tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post3582757790699202204..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: The Unhinged Detective: "The Day Nobody Died" (1944) by D.L. ChampionTomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-87322259742105866352023-01-13T01:13:44.984+01:002023-01-13T01:13:44.984+01:00That's fair. Feel free to delete my comment if...That's fair. Feel free to delete my comment if you feel it's necessary.<br /><br />Allhoff's abusiveness is cartoonishly aggressive, but I was mostly just happy to get even a sliver of characterization from the story. I also enjoyed that this abuse wasn't passively tolerated, with the narrator delighting in causing him problems and even going as far as to outright contradict his behavior. I think Allhof is a top-grade bag of dicks, but I can't deny he possesses characterization at least. I'll be reading the omnibus eventually, though I think it's funny that between the two omnibuses with the title "Complete" the series very obviously isn't complete.<br /><br /><br /><br />In other news, I bought the anthology "Sleight of Crime: Fifteen Classic Tales of Murder, Mayhem and Magic" and am so far disappointed. The only three stories in this anthology I'm confident are mysteries are also stories I already have in authorial collections (I have "The Adventure of the Hanging Acrobat" in THE ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN, "Death by Black Magic" in Joseph Comming's BANNER DEADLINES, and "From Another World" in fucking every anthology every, but also the Merlini collection). Besides those three, the three stories I've read anew in this collection aren't even murder mysteries, with one being a three page long joke, another being a pre-Golden Age thief story, and another being a FANTASY STORY with NO CRIME TO SPEAK OF published in PLAYBOY MAGAZINE, about a sex pest who finds out he has a magic power he can use to be a sex pest. I'll be really disappointed if the only three actual mysteries in this anthology are stories I've read before in easy-to-find authorial collections.L. Stumpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-26473012224328861322023-01-12T13:17:21.328+01:002023-01-12T13:17:21.328+01:00You should always use spoilers, because there are ...You should always use spoilers, because there are other fans, like you, who will stumble across this old posts. Not everyone is at the same stage of fandom. <br /><br />Oh, yes, the main principle behind the trick is not new to most locked room fans and have come to associate it a bit with Hoch, but "The Day Nobody Died" is one of the earliest uses of the trick. Or, at least, one that deviated enough from the examples you cited to count and feel as something new and different. <br /><br />I'm glad and a little surprised you enjoyed it as much as you did. I would have assumed you'd find the abusive relationship and broken characters of Allhoff and Battersly to off putting to find anything redeeming. The stories collected <i>The Complete Cases of Inspector Allhoff, vol. 1</i> get even darker (e.g. "Footprints on a Brain"). TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-83196811405186822082023-01-11T05:58:43.761+01:002023-01-11T05:58:43.761+01:00I'm going to go into this comment writing unma...I'm going to go into this comment writing unmarked spoilers, because I doubt many people are reading this four year old post...<br /><br />I liked this one a lot, but still less than you I think. I agree that when taken as a whole, the locked-room mystery's solution is original, but I think that functionally it's not TOO different from "stick an ice-cube under the bolt, which melts to secure the door with the bolt", a trick I've seen at least a couple times, though of course this variation commits itself to different cluing/misdirection. Plus it's not the kind of solution I personally tend to enjoy, but I still found it refreshing to see a solution I never encountered before.<br /><br />I saw through the alibi trick immediately because I know from reading Adey's bibliography that they wouldn't make the victim a "midget" unless it contributed some kind of trick and I knew that the "midget" in the bar would be a kid. Not an inspired solution anyway, but the cluing (heavy-handed) was still cute.<br /><br />I settled on giving this a 7/10, "pretty damn good", as opposed to "gem" or "classic", but... well, enjoyment is still enjoyment.L. Stumpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-20617034502575192542019-02-01T02:50:41.342+01:002019-02-01T02:50:41.342+01:00It sounds a bit like the setup for the 1960s Irons...It sounds a bit like the setup for the 1960s <em>Ironside</em> TV series (which coincidentally I've been watching recently).<br /><br />I may have to investigate the Inspector Allhoff stories.dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-1994397213264689692019-01-22T19:28:25.515+01:002019-01-22T19:28:25.515+01:00No idea.No idea.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-18161298872632380872019-01-22T19:27:37.618+01:002019-01-22T19:27:37.618+01:00Absolutely. This is high-quality pulp with a great...Absolutely. This is high-quality pulp with a great plot. You can find the story in one of the two Altus collections. I really intend to return to this series without months, or even years, having passed. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-39678838446889386112019-01-22T15:34:20.080+01:002019-01-22T15:34:20.080+01:00Sounds like a beauty, and a very layered treat for...Sounds like a beauty, and a very layered treat for a dime pulp mag. Where did you find this story? Will it be in the collection from Altus? <br />Danhttps://thereaderiswarned.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-16637359717728728852019-01-22T11:51:16.477+01:002019-01-22T11:51:16.477+01:00Sounds nice. Is the story available on the interne...Sounds nice. Is the story available on the internet anywhere? Yannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03715425465328002763noreply@blogger.com