A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #27 - The Whispering Cat Mystery

First, there was a Devil Mask.  Next, there was a Golden Skull.  Then came the Green Lama.  And now, with book 27 of the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series, readers get the latest mystery involving television reporter Terry Spring.  This is author Ronald Joseph Goulart's fourth entry into the series, writing under the pseudonym "Josephine Kains," and he offers up a wonderfully fun tale of misdirect and red herrings set in New Orleans, Louisiana during the famous Mardi Gras festival.  In fact, I was loving the story so much, I finished the book in less than one day!  I rarely do that with any adult mystery (usually only happens with children's series books, which are much easier reading), but I love Goulart/Kains' characters so much, and I got so wrapped up in figuring out whoddunit in this mystery, that I literally could not put it down until I finished that last chapter!

 

The Whispering Cat Mystery once again opens not with our amateur sleuth, but instead with the psychic visions of Willa Farrway, the young "witch-woman" who lives near the Louisiana swampland on the outskirts of the wealthy Cullen family property.  The visions of the whispering cat were getting stronger, almost overpowering her, and she had yet to figure out what they meant.  Meanwhile, a man makes his way through the mists covering the swamps, finally reaching the cemetery, where he makes his move.  Now, as with Kains' other books in this series, the second chapter shifts the scene to Terry Spring and her friends, cameraman Janiero Chavez and producer Jess Berkeley, as they wrap up another on-the-scene story.  Soon enough, they receive their next assignment - a mini-documentary on the psychic girl who has been helping New Orleans' finest solve some cold cases.  Is she really psychic, or is she a talented fraud with insider information?  Terry and her crew intend to find out.  But the question on Jess's mind is:  will they get involved in yet another murder?  (Well, this is a Zebra Mystery Puzzler, so what do you think?)

 

Kains spends the first half of the book in set-up, as usual, introducing readers to the various players in this drama.  Laura Daventry Cullen is the wealthy socialite, who pretty much has her hand in everything in the area, and who married her jock of a husband, Chip Cullen, for unknown reasons.  Marcus Keaton, Laura's first love, has never gotten over her and has turned to the bottle for comfort.  Chip Cullen is trying to put together a spectacular jazz show for Mardi Gras, but he is frustrated with how tightly his wife is keeping those purse strings.  Jake Gossage is the local news celebrity who takes an instant liking to Terry - and also warns her to tread lightly around Willa Farrway's psychic abilities, as Willa is a personal friend of Laura Cullen, and bad publicity for Willa could result in bad consequences for Terry!  But Terry is not one to be intimidated, and she will only report the truth, whatever that turns out to be.

 

A painting of a black cat, one paw raised, seems to be Willa's way of releasing her visions - if they keep coming, then she paints them on canvas in the hope it will finally give her some understanding.  Only, this cat will not go away.  Not even when Chip Cullen's dead body turns up in Willa's living room one night, having been strangled by a lady's scarf.  A scarf that belongs to one Jennifer Claxton, the fashion editor for the local news, who was seen that very morning wearing the same scarf while having a rather heated discussion with the deceased.  But she is not the only one with a grudge against Chip Cullen.  Marcus blames him for stealing Laura away from him.  Willa has always been at odds with him, as he never believed in her abilities.  Laura was tired of him, blaming him for her brother running away a year or so ago.  So, which one of them finally did him in?  Or did Laura's brother return home and end his brother-in-law's life?  Although the local law tells her to stay out of it, Terry Spring is on the case, and before too long, she discovers a second body - one murdered long before this one, but whose death is directly linked to the current murder.  And as far as that whispering cat goes?  Well, let's just way that when Terry finds the location of that cat, it reveals quite the story...

 

Goulart/Kains must be given credit - he knows how to throw out those red herrings to keep you guessing as to the killer's identity.  One very obvious clue on the cover art had me believing it was one person, until nearly 3/4 of the way through, when another character made a passing comment that immediately contradicted an earlier scene - meaning my first suspect was wrong, and this was, indeed, the real culprit.  Plus, there was a certain cat scratch that gave the killer away, since Willa's pet cat has a tendency to scratch anyone except Willa, as Chavez quickly learns on their first visit to Willa's home.  Thus, the ultimate solution is not extremely difficult to figure out, but it's all in the fun of getting there that makes the story so enjoyable.  Plus, the whole Mardi Gras parade and chase scene had me remembering the Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew television crossover, "Voodoo Doll," which aired in February 1978 and introduced viewers to the "new" Nancy Drew (Janet Louise Johnson) during a Mardi Gras-themed mystery in New Orleans.

 

And speaking of Nancy Drew, I cannot get over how much Terry and her friends remind me of Nancy Drew and her friends.  Terry, obviously, is the Nancy Drew character, while Chavez takes on the Bess persona (loves food and is always falling in love) and Jess is the George of this series (being more health-conscious and even sporting a boy's name).  The three always work well together in solving mysteries, and Goulart/Kains even plays on the old series book format of referring back to previous mysteries (check out page 15, where Jess reminds Terry of "that witchcraft business in Grimshaw and the voodoo island thing and that haunted out out on the West," which refer to Devil Mask Mystery, The Curse of the Golden Skull, and The Green Lama Mystery, respectively).  This only adds to the fun of reading these books!

 

With no credit given to the cover artist, I have no clue who painted the scene; however, there are two major clues on there - one of which is a misdirect, while the other is definitely a giveaway for the killer.  The internal illustrations, though, are once again provided by Sanford Hoffman, who has provided interiors for at least seven of these first 27 mysteries.  His line art is always so beautifully rendered, and for some odd reason, I love the fat that he outlines most of his scenes with a thick black line, which is sometimes broken by a character or piece of scenery that "crosses the line," if you'll pardon the pun.  One of the illustrations (p. 140) is a bit weird, though, as it is supposed to depict Willa's own drawing of an unusual coffin she sees in her latest vision; however, based on Hoffman's representation of that drawing, how could Willa not immediately recognize it for what it actually is?  (And it clearly points to the killer's identity, which is why I'm not about to reveal what it is here!)

 

Twenty-seven books into this series, and I have not really been let down yet.  Sure, some are better than others, but none of them have been down right awful, and while a few have been pretty easy to figure out early on, they are still great reads, and I look forward to the remaining 33 books left in the series!

 

RATING:  9 pretty little faded roses out of 10 for throwing in a bit of ESP without letting it overpower the story or be used as a cop-out for solving the mystery! 

Whitman Mystery Stories - Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter

This is one of the Whitman Authorized Editions that I have been wanting for quite a while.  While I never had the opportunity to read the original comic strip in the newspaper, I do have an edition of the collected dailies and Sunday strips from 1940 - 46 (Brenda Starr Newspaper Strips), as well as the one-issue Dell Comic published back in 1963 (Brenda Starr Comic Book), plus the collected editions of her original comic book series from Four Star Publications and Superior Publishing back in 1947 - 49.  The ones I still don't have are the Charlton Comics series published in 1955.  I have enjoyed reading her adventures, which are outlandish to say the least - this amazingly gorgeous, redheaded reporter that every man loves on sight manages to get in the most unbelievable situations - yet, with her looks and ingenuity, she manages to get herself and those around her out of every scrape and, along the way, scoops the story for her newspaper, the Flash.  So, I was overjoyed when a close friend of mine sent me this book (along with a Sunday color newspaper page featuring Brenda Starr paper doll with outfits!), and I could not wait to sit down and read it.

 

Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter gives credit to the main character's creator, Dale Messick, as the author of the story, as well as the artist for all of the internal illustrations and full color cover.  I think this is only the second Whitman based on a comic strip that I have read, which is actually written and drawn by the creator of the strip (although, there is some question as to whether Messick actually penned the novel or just the plot - more on that later) - the first was a book based on the Boots and Her Buddies comic strip (Boots - Whitman Mystery), the authorship for which was credited to the strip's creator. What I found interesting is that the title page says "An original story based on the Famous Newspaper Strip 'BRENDA STARR'." Thus, I was expecting a brand new story featuring Brenda and her supporting cast. Little did I realize that was not going to be the case.

 

The story begins innocently enough, with Brenda being sent off to the slopes of Colorado (which is funny, since the most recent Zebra Mystery Puzzler that I read was also set on the slopes of Colorado - Murder by the Book) on a mysterious assignment.  She does not know exactly what the story is or what the work will entail - all her editor told her was to go to the newspaper there and ask for Larry Nickels.  When she arrives, she finds the "newspaper" feels more like a posh hotel, and the "employees" seem to do nothing but lounge around and ski all day!  When she asks for Mr. Nickels, she finds he is out on the slopes, and his secretary - Flurry Snow (p. 19 - and, yes, that really is her name!) - informs Brenda that she is to meet him out on the slopes.  Brenda is somewhat nervous, as she is a horrible skier and that fact is proven when she goes out to meet him, but ends up falling backwards down the slope (p. 24).  He rescues her, much to her dismay, and she learns that the "Cloud" (the name of his newspaper) is nothing more than a hobby, and he asked her out there to breathe some real life into his newspaper.  That story turns up pretty quickly, when Nickels points out to her a nearby lodge, described as "a vast, sprawling building with many towers and gables.  Despite its many windows and entrances, it possessed a look of strangeness and complete isolation" (p. 45).  Nickels tells her the lodge is a mystery, because people go in, but not a single soul has ever come out!  Brenda senses a big story, which is only confirmed when Nickels tells her about the man who operates the lodge: "a queer old duck who calls himself 'Professor Squell'" (p. 46).

 

Now, it is at this point, I started to sense something strange as well.  Not about Professor Squell or his lodge, but about the plot itself.  It felt extremely familiar.  So, I pulled out that collection of newspaper strips I had read before, and sure enough, there it was!  The same exact story I was now reading in prose form I had read three-and-a-half years ago when I read those newspaper strips!  Before Brenda Starr had even been published in the newspapers for a year, she was on a plane, dreaming about the blond-haired mystery man who had kissed her on New Year's Eve - exactly as she did on the opening pages of the first chapter of this book.  In fact, the dialogue was lifted straight out of the newspaper strip and used word-for-word in the book.  Now, obviously, a lot of exposition and additional dialogue was added into the book in order to flesh out the story, the characters, and the page count (otherwise, it would have ended up being a very short book, indeed!).  But if you read the book, side-by-side with the newspaper strip panels, you will see that it is literally a full adaptation of the story written and published back in 1941 and not an original tale at all.  Therefore, I'm at a loss to explain why the publisher refers to this as an "original" story based on the comic strip, when it is in actuality an "adaptation" of a story from the comic strip.

 

The story follows Brenda as she watches first Flurry, and then Nickels, go into the strange lodge and never come out.  A reward offered sends quite a few of the men from the village into the house, none of whom ever come out, and before you know it, Brenda is in hot water, being blamed for sending the men to their doom.  So, what else can she do, but go into the lodge?  Meanwhile, reporter Tom Taylor and photographer Pesky head out to rescue Brenda - and thanks to an anonymous warning, Tom knows enough to wear a gas mask before he goes into house, which saves him from the gas that takes control of all who enter - but does NOT save him from the mysterious man who knocks him out from behind.  From here, the story gets even more wild, including a basement laboratory, underground caverns, a room of pirate booty, and an impromptu wedding between Brenda and the "queer" professor who is holding everyone captive under ground.  And while the collection of newspaper strips ends with Brenda, Tom, and Nickels getting out and rescuing everyone, the book goes beyond and jumps into the next storyline involving a missing detective, a mysterious doppelganger, and a secret surprise.  This story moves much quicker than the first and take up only the last few chapters of the book.  Since I did not get to read the newspaper strips for this tale, it was completely new to me.

 

Now, some have speculated that Messick did not actually write the book, but, rather, it was simply ghostwritten as an adaptation of the strips - and since Messick wrote the newspaper strips, she was given credit for writing the book.  Whether this is actually the case or not, I have no idea.  What I do know is that Messick provided brand new illustrations for the book - 19 of them to be exact.  While some of the scenes do seem to mirror those from the strip, there are differences, which provide proof they were not merely reproduced from the art of the strip.  Messick also provides the art for the endpages, which depict the professor's planned wedding to Brenda, with Tom and Nickels standing behind her and Pesky off to the side, down in the caverns. 

 

What is odd about these endpages is that, in my copy at least, the pages are reversed in the back.  In the front, Pesky and the professor are on the left side, with Tom, Brenda, and Nickels on the right (which appears to be the correct positioning, based on the smoke drifting overhead); however, in the back of the book, Tom, Brenda, and Nickels are on the left side, while Pesky and the professor are on the right - supposedly looking at each other, but because of the repositioning of the pages, they are looking away from each other!  I wonder if this production malfunction was only in this one printing, or if all copies of this book have this error.

 

Despite the story not being original, I still enjoyed it - Brenda is a fun character to read, and her antics are always guaranteed to bring a smile, if not a full laugh, to the reader's face.  The gorgeous Messick art is only an added bonus!  Rather a shame they did not adapt more of the stories into book form - would have made a great series.   

 

RATING:  8 hats that resemble flipped over pancakes out of 10 for a fun-filled romp in the snow, under the ground, in an Easter parade, and in the clubs of Washington, D.C. - all in a day's work for Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter! 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #25 - You'll Be The Death of Me

It's been ten books since the first of Miriam Lynch's entries into this series, and now I've reached the second (and final) offering by Lynch.  This book was a far cry better than her first Zebra mystery, so either she honed her mystery-writing skills between the time she wrote Time to Kill and this one, or that first book was merely a fluke (since online reviewers all seem to have nothing but praise to sing for Lynch's writing).  Either way, I found this book to be much more engaging, with a well-plotted mystery and plenty of misdirect and red herrings!

 

You'll Be The Death of Me takes small-town reporter Nell Willard  to the Belltown High School twenty-year class reunion, where long-time teacher Sarah Plunkett is being honored as she retires after years of service and Nell is there to cover the story.  Love her or hate her, everyone agrees that Mrs. Plunkett was strict, but she loved her students and only wanted to see them succeed.  But as the retiree prepares to give her speech, she suddenly collapses over the front table, dead!  Needless to say, Nell has an eyewitness account of the tragic event, and when it comes out the teacher was poisoned, Nell knows it's a mystery she must solve.  Police lieutenant Gerold Holbrow, Nell's somewhat boyfriend, is on the case, and although he warns her to stay out of the investigation, she cannot help herself.  After all, the woman had once been her teacher, and for the life of her, Nell cannot understand who would have reason to kill her.

 

Lynch gives readers a number of suspects, all with secrets and possible motives.  First, there is the chairperson of the reunion, Marion Hallison.  The woman is a mystery herself, with no known background, no photographs, and no friends.  Who is she, and how did she land the position of planning such an important event?  As Nell digs into her past, she learns that Marion may be holding a very fierce grudge against the teacher - but is it one that would give her cause to kill her?  Second, there are Stuart and Samuel Corbett, twins who served as co-presidents their senior year of high school, and who married the Bisbee twins (Grace and Gertrude).  The two couples became recluses after their marriages, and moreso after Samuel's wife died.  What secret did Sarah Plunkett uncover about the twins, and was it worth killing her?  Third, there is Suzanne Dixon, the beautiful young wife, married to the richest man in town (a man who could not bother to show up at the reunion, perhaps because he was too drunk!).  Why has she been making early morning visits to a local doctor, and what secret would make her want to leave her husband?  Finally, there is Dr. Harmon Gregory, one of the more successful members of the class, whose sole concern seems to be to care for his sickly wife, who also acts as his nurse at his office.  Is he having an affair with Suzanne Dixon, and if so, how would that justify killing a retiring teacher?

 

The mystery is definitely a puzzling one, and I admit, it had me stumped up until the very final chapter.  All of the suspects had dark secrets, but only one of them had a real motive for murder.  It is when an attempt to commit a second murder takes place (and the big clue is in that final internal illustration) that the killer's identity is finally revealed - and the motive is not all what you suspect.  It certainly took me by surprise, but it definitely made sense looking back at everything else Nell learns throughout the book. 

 

The cover art is provided by Mel Greifinger, who has provided the art on three prior Zebra Mystery Puzzlers. I love his work, as his visuals are stunning.  Sadly, I could not find any real clue on the cover (unless it is simply supposed to be the glass in front of her, which was poisoned.  The internal illustrations are drawn by Sanford Hoffman, marking his fifth book in the series.  As with all of his prior illustrations, he always outlines his scene, and he often has one part of the scene break through that outline (such as in the one to the right, where the gun is raised, breaking through the line).  This scene strikes me as odd, though, as the story indicates the person comes up behind Nell and strikes her on the head.  The object that strikes her is not mentioned, and it is not until later in the story we find out it was a gun - so to have it displayed so vividly here sort of gives away something (unless this picture on page 75 is meant to connect to the illustration on page 159; yet, the guns in each drawing appear different!).  I also find the gun and hand to be very out of proportion to the scene, since, if the person is behind Nell, wouldn't the perspective mean the hand and gun should be smaller?  Yet, in the drawing, they are considerably larger! Oh, well, I suppose that's just me being nit-picky!

 

This is definitely on my list of the top Zebra Mystery Puzzlers.  Loved the mystery, loved the characters, and loved the resolution.  It's just a shame this was the last offering by Miriam Lynch, meaning no more reporter Nell Willard solving murder mysteries...

 

RATING:  9 bottles of Silver Mist hair coloring out of 10 for a crafty, puzzling mystery that really does keep you guessing up until the end! 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #20 - The Green Lama Mystery

With this 20th Zebra Mystery Puzzler, I hit the one-third mark for this 60-book series, and with it, we see the return of Josephine Kains' (Ronald Joseph Goulart's) television reporter turned sleuth, Terry Spring.  This is Kains' third foray into the Puzzler series, and it offers up a very Agatha Christie-style mystery for the amateur detective to solve.  I do love the fact that Kains' books feature titles very reminiscent of the old children's mystery series from back in the day - Devil Mask Mystery and The Curse of the Golden Skull being the previous two mysteries. They give these books a stronger feel of being "adult" Nancy Drew-style mysteries rather than just your run-of-the-mill murder mystery books!

 

The Green Lama Mystery offers up a mystery with plenty of suspects, but is told from a rather unique perspective.  The reader actually spends very little time with Terry Spring (who is the television reporter that is supposed to be the one solving the crime!); instead, the book seems to tell the story from the points of view of several other characters - particularly, Sara Denzlow, a young teacher who has, along with two of her cousins, inherited a creepy old mansion set up on a lonely hill outside of San Francisco, California.   In fact, the story opens with her driving towards the house, when she sees the ghost of an old sea captain who allegedly died over a hundred years ago - a ghost that is allegedly her ancestor who was killed with a heavy statue of a Buddhist lama made out of jade.  

 

Sara and her cousins, Barry and Arlen, have been required to live in the spooky house as a part of the bequest for their now deceased relative - in order to inherit the house, all of the land surrounding it, and the rather large bank accounts, the three must remain in the house for at least a year!  Sara can use the change of scenery after her recent divorce; Barry is determined to take the story of his ancestor's ghost and write a book about it, having dropped out of medical school to pursue a career in writing; and Arlen is hoping any publicity about the house and it history will help jump-start his acting career in Hollywood.  As for our crime-solving sleuth?  Well, she has been given the assignment to do one of her mini-documentaries about the haunting of the great house - so along with her faithful sidekicks, Chavez and Jess, she heads for San Francisco.

 

While we spend a few brief chapters with Terry, Chavez, and Jess (and I have to say, Goulart/Kains has really hit his stride with these characters, because their rapport in this book is top-notch - I thoroughly enjoyed reading their banter!) as they get their assignment and hop a plan to cross the country, a number of the chapters in the first half of the book introduce the Denzlow cousins, give us background on the house, and introduce us to some of the other suspects, including Richard Crossen, a slick real estate developer who is more than just interested in getting his hands on that property in order to develop a number of homes to sell; Roy Shooter, who is Sara's ex-husband who just happens to be in town at the same time as these weird things are happening; and Zack Carney, a reporter for a trashy tabloid who is not above helping people fake things in order to get an unusual story.  

 

After Arlen is pushed down the stairs, resulting in a broken leg that leaves him bedridden, readers meet the next suspect(s) in this murder mystery - Reverend Postage and Sister Martha of the Fellowship of the Inward Light, a religious organization (better, a cult!) who is the secondary beneficiary of the house and all other assets from the estate should the heirs fail to reside there for at least a year.  They show up on a dark and stormy night, claiming to have had car trouble at the bottom of the hill.  That same night, Sara's ex-husband shows up, demanding money, at which point Barry throws him out into the rain.  Well, the next morning gives readers the murder victim - yup, you guessed it.  Poor Barry is found dead in the library, having had his head bashed in by the green lama (a repeat of his ancestor's death so many years prior). The question then becomes - who killed Barry?

 

From this point, the book follows the local police lieutenant as she investigates the crime, with Terry following along to assist - all the while hinting that she has the thing figured out, but she needs to check a few things to make sure first.  We get more scenes with Sara, we even get scenes with Chavez and Jess as they discuss what is going on and what they believe Terry is or should be doing.  What we do not get are the actual scenes of Terry investigating.  Rather, we get Terry mentioning what she is planning to do, then Goulart/Kains skips ahead to after the fact, so the reader is left wondering what it is that Terry did and what information she learned.  Of course, there is a scene fairly early on when Terry is speaking with a potential suspect that pretty much gives away the fact this person is the killer - in fact, there are two blatant clues in the book that give it away so early, that the rest of the read is pretty much perfunctory just to see how she reveals the killer's identity.

 

At least the revelation in the last two chapters is done wonderfully dramatic, much as you would watch on an episode of Murder, She Wrote or read in any Christie novel.  Terry has the police lieutenant gather all the suspects to the scene of the crime where she goes through the entire story of how the ghost was fabricated, who pulled the scam and why, and ultimately who the killer is (through a clever con that forces the killer to reveal him/herself). The ending sort-of makes up for the lack of Terry Spring through most of the mystery.

 

The cover artist is once again not identified (although there is a possible name just below the spool of film, but it is cut off so you can only see some smidgens of white that could potentially be the top part of a signature), but the scene comes directly from the moment where Sara walks into the library and discovers her cousin's corpse.  The only problem is, in the story, Sara is wearing her sleeping robe, not a blouse and jeans.  Unless the person on the cover is supposed to be Terry, which is completely in error, as Sara was the one with the flashlight, and she is the one who picked up the glove as depicted on the cover.  The interior illustrations are provided by Sanford Hoffman, whose drawings are much better than those in the previous book.

 

A couple of things to note - I smiled at Arlen's reference to Terry as a "regular Nancy Drew, is she?" (p. 45), as well as Terry's comment to Jess that she makes Terry "sound like Wonder Woman" (p. 124).  Two of my favorite fictional women referenced in one story - what are the odds?!  There is also an editing or publishing snafu that caught my eye on page 91.  At the top of the page, the first line reads:

"Barry's been killed," Terry told him.  chest.  "Christ, you must be ... Barry?" He shifted his weight...

Not sure what was actually supposed to be between "told him" and "chest," but it appears an entire sentence, or maybe even a paragraph, was somehow omitted.  I guess that is one mystery that we'll never have solved...

 

Of the three Terry Spring mysteries thus far, I'd saw this was my second favorite (with Golden Skull being my first). I know there are several more stories in the pipeline before the series ends, so I'm hoping I will get some better stories in those yet to be read!

 

RATING:  7 gold-fringed drapes out of 10 for a decent enough attempt at a clever mystery of misdirect and deception, with a great climatic reveal! 

 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #15 - Time to Kill

This fifteenth book in the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series introduces readers to a new author and a new crime solving young woman (yes, at this point it is pretty obvious that this series will always have a woman as the lead character).  This is author Miriam Lynch's first entry into the series, but it is certainly not her first mystery novel.  Lynch, who has written under the pseudonyms Dolores Craig, Claire Vincent, Moira Lord, and Mary Wallace, was first published in 1957, and between then and the early '80s, she wrote more than 35 novels - mystery, romance, and gothic.  She only wrote two Zebra Mystery Puzzlers - this book and no. 25 (You'll Be the Death of Me).  She had books published under a number of various lines - Candlelight, Ravenswood, Ace, Paperback Library, Coventry, Lancer, Pyramid, and others.  I notice on the blogs I have read which feature reviews of her books, all of them raved about her writing. While this particular book put forth a fairly decent mystery, I'm not sure I would hold her in the same high standard as these other bloggers (although, to be fair, they were reviewing her gothic work, and this is a mystery).

 

Time to Kill (not to be confused with John Grisham's novel of the same name, which came out 10 years after this one) introduces readers to Nell Willard, a young woman working hard to make it as a reporter. Unfortunately, her editor seems to think she is only capable of handling obituaries or simple social functions and refuses to give her any assignments that could give her a chance to shine.  I suppose that even in 1979, when this book was published, women were still fighting for their equal rights in professions that had been male-dominated for so long (after all, 9 to 5 came out a year after this book, and that film was all about how men continued to hold women back from succeeding in the work place).  So much has changed since then, so in reading this story and the manner in which the men treated poor Nell, I had to keep reminding myself of the time period the book was written.  Lucky for Nell (but not so lucky for the victim), she happens to be in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place at the wrong time, depending on your perspective) when a not-so-famous actress' longtime friend is murdered!

 

When Nell is assigned to interview an aging actress who has returned to her small town after years in Hollywood, Nell expects to have to sit through photo albums of memories and hours of boredom.  Instead, she meets an agitated older woman who seems nervous about something.  When they discover the body of the actress's friend at the bottom of the cellar stairs - shot in the back! - Nell goes into action, calling the police and the newspaper.  Suddenly, Nell is thrust into the limelight as a possible witness for the murder investigation.  Nell feels sorry for the actress and takes time off from work to stay with her so she is not alone in the house.  From there, things only escalate.  A strange man is seen watching the house from the shadow of the trees out back.  The actress disappears for hours at a time without any explanation (or, at least, without explanations that make sense).  And Nell is knocked unconscious by an intruder in the house - was it because someone mistook her for the actress, or is someone wanting Nell to stop looking into the murder?  And how does any of this connect to a young teenager who disappeared years ago after attempting to rob a bank, a case that the local police were never able to solve?

 

Lynch does provide readers with a determined young detective in Nell Willard, as nothing deters her from getting to the bottom of all the mysteries thrown into her lap.  A grouchy detective who does not want her interfering ... a self-absorbed actress who does not want Nell to leave for even one second, yet disappears herself without explanation ... a chauvinistic editor who is making snide remarks about Nell at every turn ... and a house that holds more secrets than Nell can possibly count.  A torn up photograph, a hideous lamp, some old receipts, and a secret staircase provide important clues that lead Nell (and the reader!) to figure out what is really going on in that house - but will she put it all together before it is too late and the killer strikes again?

 

While the cover artist is not identified, the interior illustrations are signed simply by "Hoffman."  A little research reveals this interior artist to be Sanford 'Sandy' Hoffman (1937 - 2017), who was a commercial illustration in New York for most of his life.  Hoffman did the art for a lot of album covers back in the late '60s and into the '70s, as well as concert posters of that era.  This is the first Zebra Mystery Puzzler for which he provided interior illustrations, and they are very distinct in their style.  Hoffman tends to "box in" his images, and the characters are defined with dark lines and shading, with considerable detail in the picture itself.  Interestingly, the clues in the illustrations are pretty straightforward (when viewed in conjunction with the story), and so it does help in solving the mystery (which, honestly, was not overly difficult to figure out - like any good Nancy Drew book, the two mysteries that appear unrelated are ultimately tied together at the end).

 

The story does contain a number of gothic elements, leading me to believe Lynch was more comfortable with the gothic romance tales than a straight up mystery story.  We have the dark house where the protagonist goes to stay; we have the two men fighting over the young protagonist; we have all of the secrets surrounding the house and its inhabitant; we have the secret panels and hidden staircases, the stranger outside watching, and the creepy attic filled with cryptic clues as to the past of the aging actress.  I could easily seen this book having been published as a gothic story just five or ten years prior (and with only a few minor revisions, such as Nell's relation to the actress).

 

While not exactly the best book in the series, it was still a decent enough read, and I am curious as to where Lynch will take Nell in her next mystery (10 books from this one...).

 

RATING:  8 bouquets of red roses out of 10 for a fast-paced mystery that provides the necessary clues to figure it all out before the end (although several are a bit too obvious).

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #7 - The Curse of the Golden Skull

And so we come to the second Zebra Mystery Puzzler written by Ronald Joseph Goulart under the pen name Josephine Kains.  And again, I absolutely love the title, so reminiscent of those Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys' titles of yesteryear.  Plus, with the return of Goulart/Kains comes the return of that intrepid reporter, Terry Spring, and her wonderful producer, Jess Berkeley, as well as her always-hungry, girl-loving cameraman, Chavez.  These three make a fantastic detective trio, and their adventures are so much fun to read.

The Curse of the Golden Skull takes our threesome on a cruise to the Caribbean islands, where they are sent to cover a unique Voodoo Cruise for the news channel for which Terry works.  It seems like a great opportunity to mix a little pleasure with business, especially when Chavez meets a beautiful young woman, Claire Traynor.  But he will have to get past her overbearing aunt and their devoted housekeeper if he has any hopes of spending time with her.  Of course, his chances become greater when the Traynors' housekeeper is found dead in her cabin, apparently beaten to death with a cane ... a cane that looks suspiciously like that of an elderly, veiled woman that everyone had seen on the cruise when it first set sail!  Thus, it looks like the cruise will be making an extended stop at Sombra Island, the very island where Claire is headed to take ownership of the castle she has inherited from her recently deceased uncle - a castle that comes with stories of a hidden pirate treasure and a cursed skull!

There's definitely plenty of mystery in this book, and Terry, Jess, and Chavez are all right there in this thick of it.  Terry's involvement begins on the cruise when she saves Claire from an attempt on her life as a dark figure attempts to push her overboard in the dead of night - the very same night her housekeeper is murdered.  The question is, who killed the housekeeper and why?  And who was the veiled woman who bought a one way ticket to Sombra Island and where did she disappear to in the middle of the ocean?  And how is the housekeeper's murder connected with the attempt on Claire's life - or is it?  And will Chavez ever be able to convinced Claire's aunt to let him spend even five minutes alone with the woman?  These and more questions will fill your mind as you read this mystery.

Now, I will admit, this one is a fairly simple mystery to solve.  Well, at least part of it is.  The identity of the murderer is pretty obvious from the beginning, and there is a blatant clue glaring at the reader on the cover and second internal illustration on page 33 that pretty much gives it away.  However, that does not make the story any less enjoyable to read.  Goulart manages to throw in an over-zealous magician who catches Jess's eye, a less than honest tour guide who has ulterior motives for stopping at Sombra Island, and a potentially dangerous ex-boyfriend that keeps pushing his way into Claire's life.  We also get a dark castle on a stormy night - what better setting for a mystery to play itself out!  Add in a gold skull that holds the key to finding a centuries-old treasure, a coded message that will lead the one who solves it to the treasure, and a hidden room in an underground vault that reveals a (not-so) surprising secret about Claire's past that answers a question about her father's murder so many years ago.

The internal illustrations are beautiful, much more so than that last couple of books.  The artist is actually identified in one of the illustrations (p. 158) as Luke Ryan - which is the name of the illustrator who did the internals for the second book in this series (The Final Ring).  Not sure if Kensington (Zebra) had a group of artists in house, or if they farmed the work out, but they really should have used Ryan's art for all of the books in this series!  It is outstanding.  Probably my favorite of all Ryan's illustrations in this book, though, is found on page 114, which features a man Chavez and Jess believe to be a zombie - and that zombie bears an uncanny resemblance to actor Lon Cheney Jr as the wolfman!  No fooling - if you don't believe me, go Google the actor and his role and then compare it to this image.  You'll see I'm telling the truth.

 

The cover art is provided by Mel Greifinger, who went to high school at The School of Art & Design in New York.  After serving in the Navy, Greifinger began freelancing as a full-time illustrator at the age of 28, doing cover illustrations for various paperback and hardback books.

Seven books into this series, and I definitely know now why I enjoyed these so much back as a kid.  The stories are fast-paced, the mysteries are enjoyable, and the recurring sleuths give them a feeling of continuity.  While it seems most of the authors are men writing under female pseudonyms, I give them credit for creating well-rounded, female protagonists who I really like reading, and who I can't wait to read their next adventures.

RATING:  9 yellow pearlized hatpins out of 10 for a near-gothic style mystery of dark castles, hidden rooms, buried treasures, cursed skulls, and voodoo magic!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #3 - Devil Mask Mystery

Now, right off the bat, I will say that this book instantly intrigued me based on the title alone.  It is of the same style and nature as the titles to the classic Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books from back in the day.  You remember those days - "The [adjective] [noun] Mystery" or "The Mystery of the [adjective] [noun]" and the like.  From the title alone, you had a pretty good idea of what the mystery was going to be about.  Well, author Josephine Kains, in the first Zebra Mystery Puzzler starring her TV newswoman, Terry Spring, offers up a tale that centers around the very thing mentioned in the title - and also happens to be set in a small community theater!

Devil Mask Mystery (I keep wanting to type the word "The" in front of that title!) attempts to be a spooky murder mystery that hints at involvement of witches and Satan worshipers!  Set in the fictional town of Grimshaw at Halloween, the story finds Boston TV newswoman Terry Spring, along with her assistant Jess Berkeley and her cameraman Janeiro Chavez, heading to the New England town to film a story about the town's latest play - a melodrama about the nineteenth century witch hunts that made the town famous.  Terry is less than thrilled with the assignment, but she and her crew head over to Grimshaw to see what they can put together.  Little do they know they are going to have to solve a murder in which all of the suspects are known for acting - whether on the stage or in real life.

The story does not open with our protagonist; rather, the author opens this mystery with a young woman (Elizabeth Tanner) facing down the fear of a devil-faced creature.  But by the second page, the reader learns that this is merely a hypnotic vision she is being coerced to see by a self-proclaimed witch by the name of Annabelle Winn.  Also present are Laura Cross and Julius Wigransky, who both happen to be part of the play that Terry and her crew are coming to town to spotlight.  Quickly enough, on the fourth page, the story shifts to a scene where an unidentified man is taking  heavy metal box and hiding it behind a sliding panel in the wall.  Oddly enough, this is a scene the publisher decided to provide an illustration of, so while we get an image of the man, the reader has no idea who he is. The scene this shifts again on the sixth page to a mysterious person who is painting a wooden mask of Satan!  All of that in the first chapter alone.  It's not until the second chapter do we get to meet the pretty, young television reporter, Terry Spring, who is described as slender and having "long auburn hair" (p. 10).  And isn't it funny how Max, the Hollywood gossip columnist from the first book in this series also had red hair?  Makes me wonder how many more sleuths in these Puzzlers will have red/auburn/titian hair - maybe it's a nod to a certain teen detective who has become such a huge pop culture icon when it comes to female sleuths?

Anyway, we get introduced to even more of the ever-growing cast of characters in chapter four - Alan Roderick, yet another actor in the play, and Claudia Merritt, an older woman in a wheelchair who is assisting with the play.  In addition, there is Garrett Brooks, a stodgy actor who is not only playing a major role in the production, but he also seems to have made quite a number of enemies among the cast and crew - meaning ... yes, you guessed it!  Mr. Brooks becomes the victim when someone dressed up in a cloak and devil mask comes onto stage during a dress rehearsal, literally stabs him in the back, and runs out, disappearing backstage...and thus, the stage is set (yes, pun fully intended) for a murder mystery that only Terry Spring can solve.

The killer's identity is not really hidden, and in fact, there is one scene a little over half-way through the book in which Terry (as well as the reader) figures out who the killer is - which kind of spoils the whole "last chapter sealed" gimmick, since, if we already know who the killer is, why bother sealing up that final chapter?  While the overall story is okay, and I like Terry and her crew (Chavez is a hoot, always eating candy and making snarky remarks), the opening chapters are somewhat clunky as the author tries to bring in all of the characters as quickly as possible without allowing the reader an opportunity to really get a feel for who any of them are before moving on to the next ones.  It took me until I was about one-third of the way through the book before I finally was able to sort through all of the names and figure out who was who. And I do like the added "abandoned mansion on the hill" aspect of the story, with hidden passages and secret tunnels under the house.  Between that and the occult aspects to the story, one could almost think of this as a mild gothic tale of suspense.

 

Something I thought was rather interesting is that this is not Terry Spring's first time solving a murder (at least, according to her crew).  Several times throughout the story, Jess mentions the fact that Terry is rather well known for solving murders, and even Terry herself raises the point.  Sadly, there are not specific mentions of her prior cases, just the general statements that she is known to be an amateur sleuth, and that she has excellent detecting skills.  Makes me wonder if any of the other Zebra Mystery Puzzlers featuring Terry will give us the back story on these adventures, or if they will forever remain an unsolved mystery!

The author, Josephine Kains, as so many of these Zebra books, is a pseudonym.  It seems many a male author hid behind female pseudonyms when writing books with female leads.  In this instance, the real author is Ronald Joseph Goulart, who apparently wrote under quite a few pseudonyms back in the day - Kenneth Robeson, Chad Calhoun, Ian R. Jamieson, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Frank Shawn, and others.  He also ghosted books starring pulp characters such as Flash Gordon, the Phantom, Vampirella, and the Avenger, as well as two books in Marvel Comics' series of novels back in the late '70s.  And based upon what I could find, the author used the pseudonym "Josephine Kains" only for the books he wrote in this Zebra Mystery Puzzler series - that name was not used for any other books he wrote.

As far as the art in this book goes, there is no credit given to either the cover artist or the interior artist, and none of the internal drawings are signed.  However, comparing the art with that in the first book in the series, and it appears to be the same artist - it's the same style, the same type of shading, and the same appearance in the people drawn.  And, like in the first book, the way the internals are drawn, there is really no way to discern any clues from the illustrations.  Further, the internals do not necessarily match the description on the story, which is the issue I had with the illustrations in the first book.  However, there were sufficient clues in the story itself to help me identify the murderer, so while the illustrations were nice to look at, they were not really needed to solve the mystery.

I would have to say of the three Zebra Mystery Puzzlers I've read thus far, this one probably comes in last.  That is not to say I did not enjoy it; rather, I just think the second book was definitely the most well-written, while the first one definitely provided stronger characterization than this one.  We will have to see what Kains next book (#7 - The Curse of the Golden Skull) holds in store before I make any definite judgment calls on whether this is just a one-off, or whether it's truly the author's writing style.

RATING:  7 spilled cans of green paint out of 10 for providing a few somewhat surprising twists to the story and the characters to keep the solution from being too easy to solve!

Fran Frazer, Girl Reporter - an Archie Comics girl detective

It would seem the Golden Age of comic books actually had more interesting characters than I ever believed.  I'm aware there were some female characters from back in the first half of the 20th Century who were popular enough to headline their own titles, no matter how short lived - such as Jane Arden and Brenda Starr, just to name a couple.  And while I knew there are any number of male detective characters who made their comic book debut back in the '30 and '40s, I was not aware that there were some female detectives who also appeared back then, as well!  One of those happens to be a young photographer named Fran Frazer.  I was completely unaware of this until I glanced at one of those Archie digest-sized comic books in the grocery store recently (World of Archie Jumbo Comics no. 136, to be exact!).  The very first page of the first story inside was a tale belonging to Fran Frazer!

"One Shot Worth a Million" is a five page story written by Ian Flynn and drawn by Holly G! (yes, with an explanation point after the "G"), and it introduces readers of the 21t Century to the red-headed freelance photographer / journalist, Fran Frazer.  I was intrigued enough to pick it up.  The story obviously plays into the fun and humor that is Archie comics, but it also tells a brief, not too complicated mystery of how a crime syndicate is raiding Lodge industry shipments.  Archie is aiding Fran in her investigation (with hearts in his eyes), when along comes Veronica Lodge, who is assisting a reporter named Hal Davis, who is following up on the same scoop.  Of course, Archie and Veronica fight it out, since they each cancelled their date to "help" their respective reporters, and while they have a lovers' quarrel, Fran and Hal uncover the identity of the one helping the crime syndicate.  Again, it's a short, fun story, but it piqued my interest in this character, and I wanted to know if she is someone new, or if she were perhaps an old character being brought back into the limelight (such as Archie Comics did not long ago with Young Dr. Masters, who has been making appearances in various Archie digest comics).  

As it turns out, Fran Frazer is not someone knew; rather, she made her first appearance back in the October 1940 issue of Top Notch Comics, no. 9.  In an untitled story beginning on page 28 of that issue, Fran Frazer is described as a beautiful girl photographer who "lives in a constant whirl of romance, excitement, and danger ... caught in a maelstrom of Europe-at-war, Fran is given a roving assignment, by the famous magazine 'Strife,' to cover the tumultuous events of future history!"  Speeding into a war zone aboard a train that gets derailed, the fearless young woman jumps out with determination, telling herself, "I"m going to get some shots of this!"  As she stands amid the explosions and fire-fights around her, she snaps shots with her camera, reveling in the fact that "Sure as I'm a foot high, I'll get a bonus for these pix!"  A reporter by the name of Hal  Davis happens to be on the scene, and he hurls himself at Fran, knocking her out of the way of oncoming danger - to which she responds with indignation, of course, because he ruined one of her best pictures of the year! She tricks a local into driving her into town, leaving Hal behind, in the hopes she can scoop him - but instead finds a telegram waiting for her, telling her if she does not come through with "sensational news," she can find another job! In quick fashion, she sends a report that the troops have stormed a castle - something that has not yet happened!  Yet, with her womanly wiles, she convinces the general to "storm the palace like the knights used to do," and soon enough, that's exactly what they do, giving Fran a sensational scoop (even if her story was sent in BEFORE the storming actually took place!).  The credits for the four-page story are given to Irving Novick and Joe Blair.  Interestingly, the writer actually receives secondary credit, as Blair authored the tale. He was a regular writer for MLJ Comics (the publisher), and he created some popular Archie super-hero characters such as Fox and Inferno, besides his co-creation of Fran Frazer.  Norvick, who received the top credit, was a comic book artist who apparently worked for more than 50 years in the industry, serving as the primary artist for MLJ's superhero characters, such as the Shield, the Hangman, Steel Sterling, and others. 

The unstoppable photographer appeared again in the very next issue of Top Notch Comics, cover dated December 1940.  In another untitled tale, which begins on page 29 of this issue, this time attributed to Irving Norvick and Harvey A. Biern, Fran is described as having "proven that, in spite of her sex, she is a better man that any of her male revivals."  For this story, Fran is sent off to Murania to get a picture interview with King Farol, only to discover that her competition, Hal Davis, is also heading to Murania - "for his health," he claims.  By pure coincidence, Fran saves a dog from being run over by a plane taking off, and it turns out the dog is the favorite dane of the crown Prince Miklas.  Upon meeting the prince, he offers her a ride to the palace, leaving a frustrated Hal behind!  At the palace, the prince confides in Fran that one Madame Mupescu has been wrongfully influencing the king to turn over his country's oil fields to the Nazis! Before you know it, Fran finds herself kidnapped, right along with Hal - but through a fortunate hole in the floor of the cell where she is being held, Fran manages to snap some pictures of the enemies plotting against the king!  She tosses the film out the window, where Prince Miklas' dog is waiting - who then carries the film to the prince, who shows the photos to his father, and the criminals' plans are thwarted!  All thanks to Fran Frazer and her photographs!  Once again, she saves the day in a simple, four-page story that packs more story in it than four issues of today's comics!  As far as the writer goes, I could not find much information on Biern, other than the fact that he is credited with writing a number of stories for Top Notch Comics, and at least one story in Blue Ribbon Comics (another MLJ title of that time).

Fran Frazer continued to take photos and stop criminals in every issue of Top Notch Comics from October 1940 through issue 25, published with a cover date of March 1942.  This final four-page story starts on page 25 of this issue, and it provides no credits as to writer or artist.  The art, however, is plainly different from that of the earlier stories, leading one to believe that Norvick was no longer providing the art by this point.  This tale opens with a German military man parachuting down behind Russian lines - where, it just so happens, Fran Frazer and Hal Davis are bicycling back from the war front, where they failed to get any story.  Hal spots the parachute, and the two race to intercept him.  Sadly, they don't find him, but wehen they report the incident to general headquarters, Fran is observant enough to spot the mud on the general's boots - and soon enough, the two are being arrested! Thinking quick, Fran tricks the general, and she and Hal sneak into the general's office, where they find a secret staircase into the cellar - where they discover a German about to do away with the real general! Hal dukes it out with the German, and Fran uses her wits, and a pair of tongs to pull a coal from the furnace and drop it into the back pocket of the German's pants, giving him a real hot seat!  Hal and the real general quickly overcome him, where Fran reveals it was clear the German intended to kill the general and take his place!  This last story ends with no final caption and no tagline as to seeing Fran Frazer in any future issues.  Thus, Fran Frazer's career seemingly ended in 1942...

Flash-foward 82 years (literally! from March 1942 to March 2024!), and Fran Frazer was given new life (and a fresh new look, to boot!), as she was brought into the modern world in that issue of World of Archie Jumbo Comics discussed above.  But she did not stop there.  The very next month, Fran Frazer made her second modern appearance in the April 2024 issue of Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics issue no. 322.  "Only Mysteries in the Building" is the name of the story, obviously a take-off of the popular television drama, Only Murders in the Building.  The writer and artist for this second modern tale are not the same as the first, as this time, Tom DeFalco provides the story and Bill Golliher provides the pencils.  DeFalco is a long-time comic writer, usually associated with his tenure and work at Marvel Comics, having written long runs on titles such as Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, and Fantastic Four.  I did not realize he did work for Archie Comics, but doing a bit of quick research reveals that he has provided stories for Archie going back as far as 1974!  Golliher is an unknown to me, but apparently he has been doing work for Archie for several years now.  His art is definitely the standard Archie-style, with the characters looking like what you would imagine Archie and his gang to look.

Strangely, DeFalco changes Fran's occupation from a freelance photographer to a young woman who "beautiful, brave, and resourceful, she lives in a whirlwind of excitement, solving mysteries for her true crime podcast."  Which is quite odd, considering the history of the character as a news photographer, and her appearance just one month prior as a freelance journalist and photographer.  The change is jarring, but the story is still full of silliness that is Archie Comics.  The mystery begins when Ms. Grundy is unable to find her English final exam - who took it and why?  Betty and Veronica trail along with Fran as she questions suspects - Reggie Mantle, Simon Silverstein, Principal Weatherbee, Coach Clayton, and even Big Moose!  But none of them have any information on the missing final exam - leaving the girls only one final suspect, Mr. Svenson, the school custodian, who happens to be dumping trash that he has collected from all of the classrooms into the garbage compactor.  It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and Fran Frazer is never afraid of getting her hands dirty if it means solving a case!  Of course, digging through all that garbage leaves them with quite a mess to clean up after.  

I haven't seen any indication of any Fran Frazer stories in any of the upcoming Archie Comics releases, but I'm holding out hope that this is not the last we've seen of Fran Frazer.  In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing an entire comic devoted to our intrepid journalist / photographer / podcaster!  This is too good of a character for Archie to let fall by the wayside.  After all, they brought her back after 80 years, so surely she deserves more than just two stories!  (And let's see some friendly competition between her and Hal Davis - after all, he's had 80 years to sit around and think about all the times she scooped him on stories back in the early 1940s!)

 

 ***A special acknowledgement to The Digital Comic Museum, who has preserved the Golden Age issues of Top Notch Comics and made them available for readers like me who could otherwise never read the stories contained therein!  You can find the Fran Frazer stories in those issues at their website (Fran Frazer in Top Notch Comics).

RATING:  9 episodes of a true crime podcast out of 10 for breathing new life into a Golden Age character that deserves a second chance in the comic world - and introducing new readers to a female crime-solver worthy of attention!

Dan Hyland, Police Reporter

This book is not one I had ever really planned to purchase and read.  I had seen it numerous times at various used book stores and antique malls, but, again, I'm not overly interested in books with male lead characters.  I prefer the female-led mysteries, as they seem to be more mystery-focused and less adventure-focused.  However, this book happened to be at a local used book store that I frequent, and it was there on the shelf week after week, month after month, and I finally told myself that if the store ever has a sale, I will get it and see what it's about.  Well, wouldn't you know it, the store had a sale, so I decided that since it was less than $10 and it had a pretty good, in tact dust jacket, I would bite the bullet.  And while the story is not exactly my normal cup of tea, so to speak, I would say it was worth the small price I paid for it.

Dan Hyland, Police Reporter is a story about ... well ... Dan Hyland, who happens to be ... a police reporter.  The book opens with a brief, two-page introduction to Dan and explains how he became a reporter for the Chicago Daily Star.  Then it moves right into a dangerous scenario, as Dan must fly a plane into Chicago during a turbulent storm, then he joins his fellow newshawk, Billy Parker, as they evade the guns of Jules Sparoni and his gangsters - after all, it's the evidence against Sparoni and his men that Dan has brought back to Chicago!  And if it gets published in the newspaper, then Sparoni is done for good.  Of course, the he and Billy make it to the Star, and their editor, grumpy old George Anderson Gargan, takes the article with barely a word of praise and tells Dan to head home and get some sleep.

After such an exciting opening scene, the story slows down a bit.  In the apartment that Dan shares with Billy, he opens a letter postmarked from Hollywood, California and receives some very unexpected news - his uncle Ray Hyland, who helped Dan make it in the newspaper world, has gifted Dan with the Norfolk Clarion, a small, weekly newspaper in Norfolk, Indiana, which Ray Hyland had built up and turned it into quite a success (p. 36). It seems his uncle previously sold the paper, but the new owner could not handle it, fell into default in payments, allowed the paper to become a mouthpiece for the criminal element in the area, and nearly bankrupt the paper.  Dan's uncle is hoping he can rebuild it into the great paper it once was.  Of course, that would mean leaving his established career in Chicago and starting all over in a small town.

The story then picks up the pace as Dan moves to Norfolk, meets the current editor of the paper, Leslie Wysong (who Dan mistakenly believes is a man and is shocked to discover Leslie is actually a pretty young woman [p. 88]), and begins his new career as the owner of the Norfolk Clarion.  His first order of business is to figure out who "the Ghost Gang" is that has been terrorizing and robbing the Chicago and Southern railroad's Midnight Special.  Dan figures if he can solve that mystery and stop the attacks on the train, he can help boost sales for the paper and get it back on track.  When it turns out that the city's big-wig, Con Sheldon, may be behind the robberies, it only makes Dan more determined than ever - and with Leslie and the rest of his newspaper staff joining his crusade, he can't help but feel success is within his grasp.  But Con has other ideas and puts into motion a new plan that does more than just rob the mail and money from the train - it makes the entire train disappear in the middle of the night!  How did he do it and where is the train now?  Dan publishes a special edition, letting the citizens of Norfolk know that he will solve the crime and make his city safe - but can he accomplish that before time runs out?

The majority of the book follows Dan (and later Billy, as he travels to Norfolk to get the story for his Chicago paper) as he tracks down the missing Midnight Special and fights the criminal element led by Con Sheldon (gotta love that name - "Con" - pretty much says everything about the man!).  I give the author credit for coming up with a creative means whereby Con and his men were able to "steal" the entire train and make it disappear between stops.

And speaking of the author - Norton Hughes Jonathan (almost sounds like his name is backwards, doesn't it?).  I have never heard of him before this book, and looking online, it appears he was not an overly prolific author.  He did write some books under the "Eagle Scounts banner - The Movie Scout (or The Thrill Hunters), The Lost Empire (or Larry Hannon Carries On), and Speedway Cyclone, none of which I've ever heard of, let alone seen.  It appears he also wrote another book called Gentlemen Aren't Sissies, which is toted as a "guidebook" for the modern young man of the 1930s.  Interestingly enough, that book is illustrated by none other than Pelagie Doane, who provided the art for the early Judy Bolton books!  What little else I could find on the author states he began writing at the age of seven, when he started his own little newspaper called the South End Scoop.  I suppose that may account for his writing a novel about a newspaper reporter, since it is something he apparently thought of becoming when he was a child!

Not being a series, this is the one and only appearance of Dan Hyland, and while the story was a half-way decent read, it's probably not a character I would continue to read if it were an ongoing series of books.  Although, I will admit, the story does feel like something that would have made a decent noir film in the 1930s or '40s.

 

One last thing I needed to make mention of - something odd I have discovered about Goldsmith books is that the first chapters usually begin on page 11, 13, or 15 - yet, I am unable to figure out how they come up with that numbering, as there are never 10, 12, or 14 pages before that!  So, I'm at a loss as to explain why they start the opening chapter at such a high number, instead of as page 1 (or, at the very least, the actual page number for the page count that comes before!). 

RATING:  7 quarry holes filled with cold, jagged stones out of 10 for a crime story with an ingenuous way of making a train disappear!

Torchy Blane - The Lady Bloodhound with a Nose for News!

Now for something a little different.  While this blog has always been about books (as well as comics and graphic novels), this is one post that I just felt I had to make, even though the topic isn't something I read.  Rather, this post is about a series of nine films put out by Warner Brothers Pictures between the years 1937 and 1939.  The title character of these films, "Torchy" Blane, is a wise-cracking female reporter who always manages to stay two steps ahead of her police detective fiance, Steve McBride, in solving crimes.  I had never heard of this character or the films, but back in January, TCM was showcasing films that featured female detectives every Friday night - and, as fate would have it, on Friday the 13th, TCM featured five of the nine Torchy Blane films.  David recorded them for me, thinking I might enjoy them, so I figured if he took the trouble to record them, the least I could do is watch them.  Boy, was I in for a huge surprise!  By the end of the first film, I was completely hooked, and I set about finding a way to watch the remaining films in the series.  I tracked down a Warner Brothers Archive Collection of all nine films and bought it without hesitation.  And now that I've finally been able to see all nine films, I can share my thoughts with the rest of the world (or, well, the few people who actually do read my blog!).

 

Smart Blonde is the first film, and it introduces the little firecracker known as Torchy Blane (her real name is Theresa, but that is not revealed until the second movie and only said twice in the entire nine films!).  The plot centers around Torchy witnessing the murder of a man she just interviewed - a man who was set to buy a Club and all of the gambling enterprises of one Fitz Mularkey.  Torchy's boyfriend, Steve McBride, is assigned to the case, and although he tries to keep Torchy out of the way, she manages to insinuate herself into every situation, ultimately exposing the true masterminds behind the murder!  The movie, released in 1937, is subtitled "The Adventures of Torchy Blane," and definitely establishes Glenda Farrell as Torchy, alongside Barton MacLane as police detective McBride.  The two actors have a natural chemistry that explodes on screen, keeping the comedic dialogue real and believable!

 

Farrell returned as Torchy in the second film, Fly Away Baby, which also used "The Adventures of Torchy Blane" subtitle (and was the last of the films to do so).  This movie featured more action than the previous one, as Torchy inserts herself into a contest with a competing newspaper reporter to fly around the globe!  After a jeweler is found murdered and his collection of diamonds stolen, Torchy's fiance McBride is on the case.  Torchy tags along, and soon comes to suspect the other reporter of the crime! Thus, she convinces her editor to let her race the reporter around the world, hoping she can find the evidence to prove him guilty!  Along the way, though, she uncovers the true identity of the killer and locates the stolen diamonds!  Despite being filmed so quickly (the movie was released only five months after the first one!), it was actually very well done, considering the number of action sequences and stunts involved!

With the third film, Torchy Blane's name takes the headline over the title, The Adventurous Blonde, proving the success of this series (which I believe was largely in part to Farrell's superb portrayal of the character).  The story opens with Torchy and a fellow train passenger reading each other's telegrams by mistake.  Torchy learns her fiance has a minister lined up and ready to marry them as soon as she arrives home!  Unfortunately, fate has other plans when four reporters jealous of Torchy's success plan a fake murder that they hope will lead Torchy to publish a false story.  The plan backfires when the actor they hired to "play" dead turns up dead for real, and Torchy scoops them all once again!  Postponing their wedding, Torchy and McBride set about the solve the case, and Torchy uses a fake confession of one of the suspects to lure the real killer into the light!  This film set the stage for the constant postponement of Torchy Blane and Steve McBride's pending nuptials - every time you think they are ready to tie the knot, something gets in the way!  Once again, it was another fast-filmed movie, as this one was released just five months after the second film!

Blondes at Work was the title of the fourth film, and it was Farrell's last appearance as Torchy Blane (well, so she thought).  The story in this movie was a bit different from the previous ones.  The focus of the film is on McBride being told to keep Torchy from getting all the scoops from the department, as they are getting heat from other newspapers that they are playing favorites.  When the son of a department store mogul turns up dead, McBride and Torchy each run their own investigations - and Torchy seems to spend most of her time trying to trick the other papers!  Torchy winds up behind bars herself for revealing the verdict of a jury trial before the jury announces it, and she misses out on the confession of the real killer (but don't worry - McBride does her a favor of calling in the story to her paper, so she still managed to get the scoop from behind bars!).  Released in February 1938, this was probably one of the fastest filmed movies of the series, as it came out only three months after the last one!

Actress Lola Lane takes over the role of Torchy Blane in the fifth film, Torchy Blane in Panama.  Interestingly enough, McBride was also replaced with another actor (Paul Kelly).  The plot involves a bank robbery, where the thief hides out among the Loyal Order of Leopards, of which McBride's inept sidekick on the force, Gahagan, is a member.  Torchy follows the Leopards onto a cruise ship headed for Panama, where she finds the thief but also finds herself kidnapped and held captive by him and his cohorts.  McBride and Gahagan have to track her down and rescue her before it's too late (although Torchy was already planning a way to escape her predicament).  Although the story was pretty good (and pretty standard Torchy fare), Lola Lane just did not have the spunk or spirit that Farrell had, and film did not do well at the box office. Lane and Kelly were out, and Warner Brothers brought back Farrell and MacLane for the next movie.

Torchy Gets Her Man is the last film of the series to come out in 1938, and thankfully brought Farrell and MacLane back into the roles they truly defined.  This time around, Torchy overhears a secret service agent ask the police to help him catch a counterfeiter they believe will be passing phony money at the race track. McBride keeps Torchy in the dark about the sting, but she still manages to learn about it through Gahagan, and she manages to track the counterfeiter to his hideout.  She,of course, gets kidnapped right along with Gahagan, and this time a dog happens to be the one to save the day!  This story was actually a pretty creative one, since the crook turns out to be the very person asking the police for help, and Torchy is the only one who grows suspicious of the man!

The first film in 1939, Torchy Blane in Chinatown, proves the writing for these stories can get craftier and craftier!  The story centers around three former adventurers who brought back some priceless jade tablets from one of their adventures.  They are receiving death threats, and after the first of the men is murdered, and the second one is killed and his body disappears, McBride and his force work overtime to protect the third man.  Torchy uncovers some inconsistencies in the stories and discovers a plot to extort money from a Senator that leads to a rather unique conclusion involving a payoff at sea and a submarine rescue!  I think this is probably one of my favorite of the series, simply because the plot is so intricate and actually makes you think in order to figure out what is really going on!

Farrell and MacLane make their last appearance as Torchy and McBride in the eight installment of this series, Torchy Runs for Mayor.  Torchy is getting a lot of heat for articles she is writing about the mayor, accusing him of colluding with a local crime boss.  The newspapers are warned away from any future stories, and Torchy ends up getting a small publisher to print her story, distributing the paper herself along with Gahagan's help.  When the publisher is murdered, Torchy ends up as a new candidate for major!  Torchy, of course, gets kidnapped once again, and McBride begins to wonder if Torchy's articles didn't hold some truth to them.  It's a race against time as he rushes to rescue his fiance, and the crime boss gets his just deserves when he is blown up by a bomb meant for McBride!  The film has a humorous ending, as Torchy ends up winning the election as mayor, but quickly resigns when she finds out she has to hold babies for photographs!

The final Torchy Blane film was released on Augut 12, 1939, and as with the previous film without Farrell and MacLane, it doesn't hold up well.  Torchy Plays With Dynamite (also known as Torchy Blane ... Playing with Dynamite) features Jane Wyman in the title role, with Allen Jenkins assuming the role of McBride.  While Wyman does an okay job as Torchy, Jenkins is absolutely horrible as McBride.  This last tale involves a series of bank robberies by Denver Eddie, who seems to be able to evade the police at every turn.  Through a series of events, Torchy gets herself thrown in jail so she can cozy up to Denver Eddie's girlfriend and hopefully get the inside scoop on the man.  When she saves Jackie's life, Jackie suggests she and Torchy escape from jail, saying her boyfriend will help them out.  With McBride in on the plan, the girls escape and head to San Francisco.  There is a series of close calls, and Gahagan goes undercover as a wrestler (which results in a few humorous physical scenes).  Ultimately, they catch Denver Eddie, and with the reward money for his capture, McBridge and Torchy have the money they need to get married!

An interesting note about that final film - Jane Wyman, who takes over the role of Torchy Blane, appeared in the very first Torchy flick, Smart Blonde, playing the character Dixie, the hat check girl at the Million Club.  As for the overall series, Tom Kennedy is the only actor to appear in all nine films, in his role as Gahagan, police detective Steve McBride's bumbling sidekick who loves to spout poetry at the most inopportune times.  Actor George Guhl appeared in eight of the nine films as the front desk sergeant, Graves, but for unknown reasons, he was replaced in the last movie (and, in fact, the entire set for that front area of the police headquarters was changed).

Despite the films having different writers, the character of Torchy Blane was pretty consistent throughout (even though when played by Lane and Wyman, she lacked the spunk that Farrell brought to the character).  What I did not realize, until after I researched the movies, is that the first film was based upon a detective stories by Frederick Nebel called MacBride and Kennedy.  Of course, those stories were about two men, and Warner Brothers revised it to make Kennedy a woman and shortened the name of MacBride to McBride.  It's interesting to note that McBride was played by MacLane ("Mac"Bride) and Gahagan was played by Tom "Kennedy," so there are some funny coincidences between the original source material and the actors in the films.

The most surprising thing I discovered was that Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel has been said to have used Farrell's portrayal of Torchy Blane as the inspiration for his character, Lois Lane, and that Lois' name was actually taken from actress Lola Lane, who played Torchy in the fifth film!  So, in a way, I suppose we have Torchy Blane and the woman who played her to thank for comic book's most famous female reporter!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movies and found them to be fun, for the most part well-written, and in most cases, well-acted. A part of me would love to see the character brought back to life today in a television series or series of films, but ONLY if they stick to the source material and keep Torchy and her supporting cast exactly as they were in these films!

RATING:  9 disappearing bodies out of 10 for some fantastic, fun-filled films with a title character that is truly memorable and enjoyable to watch!