Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss. ( )

between 3 and 3.5 because this was an enjoyable read and the writing and characters are solid. but the plotting and resolution seemed a bit loose to me, and it ended kind of abruptly, leaving me a little confused about it all. there were also a handful of scenes that were put in just to ramp up the tension or danger, but weren't needed for the story. but in spite of that i'm actually mostly left with a feeling of "well that was fun and i liked reading about these characters" so even though a kind of important thing was muddled in this mystery, i still apparently really liked it.

this bit, about why someone didn't call the police, cracked me up: "...if Herbert had been murdered, she was convinced that it had been for good and sufficient reason." ( )

‘”You’re a brave young woman, Miss Pinkerton,” he said, “and you’re not going to quit on us now. Nor are we going to quit on you. Just remember that.”’

This is a re-release of a classic of American crime fiction. Originally published in 1932, Rinehart created one of the gems of crime novels in the figure of Nurse Hilda Adams, called into action by Inspector Patton to basically nosey about and help solve the crime. It is he who affectionately calls her Miss Pinkerton, after the famous detective agency. In this, the first full-length novel to feature her character, Nurse Adams is sent to the house of the elderly Juliet Mitchell, whose nephew Herbert Wynne has died in mysterious circumstances. It initially looks like suicide, but Patton raises the question that it could equally be murder, or even an accident, or a murder meant to look like an accident. As he and Adams investigate the plot starts to get more and more complex, the number of characters increases, and as the body count starts to mount it is a race against time to identify the killer…

Everything that you would expect from a crime novel of this time is here for the aficionado: a locked-room mystery, a heap of suspects, money and insurance scams, clues a-plenty, and, of course, our doughty heroine in peril as she stays at the mansion. This particular edition includes an interesting introduction from Carolyn Hart who identifies that Rinehart uses the Had-I-But-Known technique, in which the events are narrated from a perspective after it has all taken place, with Nurse Adams ramping up the tension with phrases like ‘if only I had known’ or ‘little did we realise at the time’. It works, as each event that happens seems to be explained only for the plot to become even more complex.

OK, it is of its time and the suspension of disbelief that we bring to classic crime fiction means you have to accept characters who are pretty two-dimensional – other than Adams and Patton, who Rinehart manages to flesh out in subtle ways – and a plot that, frankly, I would never have worked out in a million years. There is also an antiquated idea of the ‘little woman’ being in danger; Patten at one point replies to one of Nurse Adams’ theories: ‘Well, that comes of letting a woman in on a thing like this. She gets carried away by her emotions.’ Of course, the truth is that she is right all along, and he has to constantly apologise for not believing her!

I thoroughly enjoyed this period piece, and would definitely recommend it to fans of Golden Age crime and those want a good brain workout! A classic 3.5 stars. ( )

99. Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart (read spring of 1942) When I read this book I was eager to read any Rinehart book I could find. ( )

I either ADORE MRR's mysteries or find them dull; Miss Pinkerton mysteries are GREAT! ( )