The China Sea Murders

Hugh North #7

by F. Van Wyck Mason

Down Shanghai's famous Bund swept the red tide of terror -- until Captain North discovered the secret of the four copper coins, of the dying man who whispered, "Carol's doll," and of the murderer whose goal was an empire!

Genres: Mystery

153 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

aka Geoffrey Coffin, Frank W. Mason, Ward Weaver

Francis Van Wyck Mason (November 11, 1901 – August 28, 1978, Bermuda) was an American historian and novelist. He had a long and prolific career as a writer spanning 50 years and including 65 published novels.

Reviews

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often, Van Wyck Mason has a habit of putting his mysteries in an exotic location but describing events in one or two very pedestrian locations. So murders in Bangkok happen mostly in a hotel. But especially in the earlier works, this flaw isn't present. And Bund Murders is one of those earlier works. And it may be the best I've read so far. It threatened at first to leave all the action on a Yangtze river steamer. But then events spilled out onto the backstreets of Shanghai and the relative safety of the international concession. Chinese heroes and villains become central to the work. By the end, so many of the antagonists have become allies and friends that Bund Murders seems to illustrate to a tee the convoluted system of spies and government agents whose shadow existences blur the borders of trust and virtue.

Set against the background of 1930s warlord China, Bund Murders also demonstrates another strength of Mason that later on developed into a weakness. That is, his use of language and dialog. He's close to his own origins, here, and Mason would have been in his early 30s when the book was published. It's contemporaneous with his own youth and he clearly has an ear for the argot of the times. Later on, the same use of language would appear stiff and unnatural in his 50s and 60s Hugh North novels. But with Bund Murders the pitch is perfect for the era.

[Mh430 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A warlord's army threatens the people of Shanghai with destruction and only by solving the mystery of a secret agent's recent murder can the attack be prevented. Fortunately Hugh North of Army Intelligence is on the job. This is the sixth North story in a series that will extend all the way into the 1960s and might just be the best one yet. North isn't as flashy as many Golden Age detectives, but his coolly competent persona is still appealing. The greatest attraction of the series for me however, is the wonderful sense of verisimilitude Mason gives to his stories. Everything I've read about the author says he was widely traveled and his novels show first hand experience with the exotic destinations that North visits. A highly enjoyable series well worth a reader's time.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting locale but very dull plot. Very "Agatha Christie" for about half the novel with a bunch of people going into rooms and spouting off questions. A shame because it is an interesting subject matter.

[Marley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The China Sea Murders is a re-write of author F van Wyke Mason's Shanghai Bund Murders from the 1930s. It is part of the Hugh North series of espionage murder thrillers. My copy is an original Pocket Book from 1959. Tame by today's standards, the book (and the original, I assume) is a rip-roaring story of Col. North destruction of a secret N. Korean-Chinese plan to....well, read it to find out.

Mason wrote a gazillion pulps, but he definitely a talented writer who had some "legitimate" best sellers, though occasionally his verbiage could be a little less florid.

I admit I was attracted to the book by its lurid cover, which has nothing to do with the story, despite the final scene which involves bacon as an instrument of torture. Yes, bacon.

The book has some funny scenes with Col North posing as a nerdy USDA functionary on a trip to S Korea to discuss peanut cultivation with the Rhee government. Modern readers may find the anti-Communist narrative over the top, but as someone who grew up in that period it was pretty real.

If I find any more Hugh North books, I'll pick them up. I'm actually rather interested in learning more about him. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Cold War thrillers.