Murders in Volume 2 by Elizabeth Daly

 

Murders in Volume 2 by Elizabeth Daly

 

published 1941

 

 

 

I recently blogged on Agatha Christie’s The Clocks: there’s an intriguing page in the book where Hercule Poirot gives his opinion on crime writers, some real and some fictional. I suggested then that when he praised ‘Louise O’Malley’ he meant Elizabeth Daly

‘What a model of fine scholarly writing is hers, yet what excitement, what mounting apprehension she arouses in her reader. Those brownstone mansions in New York. Enfin, what is a brownstone mansion—I have never known? Those exclusive apartments, and soulful snobberies, and underneath, deep unsuspected seams of crime run their uncharted course. It could happen so, and it does happen so. She is very good, this Louisa O’Malley, she is very good indeed.’

So – time for another look at a Daly book: I always enjoy them and there are a few on the blog. And I, like Poirot, focus on brownstones,  a subject of much interest and discussion round here – two Dalys in that post, under the heading Smart Dialogue and a Sour Family. And yes, that title would work here too.

This one has the most splendid setup, I loved it. Series sleuth Henry Gamadge, who is an expert in rare books, is consulted by two members of one of those old NY families who give great plot. Get this: A young woman, a governess, disappeared mysteriously from their family house 100 years before. Never seen again, no explanation. And now, she has reappeared, carrying the book (the volume 2 of the title, Byron’s poems) she was last seen with, on the centenary anniversary. So this cannot be real – can it? Is it time travel, a fourth dimension?

As Henry says: ‘I never heard such a story in my life.’

The patriarch of the family is inclined to believe in her, but he has form when it comes to weird spiritual beliefs.

The rest of his relatives – the usual random collection of generations, most of them with no money – are all very bothered about this. Why, do you think? All together now: ‘They fear he might change his will’. There is a very successful actress in the family – very good news, theatrical families hamming it up are always a joy. (See this recently-featured Holly Roth book also).

Now, Henry G comes up with a dazzling early bit of clothes detection. He claims that Lydia, the re-appearing young woman, could walk down the streets of New York in her 1840 clothes, and not look out of place in 1940. I enjoyed and admire this, while not agreeing for a second. NYPL, 1839, Philadelphia:

‘if you saw a young woman dressed like that on a New York street… would you stop and stare?’

‘No I shouldn’t. If she wore a long skirt, she wouldn’t be wearing a hat, either.’

Which I didn’t understand, still puzzling over that.

Henry has taken his ideas from Charles Dickens illos…

....not any more convincing.

To be honest, the second half of the book is less alluring and less mysterious: it is not a spoiler to say that it becomes clear that someone in the extended family is up to no good. Then it’s just a question of whom, and I found this a sad comedown from the original mystery.

But still so enjoyable, with plenty of excellent details.

The girl is described by one character as a zombi – spelled like that.

An occasional Clothes in Books feature is Furniture Watch – see here for more – and in this book we have several davenports – note our interest and research here. There is also a chiffonier, which similarly means something different in UK and US English – here it seems to be a narrow chest of drawers. We have looked at the chifforobe in this entry…

There’s a young woman who is mysteriously sometimes called Rose and sometimes Posy, without anyone ever commenting on this. She also wears a hat indoors:

…. A shadowy face under a large hat with a pink rose on it, a figured silk dress which reached the lady’s ankles….

Doubly mysterious as we have heard (above) that she wouldn’t be wearing a hat out in the street with her long skirt. (I'm seeing her as the top picture, fashion magazine of the era.) She’s a strange character, odd and intriguing, who could have featured more. Henry works out what is going on in her life via, apparently, sheer intuition. He is forever simply announcing what he has concluded. (No wonder Agatha Christie liked Elizabeth Daly – Miss Marple is much the same)

There is another young woman of interest, particularly for those of us who have read other books in the series:

 

A young woman in riding clothes leaned against the car…

A brown riding hat came down low on her dark=brown hair, and a long russet-brown coat hung loosely over dun-coloured breeches and shining brown boots. Miss Dawson’s figure was still rangy; her riding costume became it.

 

This book is not perfect, and tails off a little, but I still enjoyed it enormously – New York settings in the middle of the 20^th century always pull me in.

Woman in riding clothes from Library of Congress. (There are a lot more excellent sets of riding clothes in this post)