If there was one point on which many of the long-time residents of the Hotel Richelieu agreed, it was that the Richelieu was a good place to live. That, of course, was before someone began turning it into a better place to die. Violently. And as the police were struggling to figure out what was going on, it was going to be a self-proclaimed "old battle-ax," Adelaide Adams, who would play a central role in solving Murder á la Richelieu
Anita Blackmon wrote only two mysteries, which is unfortunate. She is very much a highly-skilled member of the Had I But Known school of detective fiction made popular by American author Mary Roberts Rinehart. Her narrator, Adelaide Adams, has a fair amount of fun with that particular convention. I mean how can you resist a book whose protagonist observes: "Had I suspected the orgy of bloodshed upon which we were about to embark, I should then and there, in spite of my bulk and an arthritic knee, have taken shrieking to my heels." I think it's the arthritic knee which makes that such a fine parody of the genre.
In any case, Adelaide Adams proceeds to tell us about the murderous events at the Hotel Richelieu, a residential hotel located in an unidentified city in the American south (apparently Little Rock, Arkansas). As for the events she goes on to describe…well they begin with the murder of a man found hanging in Adelaide’s room with his throat cut, and go on from there. By the time it is over, we will be dealing with multiple killings and a number of other serious crimes, along with some wholesale blackmailing. And the police will note - as will the reader - that it is usually Adelaide Adams who finds the latest body...
It's a complex mystery, with a fair number of subplots that suddenly twist and fall into place, though that place is not always where the reader might have expected. It is an engaging mystery, with enough humor and plot twists to carry the reader through some fairly grim events.
I am indebted to mystery scholar Curtis Evans for my first exposure to Anita Blackmon. Evans wrote the introduction to the new Coachwhip Publications edition of Murder a la Richelieu, as well as a lengthy post on his blog, The Passing Tramp. He calls Murder a la Richelieu an example of "The twentieth-century HIBK tale at its best." I agree completely.
This review is another entry in the My Reader's Block blog reading challenge 2014 Vintage Mystery Bingo - it is an example of "one book with a place in the title." For full details about the challenge, be sure to check out the reading results pages at the blog.
Les - I really like it when you introduce your readers to authors such as Blackman. Those virtual unknowns who wrote well-crafted novels don't get a lot of press, and it's nice when they get some attention.
Posted by: Margot Kinberg | March 03, 2014 at 09:25 AM
Margot, the credit really goes to people like Curt Evans, who introduced me to Blackmon's books through his blog, "The Passing Tramp." Curt's an expert in many areas of the mystery, and his book on the so-called "Humdrums" such as Crofts, Connington, and Street/Rhode/Burton is a gem. The blog is linked from my blogroll on the right side of this page. I do recommend it for regular visits!
Posted by: Les Blatt | March 03, 2014 at 09:54 AM
Oh, I couldn't agree more about Curt Evans and both his expertise and his blog. I visit TPT all the time.
Posted by: Margot Kinberg | March 03, 2014 at 04:10 PM
It's well worth the visit! :-)
Posted by: Les Blatt | March 03, 2014 at 07:01 PM
Oh this sounds divine, Les! Just the sort of thing I love. Needless to say, I'd never heard of this book or this author. But that's why I read your blog - right? Thanks for the intro, m'dear.
Posted by: Yvettespaintbox | March 06, 2014 at 05:54 PM
I do think you'd enjoy this one, Yvette. The narrator is wonderful, even poking fun at herself with some of the Had I But Known comments, and it's written with some warmth and a fair amount of humor, even when the mystery gets fairly grim. I hope you enjoy it!
Posted by: Les Blatt | March 06, 2014 at 06:28 PM