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Dolls Are Murder : a Mystery Writers of America Anthology
Contents:
Human interest stuff Brett Halliday
The homesick Buick John D. MacDonald
I'll be waiting Raymond Chandler
Mind over matter Ellery Queen
The doctor makes it murder George Harmon Coxe
The dog died first Bruno Fischer
Affaire Ziliouk Georges Simenon
Cop's gift Rex Stout
126 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1957
About the author
Harold Q. Masur
78 books11 followersHarold Q. Masur was an American lawyer and author of mystery novels.
He graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1934 and practiced law between 1935 and 1942. Then he joined the U.S. Air Force. In the late 30s he started writing Pulp Fiction. In 1973 he was President of the Mystery Writers of America
He graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1934 and practiced law between 1935 and 1942. Then he joined the U.S. Air Force. In the late 30s he started writing Pulp Fiction. In 1973 he was President of the Mystery Writers of America
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April 26, 2021
Dolls Are Murder is one of the more-or-less annual anthologies presented by the Mystery Writers of America. This was published in 1957 as a paperback collection; I don't think that it was also published in hardcover. This is an unusually short anthology, only 126 pages with just eight stories.
New volumes in this series currently are made up entirely of original stories. All the ones in this collection, though, are reprinted from earlier publications. The original publication dates go from 1939 to 1953.
Many of these anthologies have themes. The title Dolls Are Murder seemed to me to imply that all the stories would have something to do with dangerous women, but that is not the case. They are simply all mystery stories, with no other connection that I can see.
The only story here that I do not like is "Affaire Ziliouk" by Georges Simenon. A man suspected of being a clever international criminal is being interrogated by a French Examining Magistrate. The accused says something that might indicate that he was familiar with the names of one couple who had had a bad experience with a criminal. The magistrate, not quite yelling, "Aha!," says that the accused man had just given a confession of murder. The story ends there, neglecting to show the inevitable follow-up in which the suspect is released for lack of evidence and the magistrate is either fired for incompetence or declared insane.
The shortest story in the book is "Cop's Gift" by Rex Stout. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, a young police officer responds to a complaint from a man claiming that a ring that he had in his office has disappeared. He has only one coworker, and she had expressed a liking for the ring; she had also gone out from the office and had an opportunity to hide the ring elsewhere. The man says that he is convinced that the woman had stolen the ring. The police officer must resolve the issue.
Ellery Queen is both the author and the main character in "Mind Over Matter." Ellery, who is a renowned unofficial private investigator, a female sportswriter friend of his, the sports editor, and Ellery's father, police Inspector Richard Queen, all attend a heavyweight title bout. The world champion is defeated; shortly afterward, he is also murdered. Coincidentally, Ellery's coat is stolen...although this might not actually be just a coincidence. I often don't much like Ellery Queen short stories, but I think that this is one of the better ones. The editor of this anthology, Richard Q. Masur, was obviously quite fond of this story; in fact, he also included it in another anthology, Murder Most Foul, a second Mystery Writers of America collection that he edited. (I note that Goodreads has four separate listings for that anthology.)
In John D. MacDonald's "The Homesick Buick," a crew of bankrobbers make off with over $90,000. One of the robbers is killed, however, and the authorities have his body and the Buick automobile he had been driving. But even with the help of the FBI, the police can not identify the dead man or get any leads on where the robbers came from - or where they went. A high-school student makes a suggestion. I doubt that it would actually work, but it does in the story.
Dr. Paul Standish is the main character in a series by George Harmon Coxe. Standish has his own practice but he is also the town medical examiner. He works closely with the police, in some cases so successfully that at least one officer has come to resent him. His girlfriend also resents the time he spends on criminal cases, because she would like him to spend that time with her. In "The Doctor Makes It Murder," Standish ascertains that a woman whose death was originally thought to be a suicide was actually murdered. There are three principal suspects, and Standish tries to help find out which of them is the killer. This is the kind of good, traditional murder mystery solved by observation and ratiocination that was once at the heart of mystery fiction.
The police don't do much investigating in "The Dog Died First" by Bruno Fischer, because they are sure that they immediately identified the culprit. A man is found murdered, his body barely hidden at the side of the road. A married woman who had occasionally dated the murdered man years earlier is the obvious suspect. Her whereabouts for part of the evening when the man was killed are questionable. She says that she had accidentally hit a dog while driving and had tried to get the dog to a veterinarian. The dog had died, and since it had no identification, she says that she had left the dog's body where the man's body was later found. There is blood in her car; she says it must be from the dog, but it proves to be human. The woman's husband, who narrates the story, tries to prove that she is not guilty. This is another good puzzle story. (I don't like the woman's casual attitude about having killed the dog, however.)
Raymond Chandler's story "I'll Be Waiting" was originally published in a 1939 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, but it feels to me as if it should have appeared in Black Mask. This is a very dark tale of a hotel house detective's efforts to avoid a sad outcome. A woman staying in the hotel explains that she is waiting for a man whom she had loved and hurt to join her. The detective, the girl, the guy she's waiting for, and a man who has a good reason for giving information to the detective all have good intentions - the kind that make fine paving material.
Some of Chandler's prose is surprisingly poor:
"Got the eye on me, haven't you, flatfoot? " She laughed a little, almost under her breath. "What did I do wrong?"
And some of his prose is very fine. In the following passage, Tony, the house detective, is explaining to the young woman why he is worried about her:
"There was a girl here once had your suite. She stayed in the hotel a whole week, like you. Without going out at all, I mean. She didn't speak to anybody hardly. What do you think she did then?"
The girl eyed him gravely. "She jumped her bill."
He put his long, delicate hand out and turned it slowly, fluttering the fingers, with an effect almost almost like a lazy wave breaking. "Unh-uh. She sent down for her bill and paid it. Then she told the hop to be back in half an hour for her suitcases. Then she went out on her balcony."
The girl leaned forward a little, her eyes still grave, one hand capping her peach-colored knee. "What did you say your name was?"
"Tony Reseck."
"Sounds like a hunky."
"Yeah," Tony said. "Polish."
"Go on, Tony."
"All the tower suites have private balconies, Miss Cressy. The walls of them are too low for fourteen stories above the street. It was a dark night, that night, high clouds." He dropped his hand with a final gesture, a farewell gesture. "Nobody saw her jump. But when she hit, it was like a big gun going off."
"You're making it up, Tony." Her voice was a clean dry whisper of sound.
In Brett Halliday's story "Human Interest Stuff," the narrator is telling a story to a newspaper reporter. The speaker says that he does not want the story to appear until after an execution scheduled for the following day. The narrator is an engineer who had recently started working on a job in Mexico. He soon found himself running the entire crew. Then another man, another American, arrived, looking for engineering work. He was immediately hired. The two men hear news on the radio of an engineer who had been working in Texas and had killed his boss, and then got away. They never mention this again until the job is completed. And then there are decisions to be made. This is my favorite story in the collection.
The rather strange, powerful cover, looking like an appropriate illustration for a book titled Dolls Are Murder, is by Mort Kunstler. Wikipedia states that Kunstler went on to become a famous artist, mostly for his paintings of historical events. As I write this in 2021, Kunstler is now 89 years old.
I have read the majority of the Mystery Writers of America anthologies. I wish that this one were longer, but in my opinion, this is one of the better books in the series.
New volumes in this series currently are made up entirely of original stories. All the ones in this collection, though, are reprinted from earlier publications. The original publication dates go from 1939 to 1953.
Many of these anthologies have themes. The title Dolls Are Murder seemed to me to imply that all the stories would have something to do with dangerous women, but that is not the case. They are simply all mystery stories, with no other connection that I can see.
The only story here that I do not like is "Affaire Ziliouk" by Georges Simenon. A man suspected of being a clever international criminal is being interrogated by a French Examining Magistrate. The accused says something that might indicate that he was familiar with the names of one couple who had had a bad experience with a criminal. The magistrate, not quite yelling, "Aha!," says that the accused man had just given a confession of murder. The story ends there, neglecting to show the inevitable follow-up in which the suspect is released for lack of evidence and the magistrate is either fired for incompetence or declared insane.
The shortest story in the book is "Cop's Gift" by Rex Stout. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, a young police officer responds to a complaint from a man claiming that a ring that he had in his office has disappeared. He has only one coworker, and she had expressed a liking for the ring; she had also gone out from the office and had an opportunity to hide the ring elsewhere. The man says that he is convinced that the woman had stolen the ring. The police officer must resolve the issue.
Ellery Queen is both the author and the main character in "Mind Over Matter." Ellery, who is a renowned unofficial private investigator, a female sportswriter friend of his, the sports editor, and Ellery's father, police Inspector Richard Queen, all attend a heavyweight title bout. The world champion is defeated; shortly afterward, he is also murdered. Coincidentally, Ellery's coat is stolen...although this might not actually be just a coincidence. I often don't much like Ellery Queen short stories, but I think that this is one of the better ones. The editor of this anthology, Richard Q. Masur, was obviously quite fond of this story; in fact, he also included it in another anthology, Murder Most Foul, a second Mystery Writers of America collection that he edited. (I note that Goodreads has four separate listings for that anthology.)
In John D. MacDonald's "The Homesick Buick," a crew of bankrobbers make off with over $90,000. One of the robbers is killed, however, and the authorities have his body and the Buick automobile he had been driving. But even with the help of the FBI, the police can not identify the dead man or get any leads on where the robbers came from - or where they went. A high-school student makes a suggestion. I doubt that it would actually work, but it does in the story.
Dr. Paul Standish is the main character in a series by George Harmon Coxe. Standish has his own practice but he is also the town medical examiner. He works closely with the police, in some cases so successfully that at least one officer has come to resent him. His girlfriend also resents the time he spends on criminal cases, because she would like him to spend that time with her. In "The Doctor Makes It Murder," Standish ascertains that a woman whose death was originally thought to be a suicide was actually murdered. There are three principal suspects, and Standish tries to help find out which of them is the killer. This is the kind of good, traditional murder mystery solved by observation and ratiocination that was once at the heart of mystery fiction.
The police don't do much investigating in "The Dog Died First" by Bruno Fischer, because they are sure that they immediately identified the culprit. A man is found murdered, his body barely hidden at the side of the road. A married woman who had occasionally dated the murdered man years earlier is the obvious suspect. Her whereabouts for part of the evening when the man was killed are questionable. She says that she had accidentally hit a dog while driving and had tried to get the dog to a veterinarian. The dog had died, and since it had no identification, she says that she had left the dog's body where the man's body was later found. There is blood in her car; she says it must be from the dog, but it proves to be human. The woman's husband, who narrates the story, tries to prove that she is not guilty. This is another good puzzle story. (I don't like the woman's casual attitude about having killed the dog, however.)
Raymond Chandler's story "I'll Be Waiting" was originally published in a 1939 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, but it feels to me as if it should have appeared in Black Mask. This is a very dark tale of a hotel house detective's efforts to avoid a sad outcome. A woman staying in the hotel explains that she is waiting for a man whom she had loved and hurt to join her. The detective, the girl, the guy she's waiting for, and a man who has a good reason for giving information to the detective all have good intentions - the kind that make fine paving material.
Some of Chandler's prose is surprisingly poor:
"Got the eye on me, haven't you, flatfoot? " She laughed a little, almost under her breath. "What did I do wrong?"
And some of his prose is very fine. In the following passage, Tony, the house detective, is explaining to the young woman why he is worried about her:
"There was a girl here once had your suite. She stayed in the hotel a whole week, like you. Without going out at all, I mean. She didn't speak to anybody hardly. What do you think she did then?"
The girl eyed him gravely. "She jumped her bill."
He put his long, delicate hand out and turned it slowly, fluttering the fingers, with an effect almost almost like a lazy wave breaking. "Unh-uh. She sent down for her bill and paid it. Then she told the hop to be back in half an hour for her suitcases. Then she went out on her balcony."
The girl leaned forward a little, her eyes still grave, one hand capping her peach-colored knee. "What did you say your name was?"
"Tony Reseck."
"Sounds like a hunky."
"Yeah," Tony said. "Polish."
"Go on, Tony."
"All the tower suites have private balconies, Miss Cressy. The walls of them are too low for fourteen stories above the street. It was a dark night, that night, high clouds." He dropped his hand with a final gesture, a farewell gesture. "Nobody saw her jump. But when she hit, it was like a big gun going off."
"You're making it up, Tony." Her voice was a clean dry whisper of sound.
In Brett Halliday's story "Human Interest Stuff," the narrator is telling a story to a newspaper reporter. The speaker says that he does not want the story to appear until after an execution scheduled for the following day. The narrator is an engineer who had recently started working on a job in Mexico. He soon found himself running the entire crew. Then another man, another American, arrived, looking for engineering work. He was immediately hired. The two men hear news on the radio of an engineer who had been working in Texas and had killed his boss, and then got away. They never mention this again until the job is completed. And then there are decisions to be made. This is my favorite story in the collection.
The rather strange, powerful cover, looking like an appropriate illustration for a book titled Dolls Are Murder, is by Mort Kunstler. Wikipedia states that Kunstler went on to become a famous artist, mostly for his paintings of historical events. As I write this in 2021, Kunstler is now 89 years old.
I have read the majority of the Mystery Writers of America anthologies. I wish that this one were longer, but in my opinion, this is one of the better books in the series.
March 20, 2013
This slim volume from The Mystery Writers of America is a 1957 edition by Lion Books with arrangement with the Revere Publishing Company> It's a solid collection by some of the biggest names in the field.
Here's a list of contributors, titles, and original publication dates.
1: HUMAN INTEREST STUFF - Brett Halliday - 1946
2: THE HOMESICK BUICK - John D. MacDonald - 1050
3: I'LL BE WAITING - Raymond Chandler - 1939
4: MIND OVER MATTER(featuring the namesake detective) - Ellery Queen - 1939
5: THE DOCTOR MAKES IT MURDER - George Harmon Coxe - 1942
6: THE DOG DIED FIRST - Bruno Fischer - 1949
7: AFFAIRE ZILIOUKE -Georges Simenon - 1944
8: COP'S GIFT - Rex Stout - 1953
Worth seeking out.
Here's a list of contributors, titles, and original publication dates.
1: HUMAN INTEREST STUFF - Brett Halliday - 1946
2: THE HOMESICK BUICK - John D. MacDonald - 1050
3: I'LL BE WAITING - Raymond Chandler - 1939
4: MIND OVER MATTER(featuring the namesake detective) - Ellery Queen - 1939
5: THE DOCTOR MAKES IT MURDER - George Harmon Coxe - 1942
6: THE DOG DIED FIRST - Bruno Fischer - 1949
7: AFFAIRE ZILIOUKE -Georges Simenon - 1944
8: COP'S GIFT - Rex Stout - 1953
Worth seeking out.
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