"Made Up to Kill"

Let us pause for a moment to think of the great detective couples - husband and wife (or husband-to-be and wife-to-be) who find themselves caught up in a murder case and set out to solve it. It was a very popular genre during and after the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, particularly in the United States. There were Pat and Jean Abbott...Mr.and Mrs. North...Nick and Nora Charles...

And, of course, Jeff and Haila Troy.

The Troys starred in a marvelous series of mystery-comedies written by another detective couple, so to speak: Kelley Roos, the pen name of William and Audrey Roos. Jeff and Haila made their first appearance in 1940 in "Made Up to Kill," which is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

So who were Jeff and Haila? Well, Haila, at the beginning of our story, was Haila Rogers, a young actress playing mostly small parts in Broadway plays. Jeff Troy wanted to marry her - but he had an employment problem of sorts: he found it nearly impossible to find and keep a job. At the beginning of "Made Up to Kill," in fact, Jeff has been invited to take an involuntary vacation from his job in advertising. Haila has been given a role in a play called "Green Apples." Unfortunately, another actress in the show, Haila's roommate, is very nearly murdered on opening night. And the very next night, the murderer strikes again, this time successfully, killing the leading lady. Jeff finds himself hired as a private detective to solve the murder - with Haila's help (if you define "help" rather loosely).

Like many of the other books about husband-and-wife teams, "Made Up to Kill" is as much a sophisticated comedy of manners as it is a mystery. The dialogue is funny and the book moves very quickly - it's quite satisfying. If you have fond memories of those black-and-white mystery-comedy movies that were so popular during the middle years of the 20th century, you'll very likely enjoy reading "Made Up to Kill."

Comments

[TomCat]

Great review, Les!

As you may know, I’m an ardent fan of this mystery writing husband-and-wife team and their snooping couple and remember this as an enjoyable mystery – even though the plot was not as strong nor the dialogue as funny as in some of their best follow ups to this book (e.g. The Frightened Stiff and Sailor, Take Warning!. But it’s still a great debut.

Have you read their last recorded case, One False Move? That one ties neatly in with their debut as they start out as a separated couple and find each other again over the course of a murder investigation during the rehearsals of a small-town pageant.

[Les Blatt]

Thanks, TomCat. I have read the first four - the ones republished by Rue Morgue Press (at least so far)and I also have a copy of Triple Threat, still unread in my TBR pile. I haven't found One False Move. I see that that one was written seventeen years after the previous books. I'll keep an eye out for it!

[Yvette]

This is getting fatiguing, but I'll say it again anyway: Gee, Les, I've never heard of this book before. Ha! But it sounds like a good one - just the sort of thing I am always in the mood for. I'll have to look around for a copy. Thanks again, Les.

[Les Blatt]

Yvette, I know you enjoy those great comedy-mystery movies from the 1940s and thereabouts. You would probably have the same reaction to the Kelley Roos mysteries, which have very similar characters to the on-screen couples of those movies. Rue Morgue Press has published this one and three (I think) others so far.