It's time for another trip into the Classic Mysteries vault for a repeat look at another book from one of my favorite American authors. In Elizabeth Daly's best books, her use of misdirection and carefully planted but misleading clues is truly superb - and Arrow Pointing Nowhere, her seventh book starring biblio expert Henry Gamadge, is, I think, one of her best and most powerful books. Here's the text of my audio review from about eight years ago, edited as usual for clarity:
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As an expert in working with documents, letters and rare books, Henry Gamadge is used to deciphering cryptic messages. But he is taken aback when he receives a strange letter from an unknown person apparently living – and possibly held prisoner – inside the New York City mansion of an old and respected family. And deciphering THIS message will prove to be difficult, dangerous – and deadly. It happens in Arrow Pointing Nowhere, by Elizabeth Daly.
Between 1940 and 1951, Elizabeth Daly wrote sixteen mysteries, all featuring Henry Gamadge as their central character. Gamadge is frequently consulted by people who need to authenticate manuscripts or detect forgeries. But surprisingly few of the Gamadge novels center on that kind of work. More often, Gamadge finds himself pulled into the case because someone – he doesn’t always know exactly who – has heard that he has a history as an excellent and discreet investigator.
That seems to be what happens to Gamadge in Arrow Pointing Nowhere, which first appeared in 1944. It is, I think, one of the most powerful of all of Daly’s books.
It begins with a friend bringing Gamadge a letter than seems to have been intended for him. Actually, it is a scrawled note saying – "recommend early visit to inspect interesting curiosa. Discretion." The note has been crumpled and put inside an old envelope from a book dealer addressed to Mr. Blake Fenway, the head of an old and respected family living in a mansion in New York City – yes, in the 1940s there still were such families and such mansions. Apparently, the crumpled envelope was found outside the Fenway house by a postman, who noticed that the envelope had been redirected to Henry Gamadge.
And so Gamadge must determine what, if anything, to do with this strange note. He finds someone to introduce him to the Fenways and contrives an excuse to get inside the house.
What he finds there is a very odd family. In addition to Blake Fenway, and his daughter Caroline, there is Fenway’s elderly bachelor cousin, Mott. There is the widow of Fenway’s brother, Mrs. Belle Fenway, injured escaping from Europe and currently unable to walk. There is Mrs. Fenway’s son, Alden, a young man with severe mental disability – he has the mental facility of a four or five year old. There is a man named Craddock, who helps care for Alden. And there is Mrs. Grove, an old friend of Mrs. Fenway, now hired as a companion for the disabled woman.
And there is, of course, no indication of who may have written the note to Gamadge. What he finds instead is another crumpled ball of paper, tossed into a waste basket for him to discover. It is a timetable, with an arrow drawn on it, pointing to a rail station near the Fenway’s country home. And it is clear to him – and to the reader – that something is very wrong in the Fenway house – and that the person who is trying to send him messages must be very careful not to be discovered.
And we are off and running. Before we are finished, there will be murder. There will be a search for an illustration carefully cut out of a valuable old book. There will be a truly horrifying murder trap. There will be twists and turns galore, in a brilliantly laid-out plot. And Gamadge will have to consider the significance of another message from his unknown correspondent – an arrow pointing nowhere.
Agatha Christie was counted among Elizabeth Daly’s most devoted fans. Arrow Pointing Nowhere may give us a strong indication why that should be so. The plot twists are worthy of Christie at her best, yet the reader is given well-planted clues. Henry Gamadge is one of my favorite American detectives from that period. Gamadge’s love for, and knowledge of, books should endear him to readers who enjoy bibliomysteries. He has a group of supporting players in this book – his wife, his assistant and his assistant’s soon-to-be wife, not to mention a New York City police lieutenant who is guided to the correct solution by Gamadge. Elizabeth Daly is not at all well known today, which I think is a pity, and her books are all well worth your reading – but I must say, Arrow Pointing Nowhere is, I think, one of the best.
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You can listen to the original version of the audio review by clicking here.
Next: The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers.
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