The Mystery of the Tolling Bell - A Book By Any Other Name, No. 2

Way back in 1946, Grosset & Dunlap first published the twenty-third Nancy Drew mystery, titled The Mystery of the Tolling Bell.  About twenty years later, Christian Literature Crusade, with permission by Pickering & Inglis, Ltd., published a book written by Ellen Jane MacLeod by that same name (The Mystery of the Tolling Bell), which I happened across by pure chance at a local used bookstore.  Now, here we are a year later, and wonder of all wonders, I come across yet a THIRD title by that same name!  Now, I realize that some titles have a tendency to be used over and over (such as common phrases like "Double Indemnity" or "Web of Lies" or such); but for this unique of a title to be used not once, not twice, but three different times by three different authors in three different decades - well, the coincidence is uncanny!

 

This version of The Mystery of the Tolling Bell is written by Alan E. Losure, is an Indiana writer who enjoys writing historical fiction.  Unlike the previous two stories, Losure's tale is a murder mystery written for an adult audience, nor for children.  That does not mean it has sex, violence, and foul language; rather, it means the subject matter (murder!) is not something normally intended for children to read.  Additionally, while the two books for young adults were set in the present time (well, "present" as far as the date when they were originally published), this story is set back in 1898, just before the turn of the century.  Thus, there are no motor cars that would enable to characters to speed from one place to the next, and telephones are about the only technological advance - we're talking about "old west" style living, with saloons, general stores, and such.  However, as the title would suggest, the mystery does involve the mysterious tolling of a bell - in this case, warning the citizens of Gas City, Indiana that death is about to come to their small town!

 

Losure does write an interesting story that is multi-layered and not as clear-cut as one may expect.  In fact, the book is broken up into two parts - the first part being "The Mystery of the Tolling Bell" and the second part being "Doctor Death."  While the underlying mystery is threaded through both parts, they actually have very distinct factors driving the plots.  In the first half, the story centers around Herbert Ainsworth, a young man graduating from the local high school, who, at his graduation ceremony, announces to the townspeople how he has suffered at the hands of three other young men in his class for the past four years and warns them that their time is coming - theirs, as well as the school administrators who allowed the bullying to continue unchecked.  The second half of the book is focused on members of the mob who come to Gas City to begin an "insurance" racket, forcing the businesses to pay part of their profits for protection from ... well, protection from the very people to whom they are being forced to pay the insurance!

 

 "The Mystery of the Tolling Bell" is the mystery that asks - who tolls that school bell before each murder (or attempted murder)?  The bell is high up in a tower, behind locked doors, and no one is ever seen anywhere near the scene at the time.  Yet, each time that bell tolls thirteen times (made me think of the Penny Parker mystery, The Clock Strikes Thirteen), and each time, there is a murder, or an attempted murder, at least.  All clues point to poor Herbert, who threatened the other boys in his class, since the two who are murdered were two of the three boys who bullied him, and the one who was nearly burned to death in his own outhouse was the school superintendent. Herbert claims he is innocent, and it is not until the last remaining bully is caught trying to torch Herbert's small shack that the town realizes it was actually that third boy - or was it?

 

This is where "Doctor Death" begins.  With the third bully hauled out of town to face criminal charges at the county seat, the citizens of Gas City think the horrors have ended.  But then the bodies start to pile up again, each one with a note signed by "Doctor Death," warning of more to come!  While this is going on, some out-of-town mobsters have made their way into Gas City and have set up an "insurance" scheme to force businesses to pay for their protection - and when they find out about Herbert's amazing mathematical skills, they threaten him into helping them.  Ultimately, Herbert comes up with a plan to outwit the crooks, while, unbeknownst to him, the real killer has entered the wrong house to do his next killing.  As the story reaches its climax, some startling secrets are revealed (including the REAL reason behind all of those killings) and a statewide criminal organization is finally brought to its knees.

 

Losure writes a great mystery that is fast-paced, yet still has time to fully flesh out all of his characters so that the reader actually feels for each and every one of them.  In addition, Losure includes considerable photographs of people that he identifies as the characters from the story, as well as vintage photos of various sites from around Gas City during the 1890s. At the end of the book, Losure explains about his use of the Cabinet Cards to "enhance the story" by giving a physical face to each of his main characters.  As far as the use of the tolling bell, this was likely taken from the old expression that "when a bell tolls, someone is going to die," which expression is said to be rooted in the tradition of churches ringing bells to announce that someone has passed away.

 

Overall, a pretty good read, even though there were a number of spelling errors and mixed up names (at one point, Herbert is sent to the telephone company to review the books and try to correct the payroll ledgers - when he enters the building, the story says "Wilbert assured them that it was his top priority" [p. 234], when it was actually Herbert who assured them), leaving me to wonder if any editing was done before the book was published.  I enjoyed the revelation as to the killer's identity and motive, and the pictures scattered throughout the book DID enhance my reading of the story.  At the end, Losure breaks the fourth wall to ask the reader "what will the future hold in store for them and a few other characters?" to which he informs the reader that such "answers will be contained within the pages of my next book" (p. 238).  Those two lines gave me a nostalgic feel of the old children's mysteries from the '30s, '40s, and '50s when each book would give a small tag at the end, letting readers know what the next book would be.

 

RATING:  9 helpings of salted meats, breads, and pickles out of 10 for a great mix of history and fiction with the superbly plotted murder mystery at its heart!