volume), this one does have its merit and is a fairly enjoyable read, particularly when one considers the age of the audience for which the book was originally intended.

 

RATING:  7 neat piles of wood and kindling out of 10 for a smidgen of excitement (during the storm), a small bit of drama (with Mrs. Myles' situation), and a successful family reunion!

The Curse of Collinwood - the 5th Paperback Library Gothic Novel based on ABC-TV's suspense drama (Dark Shadows)

And with this book, the tone and direction of the Dark Shadows series by W.E.D. Ross (writing under one of his many pseudonyms, Marilyn Ross) changes to include the supernatural.  By the time this book was published in May 1968, the television show had long been dealing with supernatural themes:  from the ghost of Josette, to the phoenix Laura Collins, to the ghost of Sarah, to the introduction of the vampire Barnabas Collins, to the trip in time back to 1795, to the witch Angelique, and was just reaching the point with the evil Dr. Lang and his Frankenstein-type creation, Adam.  Thus, it was only natural that the book series would begin to introduce supernatural elements, which would go beyond the standard Gothic tropes and enter the realm of full-on horror in its stories.  But the addition of the supernatural was not the only change Ross brought into the series, as we will quickly discover...

 

The Curse of Collinwood is the story of Derek Collins and his wife, Esther Collins, who died over a hundred years ago under strange circumstances. Derek had engaged in slave trade in order to make his fortune, and his wife was horrified to learn this about her own husband.  With the help of a voodoo / witch doctor, she had her husband killed and embalmed, as well as orchestrated her own death, with the idea that her husband could never be rid of her.  Their bodies were returned to Collinsport and locked away in the Collins' family masoleum, forever to remain sealed.  Only a shaft of moonlight could unlock the curse placed upon their dead bodies, giving them new life as part of the living dead!  For a century, their coffins remained in darkness inside the cold, cement crypt, never seeing daylight nor moonlight, trapped in an eternal sleep.  But events are about to transpire that will change all of that!

 

Just as Victoria's love interest in the television show, Burke Devlin, was killed (allegedly) in a plane crash while on a business trip to Brazil, suddenly in this book we learn that Victoria's love interest, Ernest Collins, has died in a plane crash en route to Rio de Janeiro (p. 7) for a concert he was to perform (and for those who do not know, Rio de Janeiro is located in Brazil - meaning Ernest was killed in identical fashion and in the same location as Burke!).  Readers also learn that Elizabeth is no longer locking herself away in Collinwood, as she has learned the husband she thought dead for so many years has actually been alive and is pursuing a career on the high seas (p. 6).  David, who had been sent away to a boarding school as revealed in the last book, is back home; and Carolyn, who had been attending school in nearby Ellsworth, had a nervous breakdown and has returned home to recuperate (p. 6).  It seems quite a bit has happened in the Collins' household between books 4 and 5, and readers are brought up to date within just a few pages in the first chapter.  Surprisingly, there is no mention of Victoria searching for the truth about her past and her own identity - Ross apparently dropped that entire plot thread, much as the television show did as it moved further and further into the realm of the supernatural.  (And this is a true shame, as I always hoped it would have been revealed that Victoria was really Elizabeth's daughter - although, Ross did have an outline planned for a book that would have revealed Victoria's parentage and reunite her with her love, Ernest; but, sadly, that book never got written, as Ross was required to write Victoria out of the books, just as she had been written out of the television show - a brief version of that unwritten novel can be found on Craig Hamrick's website: The Secret of Victoria Winters)

 

Ross manages to keep the reader guessing for a good portion of the book as to whether the "large man" and "young woman" who seem to be terrorizing Collinsport are the escaped criminal Big Tim Mooney and his girlfriend, Nora or whether they are Derek and Esther Collins, brought back from the dead to roam the area as zombies.  Victoria, who at first discounts the stories of "Mad Man" Martin, an elderly spiritualist who warns her and Burke about Derek and Esther, soon believes that she and Burke accidentally released  the Collins' ancestors when they went into the mausoleum to satisfy Burke's curiosity regarding the two long-dead members of the family.  When Victoria, Carolyn, and Elizabeth are all terrorized by the large man and the woman with him, Burke and Vicki go back to the crypt and find both coffins destroyed - and the bodies are gone!  Burke insists it was Mooney looking for the treasures supposedly buried with Derek Collins, but Victoria thinks the supernatural is at work and zombies are now walking in the night.  In true Gothic fashion, Ross builds the suspense with disembodied hands, shadowy figures attacking, chases up the steep cliffs in the middle of the night, and plenty of appearances of these two horrors of the night.  Even I was curious as to whether they were actually zombies, or would it all be explained away by the end (as had been done in the four previous books).

 

I enjoyed seeing David and Carolyn back in this book, and I rather liked the fact that Victoria was paired more with Burke Devlin in this story (as I always loved the two of them together in the television show).  Even Roger was back to his nearly-always drunk, belligerent self in this story.  Matthew Morgan is mentioned but never actually appears (and he is referred to as "Matt" Morgan, which I found weird).  And, I know I will probably get some flack for this, but I was actually happy Ross got rid of Ernest Collins.  I never liked the character, and I certainly did not like the romance between him and Victoria.  Yes, his abrupt death and the myriad of changes that took place "off screen" between books 4 and 5 definitely tells the reader that the series is headed in a completely different direction now.  At the time it was published, Alexandre Moltke was still playing Victoria Winters on the television show, so there was no reason for anyone to think Vicki would not continue to play a major role in the books; however, this was actually the last full-length novel written by Ross to feature Victoria Winters as a major protagonist.  Beginning with the next book, Victoria becomes a supporting character, with Barnabas Collins becoming the lead character (much as he did in the television show).

 

The family history truly deviates from that established in the show with this book, as Ross introduces Derek and Esther Collins, who are both said to have died in 1859, which would have made them both contemporaries of sorts with Daniel Collins, a cousin of the Collins family who inherited Collinwood after the events of 1795 (when most of the immediate family was killed).  There is no mention of Derek or Esther in the television show, making them both original creations of Ross.  I am aware that the books play very loose with the family lineage, and from what I can remember, the stories that are told in later books in various time periods do not match up between themselves as to the names of family members living at various points in time.  While I realize the television show played a bit loose with the family tree, particularly once Barnabas came into the picture, the books (from what I have been told) do not even bother with a coherent timeline (which, technically, could be explained by the fact that Barnabas' frequent trips through time messes with the timeline, creating multiple alternate realities with different family trees!).

 

This is the first book to feature only one cover, and it is a hodge-podge to say the least!  The background takes the same painted image of Victoria Winters that was used for the first book of this series, and superimposed over that is a very recognizable photo of Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins, baring his fans and holding that wolf's head cane of his.  Obviously, the use of Barnabas' image is to cash in on the success he was having in the television show, because his character does not yet appear in the books - although, the idea that his character was a vampire could hint at the supernatural part of the story within.  But the re-use of the first book cover art is questionable - perhaps it was done merely to save the expense of hiring an artist to paint an entirely new cover.  This is the last book to feature any painted artwork on the cover - all of the books hereafter feature photo covers, with images of the actors from the television show. 

 

Overall, I would say I liked this book far more than I did the previous one.  The story was refreshingly different from the previous four, and Victoria was a bit stronger of a character than Ross has portrayed her in the last couple of stories.  Plus, the actual supernatural elements were an added bonus!

 

RATING:   8 ornate silver snuffboxes from the 1800s out of 10 for increasing the Gothic terror with the reality of the walking dead!

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories # 144 - The E-Mail Mystery

 "Nancy uncovers intrigue on the internet ... and the password is danger!" (cover blurb)

 

 "Nancy goes on-line and keys into a criminal conspiracy" (back cover blurb)

 

This book is definitely a product of its time!  While it moves Nancy further into the technological age, what with the e-mail and internet usage, it is certainly date specific, with its talk of floppy disks and dial-up modems! First published in August 1998, which was defined by slow, audible 56k dial-up modems, where you had to pay monthly fees for access to the internet through sites such as AOL and where you communicated in group chat rooms or message boards.  The internet was nothing like it is today; so, naturally, a book published in that time and read by today's readers would seem greatly antiquated (even though it was less than 30 years old at this point!).  That being said, it was a fun read, mostly because in addition to the e-mail/internet focus, but also the fact that it is set in Carson Drew's law office and the mystery itself pertains to some of his legal cases!

 

The E-Mail Mystery finds Nancy accepting a short summer position at her father's firm to help transfer some closed files off of the office computer system and onto portable disks.  "Summer vacation at last!" she exclaims at the opening of the story (p. 1), and she is excited at the prospect of going sailing with George up in Bridgehaven (p. 2), a fictional city that is apparently not far from River Heights.  Before she goes, however, she gets caught up in a mystery at her father's office - it seems several recent clients have all demanded Mr. Drew accept exceptionally low settlement offers on their cases just shortly after he starts to represent them.  The only apparent connection between the cases is that all of them have the same law firm representing the insurance companies: Williams and Brown.  While Mr. Drew thinks it is a coincidence, Nancy smells a mystery!  Thus, her summer internship begins, and she heads to her father's law firm to find out what is really going on!

I have to applaud the ghostwriter for this book, Denise Hildago, as she brings back Carson Drew's legal secretary and assistant, Miss Hanson, who long-time Nancy Drew fans will recognize from her appearances in The Bungalow Mystery, The Clue of the Tapping Heels, The Spider Sapphire Mystery, The Mysterious Mannequin, Clue in the Ancient Disguise, and The Mysterious Image.  It is nice to see some continuity with those pre-Simon & Schuster-owned days.  In addition, Nancy does something she says she has not done since she was in the third-grade: brings "out an old blue notebook" and writes down a list of clues and suspects (pp. 112-14).  This, obviously, is a reference to the Nancy Drew Notebooks series, which ran from 1994 - 2005, having been first published just four years prior to this one seeing print.  Thus, the author was definitely tying in some continuity from the various series.  Even the e-mail and cyber cafe plot-points hearken back to the final Nancy Drew Files mystery, Crime at the Ch@t Cafe, published just one year before this one.  The plot of this book, however, differs greatly from that of the final Files book.

 

The mystery gets underway when Nancy discovers that someone at her father's firm has sent e-mails to the Williams and Brown law firm on the very same day that each client engaged her father's services.  She is unable to discover what exactly was sent to the other firm, but the fact that each case settled so quickly thereafter, and each of those clients now refuse to talk with her father sets off any number of alarms in Nancy's mind.  The question is - who did it?  Was it Blaine Warner, Mr. Drew's new associate at the firm?  She graduated top of her class, wrote for the law review, and won a number of mock trials.  Is the fact that she went to school with the son of one of the partners at Williams and Brown a telling clue?  Or was it Henry Yi, Mr. Drew's new paralegal?  He's a hot shot computer whiz, who is also quite nosy, always sticking his nose into everyone else's business - plus, he knows the passwords of everyone in the office!  Or was it Byron Thomas, the summer intern?  He is a quiet, nervous young man who is nicknamed "the poet" because of his name and love of poetry.  Is his nervous nature a product of his shyness, or is he hiding something?  When Nancy, with Bess's help, learns the identity of the e-mail sender was Miss Hanson - does that mean Mr. Drew's secretary, after so many years of loyalty, would betray her employer?

 

While we are on the subject of Bess, let's talk about that sudden knowledge of computers and the internet that Bess has! It appears in this book Bess "has joined an Internet chat group about historical and contemporary romance novels" and that being "on-line was so interesting to her that she earned all about computers, communication systems, Internet links, Web browsers - all that stuff" (p. 10).  With George out of the picture in this story, Bess manages to develop some skills, other than eating, that can help Nancy solve the mystery!  It is funny that Bess gets the computer skills here, but when S&S rebooted the series in 2004 with the Nancy Drew, Girl Detective series, it was George that suddenly had the computer skills, while Bess became more of a mechanic.  Not sure which version I prefer - in either case, it does expand the character somewhat, and give her more depth than just someone who is always on a diet!  Plus, the skill really comes in handy in this particular mystery, as even Nancy admits she knows very little about e-mails and internet (which opens the door for the author to have Bess explain quite a bit about online communication throughout the story).

 

A rather unusual reference in the book is the name of a restaurant that John Brown Jr. suggests to his father as a place for lunch:  Steak and Ale (p. 25).  This is actually a real restaurant, that was founded in 1966 and eventually went out of business due to bankruptcy in the early 2000s (although a quick search online shows that a new Steak and Ale opened in 2024 in Minnesota!).  It's not very often that a Nancy Drew mystery uses real locations, such as restaurants, within the stories.  The restaurant plays a rather important part, as well, as Nancy happens to see some of her suspects at the restaurant, wondering just which one is actually working with the Williams and Brown law firm.  Another name brand reference comes in the form of a joke made by Henry, when he startles Nancy while she is the copy room.  She responds with "Oh, Henry," to which the young paralegal quickly retorts, "No, that's a candy bar" (p. 59).  Oh Henry! was a candy bar containing peanuts, caramel, and fudge that was sold in the U.S. up until 2019 (with a slightly different version still manufactured and sold in Canada).  Again, it is surprising to see the author use specific brand names.

 

The final "brand name" use was when Nancy learns that Byron, the summer intern, has been going online to use Lexis-Nexis to perform legal research (p. 74).  Working as a paralegal myself, I am very familiar with the platform, and I was not aware that it was available online as far back as 1998!  I remember using Westlaw first, and later learning about the online offerings of Lexis-Nexis.  A quick search online reveals that Lexis-Nexis began making legal documents accessible online as early as the mid-1970s!  Thus, I learned something new about my own profession by reading this Nancy Drew novel!  And I will say this was probably what I enjoyed most about reading this book, was the legal aspects of the story.  The author did get most of the facts correct about legal research, the civil process, and client confidentiality.

 

And, okay, I lied.  There is one more "brand name" reference, although whether it was intentional or a joking nod, I'm not sure.  When Bess is helping Nancy find out who was e-mailing the opposing law firm, she sets up a new screen-name for them to use while communicating online.  They debate about whether to use "B and N, for Bess and Nancy" or "N and B, for Nancy and Bess" - and they ultimately settle on "B&N" (p. 82).  I found this humorous, as any book lover will immediately recognize that as the shorthand name of Barnes & Noble booksellers, which actually began using "B&N" in May of 1997, when they launched their online website, BN.com.  I would be curious to know if the author did that intentionally as a nod to the store that sold Nancy Drew books, or was it simply pure coincidence?

 

The cover art, depicting a scene straight off of page 105 when Nancy is being followed as she leaves a cyber cafe, holding a rose and some important papers, is once again provided by Ernie Norcia.  I find Norcia's art to be very detailed, and his renditions of Nancy to be truly beautiful (although I wish he gave her hair a more reddish tint).  The model for this cover appears to be the same model used for a number of the Files covers, making me wonder if perhaps the model was somehow contracted by Simon & Schuster, or whatever company they used to obtain their cover art, since her likeness appears in both the Mystery Stories and Files series.

 

This is another one of those digests that rates high on the scale in my book - great story, some crafty plotting, and the legal-aspect was definitely an added plus!

 

RATING:  9 pancakes covered in motor oil out of 10 for bringing Nancy back into a less dangerous world of legal-intrigue mysteries with a bit of humor thrown in to keep it light!  

 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #32 - Murder at Willow Run

This thirty-second entry into the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series introduces yet another author and another new amateur sleuth.  The author is identified as "Michelle Collins," but it is uncertain whether this is the author's action name or just another in a long-line of pseudonyms used for this series.  Other than this one and book 51 in this series, I can find no other books by this author (although I find plenty of books out there written by various writers of the same name).  The copyright for the book simply belongs to Kensington Publishing Corp., which likely means this was a house psuedonym.  In any event, Collins only offers two books within this series, and this one gives readers their first taste of art director Megan Marshall.

 

Murder at Willow Run is set in a preppy little art community called "Willow Run" in the Catskills of New York.  Megan Marshall is an art gallery director who is putting together a show for artist Evan Townsend, a young man with whom she hopes to one day develop a real relationship.  The story opens with the exciting news that Marshall has managed to get a world famous art critic, Garrett Winters, to come to the show!  Winters happens to be a long-time friend of Alfred ("Alf") Barnard, who runs the Inn in which the art show will be displayed, and he has agreed to come at Alf's request.  Megan is thrilled, Evan is hesitant, and Alf is confident that everything will work out fine.  However, from the moment Winters arrives, everything goes downhill fast!

 

Collins crafts a horrifically vile person in the character of Garrett Winters. From the moment he arrives, he has nothing but nasty things to say about everyone and everything - from Evan's art (which, at this point, he has not even seen!), to the small town setting, the decor of the Inn, and the townspeople and guests at the Inn.  In fact, the man has nothing nice to say at all!  Clearly, this man deserves to die - or, at least, that's what plenty of people think.  After a rather loud confrontation with Evan in the dining room, with Evan threatening to get rid of him, to a fierce battle in the kitchen with the chef that results in his being fired, to some snide remarks to one of the local women in town, Winters finally takes his leave, going to his room upstairs.  Before long, however, he's back downstairs, demanding a different room, as the bed is too small.  Megan accommodates him, moving him from Room 4 to Room 7, making sure he's settled in and that he has locked his door from the inside before she walks away.  So, imagine her surprise, when she and Alf come up the next morning, find the door still locked with the chain, and after breaking their way, find the critic lying dead on his bed!  The door was locked, the windows are still locked - so how in the world was he murdered?

 

It's a fantastically well-written locked-room mystery that, quite frankly, had me stumped.  The first internal illustration gave me a first thought as to the identity of the killer, but as the story progressed, my thought changed time and time again.  The clues pointing to any number of people, and Collins herself even points this out with the gossip of the townspeople:  "the culprit was variously Evan Townsend, the moody and passionate painter; Claude Monteaux, the temperamental chef; Alfred Barnard for some inexplicable reason; Bertram Van Riper, the man of mystery... (p. 72) - and even this list does not account for all of the suspects.  There were also Grace and Adelaide Wimble, the aging sisters who seemed to have a history with Winters; Shelley Barnes, a local woman "far more enamored of the artist than she was of the art" (p. 23); Quentin Lacy, the rather flamboyant and dramatic director of the theater across from the Inn; Hilda Stanwick, a former watercolor artist whose career had ended quickly after a bad review; and even Garth Hendriks, the Inn's groundskeeper who lived in the upstairs of the barn just behind the Inn.  So many suspects, so many motives, but only one of them did it.  The questions for Megan is:  which one?

 

Honestly, I was wondering if Collins would go the same route as the writers of The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries television show did with their season two opener, which features a locked-room mystery that stumped the teen detectives and nearly made them believe in vampires!  That two-part season opener offered up a rather ingenious solution, and I thought perhaps Collins had taken a page from that show, which aired two years before this book was published.  It certainly would have provided a clever twist, making the killer one of the least likely suspects!  But Collins went an entirely different route, for which I applauded her, as it made it much more difficult to figure out (for the reader).  While the clue on the front cover is very subtle, the internal illustrations offer very little actual clues - one offers no clue at all, one offers a very clear misdirect, two offer a connected clue that you have to really pay attention to catch, and the last two offers the clues that clinch it!

 

The author does reference the use of "flurazepam," which is referred to as "a soporific marketed under the trade name of Dalmane" (p. 107).  This is an actual drug that is prescribed by doctors for short-term treatment of sever insomnia.  The brand name of "Dalmane" has been discontinued in the United States, but flurazepam, which is the generic version, is still prescribed.  Obviously, this book was written long before the brand name medicine was discontinued in 2017.

 

As with most books in this series, there is no identification of the cover artist, and none of the internal illustrations are signed and no credit given - leaving it a mystery as to who provided the art.  I think it bears repeating what a disservice these publishers did back in the day by failing to give credit to cover artists, as well as internal illustrators - particularly for a series like this, where the art plays (or is supposed to play) just as important of a role in helping the reader solve the mystery as the story itself.  With this day and age of information at the tips of our fingers on the internet, one would think the information would be easy to find; but, alas, it is not.  Thus, the identity of these artists remain a mystery unsolved...

 

This mystery was extremely enjoyable, very well written, and definitely kept me guessing.  I am glad to know I will get at least one more mystery by Collins before the end of this series!

 

RATING:  10 blood-stained hotel towels in the trunk of a car out of 10 for taking the "locked room mystery" to a whole new level and giving us a fantastic new sleuth who is up for the challenge!