Lucifer Cove, Book 2 - Priestess of the Damned (Virginia Coffman's Thrilling Occult Gothic Series)

"Nadine Janos became queen of the Cove's 'devil-cult' ... and reigned in satanic terror!" (cover blurb) 

 

Gothic-queen author Virginia Coffman's series set in Lucifer Cove continues in this second book.  First published in 1970, my edition of the book came out in 1973 with the stylized logo and gorgeous cover art.  While the first book dabbled somewhat into the occult aspect of the series (i.e. the devil, a Satan-cult, those eyes in the mirror, etc.), this second book walks into the occult / supernatural aspect in full force.The reader is no longer left with any questions as to whether demonic forces are at work in Lucifer Cove, and as such, the impact that has on the characters in the story (and the reader's expectations and hopes for those characters) is increased ten-fold!

 

Priestess of the Damned switches the focus from Christine Deeth (who was the main character from the first book, and who did not have so happy an ending) to Nadine Janos, who leads the cult in Lucifer's Cove that allegedly worships Satan himself ... but is nothing more than a fraudulent means by which Janos takes in quite the income through so-called donations to the devil himself, while the cult members and attendees simply satisfy their basest desires.  While readers of the first book wondered if the devil worshipers were sincere in their beliefs, or if it was all a front, readers of this book quickly learn that it is all fake, with Janos and her cohort, Sean O'Flannery, using special effects and theatrics to make it all seem dark and supernatural within the classic Greek temple located on the side of the mountain in Lucifer Cover.  After all, she was not really hurting anyone - if wealthy people wanted to pay her money under the guise of donations in order to indulge in animal-like lust, what crime was she committing?

 

But, as readers of the first book know, something is not right at Lucifer Cove.  O'Flannery suspects there is something wrong, and while Nadine has refused to see it up until now, even she is beginning to realize there is more to the owner, Marc Meridon, than meets the eye.  Why else would she have had O'Flannery do digging into the man's past - digging that led to no new information whatsoever.  Meridon's past is a complete blank, and his present hints at something more than just an investor in a secluded spa.  The more Nadine's curiosity gets the best of her, the more she starts to suspect, and the more she learns, the more she realizes just how much danger she (and everyone else) at Lucifer Cover could be in!  A supporting character seen only in brief snippets in The Devil's Mistress, Nadine takes the full spotlight, and while she is far from an innocent, I thoroughly enjoyed her snooping around and sneaky attempts to try and uncover what is really going on at the spa.  In a lot of ways, she could be considered a Nancy Drew-type character in this book (albeit a very flawed and selfish version!).

 

A number of subplots that began in the first book are continued here.  Nadine discovers, along with the reader, some of the secrets regarding all of those tudor-style houses that line the main street of Lucifer's Cove, which, of course, only opens up more questions.  Why are the houses simply facades, to give the effect they are more than just empty shells, not even completed in the back?  And what in the world is up with the urn of ashes Nadine finds in one of the houses - ashes of a famous actress who is known to have died years prior?  Christine Deeth is back in some small part, as she is coerced by Meridon to bring her sickly young son to the spa, under the guise that the springs might help him recover (although Christine begs Nadine to help her keep her son away, unaware Nadine has already promised Meridon to convince her to bring him there).  Christine's love for Meridone is obvious, yet Nadine picks up on an undercurrent, hinting that Christine has other motives and plans. of which Meridon is completely unaware.  In addition to that, Nadine uncovers the source of that black smoke that comes up from the sulfur springs on occasion, a discovery that turns out to be very deadly and nearly costs Nadine and a young boy their lives!  Thankfully, a certain black cat by the name of Kinkajou (affectionately referred to as "Kinky" in this book) leads them to safety.  And speaking of that darn cat, the reader gets more hints as to the true nature of the cat, and something I suspected to be true in the first book is pretty much confirmed (although not outright) in this book. Nadine certainly suspects it, and I have no doubt it is going to be revealed in a later book.  Last, but not least, by the end of the story, Nadine finds herself seeing visions - not only of a man dying (who later does die), but also of a sinister pair of eyes looking out from behind that upside down cross in her temple.  What will come of that, only time will tell...

 

While Nadine nearly meets her maker by the end of the story, her timely rescue leaves her in the arms of O'Flannery, wondering as Meridon tells her with a grin that she is one of his greatest allies. Nadine can't help but be concerned - is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

 

As with the first book, this second entry into the series went through three different printings with three different covers.  I love the one edition that I have, even if the depiction of Nadine Janos is inaccurate (since the story makes it clear she has dark hair, and the cover shows her with blond hair); yet, it has the same tudor building in the background, with the same light on in the second story window.  In fact, comparing the cover art, it appears the house IS the exact same image, with simply a different female lead painted in the foregoing over the house.  An earlier cover (of which I do not have an image) gives a more accurate picture of Nadine, with the dark hair and not-so-pretty face, with a background scene depicting a black-robed figure standing over  man kneeling before her on the ground.  A third cover art (from Pinnacle Books, which I also do not have an image) again shows Nadine in the foreground with dark hair (and a much sexier red dress) with a man who could be Meridon standing behind her and a different version of the tudor-style spa behind them, a second story window lit.  This cover is not bad at all, and probably the most Gothic-looking of the three, spouting a tagline that reads, "Would she enter the gates of heaven - or the portals of hell?"  These other two images can be found online, but are definitely not in the best of condition.

 

I will admit, I was uncomfortable reading this book, because of the heavy emphasis on the devil worshiping and constant references to "My lord Satan."  Although I know this is fiction, and even though the character in the story admits she is a fraud and merely leading the cult for the money, it still did not sit well with my Christian beliefs, and I was glad to finish it.  I'm hoping the next four books in the series will be similar to the first and rely more on the mystery aspect, and less on the occult and Satanic references.

 

RATING:  7 ghostly apparitions of Adolf Hitler out of 10 for an ever-increasing suspense-filled story that builds upon the mythos of Lucifer's Cove and its growing cast of characters.

Jack Armstrong's Mystery Crysal - Book 2 of the Jack Armstrong Series

This was one of those "impulse" buys - I saw it in dust jacket, I had never heard of the character before, and I thought the cover was creative and unique, so I said to myself, "Why not?"  As it turns out, this book is the second book in a two-book series written by Stanley J. Wallace. I could find absolutely nothing about this author online, other than the fact that he wrote both books in this series - so I have no idea if Wallace is a real person or yet another in a long line of pseudonyms used to write children's series books back in the first half of the 20th century.  And as far as the main character goes ... well, we'll talk more about that name later... 

 

Jack Armstrong's Mystery Crystal, while having its own strange story, carries some of the plot threads from the first book into this one. As the story opens, we find Jack Armstrong traveling with his Yogi, a "native of mysterious India" named Sher Dal (p. 1).  The reader is given some details about Jack, insomuch as his parents were missionaries who had gone out to reach some natives in the wild jungles of India, only to disappear.  Presumed dead, Jack was taken in and trained by Sher Dal in the strange powers of the mind, learning how to use this "natural force [that exists] in many persons yet known to but few" ... a "mysterious force" that is "in the mind, the will - the power of thought" (p. 49).  I found myself chuckling at this description, thinking how easily the Sher Dal and young Jack mirror certain characters from a space saga that first hit theaters in 1977 (some forty years after this book was published).  It even had me wondering if perhaps George Lucas had read this book as a youngster and the idea had stuck in his head.  Hey, you never know!

 

In any event, Jack and Sher Dal are in the States (although it doesn't specify where), traipsing through a forest, when they stop at a farm house to buy some food, only to get entangled with the family there, whose car has been stolen- and they mistakenly believe Jack is one of the gypsies who stole it!   The family's name is "Turnbull" - Hank and Jenny Turnbull (pp. 14-16), and, of course, my mind immediately went to the second Nancy Drew mystery, The Hidden Staircase, in which Nancy comes to the aid of the Turnbull sisters, Rosemary and Floretta. I know it's simply a coincidence that the names are the same, but since this book came out only six years after the Nancy Drew title, you never know that the character name might have influenced this one.  It's not like "Turnbull" is a common name, after all.  Jack ultimately uses this crystal ball that he has to find the car, and in so doing, reveals its powers to a handyman at the farm - a handyman who later steals the crystal and runs off with a neighbor's car!  Jack and the Yogi do track down the man and retrieve the crystal, but not without injury to Sher Dal.  While he goes into the hospital, Jack heads out on his own to continue the search for his parents.

 

Yes, that is the plot thread that continues from the first book.  It seems Jack's parents may very well be alive, but they simply don't know where they are.  The crystal gives Jack a vision of his mother possibly being held captive in a jungle - only not in India, but in the southern part of Florida known as the Everglades (p. 67)!  Yes, it caught me by surprise as well, since it seems so many children's books I have been reading from this era all end up in Florida at one time or another.  Florida must have been the happening place for these authors, since so many characters make their way down to and have adventures in the Sunshine State.  By pure chance, Jack runs into his old friends from the first book (a traveling magician, his assistant, and his cook), and two of them join Jack in his adventure down to Florida, along with a Seminole Indian named Sam who agrees to show them the way - after all, he happens to go to Florida to collect orchid buds to sell up north (p. 159).  Now, for those who read this blog, that might sound a bit familiar, and that's because it is.  In The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms, the girls are hoping to find a rare orchid that grows in the Everglades.  It seems that over 39 species of orchids grow throughout the Everglades, many of which are now endangered (although, back in 1936, such might not have been the case).  Again, another funny coincidence between plots in series books.

 

The crew have quite the adventure in the wilds of the Everglades, with deadly snakes, wild Indians, and even a hungry alligator who sets its sights on Sam when he climbs a tree to snag an orchid (p. 163).  What is odd is that this very scene is depicted on the frontis piece, but the page number given for that scene is 156, some seven pages prior.  Not sure how this error occurred, unless an earlier draft of the story had this scene at page 156 and more story was added later to increase the page count of the book?  In any event, that frontis is signed by C.R. Schaare, who turns out to be Christian Richard "Dick" Schaare Jr. (1893-1980), who provided covers for quite a few pulp magazines between 1925 and 1940, as well as worked on some comic books and painted covers for the boxing magazine, The Ring.  More information about Schaare can be found here:  Pulp Artists - Schaare.  Schaare also provided the cover art, which was used for both books (with the only difference being the title).

 

What annoyed me about the conclusion to this story is that (a) the author uses the "twin" trope to give readers a curve ball at the end, a plot element apparently used in the first book where a Jack look-a-like caused all sorts of trouble for our hero, and (b) Jack does not find his parents.  Rather, the last page of the book informs readers that Jack's search for his parents will continue in the next book, to be called "Jack Armstrong's Magic Stone," in which book it "will be told the perils he encountered among dangerous beasts and reptiles in his search for his lost father and mother" (p. 206).  The problem with that is that this next book was never published - it is a phantom title that readers never got to see in print.  I'm not sure what caused the failure to continue the series; was it low sales, did the publisher decide this story about mental powers was too strange, or did the author simply decide he (or she) did not want to write any more adventures of Jack Armstrong?

 

And speaking of Jack Armstrong.  If that name seems a bit familiar, it's because there was another Jack Armstrong that existed around the same time as this: Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.  This other Jack Armstrong was a radio adventure series that ran from 1933 to 1951.  This character was adapted into a movie serial in 1947, as well as a 13-issue comic book series and two Big Little Books.  There was also a short-lived comic strip based on the radio show, which lasted from 1947 to 1950.  In addition, an animated cartoon pilot was developed by Hanna-Barbera, but it never got past that pilot stage.  While the Wikipedia page on this Jack Armstrong lists this two-book series as an adaptation of the radio character, after reading this book, I can say that this Jack Armstrong is nothing at all like the one from the radio show, movie, or comics.  How Cupples & Leon got away with using that character name is a mystery...

 

The story, with its heavy emphasis on mystic India mental powers, is certainly off-beat for its time, when most series books books were simply filled with adventure or mystery or school-centric tales.  In fact, the publisher has a one page "Explanatory Note" before the first chapter that asks readers to not discount the inexplicable things that take place in the story - "we warn you not to disbelieve the story of Jack's magic crystal and his strange wand that killed with the silence of eternity..."  Yet, it has its own charm, and I wish Wallace (or whoever it was that wrote the books) would have at least written one more, so the reader could share in the joy of Jack Armstrong being reunited with his parents!  Hopefully, one day I'll be able to find the first book (Jack Armstrong's Mystery Eye) and read about the events that led to the story in this book.

 

RATING:  7 great rocks shaped like an elephant out of 10 for a uniquely different kind of mystery of mysticism and magic!

Captives in Space - the Second Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventure

I went into this book a bit tentative, as I finished the first book with a bit of ambivalence.  It wasn't that great, but it wasn't that bad either.  As such, I was not sure what to expect from this second Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventure.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed this story far more than I did the first.  Sure, it has some very unbelievable elements, and the interior illustrations are by a different artist than the first book - but it definitely has a faster paced, more action-oriented story with just a hint of a mystery, and thus, it kept my attention from beginning to end.  I also notice the tagline above the title actually reads "A Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventure" rather than the generic "A Science Fiction Adventure" on the cover of the first book.  It's nice to see the series is identified by its main character now.

 

Captives in Space takes place just six month since the events retold in the first book (p. 12). Dig Allen and his two friends, Ken and Jim Barry, are now full-fledged Space Explorers with their very own spaceship, the Starover.  As fate would have it, as the boys take the ship out on its first space flight after spending time on Earth studying intensely (p. 12), they come across a space wreck.  They try to hail a fleeing escape vessel, but the other ship flies off without any response.  The boys keep hearing voices coming from the wrecked ship, but when they board it, they find no one aboard.  They can't make any sense out of it, especially when they come across some crates of mechanical toys that appear to function just as real sized vehicles would.  After a harrowing escapade removing the engine portion of the ship before it explodes, taking them all with it, the boys manage to two the wreckage back to Mars to report it to the Space Guards and let them handle it.  But the mystery is only beginning...

 

Author Joseph Greene (who is not given any credit whatsoever on the cover to the book) manages to create a rather interesting plot for this second adventure.  The boys, while on Mars, meet up with Old Dorkas once again (that old space pirate from the first book), and he gives them some hints regarding the so-called "toys" they discovered on that abandoned ship.  They quickly find out the ship was not quite as abandoned as they thought; instead, there was two small aliens, no more than six or seven inches in height, hiding on board.  Despite a language barrier, the boys manage to befriend the aliens and quickly figure out the humans who took off from the wreckage were actually pirates, who had kidnapped not just these two aliens, but 28 other of their species for nefarious reasons!  Dig, Ken, and Jim are determined to help find those other aliens and return them to their home planet (which is a mystery as well, since they cannot speak the language of these small creatures!).  Along the way, they are aided by a disreputable space trader who ultimately betrays them, and are very nearly sent rocketing into the sun to meet certain death!

 

Now, while this is a science fiction adventure (with emphasis on the "fiction" part!), Greene does throw in some actual facts.  When trying to figure out where the aliens are from, the boys posit the idea that they might hail from another star system, such as Alpha Centauri. "...that's four and a half years away if you travel with the speed of light," Dig says (p. 69).  This is pretty accurate, as that system is located approximately 4.37 light-years away from our own.  Of course, in the real world, we do not have technology to travel at the speed of light, so with current technology, it would take over 100,000 years to reach that system!  Later, there is reference to Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, and Dig comments, "Mercury's year is equal to 88 days on Earth" (p. 124), which is accurate; however, Dig also says, "The Mercury day is just as long" (p. 124), which is not accurate, since Mercury rotates on its axis very slowly, taking 59 of our Earth days just to complete one full rotation.  I suppose you can't get every fact right!

 

There are plenty of fictional "facts" within the story, such as the breathable air on both Mars and Mercury, and the fact that Mercury has plant light growing on the equator between the hot and cold sides of the planet (and the fact that these little aliens are indigenous to Mercury!).  One thing that did strike me as funny is the Barry brothers' father inventing a computer called the "Langivac" (p. 69) that can translate languages.  My first reaction was, "yeah, right, like that could ever work" - then I stopped and remembered that we have phones with apps now that will translate language as someone is speaking it!  So, I suppose these fictional ideas from 60 years ago aren't quite so fictional any more (I mean, the video calls from the Jetsons, the flip-communicators from Star Trek, and who knows how many other sci-fi gadgets that people thought were futuristic back in the day are now common-place in the world today!). 

 

The interior art is provided in this book by Herb Mott (1923 - 2017), who in the early days of his career provided pen and ink drawings for a number of pulp magazines.  He is probably best known for his cover paintings that graced the covers of Railroad Magazine (painting 52 covers from 1949 to 1954).  Alongside his painted illustrations for men's magazines in the 1950s, he illustrated various books for Grosset & Dunlap. He also did the internal illustrations for The Three Investigators no. 28, The Mystery of the Deadly Double.  This is the only book in the series illustrated by Mott.  The illustrations begin with a purplish color, but as the book progresses, the illustrations turn more of a reddish color.  It is assumed Mott also provided the cover art, which depicts a scene from the opening adventure, where they work to rescue the wreckage of the space ship.

 

Interesting enough, the back of the book features a display of various series published by Golden Press, listing a couple of new titles in the Kathy Martin and Dig Allen series, which are not pictured.  Since there are far less titles on this back advertisement than there are on the back of the first book (which merely has lists and no pictures), I am guessing my copy of the first book is a later printing (since it lists all of the Dig Allen books), while this one is an early printing (since it only lists to itself).

 

This book definitely amped up my interest in the series, and I now find myself looking forward to book 3.

 

RATING:  8 large, rough log cabins out of 10 for a fun-filled romp through space, with planet-hopping, language-learning, and dire emergencies that only three teenage Space Explorers could possibly work their way out of! 

Short Lived Comic Series #35 - Pyschoblast (First Comics)

Now here's a comic series that I do not remember coming out back when it was first published.  At the time, I was buying titles from First Comics (such as Whisper and Evangeline), so I likely saw house ads for this series; but it apparently did not strike my fancy at the time, so I never gave it any thought and let it disappear from my mind altogether.  The series debuted in July 1987 (the first issue featuring a November 1987 cover date) and lasted only nine issues, ending in March 1988 (its last issue sporting a July 1988 cover date).  The series was written by Steven Grant, who was also the creator and writer of First Comics' Whisper series, as well as countless other series for Marvel, Malibu, Dark Horse, Image, DC, Chaos, BOOM!, and any number of independent comic companies.  

 

Psychoblast (quite the unusual name!) is not only the name of the title character, but it is also a term (in fiction, at least) to describe a massive, concentrated mental energy attack.  Back in the late 1800s, the word was actually used in certain scientific realms in reference to a "germ" or "cell" relating to the development of the mind or psyche, but it is now obsolete.  Grant manages to take that term and utilize it for Brian Burke, a young man we first meet as a drifter, working in a church as a janitor.  Taryn St. Jude has been sent to find Burke, unaware that the person who sent her on that mission has a secret agenda.  By the end of the first issue, Brian and Taryn find themselves running from some military men, and when all hope seems lost, Brian suddenly unleashes a psychic ability that not only changes his appearance (giving him that blue and silver costume and the lightning bolt over his left eye) but also allows him to, literally, crush his opponents with one hand - albeit a very LARGE hand!

 

The first story arc encompasses the first three issues, as readers learn a bit about Brian's powers - how they pretty much come into play only when Brian himself is unconscious, meaning that "Psychoblast" is an entirely different being that shares Brian's mind!  Readers also find out that the military men chasing Brian are working for a mysterious woman who has mental powers of her own - but they take their toll, aging her quickly, and she requires fresh human psyche to pause that aging process and give her vitality - and she wants Brian because she believes his psychic powers are the answer to her staying young forever.  Grant gives us one heck of a battle of the minds, as well as the startling revelation that this villainous vixen is not Brian's mother (as we are originally led to believe through visions experienced by Taryn), but actually Brian's sister, Arrabella, who supposedly died six years prior (but, let's face it - no one in comic books ever says dead, do they?).

 

The remaining six issues of the series delve more into Brian's origin as "Psychoblast" and his integration into the New Order - with a team of powered individuals known as Transmuter, Phaseshift, Interface, and Anomaly.  From the get-go, however, the reader can see this is no ordinary super team.  These characters are at odds with one another, and one in particular (Anomaly) believes himself superior to the rest, especially Psychoblast, and the tensions between them ultimately results in some pretty powerful psychic battles. Along the way, we meet a research scientist named Caren Price, who inadvertently leads the evil D.S.X. Machina to Psychoblast's location - and a series climax that reveals their connection and the true extent of Psychoblast's mental abilities!

 

This is, by far, anything but a "super hero" series. Psychoblast is a reluctant hero, as Brian does not know how his powers work, how to trigger them, and more than anything, how to keep this alternate personality from coming out and destroying everything and everyone around him.  D.S.X. Machina is a villain without restraint, who kills civilian and hero alike, leaving very few of the main cast alive by the end of the ninth issue (although, oddly enough, Caren survives the killing blast D.S.X. sends her way, hinting at a potential future story that readers never got to see, as i is clear Caren has some powers of her own and some secrets that never get revealed).  The battles are less about good vs. evil and more about survival and coming to terms with the circumstances of the life one is given.  Grant, as he did with the Whisper series, provides readers with a character-driven saga, and although we only get nine issues and just the tip of the iceberg regarding Brian's origins and Psychoblast's powers, it is easy to get drawn into this world and want to see where the characters are headed.

 

The art in the series is provided by Robb Phipps (pencils) and Al Vey (inks), with some assistance from Karl Story and Jim Bauer in a couple of the later issues.  Phipps and Vey also drew all of the covers.  Since there are only nine issues and no change in artists during that time, the art remains consistent for the entire run, which was a nice change of pace for me.  In today's comics, with so many rotating artists and writers, sometimes within the same storyline (one of the biggest mishaps of this kind was DC Comics' Thriller series, which lost the original artist and writer, and it changed the entire tone and course of the series, leading to its early demise), it is jarring to me when the art style changes mid-stream.  This kind of artistic consistency helps develop the characters, settings, and stories in the reader's mind without having to pause and adjust to another creator's interpretation of those same characters and settings.  Phipps and Vey had some usual imagery to work with, considering the amount of psychic displays that took place throughout the nine issues, but they did an amazing job bringing them to life with a sense of realism for a very fictional idea.

 

Sadly, the series did not even survive its first year, likely due to low sales (which plagued a lot of independent titles in the late '80s and early '90s), which is a shame.  I think the series had a lot of potential, and there were plenty of sub-plots developing that never got to see fruition.  I wonder what comic fans would think of the character today, if Grant were to revive Psychoblast and continue the series today (nearly 40 years later...)?

 

RATING:   9 giant glowing hands in the sky out of 10 for giving the comic world a unique character and creative concept that, unfortunately, never had the chance to reach its full potential.

Shadow Acres - a Magnum Gothic novel

This is my first time reading a Gothic novel by Frances Y. McHugh, who wrote a number of Gothic tales back during this period for various publishers.  This book was first published in 1967 by Arcadia House, and the edition I own is a later paperback printing from Prestige Books under their "Magnum" line.  I could not find anything out about this particular author so unsure if McHugh is the author's actual name or simply a pen name for someone else.  In either event, the story turned out to be a fairly good read, albeit a mixture of murder mystery and Gothic.

 

Shadow Acres is told from a first-person point-of-view, narrated by the main character, Reda Randall.  McHugh opens the story in the "present," so to speak, as Reda is thinking about the events that took place at the great house known as Shadow Acres, wondering if everything that transpired was a result of her action or inaction.  Her reverie is broken when her fiance, Bryan Sedgwick shows up, ready to take her out for a night on the town.  Through her conversation with Bryan, the reader learns of Bryan's cousin, Greg, and his father, Gregory, as well as a bit about his and Greg's grandfather, the first Gregory Sedgwick.  Slowly, McHugh reveals a bit more about the drama that has led these characters to this point - the fact that Reda was once engaged to Greg, but when he was found with a scantily clad woman in his college dorm, she broke off the engagement, he left the country, and she eventually fell for Bryan.  It is obvious from the start that Reda and Bryan's relationship has some issues - Reda is a talented pianist who is wanting to perform with her music school orchestra, but Bryan does not want her to follow that path, fearful she will do the same thing to him that his aunt (who was an actress) did to his uncle (left him for her leading man!). 

 

The mystery begins when Reda is preparing for a party she and Bryan are to attend, when she is summoned to Shadow Acres, which is hours away from her NYC apartment.  The elder Gregory Sedgwick will not take no for an answer, and so Reda sends her regrets to the hosts of the party, leaves a message for Bryan who is supposed to pick her up, and takes the train to Shadow Acres.  Upon her arrival, late at night, she finds the house quiet.  No one answers the door, which she discovers to be unlocked.  Her fear mounting, she enters the house - and finds her fiance holding a gun in his hand ... and in the library behind him, Gregory Sedgwick is lying dead on the floor with a gunshot wound to his head!  Second later, Greg, who was believed to still be in South America, walks in the door, claiming he looked through the window and saw Bryan kneeling over their grandfather with the gun.  Reda and the reader are left to wonder - who killed Gregory Sedgwick?

 

McHugh plays it coy, as the identity of the killer is not obvious by any means.  In fact, as the story progresses, we learn that growing up, Greg was a bit of the wild boy, the rebel, while Bryan was always the obedient, good boy.  Bryan seems to be the obvious suspect, but clues begin to spring up that point to Greg as the killer.  It isn't until a large flower pot falls (is dropped?) from the roof above Reda (pp. 85-86) that we start to see some of the Gothic elements creep in.  Not three pages later, our poor heroine is knocked pretty hard in the back of the head (p. 89), which is the result of a stone taken from Greg's rare rock collection.  It is obvious someone is out to hurt, or possibly kill Reda, but the question is - why?  To whom is she a threat?  There is also the growing tension between Greg and Bryan, as Bryan grows jealous of Greg's attention toward his fiance, and Greg believes Reda is not truly in love with Bryan but still in love with him.  If all of this is not enough to drive a poor girl crazy, then what is?

 

It is the fire in Reda's room, set while she is sleeping, that begins to turn the tide.  Someone places a burning cigarette on her bed, locks her windows, and leave the room, looking the door behind them!  Poor Reda is nearly killed, if it weren't for the fortunate timing of Greg, rescuing her through her second story window.  Is Greg really the killer, and simply covering his tracks by appearing to rescue her?  Does Bryan want her dead, jealous of her returning feelings for his cousin?  Could it be one of the servants - John or his wife, Agnes - who, for unknown reasons, want Reda out of the picture?  Or is there someone else in the house - someone whose shadow Reda saw on the outskirts of the woods one night ... whose footsteps she heard in the rooms above her when John and Agnes were both downstairs ... whose connection to the house and the family could spell ultimate doom for Reda?!

 

No credit given to the cover artist, but it is a beautifully rendered scene, with Reda running away from the house.  Interestingly, the artist breaks from the tradition of having an upper floor window lighted, and instead, chooses to have a lighted window on the first floor (likely to coincide with the murder of the elder Gregory Sedgwick taking place in the library on the first floor).  The depicted scene is extremely dark, with the only real color being the design on her dress, her pale skin, the light in the window, and the dark green grass leading up the hill to the house.  There's no doubt this cover sets the dark mood for the story contained within.  The Arcadia House cover from the original publisher definitely gives the book a more "murder mystery" feel to it, which supports Lori A. Page's observation in her critical study of the Gothic novels of this period that publishers got to the point where they took previously published works, slapped a new cover on it, and called it "Gothic" (The Gothic Romance Wave). 

 

While I would not say this is one of the best Gothics I've ever read, the story was enjoyable enough that I would pick up more of McHugh's books. 

 

RATING:  9 rare bluestone specimens out of 10 for a tale filled with suspense and mystery, with plenty of secrets and misdirects to keep the main character (and the reader!) guessing. 

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Twelve - The Mystery at Ocean Side

This twelfth book in the Samantha Wolfe Mysteries series, written by Tara Ellis, appears to be the last.  It was first published in 2022, which was four years ago, and I'm not finding any indication that another book was solicited or even hinted at by the author.  In today's market, a 12-book run is not bad; however, I can't deny my fondness of ongoing series (such as Nancy Drew, which has been ongoing for more than 90 years at this point!).  That being said, if this book is to be the final Samantha Wolf mystery, then Ellis did a bang up job of going out on a high note.  The mystery is creative, the new characters engaging, and the danger just enough to give the book some suspense.  Plus, Ellis does something surprising with the narrative form of this book - after 11 books written in the present tense, Ellis offers readers a break with this final mystery, as it is written completely in past tense!  As soon as I starting reading the first page, my mind immediately picked up on the difference - it was a smooth read without that initial jarring I usually felt when reading present tense tales.  I thought perhaps this first part would be a flashback, and she would switch to her standard present tense narrative, but nope.  Ellis maintained the past tense narrative throughout the entire book, making it the easiest read of the series!

 

That being said, The Mystery at Ocean Side introduces readers to Sam's new neighbor, Tanner Hobbs. He and his father have just moved to Ocean Side for two reasons: one, Mr. Hobbs has taken a new position with the same company who employs Mr. Parker (the father of Sam's best friend, Ally); and two, Mr. Hobbs has inherited the land in Ocean Side known as "Hobbit Hollow" - where an old resort owned by Tanner's grandfather burned down years ago, and the residents of Ocean Side believe is haunted by the ghost of the one person who died at the time.  Sam and Ally, and their brothers (Hunter and John, respectively), find young Tanner to be a bit off-putting, but gradually he warms up to the teens, and soon all five of them are camping with Mr. Hobbs on the land he has inherited.  Sam is excited at the prospect of exploring and, maybe, catching a glimpse of the so-called ghost.  Of course, the haunting of Hobbit Hollow is not the only mystery afoot.

 

Ellis throws in a bigger mystery involving the death of Mr. Hobbs' father and his Will.  It seems he left most of the land to Mr. Hobbs, but a small island just off the coast he has bequeathed to a woman named Stephanie Davis, who arrives in Ocean Side with her daughter, Alayna, to claim her inheritance!  Hobbs is taken by surprise, especially when Mrs. Davis claims to have no knowledge of Hobbs' father and no understanding of why he would leave her the island.  Sam senses there is much more here than meets the eye, and even though she has promised her parents not to get involved in any more mysteries, she cannot help herself.  She offers Tanner her help, and before you can blink an eye, Sam and the gang are assisting Tanner in his search for the truth - a search that leads them to a small cabin located in the woods of the Hobbs' property, where Tanner finds a journal left there by his grandfather.  A journal that has a number of drawings, all of which are clues to help Tanner "right a wrong" done generations ago!

 

It's a well-crafted mystery with fun clues, and while the culprit sort of comes out of left field (no one even knows this person exists until half-way through the book!), it is still an enjoyable read.  The missing treasure, the heart-breaking backstory, and the climactic confrontation with a gun-toting villain whose greed sees him threatening young teens without a second thought are all part of this dramatic story, and, of course, Sam's quick thinking is what manages to put the clues together to reveal the location of the long-lost treasure.

 

I'm kind of disappointed to see this series reach its end.  While it was not necessarily my favorite must-read series, it consistently offered decent mysteries with main characters that evolved and matured as the series progressed, gradually adding to the supporting cast (adding Hunter and John, as well as Cassie, along the way), and I though the addition of both Tanner and Alayna in this book would have offered some fresh blood into the series for future stories.  Who knows?  Two years passed between books 11 and 12, so perhaps sometime in the near future, Ellis will get inspired to revisit the world of Ocean Side and share another Samantha Wolf mystery with her fans.  If not, at least she can rest easy knowing she gave readers a solid 12-book series that is worth the read.

 

RATING:  8 plush armchairs with stuffing hanging out of 10 for offering up one final mystery for Samantha Wolf to solve, filled with ghosts, treasures, and wills - all the makings for a great story! 

Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case - the third Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Story

And so we come to the third book in the Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Stories.  After an introductory story in which Dorothy earns her wings and captures some thieves (Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings) and a follow-up tale in which she foils the plans of some smugglers (Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane), I had hopes that we would have yet another challenging adventure that Dorothy (and, yes, Bill Bolton returns once again - poor girl cannot seem to have her a story without him!) would have to weather - and when I say weather, I mean it (see below)!  Author Dorothy Wayne (better known as Lt. Noel Sainsbury, Jr.) seems to rely on a number of the same tropes as this third book in the series features many similar scenes that we saw in the first two books - although, Dorothy does finally shine as the quick-thinking sleuth and strong leader we all knew she could be if given the chance!

 

Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case opens with our young aviatrix doing what she loves most - flying her plane, Will-O-The-Wisp (or "Wispy," for short) with her best friend, Betty, along for the ride. The only problem is, they are flying in the middle of a rough storm, and good ol' Wispy is running extremely low on gas.  Thus, Dorothy is forced to find a place for an emergency landing in the torrential downpour while flying over a dark area of forest!  Leave it to Sainsbury to put Dorothy in dire danger from the very first page - this type of situation definitely catches the reader's attention from the get-go. Of course, Dorothy, being the hero of the story, manages to set the plane down safely, and she and Betty make their way through the storm and find a secluded house (gee, it seems like each of these mysteries involves a secluded house in some form) where they think they will get shelter.  But, alas, fate has other plans - instead of a welcome party, the girls peer in the window to find a young man tied to a chair, while two other men are questioning him harshly about something (hmmmm, this also seems to be a recurring theme in this series - someone being held captive in the secluded house).  And so, the mystery begins!

 

This time around, Dorothy uses her own ingenuity, rather than relying on Bill Bolton, to rescue the young man - and Sainsbury, to his credit, gives her the quick thinking needed to get the men out of the house so she and Betty can rescue the captive man.  He turns out to be George Conway, and once untied, he and Betty form an immediate attraction; but Dorothy does not give them time to think about that, as she calls in some aid in the form of Bill Bolton, who brings along Terry Walters to help him refuel Dorothy's plane.  It is at this point we get some of the story about George Conway and the mystery surrounding his father and why so many people are interested in George, that small house his father left him, and a book titled Aircraft Power Plants.   None of it makes sense to George, but Dorothy suspects it all comes down to money in some form or fashion.

 

Sainsbury spends in inordinate amount of time on Dorothy and Bill's tramp through the woods, as they try to escape the men with guns who are after them (mistakenly believing Bill is actually George Conway!), and chapters are spent on their running in the rain through the wooded forest and up a dangerously steep cliffside (that, conveniently, Terry had previously hiked and found a secret way to climb up the side of it).  He eventually gets the duo to a cabin in the protected woodland area, which is inhabited by an old man named Abe Lincoln River "known to the world at large as Ol' Man River, but to his friends he's Uncle Abe" (p. 160).  He takes an instant liking to Dorothy and Bill and helps them out of a number of tight situations through the rest of the book.  

 

What the reader must realize is that Uncle Abe (or Ol' Man River, if you prefer) is a character that is a product of the time when this book was written. From the moment his is introduced as "an ancient, white haired negro" (p. 152), to the dialect he is given by Sainsbury (i.e., "Lordy, Lordy, you chillen is sho' 'nuf half drown'. But we's gwine ter fix date sho' nuf in a jiffy" [p. 154]), it is clear he is an over-the-top stereotype of how African-Americans were portrayed in the early part of the twentieth century, particularly in literature.  The references to Uncle Abe as "the old darky" (p. 156) and even the self-proclaimed "ol' niggeh" (p. 161) must be read in the context of the time, with an understanding that such terms, while not appropriate today by any means, were not considered in same way back in 1933 when this book was published.  Uncle Abe is a lovable character in the story, and he has no problem standing up to the white landowners who try to bully him into revealing Dorothy and Bill's whereabouts. In fact, without Uncle Abe, the two heroes would never have been able to sneak their way into the great house on the hill, rescue their friends, and reveal the crooks for who they are!

 

Sainsbury once again keeps his story real by integrating non-fictional locations into the book, such as references to "Route 124," a road "from Poundridge Village that runs to South Salem..." (p. 96).  Some quick research reveals that New York State Route 124 (called "Salem Road") is a nearly 5-mile road that connects Pound Ridge to South Salem, running through a forested area, just as it is described in the book.  And since the previous books have made it clear the Dixons and Boltons live in New York, around the tip of Long Island, then this area would not be far-fetched at all as a place where Dorothy is forced to land while flying.  There is also an interesting reference to "Bull" Durham (p. 78), but not the one from the real world.  In the story, Bull Durham is Terry's cousin, Ed Durham, who played football for the Lawrenceville university team; in the real world, however, Bull Durham was a baseball player who played for various teams in the first decade of the twentieth century.  While not a direct reference, it was probably a subtle homage to the sports hero.

 

Something else I found interesting is the author's use of the Bible in the story.  At one point, Uncle Abe is telling Dorothy and Bill how he came to be there in that cabin in the forest, and he says, "De Good Book say, 'Him what has, gits, and him what ain't got nuffin' gits dat nuffin' tak'n away'..." (p. 165). This is a paraphrased version of Matthew 13:12, which says, "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."  This statement was made by Jesus to his disciples, just after telling the parable of the sower and the seeds.  Commentaries on the matter indicate the verse is referring to spiritual awareness: a man who has a desire to learn more about God and to do His will shall see his knowledge and understanding increased, but those who refuse to listen and believe will have what little understanding they may have had taken away.  Sainsbury takes the verse to refer to Uncle Abe and the comfort he lost with his previous master in the South to the lonely, impoverished existence he now lives.

 

While the adventure and danger are kept at a high level throughout the story, the mystery itself is somewhat subdued and not a major portion of the story; in fact, its solution is done "off-screen," so to speak, and we learn of how Dorothy uncovered the whereabouts of the missing patents owned by George's father from the crook's cook, who helped Dorothy, Bill, and Uncle Abe when they snuck into the great house in order to rescue their friends.  I found that to be somewhat of a let down, as I would have loved to have seen (or, rather, read) Dorothy's making the big find in the presence of George Conway and all of her friends.  I supposed Sainsbury may have been running out of room, so he had to wrap up this adventure so as to not exceed whatever page count or word count restrictions he had for the book.

 

Before I end this post, there is one scene at the end that had me scratching my head.  After everything is wrapped up, Dorothy and Bill take a test run in her plane in order to test one of Conway's patents - and after spending more than 100 hours straight in the air without refueling once, the plane comes in for a perfect landing.  What is unexplainable is that when the mechanics open the door, they find "side by side, grimy, worn, unkempt, were Dorothy Dixon and Bill Bolton, sleeping like children!" (p. 247).  How in the world did they land the plane if they were both fast asleep?  I did a search to see if there were automatic pilots in the 1930s that could have landed a plane, but it seems the first successful, fully automatic landing did not occur until 1937, some four years after this book.  Thus, we are left with one mystery that will never be solved...

 

RATING:  8 faded blue flannel shirts with matching overalls out of 10 for a mystery that has very little flying and lots of running, sneaking around, and climbing!