Here's an interesting curiosity: a locked room mystery set in a Chicago mansion. Or, to be more precise, two locked room mysteries, both part of the same story: "Dragon's Cave
It's the story of the brutal murder of a man who collects antique weapons and is found murdered in his locked study, apparently killed with a Gothic halberd out of his own collection. The police, unable to crack the impossible nature of the crime, call in an expert - a mild-mannered history professor named Lucius Theocritus Westborough, who has a reputation for being able to solve this kind of crime.
Before he and the police are finished, there's another murder - again committed under seemingly impossible circumstances. There's also a very entertaining clue in the form of the victim's notebooks, which are kept in some kind of cipher - and again it's up to Professor Westborough to crack the code.
Clyde B. Clason published just ten mysteries featuring Professor Westborough, all written over the space of just five years - and never went back to writing crime fiction again. All of his mysteries fit into the traditional impossible crime genre, and they are filled with clues for the alert reader to spot, if he or she is adept enough to do so. The Chicago setting is fairly unusual as well. The Rue Morgue Press has been republishing some of Clason's novels. He's an author worth knowing.
Once again, this book is being recommended to readers taking part in the Vintage Mysteries Reading Challenge under way at the My Reader's Block blog. It's a great way to learn more about these pre-1960 mysteries and find some good suggestions for further reading.
Les, you had me at "mild mannered history professor" (the two locked room mysteries make it pretty enticing too). But I love mysteries with an academic element--whether it take place on a college campus or has an academic as the amateur detective. Gotta add another to my TBR list!
Posted by: Bev | June 06, 2011 at 09:12 PM