Nancy Barr Mavity's The Case of the Missing Sandals (1930) was one of two novels that I was able to procure from this now forgotten mystery novelist, which served as my introduction to her series detective, journalist Peter Piper, who has more than just a professional interest in the murder of the leader of a peculiar cult – who settled down in the unfrequented hills of San Francisco.
Peter Piper is sketched as a
preposterously tall man with a long, ugly, intelligent face and a black head of
hair that should've been planted in a barber's chair, but his eyes, imprisoned
behind thick glasses, are illuminated by an incorrigible enthusiasm. He's also
in possession of a brain that constantly processes and analysis information,
which makes him perfect as both a journalist and as a detective. As a matter of
fact, Piper functions through out the story as both journalist and
private investigator, forcing him to make decision on what knowledge to share
and with whom – as well as keeping rival journalists at bay. I think this dual
conflict between jobs was the most interesting aspect of his character and gave
some justification to his actions (like stowing away the prime suspect from the
police).
When the story opens, Piper is in the
company of Hubert Graham, District Attorney, discussing one of their recent
success stories, when Graham tells him of a man whose wife gave away their
money to a woman going by the name of Luna – a cult of personality with
her own following. However, they have no grounds to launch an investigation and
Graham hopes that Piper finds something that can be of mutual use, but the body
of Luna a day after his first, tentative steps in this case was not part of the
plan.
Unfortunately, the next quarter of the
book consists of hounding the main suspect, a young man named Earl Vincent, to
whom all the clues point. This took away from a potentially interesting and
eerie setting (a cult of witches on a desolate hill) with an intriguing murder
(stabbing and shooting of a witch laid out over a bench and the titular
sandals missing, etc.) that was not looked at until the race for Earl Vincent
was run. Ironically, all that running around did end up being the most exciting
and interesting part of the book and was not devoid of merit, which included a
semi-impossible disappearance from a ship – but we've seen tricks like that one
before.
More interesting was Piper
pleading/threatening Graham not to expose Vincent to a third-degree, which he
was convinced would break the spirit of the kind-hearted, but frightened boy,
even if turns out that he did kill Luna in a rage. I got the impression from
the story that third-degreeing a confession out of a suspect was still a
standard practice at the time, but Anthony Abbot's The Murder of Geraldine Foster
(1930; same year as Missing Sandals!) noted that a third-degree confession
was already inadmissible in court by that time – not that Commissioner Thatcher
Colt let the law stop him from experimenting on a suspect. And I suppose the acceptability
of a third-degree still differed from state-to-state in the early 1930s.
Piper's follow up investigation only went
to show indubitably that the story had run its course, as one interview
followed another, reminiscent of some of Ngaio Marsh's lesser efforts, but continued
to lumber on undisturbed for another 170+ pages – and the eventual revelation does
not make up for lost time. There are some interesting bits and pieces in this last
portion of the story, like the portrayal of the old blind gatekeeper, Jackson,
who's dismissed by the police as a superstitious illiterate, but Piper sees in
him a person of towering goodness who sincerely believes in the forces of good
and evil intervening in every day life and sets out to out-wit the Prince of
Darkness himself, but as a detective story, this one leaves a lot to be
desired.
I have read some encouraging comments
about Mavity and have the feeling that I should've started off with The
Other Bullet (1930), which appears to have been her most popular book, but
I'll safe that one for next month.
I'm sorry this one turned out to be disappointing--you had me intrigues at the beginning. If nothing else, I am still curious about why the sandals were missing.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for their absence was simply to provide Peter Piper with out when Mavity decided it was time to end to story. Nothing admirably, really.
DeleteThis is a completely new author for me - thanks TC, much appreciated the tour!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. :)
DeleteA new author for me, also. Interesting, Peter Piper was the name of a detective in several books written by Amelia Reynolds Long; if I remember correctly, Long's Piper was a female.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review! I just purchased my first Peter Piper novel by Mavity today, The Body on the Floor, and it is good to get a sense of what might be in store.
ReplyDeleteI just found this book at our local flea market and decided to buy it...it wasn't a big investment and I like those old mystery stories. She also had one by Earle Stanley Gardner from 1950...it is a Perry Mason. I have other Earle Stanley Gardner books that are not Perry Mason...they were 25 cents each...just a bit of fun on the library shelf.
ReplyDelete