The Black Coat: A Murder Mystery Comedy

by Constance Little, Gwenyth Little

When a young girl is mistaken for a dying woman's niece, she's taken into her home where she ends up looking for a murderer as well as a hidden treasure while downing martinis at an alarming rate with two very different suitors. First published in 1948.

Genres: Mystery, Crime

155 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Jessie Constance Little (1899-1980) co-authored with her sister Gwenyth Little mysteries in the screwball-comedy fashion. The Little sisters are referred to as "queens of the wacky cozy." They were sometimes published as Conyth Little, a portmanteau of their names.

Their youngest sister Iris wrote under the pseudonym Robert James.

Constance Little married Lawrence Baker, a men's clothing designer for the Dubois Uniform Company in New York City.

Reviews

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very witty murder mystery story.

Misdirection, murder, missing people, secret rooms, martini's! ALL the M's here.

A fun read that reminded me of The Thin Man (with the wit and booze)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne is en route to New York to look for a job in commercial art when a fellow train passenger--also named Anne--steals her practical tweed coat and leaves behind an antique sealskin job. Well, it is warm, but instead of meeting the friend-of-a-friend at the train station, she's accosted by a good-looking young man who thinks he's meeting his great aunt's granddaughter wearing the coat Aunt Ellen had sent her mother years ago. Ellen is dying, and George begs her to substitute for the granddaughter, who has never met her grandmother, to make an old woman very happy. So starts a typical--if the word can be used for the Littles--book by the two sisters, which features, among other things, various items and people disappearing, several different plotters, a missing treasure, a spooky old private hotel with a strange clientele, and a lot of drinking. Chuckles and chills enliven the fast-moving plot.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better stories in the series by the Littles. In this one another independent woman is heading out to make her way in life, without getting tied down to childbearing and cooking. On the way, another woman switches coats and identities with her. When she arrives, she is taken for the other- and even though she is upfront with everyone they ask her to play along cause they want to keep the “old woman/granny” happy cause she doesn’t have long.

Now, at the start, it feels really off that this “independent” woman then seems to switch to become tangled in a situation that is certainly not normal - and gets pushed around by a man who is infatuated with her.

As the story moves on, you basically have to go with the premise, and then you can enjoy the mystery which is odd but certainly all comes together in the end. It contains an old home used as a hotel (depression style) and all the people have known each other for a long time and put on airs even though they are dirt poor. There’s a lot of convolution and gangsters after a hidden fortune. It’s got everything.... then the murders start.

The fun part is the end where Anne must choose the man she likes the best.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thus ends my visits with the Little sisters, the last book my public library has in circulation. This one was far more entertaining than the other three I read. I can actually picture the authors sitting in bed with drinks and smokes while writing this one so very full of cocktails that I am primed for a hangover. The beginning of the story is intriguing as two girls named Anne are assigned to the same train car on their way to New York. The younger, cagier Anne decides to cut out at Philadelphia, swapping her black beaver coat for the tailored tweed coat belonging to the other Anne who is caught in a plot meant for another. She does consent to play the role meant for the other girl because she sees it as a temporary solution for more comfortable lodging vs staying with her friend where she meant to go. The "inmates" of the private hotel where she is placed to support a dying woman who believes it is her long lost granddaughter are the wackiest group ever assembled. And then there are those who go missing, those who eavesdrop from closets, secret rooms, skeletons in trunks, missing treasure and all this mixed in with plentiful martinis. A couple of these characters were so colorful I will chuckle whenever I think of them. Published 1948

[Ruby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has its moments, I didn't think it was Funny so much as weird. But the plot is worth a read if you like kind of dry and/or snobbish humor.
The start of the story is a bit slow going but still an interesting read. And like I said it has some really good moments. It is one of those books that when its on its really on, and when its off, just skip to the next page/chapter.

[Lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the usual Little plots, the female protagonist is not under suspicion for murder; however, like most of the plots, the setting is a "private hotel," essentially a boarding house with hidden rooms, secrets, and movement of objects from one room to another. This plot revolves around mistaken identify via a swapping of coats while on a train.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! Screwball comedy at its finest. Always a little out of breath when you turn the last page on a Little book. And maybe a little drunk with all the martini making going on😉

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this was odd...... A young woman on the way to meet her grandmother for the first time (#1) and a young woman on her way to N.Y. to get a job & make a living (#2) meet on a train.

#1 does a bunk in Philadelphia taking the coat of #2 with her. #2 has no choice but to take the old black (seen better days) seal skin coat that was left behind.

#2 is met at the station by #1's "Uncle" and is asked to carry out a charade, for the Old woman is dying and sure to tell her where the fortune is hidden.

In the house, now a "home/hotel" we meet sinister guests also looking for the fortune and with much to hide and a few bad guys...

While the nurse is on one of her frequent "breaks", someone murders Grandmother.... and it is up to the impostor & her new friend to fin out who!

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a quick read, but not a very good one. I usually love these breezy, 1940s Rue Morgue Press mystery reissues, but this one read like it had just been slapped together in 10 minutes--rushed, very little characterization...the protagonists are just shoved around willy-nilly to forward the action, and every once in a while the point of view changes for no good reason. I skipped to the end to see who had done it and ultimately didn't care enough to stick around for the explanation. Very disappointing.

[Gypsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a madcap mystery involving murder, mayhem, and humor. The Little sisters specialized in mystery wrapped up as a screwball comedy and, while this is not their best, it is still an enjoyable read.

[Kendall McCurdy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Littles' screwball mysteries. I enjoy the thirties/forties settings and the usual wise-cracking heroine, but this one wasn't one of my favorites of theirs.