The Black Piano

by Constance Little, Gwenyth Little

With the help of a plastic surgeon and a beautician, Gloria returns home to catch the person who thinks he or she "murdered" her. A reprint of a 1949 mystery by the queens of the screwball mystery comedy.

Genres: Mystery

154 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

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Little sisters loved twisty mystery plots and plenty of wise-cracking side characters. While Jane, formerly known as Gloria, is not the wisest of their sleuthing dames, we can forgive her confusion as she starts this book being tossed off a bridge. It's enough to make any gal a little loopy, especially when she knows that the would-be killer is one of her freeloading relations or possibly her philandering husband. After a little plastic surgery and picking up a new husband, rich Gloria is now glamorous Jane and ready to go home. It isn't until she steps off the train in her small town and meets her most likely suspect, aka her first husband, that it occurs to her that explaining all this to the second husband may be a little tricky. Especially the bigamy part. Never mind, Jane will smoke cigarettes, drink cocktails, play bridge, and rely heavily on her new in-laws to help her out of her jam including the appearance of more dead bodies and a haunted piano. If you're in the mood for screwball comedy, a Little mystery goes well with a very dry martini.

[Gypsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

While on vacation, Gloria Rouston finds herself pushed off a bridge, and she knows it's an attempt by a family member to murder her for her large fortune. Instead of going back to her home, she uses all her cash to fix her nose and change her hair, and returns to town as Jane Cowrer, the new wife of a up-and-coming lawyer, determined to find out who wanted her dead. In the meantime, her other husband, Dick Rouston, identifies as body as Gloria's, takes over her money, and becomes engaged. Add to this an actual murder, a ghostly piano, and a whole lot of lies and secrets, and Jane/Gloria may be in too deep.

The Little sisters excel at writing laugh-out-loud slapstick comedies wrapped around a solidly good whodunnit. The Black Piano, however, has none of their signature humor. It is still a well-written novel with a nicely plotted mystery and a engrossing story. I wouldn't recommend it as the first novel to read by the Littles, as it's not a good example of their talent for the zany and absurd, but on it's own, it is certainly a good read.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as mad capped fast and furious as most of this series but just as good!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone tried to kill Gloria, and she's determined to find out which of her family and hangers-on was responsible. In fact, she's even willing to recreate herself and commit bigamy to come back from the dead as another woman and identify her would-be killer. What happens after that?--She has no idea. But she worries that her new husband, who knows her as Jane, will find out she's been lying, and her old husband will recognize her as the woman he married. Then a body is found in Jane's new house. If the police know she's Gloria, she'll be a suspect. If she claims to be Jane, she'll never get her own money back.