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The White Cockatoo
Book by Eberhart, Mignon Good
424 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1933
25 people want to read
About the author
Mignon G. Eberhart
143 books70 followersMignon Good (1899-1996) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. She studied at Nebraska Wesleyan University from 1917 to 1920. In 1923 she married Alanson C. Eberhart, a civil engineer. After working as a freelance journalist, she decided to become a full-time writer. In 1929 her first crime novel was published featuring 'Sarah Keate', a nurse and 'Lance O'Leary', a police detective. This couple appeared in another four novels. In the Forties, she and her husband divorced. She married John Hazen Perry in 1946 but two years later she divorced him and remarried her first husband. Over the next forty years she wrote a novel nearly every year. In 1971 she won the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. She also wrote many short stories featuring banker/amateur sleuth James Wickwire (who could be considered a precursor to Emma Lathen's John Putnam Thatcher) and mystery writer/amateur sleuth Susan Dare.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 15, 2022
Major characters:
James Sundean, mining engineer, our narrator
Marcus Lovschiem, blingy hotel manager
Mme. Grethe Lovschiem, his wife
Miss Sue Tally, hotel guest
Francis Tally, her brother
Pére -- Robart, a priest and hotel guest
Mrs. Felicia Byng, hotel guest
Marcel, hotel porter
David Lorn, private detective
Pucci, Marcus's cockatoo
Locale: rural France
Synopsis: Mining Engineer James Sundean (our narrator) checks into a hotel in rural France during the cold off-season winter; to await arrival of his friend Jack Dunning. Although the hotel is large, there are only a handful of guests: Mrs. Felicia Byng, an annoying American woman; Pére Robart, a priest; and Miss Sue Tally, the attractive young love interest.
Sue Tally comes to Sundean's room seeking help. She said she had been abducted by unknown man, driven around, then dropped back off at the hotel. Sundean urges her to call the police but she is reticent. He then goes to the lobby to retrieve her room key. He returns to find a dead man in the hallway outside his room, and Sue Tally gone. Hotel manager Marcus Lovschiem and his temptress wife Grethe Lovschiem respond, and they find he was stabbed with a miniature dagger which had been part of the decorative clock in Sundean's room - representing Napolean's sword. As the weapon was from his room, Sundean is placed under arrest.
Private detective David Lorn arrives on the scene and quickly gets Sundean released. Lorn and Sue Tally meet with Sundean to explain the situation. Lorn has been hired by Sue's brother, Francis Tally, to track her down. Sue, along with her brother, are heirs to a $10M fortune, but before her $5M portion can be released, she must prove her identity to Francis. This is because she and her brother have been separated since infancy, and would not recognize each other by sight. Each of them had received a "token" from their father's estate - a unique item which, when matched, will prove her identity by virtue of its possession.
It now seems likely the murdered man had been in search of her token, in order to plant a substitute Sue and claim the fortune.
Review: We start right off with some standard Eberhart: the man wrongly accused and his beautiful young brunette young interest. It's a formula, but it always works.
The atmosphere element is enjoyable. An almost deserted hotel in a deserted resort town in winter. The winds blow and the rooms are cold, and it is a perfect setting. The characters are well-drawn, especially hand-wringing hotel manager Marcus and his come-hither wife Grethe. The cockatoo Pucci makes an appearance now and then, but pulls off the stunt that solves the case at the end.
Jack Dunning, the long-awaited friend of Sundean, never shows up and although I expected him to part of the story line, he is just written out. A map of the hotel would have been quite helpful, suffice to say it is a 2-story open square with a courtyard in the middle.
One little nitpick: Sundean obtains a gun from Lorn. At the beginnning it is described as an automatic, but somewhere along the line it becomes a revolver. Oops. Readers will also find a interesting new use for a grand piano.
Please visit The Mystillery Blog and try The Mystillery Reading Challenges!
James Sundean, mining engineer, our narrator
Marcus Lovschiem, blingy hotel manager
Mme. Grethe Lovschiem, his wife
Miss Sue Tally, hotel guest
Francis Tally, her brother
Pére -- Robart, a priest and hotel guest
Mrs. Felicia Byng, hotel guest
Marcel, hotel porter
David Lorn, private detective
Pucci, Marcus's cockatoo
Locale: rural France
Synopsis: Mining Engineer James Sundean (our narrator) checks into a hotel in rural France during the cold off-season winter; to await arrival of his friend Jack Dunning. Although the hotel is large, there are only a handful of guests: Mrs. Felicia Byng, an annoying American woman; Pére Robart, a priest; and Miss Sue Tally, the attractive young love interest.
Sue Tally comes to Sundean's room seeking help. She said she had been abducted by unknown man, driven around, then dropped back off at the hotel. Sundean urges her to call the police but she is reticent. He then goes to the lobby to retrieve her room key. He returns to find a dead man in the hallway outside his room, and Sue Tally gone. Hotel manager Marcus Lovschiem and his temptress wife Grethe Lovschiem respond, and they find he was stabbed with a miniature dagger which had been part of the decorative clock in Sundean's room - representing Napolean's sword. As the weapon was from his room, Sundean is placed under arrest.
Private detective David Lorn arrives on the scene and quickly gets Sundean released. Lorn and Sue Tally meet with Sundean to explain the situation. Lorn has been hired by Sue's brother, Francis Tally, to track her down. Sue, along with her brother, are heirs to a $10M fortune, but before her $5M portion can be released, she must prove her identity to Francis. This is because she and her brother have been separated since infancy, and would not recognize each other by sight. Each of them had received a "token" from their father's estate - a unique item which, when matched, will prove her identity by virtue of its possession.
It now seems likely the murdered man had been in search of her token, in order to plant a substitute Sue and claim the fortune.
Review: We start right off with some standard Eberhart: the man wrongly accused and his beautiful young brunette young interest. It's a formula, but it always works.
The atmosphere element is enjoyable. An almost deserted hotel in a deserted resort town in winter. The winds blow and the rooms are cold, and it is a perfect setting. The characters are well-drawn, especially hand-wringing hotel manager Marcus and his come-hither wife Grethe. The cockatoo Pucci makes an appearance now and then, but pulls off the stunt that solves the case at the end.
Jack Dunning, the long-awaited friend of Sundean, never shows up and although I expected him to part of the story line, he is just written out. A map of the hotel would have been quite helpful, suffice to say it is a 2-story open square with a courtyard in the middle.
One little nitpick: Sundean obtains a gun from Lorn. At the beginnning it is described as an automatic, but somewhere along the line it becomes a revolver. Oops. Readers will also find a interesting new use for a grand piano.
Please visit The Mystillery Blog and try The Mystillery Reading Challenges!
May 8, 2024
'Il pappagallo bianco' (1933) è il sesto romanzo scritto dalla giallista americana Mignon G. Eberhart (1899-1996), e il primo senza avere l’infermiera Sarah Keate come protagonista. In Italia è noto soprattutto con il titolo 'L’albergo dei quattro venti' (con cui è uscito nelle edizioni Mondadori).
Il romanzo non cita mai il luogo in cui si svolge la storia. Dice solo A______ nel sud della Francia. In molti vi hanno visto Avignone.
'Il pappagallo bianco' mescola abilmente tutte le caratteristiche tipiche di Mignon G. Eberhart.
Le due principali:
1) l’importanza dell’edificio in cui si svolge l’azione. Comprendere bene la topografia della casa (in questo caso dell’albergo) in cui accadono gli eventi è fondamentale per capire i movimenti di tutti i personaggi e per intuire come si possano spostare nei momenti cruciali. Le descrizioni sono dettagliatissime, anche se avrebbe fatto molto comodo una cartina per avere un richiamo visivo a sostegno dello scritto.
2) l’immancabile storia d’amore. La Eberhart (a differenza di Agatha Christie, per esempio), ha al centro dell’intreccio sempre una storia d’amore a lieto fine, quindi, una volta individuati chi sono gli eroi romantici della storia, si possono tranquillamente togliere dall’elenco dei sospetti.
Complessivamente si tratta di un romanzo giallo molto articolato ed interessante.
Una volta finito, verrebbe voglia di sapere dalla Eberhart come ha avuto l’ispirazione dell’intreccio e cosa l’ha colpita, ma ahimè ormai questi dettagli sono andati perduti per sempre a meno che ella non abbia lasciato un diario.
A mio avviso nell’albergo dove ha soggiornato ospitava un pappagallo bianco, perché alcuni dettagli mi lasciano supporre che sia stato lui a far scattare la scintilla della trama.
Per la recensione completa visita il mio blog:
https://dilettanicastro.blogspot.com/...
Il romanzo non cita mai il luogo in cui si svolge la storia. Dice solo A______ nel sud della Francia. In molti vi hanno visto Avignone.
'Il pappagallo bianco' mescola abilmente tutte le caratteristiche tipiche di Mignon G. Eberhart.
Le due principali:
1) l’importanza dell’edificio in cui si svolge l’azione. Comprendere bene la topografia della casa (in questo caso dell’albergo) in cui accadono gli eventi è fondamentale per capire i movimenti di tutti i personaggi e per intuire come si possano spostare nei momenti cruciali. Le descrizioni sono dettagliatissime, anche se avrebbe fatto molto comodo una cartina per avere un richiamo visivo a sostegno dello scritto.
2) l’immancabile storia d’amore. La Eberhart (a differenza di Agatha Christie, per esempio), ha al centro dell’intreccio sempre una storia d’amore a lieto fine, quindi, una volta individuati chi sono gli eroi romantici della storia, si possono tranquillamente togliere dall’elenco dei sospetti.
Complessivamente si tratta di un romanzo giallo molto articolato ed interessante.
Una volta finito, verrebbe voglia di sapere dalla Eberhart come ha avuto l’ispirazione dell’intreccio e cosa l’ha colpita, ma ahimè ormai questi dettagli sono andati perduti per sempre a meno che ella non abbia lasciato un diario.
A mio avviso nell’albergo dove ha soggiornato ospitava un pappagallo bianco, perché alcuni dettagli mi lasciano supporre che sia stato lui a far scattare la scintilla della trama.
Per la recensione completa visita il mio blog:
https://dilettanicastro.blogspot.com/...
August 19, 2025
Engineer James Sundean checks into a provincial French hotel to meet a friend and ends up involved with a woman waiting for a meeting that it appears others are willing to go to extremes to keep from happening. The large, rambling, off season hotel is a great setting for a mystery that involves lots of misdirection to keep the tension high as several murders take place in the hotel and the French police are not able to stop. I enjoyed the characters and the way Sundean works to figure out what is going on around him and who he can trust.
April 9, 2020
Very atmospheric mystery, but the writing, while good, is over done and the whole book comes across as fevered and overwrought. And none of this is helped by the writer choosing to narrate as a male. OK, I know I'm running the risk of sounding sexist here, but I have a feeling that the tone of these HIBK (Had I But Known) tales is much more suited to a female voice.
July 22, 2023
Un mystery d’atmosfera con una trama confusa e ingarbugliata. Un sacco di passaggi sono a vuoto ma il macguffin non è male e si arriva alla fine abbastanza curiosi di sapere cine andrà a finire, anche se idealmente ci si arriva a metà del libro. Si può leggere ma non è una lettura obbligatoria
September 27, 2013
1933, lonely young woman meets a lot of unsavoury people in a creepy old hotel in rural France; good old-fashioned murder mystery/thriller, almost four stars.
Like any good "suspense heroine", young Sue Talley is beautiful, "all alone in the world", living in very odd circumstances, and, and might just be an heiress. And she's got a Knight Errant too, Jim Sundean, an American engineer who comes to the extremely creepy Hotel in rural France where Sue has been living since her Mother died a year ago. She doesn't know of any other relations except her father, who was estranged from her mother and Sue just after Sue's birth, and she's had no contact with him in the twenty years since then.
The owner of the hotel seems strangely reluctant to accept Jim as a customer, which (of course) only whets his appetite, and then becomes rather flustered when Jim wants a room in the isolated North Wing of the hotel - it's winter and there's practically no guests there now, so there *ought* to be lots of room choices... Jim's a kind of direct, forceful guy, and gets his room, although he discovers it not only is cold and quite dark, with the mistral winds playing havoc around the hotel and especially in the courtyard just below his window, it's exceedingly creepy as well.
And, this being a suspenser, things only go from odd to worse for Jim, and particularly for Sue as well. That night a man is murdered just outside of his window, and a lovely young woman (Sue) bangs at his door in the depths of night. She says she's been abducted and only just now got away, but the story is full of holes. She's pretty, though, and he's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but when they find the dead body he's not so sure...
And things only get more confusing and desperate for the two and the friends they make, and the supposed-friends they make, as there are two more murders, another abduction, and lots of other strange things going on in the dark old hotel. Jim doesn't like the owner and, especially, his wife - they seem to be very "doubtful" sorts of folks, not at all trustworthy nor believable, and it takes a while before he begins to understand just what it is that's hanging over Sue.
Unfortunately, by then he, like a very usual hero, has quite fallen for the lovely young lady, and although her supposed "inheritance" might eventually come between them he's willing to do whatever he must to help her obtain it, whatever it is. She won't tell him much, but it's quite obvious that somebody doesn't want her to connect with her father's representatives about family history, and is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that she never leaves that hotel. But she's tougher than she looks, and now that she has some help she might have a chance to survive.
Despite my somewhat snarky tone, this is a wonderful read, fast-paced and beautifully plotted. The characters suffer slightly from a few of the period idiosyncracies and while Eberhart is lighter in describing some nationalities than other writers of the period, she does use several stereotypes here, and not flattering ones either, so be warned. However, she fully fleshes out all the characters by the end, making them into more realistic people. Still not all that flattering though...
This is an extremely old-fashioned read, and you're likely, as I did, to start anticipating where the plot is going. It's not fatal, though, because Eberhart has a couple of very nice twists that, although quite classic in and of themselves, work really nicely here. Yes there are a lot of basic plot fixtures in this early novel, but the atmosphere is so well-done, and the characters are excellent, plus the pace is pretty fast, so there's no turning back once you've read a couple of chapters. Indeed, I sat down to just read "a few pages, just to see", and only realized what I was doing when I'd reached page 64! AND didn't want to stop!
BOTTOM LINE:
Classic, and classy murder/suspense thriller, with all the bells and whistles, plotted and executed by an expert, even though this was only her second in the genre. Couldn't give it a higher rating due to the extreme familiarity I have with these sort of plot elements, and Eberhart's beautiful writing helped overcome this somewhat. Old, but not boring - a "really good read".
Like any good "suspense heroine", young Sue Talley is beautiful, "all alone in the world", living in very odd circumstances, and, and might just be an heiress. And she's got a Knight Errant too, Jim Sundean, an American engineer who comes to the extremely creepy Hotel in rural France where Sue has been living since her Mother died a year ago. She doesn't know of any other relations except her father, who was estranged from her mother and Sue just after Sue's birth, and she's had no contact with him in the twenty years since then.
The owner of the hotel seems strangely reluctant to accept Jim as a customer, which (of course) only whets his appetite, and then becomes rather flustered when Jim wants a room in the isolated North Wing of the hotel - it's winter and there's practically no guests there now, so there *ought* to be lots of room choices... Jim's a kind of direct, forceful guy, and gets his room, although he discovers it not only is cold and quite dark, with the mistral winds playing havoc around the hotel and especially in the courtyard just below his window, it's exceedingly creepy as well.
And, this being a suspenser, things only go from odd to worse for Jim, and particularly for Sue as well. That night a man is murdered just outside of his window, and a lovely young woman (Sue) bangs at his door in the depths of night. She says she's been abducted and only just now got away, but the story is full of holes. She's pretty, though, and he's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but when they find the dead body he's not so sure...
And things only get more confusing and desperate for the two and the friends they make, and the supposed-friends they make, as there are two more murders, another abduction, and lots of other strange things going on in the dark old hotel. Jim doesn't like the owner and, especially, his wife - they seem to be very "doubtful" sorts of folks, not at all trustworthy nor believable, and it takes a while before he begins to understand just what it is that's hanging over Sue.
Unfortunately, by then he, like a very usual hero, has quite fallen for the lovely young lady, and although her supposed "inheritance" might eventually come between them he's willing to do whatever he must to help her obtain it, whatever it is. She won't tell him much, but it's quite obvious that somebody doesn't want her to connect with her father's representatives about family history, and is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that she never leaves that hotel. But she's tougher than she looks, and now that she has some help she might have a chance to survive.
Despite my somewhat snarky tone, this is a wonderful read, fast-paced and beautifully plotted. The characters suffer slightly from a few of the period idiosyncracies and while Eberhart is lighter in describing some nationalities than other writers of the period, she does use several stereotypes here, and not flattering ones either, so be warned. However, she fully fleshes out all the characters by the end, making them into more realistic people. Still not all that flattering though...
This is an extremely old-fashioned read, and you're likely, as I did, to start anticipating where the plot is going. It's not fatal, though, because Eberhart has a couple of very nice twists that, although quite classic in and of themselves, work really nicely here. Yes there are a lot of basic plot fixtures in this early novel, but the atmosphere is so well-done, and the characters are excellent, plus the pace is pretty fast, so there's no turning back once you've read a couple of chapters. Indeed, I sat down to just read "a few pages, just to see", and only realized what I was doing when I'd reached page 64! AND didn't want to stop!
BOTTOM LINE:
Classic, and classy murder/suspense thriller, with all the bells and whistles, plotted and executed by an expert, even though this was only her second in the genre. Couldn't give it a higher rating due to the extreme familiarity I have with these sort of plot elements, and Eberhart's beautiful writing helped overcome this somewhat. Old, but not boring - a "really good read".
January 23, 2021
L'inizio sembra molto promettente, un giallo con l'ambientazione giusta, un gruppo chiuso di personaggi che vengono ben descritti e diversificati tra loro, un'atmosfera da brividi ma...un libro eterno e senza conclusione.
Il libro inizia con un omicidio e fino alle ultime pagine non succede assolutamente niente, si discute, si gira per un albergo buio, si finge di indagare...un vero strazio.
Dopo averlo finito con fatica, ho letto le recensioni online e ho scoperto che esiste la versione tagliata perchè quella integrale non aveva avuto successo (chissà mai perchè)
Un consiglio: provate quella accorciata, probabilmente senza tutta quella parte centrale noiosa sarebbe risultato anche un giallo ben congegnato.
(Non fatevi imbrogliare dalla trama, il pappagallo non c'è praticamente mai e non serve a niente ai fini della storia, infatti la versione breve ha un altro titolo)
Il libro inizia con un omicidio e fino alle ultime pagine non succede assolutamente niente, si discute, si gira per un albergo buio, si finge di indagare...un vero strazio.
Dopo averlo finito con fatica, ho letto le recensioni online e ho scoperto che esiste la versione tagliata perchè quella integrale non aveva avuto successo (chissà mai perchè)
Un consiglio: provate quella accorciata, probabilmente senza tutta quella parte centrale noiosa sarebbe risultato anche un giallo ben congegnato.
(Non fatevi imbrogliare dalla trama, il pappagallo non c'è praticamente mai e non serve a niente ai fini della storia, infatti la versione breve ha un altro titolo)
June 20, 2015
one of my best finds! the back sounded ok (it turned out to be pretty off base with the actual story) but it was awesome! i'm new to the "had I but known" genres of mysteries, but i thought this one was great. Suspense, Isolated group, millions of dollars at stake, and just a touch of romance. GREAT book!
March 1, 2022
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews