Customer Reviews

Episode of the Wandering Knife

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I am a real Mary Roberts Rinehart fan. I'm 54 years old and when I was a kid -- around 10 or 11 -- I first discovered her. I've always enjoyed a good mystery and likeable characters and this author has never disappointed me. Ironically, MRR's mysteries (all of them) are almost historical in concept. Back before the depression, there were people who actually lived like this. Reading one of these stories is like reading a little bit of history. In this particular book there is a widowed mother (wealthy), a daughter, a brother, a daughter/sister-in-law, various servants and side characters. The book is told from the point of view of the daughter and starts off with a big party thrown by the mother for her society friends (including the mayor). The daughter-in-law is found murdered after the party and the husband/brother is immediately suspected. The mother finds the murder weapon, hides it, and gives it to the daughter who really believes her brother innocent and wants to protect him. The story is engaging, entertaining. I's been a while since I read this and for a minute I couldn't remember who-dunnit!! Not that it matters, because with MRR it's not (in my opinion) who was it who committed the crime, but the journey involved in getting there. And periodically I'll go back and re-read these books just for the fun of reliving them all over again.

I was surprised to find not one but three stories in this book - all of them quite good.

THE EPISODE OF THE WANDERING KNIFE squeezes multiple murders into a novella. My favorite character is Mother (Mrs. Shepard), a rich, brightly hennaed matron who wears low cut gowns at her parties and a chin strap at night. When her daughter-in-law is murdered, Mother hides the murder weapon (her son's hunting knife). Judy, her sensible daughter, sees the folly of this - but is no match for Mother.

As the title suggests, the knife gets hidden and stolen and re-hidden repeatedly. A mysterious young man named Tony seems to be investigating the crimes along with the cops. His romance with Judy is refreshingly unsentimental.

THE MAN WHO HID HIS BREAKFAST is another delight. This short story features loveable Inspector Brent, who's about to retire. His last case (the strangling of a wealthy society woman) will mean he either leaves in a blaze of glory - or with a reduced pension. With his sore feet, unshaven jaw and sweaty collar, Brent gets more and more rumpled as he pursues the killer.

THE SECRET is a Miss Pinkerton novella, featuring Rinehart's tough nurse-detective who's known for getting to the heart of domestic crimes. In this case she must try to figure out why a very normal, sweet young woman keeps trying to kill her mother.

The earliest copyright in this book is 1943, and the stories have an interesting wartime atmosphere. Rich and respectable people, for example, suffer from the shortage of gardeners and butlers! And the handsome young men are always going off to fight. Even Miss Pinkerton tries to enlist.

Rinehart is a vintage crime writer of the first order. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories.