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Paul Lane #7
A Plate of Red Herrings
A cocktail party is used as the setting for the take-over company to tell most of the astonished staff of a popular magazine that their services are no longer required. The axe is being wielded, with evident enjoyment, by Bryan Colley — until somebody inevitably decides to do something even nastier to him. The weapon is a bronze
trophy; the statue of an angler holding a rod — and as the rod is made of steel it easily penetrates the victim’s brain.
The magazine's Assistant Fiction Editor, Nora Curran, becomes the prime suspect, and the job of working out a solution to the puzzle is handed to her good friend,
Bernie Simmons, Assistant District Attorney assigned to the Homicide Squad.
Here is another matchless Francis Richards — full of top-class entertainment for the mystery fan.
trophy; the statue of an angler holding a rod — and as the rod is made of steel it easily penetrates the victim’s brain.
The magazine's Assistant Fiction Editor, Nora Curran, becomes the prime suspect, and the job of working out a solution to the puzzle is handed to her good friend,
Bernie Simmons, Assistant District Attorney assigned to the Homicide Squad.
Here is another matchless Francis Richards — full of top-class entertainment for the mystery fan.
- GenresMystery
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
16 people want to read
About the author
Richard Lockridge
132 books25 followersAn American writer of detective fiction, Richard Lockridge's frequent collaborator was his wife Frances Lockridge, who co-wrote the Mr. and Mrs. North mystery series and other popular books.
The couple also published under the shared pseudonym Francis Richards.
The couple also published under the shared pseudonym Francis Richards.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 29, 2022
A Plate Red Herrings (1968) by Richard Lockridge
The United Broadcasting Network throws a grand party for the editorial staff of its newly acquired property The Guardian magazine. Well, the staff better drink up, it will make the big news of the evening go down a little smoother. Maybe. Bryan Colley is a network axe man who has been brought in to cut out the dead wood. And six staff members are called in for private meetings during the course of the evening to be told that their services were no longer needed.
"Clean sweep" Colley apparently enjoyed telling everyone the bad news. This included Kent Simpson, the fiction editor; Nora Curran, the assistant fiction editor; Dr. Clifford Armstrong, a historian writing a book for which The Guardian had given advances; Rosalie Shaffer, the fashion editor; H. R. Stubbs, the advertising manager, and Mr. Fremont, the religious editor. He apparently enjoyed firing people so much that he recorded the meetings on tape--perhaps so he could savor the powerful feeling of destroying lives one more time?
When Bryan Colley is found murdered in that same office, having been stabbed with the metal fishing pole attached to to fishing trophy, that recording becomes exhibit A in the police's evidence. It provides them with a nice platter of red herrings amongst which a murderer can hide. Bernie Simmons, assistant D. A. sits in on the case, even though Lieutenant John Stein has his eye on his friend Nora as prime suspect. Bernie knows Nora couldn't have done it--but will the evidence prove his private opinion to be correct? And can he keep his personal feelings out of his very public job if he's wrong?
I really enjoyed this one when I read it the first time. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it this time, but this is the first of the Lockridge books that I've read again (after a very long time) where I absolutely remembered the plot from the opening pages. Every bit. That doesn't usually happen--my memory has gotten sieve-like enough that certain bits might be familiar, but I don't normally remember everything. It did make it a little difficult to really sink into the story as I normally do with Lockridge books.
I did still appreciate the set-up--the serving up of the suspects through their own recorded conversations with the deceased. It's not often the police get a word-for-word rendition of the victim's last conversations. I also enjoyed how Lockridge plays with that set-up to use it to force certain expectations. I gave the book four stars on my previous reading and I'm going to let that stand. ★★★★
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of the review. Thanks.
The United Broadcasting Network throws a grand party for the editorial staff of its newly acquired property The Guardian magazine. Well, the staff better drink up, it will make the big news of the evening go down a little smoother. Maybe. Bryan Colley is a network axe man who has been brought in to cut out the dead wood. And six staff members are called in for private meetings during the course of the evening to be told that their services were no longer needed.
"Clean sweep" Colley apparently enjoyed telling everyone the bad news. This included Kent Simpson, the fiction editor; Nora Curran, the assistant fiction editor; Dr. Clifford Armstrong, a historian writing a book for which The Guardian had given advances; Rosalie Shaffer, the fashion editor; H. R. Stubbs, the advertising manager, and Mr. Fremont, the religious editor. He apparently enjoyed firing people so much that he recorded the meetings on tape--perhaps so he could savor the powerful feeling of destroying lives one more time?
When Bryan Colley is found murdered in that same office, having been stabbed with the metal fishing pole attached to to fishing trophy, that recording becomes exhibit A in the police's evidence. It provides them with a nice platter of red herrings amongst which a murderer can hide. Bernie Simmons, assistant D. A. sits in on the case, even though Lieutenant John Stein has his eye on his friend Nora as prime suspect. Bernie knows Nora couldn't have done it--but will the evidence prove his private opinion to be correct? And can he keep his personal feelings out of his very public job if he's wrong?
I really enjoyed this one when I read it the first time. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it this time, but this is the first of the Lockridge books that I've read again (after a very long time) where I absolutely remembered the plot from the opening pages. Every bit. That doesn't usually happen--my memory has gotten sieve-like enough that certain bits might be familiar, but I don't normally remember everything. It did make it a little difficult to really sink into the story as I normally do with Lockridge books.
I did still appreciate the set-up--the serving up of the suspects through their own recorded conversations with the deceased. It's not often the police get a word-for-word rendition of the victim's last conversations. I also enjoyed how Lockridge plays with that set-up to use it to force certain expectations. I gave the book four stars on my previous reading and I'm going to let that stand. ★★★★
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of the review. Thanks.
October 23, 2024
3.5. I enjoyed this little old mystery.
August 8, 2010
One biz absorbs another and in the process the hatchet man gets killed on the day he starts to chop. Simmons and Stein must weave through a full plate of suspects before they find the right one. This particular story is a bit rougher on the edges in terms of writing. I missed some of the wonderful descriptions that are in other books in this group.
March 31, 2011
apt title, very clue heavy, non-series
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews