Ron K. (WhidbeyIslander) -
The stories included in this book and my rating (one to five stars):
Murder Under Glass - the victim dies inside a huge glass jar that doubles for a sealed room. (***)
Fingerprint Ghost - a murder takes place at a seance in a sealed room that must have been committed by one of the attendees, all of whom were holding a neighbor's hand (***)
The Spectre on the Lake - two men are shot at close range in a canoe in the middle of a lake under observation from the shore (***)
The Black Friar Murders - The murderer vanishes from a stone cell in an old monastery watched by witnesses. (***)
Ghost in the Gallery - the murderer kills and vanishes from a room watched by witnesses. (**)
Death By Black magic - a magician is strangled on stage during his act. (****)
Murderer's Progress - Five men devise puzzles for Banner to figure out and one of them uses the contest to kill one of the other men. (***)
Castanets, Canaries, and Murder - a man is killed while being filmed by a movie camera but the murderer doesn't show up on the film. (***)
The X Street Murders - A businessman is killed by a gun sealed in an envelope held by his secretary. (***)
Hangman's House - a man is found hanging from a chandelier high in a room where no footprints disturb a layer of dust on the floor. (***)
The Giant's Sword - a man is impaled with a gigantic sword that none of the suspects could possibly have handled as a murder weapon. (***)
Stairway to Nowhere (co-authored by Edward D. Hoch) - A girl disappears halfway up a staircase and again from a museum hallway. (**) (Note: actually has the word "hamburglar" in the text.)
The Vampire in the Iron Mask - school children are seemingly being strangled by a fiend with an iron head that can escape from his sealed tomb at will. (*****)
The Whispering Gallery - a magician is chief suspect when his father-in-law is killed by a marksman who seems to have floated upside down in front of his victim. (**)
This is a typical example of the florid, over-the-top writing style of some golden age mystery writers, and Senator Banner bears more than a slight resemblance to John Dickson Carr's Gideon Fell and Henry Merrivale.
I found the dialogue preposterous and Senator Banner's dismissive attitude toward women hard to take, even giving the period it was written in. Probably a must read for devotees of this type of impossible crime fiction, but a casual reader might find it hard going.
Murder Under Glass - the victim dies inside a huge glass jar that doubles for a sealed room. (***)
Fingerprint Ghost - a murder takes place at a seance in a sealed room that must have been committed by one of the attendees, all of whom were holding a neighbor's hand (***)
The Spectre on the Lake - two men are shot at close range in a canoe in the middle of a lake under observation from the shore (***)
The Black Friar Murders - The murderer vanishes from a stone cell in an old monastery watched by witnesses. (***)
Ghost in the Gallery - the murderer kills and vanishes from a room watched by witnesses. (**)
Death By Black magic - a magician is strangled on stage during his act. (****)
Murderer's Progress - Five men devise puzzles for Banner to figure out and one of them uses the contest to kill one of the other men. (***)
Castanets, Canaries, and Murder - a man is killed while being filmed by a movie camera but the murderer doesn't show up on the film. (***)
The X Street Murders - A businessman is killed by a gun sealed in an envelope held by his secretary. (***)
Hangman's House - a man is found hanging from a chandelier high in a room where no footprints disturb a layer of dust on the floor. (***)
The Giant's Sword - a man is impaled with a gigantic sword that none of the suspects could possibly have handled as a murder weapon. (***)
Stairway to Nowhere (co-authored by Edward D. Hoch) - A girl disappears halfway up a staircase and again from a museum hallway. (**) (Note: actually has the word "hamburglar" in the text.)
The Vampire in the Iron Mask - school children are seemingly being strangled by a fiend with an iron head that can escape from his sealed tomb at will. (*****)
The Whispering Gallery - a magician is chief suspect when his father-in-law is killed by a marksman who seems to have floated upside down in front of his victim. (**)
This is a typical example of the florid, over-the-top writing style of some golden age mystery writers, and Senator Banner bears more than a slight resemblance to John Dickson Carr's Gideon Fell and Henry Merrivale.
I found the dialogue preposterous and Senator Banner's dismissive attitude toward women hard to take, even giving the period it was written in. Probably a must read for devotees of this type of impossible crime fiction, but a casual reader might find it hard going.
