"The Crimson Clue"

Kent Murdock wasn't eager to get involved in a murder case. A photographer, he was hired to take private photos of a society wedding - just for the family, of course. But then, at the wedding, Murdock tripped over a dead body. Naturally, he shot some pictures of the body. Good thing, too, since the body promptly disappeared. But then so did Murdock's photos - which annoyed him. And his camera gear was stolen, which infuriated him. It got him mad enough to get involved in solving the case - and that would prove very unfortunate for someone. It happens in The Crimson Clue, by George Harmon Coxe, which is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here.

I must admit that I can't remember ever reading any of George Harmon Coxe's many books. Among his more than 60 novels, he wrote a number of stand-alone mysteries, and he also had three detectives who starred in their own series.

The Crimson Clue, from 1955, features one of those series characters, Kent Murdock. In The Crimson Clue, he’s approached by an old acquaintance, a young woman from a socially-prominent and wealthy family, who wants him to photograph her wedding.

Murdock agrees and shows up at the bride’s house where – if not exactly welcomed by other members of the family (who hate publicity), he’s at least tolerated and allowed to wander around the house, taking photos of the wedding party and of the decorated rooms.

And while doing so, he walks into a closet – and finds a dead body inside.

Instead of calling the cops, Murdock shoots some pictures before seeking out family members to report the death. And that’s when it starts to get very strange, for the family members deny any knowledge of anyone being murdered in their house. What’s more, when he takes them to the closet where he saw the body – you guessed it, the body has disappeared, along with his photos and his cameras.

This isn't so much a puzzle mystery as it is a medium-boiled private investigator story featuring a photographer as the detective. There’s a fair amount of fun to be had in The Crimson Clue, and it’s good to find Coxe's books available again – even if only in electronic editions from The MysteriousPress.com and Open Road Media.

Comments

[Yvettespaintbox]

Don't you hate it when the body up and disappears and everyone looks at you as if you must be nuts? Happens to me all the time. Ha.

I've never read any George Harmon Coxe, Les. At least I don't think I have. But maybe I will. One of these days. I'm slowly going through as many vintage mystery authors as I can find for a reasonable price (cheap, cheap) on abebooks.com.

[Les Blatt]

Hardly a day goes by, Yvette, when I don't suddenly lose the body of a murder victim - and it never seems to bother the police, either. As for cheap books, Abebooks is a great source; so are some of the second-hand sellers reachable through Amazon.

[Les Blatt]

One of my visitors, Kendra Nohl, sent me a note to let me know that The Crimson Clue actually appears to have been published in 1952, at least according to the copyright notice in the book itself. I got the 1955 date from the Golden Age wiki (with Wikipedia as a second source), but it's hard to argue with the copyright notice! Thanks, Kendra.