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Two and Two Make Twenty-Two
Paradise Island, the brightest spot of all the playgrounds that edged the Gulf of Mexico, catered to those who could afford to pay well for their entertainment. Twelve miles from the mainland, it had, in the few years of its existence, come to be known for its sports, its gaming tables, and its Peacock Club--where the idle wishes of its many guests became in almost an instant an accomplished fact.
For some time the Federal authorities has suspected a connection between the island and the increased activities in the drug traffic along the east coast, but when Major Jack Raymond and Andrew Dillingham were sent to investigate, they encountered in the person of lovely Eva Shale, whose wealth came from an unknown source, an enigma of the first order.
A tropical storm, so common to the locale, which swept the island, brought with it a murder which fastened its suspicious fingers upon every resident of the Peacock Club...
For some time the Federal authorities has suspected a connection between the island and the increased activities in the drug traffic along the east coast, but when Major Jack Raymond and Andrew Dillingham were sent to investigate, they encountered in the person of lovely Eva Shale, whose wealth came from an unknown source, an enigma of the first order.
A tropical storm, so common to the locale, which swept the island, brought with it a murder which fastened its suspicious fingers upon every resident of the Peacock Club...
- GenresMystery
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1932
6 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Gwen Bristow
44 books179 followersGwen Bristow (September 16, 1903 - August 17, 1980) was an American author and journalist. She studied at Columbia University and afterwards wrote for a number of literary magazines and journals. Eventually she moved to New Orleans, and worked at the Times-Picayune. She became interested in longer forms of writing—novels and short stories—through her husband, screenwriter Bruce Manning, and published her first novel in 1929.
Bristow reached the pinnacle of her career with the western romance Jubilee Trail, which became a bestseller in 1950, and was adapted to a moderately successful film in 1954.
Bristow reached the pinnacle of her career with the western romance Jubilee Trail, which became a bestseller in 1950, and was adapted to a moderately successful film in 1954.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 30, 2015
Two & Two Make Twenty-Two (1932) by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning takes us to Paradise Island off the coast of Louisiana in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. A cozy island get-away for the rich and elite, Paradise Island and its exclusive Peacock Club makes every wish come true for those who can afford its delights. Brett Allison, the mysterious owner, provides entertainment in the form of sports and gaming tables, enough to keep even the most demanding guests occupied. Or so you would think.
But somebody on Paradise Island has time enough to indulge in a little diamond-smuggling here and a little drug-running there with enough left over for the a spot of murder. The guests are shocked to find themselves in the midst of a real-life game of Clue and the murderer is someone sharing the island with them as a brutal storm keeps them all captive.
For quite some time Federal authorities have known that drugs were being smuggled into the country via the Gulf of Mexico. But just when they get close to finding the source and the point of entry, their agents have a way of dying--through the most innocent-seeming ways possible. Most recently, an agent on the way with what was to be "absolute proof" went down in his plane, taking the proof with him. No evidence of tampering, just a fluke accident. Or so it would seem.
Major Jack Raymond and Andrew Dillingham aren't so sure and when they are sent to Paradise Island to investigate whether that lovely playground of the rich is the entry-point for the smugglers they discover indications that a woman may be involved...and may have had a hand in the agents' deaths. Another agent, Linton Barclay, meets them there and directs their attention to the beautiful Eva Shale. Eva has wealth from an unknown source and skillfully runs her own boat all over the Gulf. Unfortunately for Andrew, who has fallen for Eva, there seems to be good cause for suspicion.
But there is also reason to suspect their genial, though rarely seen host. Brett Allison also has made his wealth through mysterious means and little is known about the Island's owner. Is it possible that the money comes from the drug game? Circumstantial evidence piles up....and just as the three are preparing to spring a trap to catch the drug runners, Linton Barclay is murdered in his cottage and the last person known to be with him was Eva.
Allison contacts the mainland police and is put in charge until the storm will allow the officials to reach the island. A night of questions and alibis, confessions and surprises will reveal that more than one person on the island may have wanted Barclay dead. There is the jealous husband, Tracy Cupping, who thought his (much younger) wife Imogen was spending too much time with the handsome Barclay. There is Judith Garon who initially held Barclay's attention until Imogen and then Eva came along. There is Foster the man who wants to buy Paradise Island and who had rivals in the business. And then there is Mrs. Penn, the club housekeeper, who visited Barclay's cottage that night on an undisclosed errand as well.
Plenty of strange goings-on to confuse the issue. Allison would like to clear the matter up before the authorities arrive--but Barclay's thuggish boat crew make things difficult when drugs and diamonds are finally discovered and someone bashes the island's radio operator over the head and wrecks the radio set to prevent further communication with the outside world. Fortunately, the good guys have a secret weapon--Daisy Dillingham, Andrew's grandmother and daughter of the late Judge Dillingham. She may be to quote one of her fellow club residents "two years older than Adam" but her wits are sharp and she's on the ball when it comes to noticing vital clues. Daisy is fully capable of outwitting a murderer and handing Major Raymond a drug runner on a platter.
For the record...Daisy Dillingham makes this book. Bristow and Manning give us an islandful of well-drawn characters, but Daisy is the star of this show. And not just because she's the amateur sleuth who gets to the bottom of everything. She's sprightly and spunky and not willing to take anything from any of these people. She's lived long enough to do as she pleases and she has the social clout to get away with it. She exactly the kind of feisty grandma we all want on our side.
Oh, and the mystery is pretty good too. It may sound like it's a grubby little drug-ring caper, but the murder in the cottage makes it a good old-fashioned clue and time-table driven mystery. Armchair detectives have a fair chance to put the clues together themselves. I managed to figure out the how, but Bristow and Manning did a good job keeping me from figuring out the who. If you have the chance to get hold of a copy of this one, I'd be interested to know if you put it all together. ★★★★ for a very nifty Golden Age mystery.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
But somebody on Paradise Island has time enough to indulge in a little diamond-smuggling here and a little drug-running there with enough left over for the a spot of murder. The guests are shocked to find themselves in the midst of a real-life game of Clue and the murderer is someone sharing the island with them as a brutal storm keeps them all captive.
For quite some time Federal authorities have known that drugs were being smuggled into the country via the Gulf of Mexico. But just when they get close to finding the source and the point of entry, their agents have a way of dying--through the most innocent-seeming ways possible. Most recently, an agent on the way with what was to be "absolute proof" went down in his plane, taking the proof with him. No evidence of tampering, just a fluke accident. Or so it would seem.
Major Jack Raymond and Andrew Dillingham aren't so sure and when they are sent to Paradise Island to investigate whether that lovely playground of the rich is the entry-point for the smugglers they discover indications that a woman may be involved...and may have had a hand in the agents' deaths. Another agent, Linton Barclay, meets them there and directs their attention to the beautiful Eva Shale. Eva has wealth from an unknown source and skillfully runs her own boat all over the Gulf. Unfortunately for Andrew, who has fallen for Eva, there seems to be good cause for suspicion.
But there is also reason to suspect their genial, though rarely seen host. Brett Allison also has made his wealth through mysterious means and little is known about the Island's owner. Is it possible that the money comes from the drug game? Circumstantial evidence piles up....and just as the three are preparing to spring a trap to catch the drug runners, Linton Barclay is murdered in his cottage and the last person known to be with him was Eva.
Allison contacts the mainland police and is put in charge until the storm will allow the officials to reach the island. A night of questions and alibis, confessions and surprises will reveal that more than one person on the island may have wanted Barclay dead. There is the jealous husband, Tracy Cupping, who thought his (much younger) wife Imogen was spending too much time with the handsome Barclay. There is Judith Garon who initially held Barclay's attention until Imogen and then Eva came along. There is Foster the man who wants to buy Paradise Island and who had rivals in the business. And then there is Mrs. Penn, the club housekeeper, who visited Barclay's cottage that night on an undisclosed errand as well.
Plenty of strange goings-on to confuse the issue. Allison would like to clear the matter up before the authorities arrive--but Barclay's thuggish boat crew make things difficult when drugs and diamonds are finally discovered and someone bashes the island's radio operator over the head and wrecks the radio set to prevent further communication with the outside world. Fortunately, the good guys have a secret weapon--Daisy Dillingham, Andrew's grandmother and daughter of the late Judge Dillingham. She may be to quote one of her fellow club residents "two years older than Adam" but her wits are sharp and she's on the ball when it comes to noticing vital clues. Daisy is fully capable of outwitting a murderer and handing Major Raymond a drug runner on a platter.
For the record...Daisy Dillingham makes this book. Bristow and Manning give us an islandful of well-drawn characters, but Daisy is the star of this show. And not just because she's the amateur sleuth who gets to the bottom of everything. She's sprightly and spunky and not willing to take anything from any of these people. She's lived long enough to do as she pleases and she has the social clout to get away with it. She exactly the kind of feisty grandma we all want on our side.
Oh, and the mystery is pretty good too. It may sound like it's a grubby little drug-ring caper, but the murder in the cottage makes it a good old-fashioned clue and time-table driven mystery. Armchair detectives have a fair chance to put the clues together themselves. I managed to figure out the how, but Bristow and Manning did a good job keeping me from figuring out the who. If you have the chance to get hold of a copy of this one, I'd be interested to know if you put it all together. ★★★★ for a very nifty Golden Age mystery.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
March 2, 2018
This is one novel which cries out for a map of the environs, in S. S. Van Dine or Ellery Queen style - so I had to sketch my own in the process (there is a link to it in the comment below). This is a classic stranded-on-the-island murder which is supposed to limit the cast of characters, but somehow new ones keep popping in periodically. One character, "McPherson" just shows up in the action with no explanation, and I am still not sure who "Warren" is either.
The solution lies in breaking down the alibis of everyone over the time of the murder, and gets a little tedious (as real detective work goes, I suppose). Feisty Daisy solves the case by her observations, and is a good solid character. When she reveals the solution, my eyebrows went up at the surprising development she reveals.
There are some fair play issues which put the reader at a disadvantage. Daisy keeps some observations to herself and does not share them with the reader. The final resolution of what-to-do-with-the-murderer is certainly not kosher legally, but in a sense satisfying to the reader.
Bottom line: a great read, especially if you are stranded on an island in a hurricane.
The solution lies in breaking down the alibis of everyone over the time of the murder, and gets a little tedious (as real detective work goes, I suppose). Feisty Daisy solves the case by her observations, and is a good solid character. When she reveals the solution, my eyebrows went up at the surprising development she reveals.
There are some fair play issues which put the reader at a disadvantage. Daisy keeps some observations to herself and does not share them with the reader. The final resolution of what-to-do-with-the-murderer is certainly not kosher legally, but in a sense satisfying to the reader.
Bottom line: a great read, especially if you are stranded on an island in a hurricane.
February 28, 2025
3.5 stars. The first two-thirds of the book is rather tiresome, but it ends with a bang. And the character Daisy Dillingham—an octogenarian amateur sleuth—is a treasure. She could have gone on to a whole series of her own, making Miss Marple look like one of the Bobbsey Twins. I so wish that Bristow & Manning had written more mysteries!
January 9, 2023
Sorprendente final para una novela sin demasiada intriga. Policial clásico, pero sin claves para descubrir el autor del crimen.
March 22, 2015
Fun mystery from 1922 with drug dealers, murder & socialites.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews