The Black Wings

by Moray Dalton

‘Very good’ The Times‘Handles with dexterity a very complicated plot’ Evening StandardFirst republication of this ultra-rare Moray Dalton crime novel for almost a centuryThis 2023 Spitfire Publishers edition includes a comprehensive bibliography of Moray Dalton’s crime fiction
The body was found lying face downwards in the top floor flat of number 7 Bolsover Square, Westminster. Killed by a glancing blow from a wood chopper which struck the nape of the neck and severed the main artery. What linked this gruesome murder with Sir Roger Wing who had been dining in the flat below with his publisher friend Christopher Penistone? The aristocratic Wing family had for centuries resided at the Mallowes, a remote country house perched above a beach on the West Sussex coast. Was the arrival at the Mallowes of an anonymous letter for Sir Roger that same day just a coincidence? And what could this have to do with the looting of precious gems from the Medici family tomb in Florence in 1818 by Sir Roger’s great-grandfather?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Moray Dalton was the pen name of Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir. Katherine was born in 1881 in Hammersmith, London to an American father and a Canadian mother. After writing two mainstream novels, her first crime novel, The Kingsclere Mystery was published in 1924. She would write a total of twenty-nine crime novels by 1951. One of many female writers who chose a male pseudonym to compete in the genre, Moray Dalton is one of the most under-rated crime authors of the ‘Golden Age’. Among the characters she created were the percipient and persistent private detective Hermann Glide and most popular of all, the young and woman-shy Scotland Yard inspector, Hugh Collier, who stared in a fifteen-book series. After living most of her life on the south coast of England, Katherine Renoir died in Worthing in 1963.

PRAISE FOR MORAY DALTON

‘The author writes in an excellent, clear, vivid style’
Times Literary Supplement

‘Her mysteries [are] superbly readable examples of the fine art of English murder-fiction’
Curtis Evans

‘Commands the absorbed attention of the reader’
Boston Transcript

‘The mystery is well sustained’
New York Times

Genres: Mystery, Classics

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Pseudonym of Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir (1881-1963)

Katherine Dalton was born in Hammersmith, London in 1881, the only child of a Canadian father and English mother. The author wrote two well-received early novels, Olive in Italy (1909), and The Sword of Love (1920). However, her career in crime fiction did not begin until 1924, after which Moray Dalton published twenty-nine mysteries, the last in 1951. The majority of these feature her recurring sleuths, Scotland Yard inspector Hugh Collier and private inquiry agent Hermann Glide. Moray Dalton married Louis Jean Renoir in 1921, and the couple had a son a year later. The author lived on the south coast of England for the majority of her life following the marriage. She died in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1963.

Reviews

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, 4.5 stars for this interesting, elaborate, involved GA mystery with not just one, but two gobsmacking twists at the very end. Very enjoyable!

So glad I picked up a few of her reissued books on kindle, I’ll want to read more, she tells a hell of a story - blackmail, murder, jewels stolen from a Medici crypt, double crossing among the thieves resulting in a decades-long vendetta, white slavers, yikes! A lot going on, and very entertaining!

[Gypsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a complicated story, and not easy to summarize without spoiling the plot. It's made up of murder, blackmail, family secrets, abduction, light romance, police procedure, and courtroom drama, with a nod to the classic Jane Eyre.

This book is advertised as "A Golden Age Mystery", but that is not quite accurate. Though there is a mystery, this is actually a crime novel of suspense and adventure, with elements that are not at all typical of a Golden Age Mystery. It is well-written, intelligent, and, while over-the-top at times, absolutely absorbing.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free with credit | Some unlikely coincidences, deus ex machina, police letting suspects/amateur detectives take the lead, but still overall an enjoyable read | The author used some standard techniques of the time to keep the action going, moving from place to place suddenly with little justification and in unlikely ways, and people are willing to jump in and help strangers storm criminal dens in foreign countries or give deathbed confessions or write full accounts of their wrongdoings for others to read after their deaths. But good things happen to nice people, and it mostly hangs together in the end.
Common to the time anti-Semitism and anti-Italian bigotry throughout.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aristocratic Wing family had for centuries resided at the Mallowes, a remote country house perched above the continually encroaching beach on the West Sussex coast. Sir Roger Wing is the surviving descendant of this family that boasts more than one famously irresponsible ancestor. The Wings are a swarthy race indirectly related to the Medici. Because of their looks they are known as the Black Wings.

It is 1925 and the story opens with the brutal murder of the resident in the flat above Sir Roger's friend who he is having dinner with. The victim's young granddaughter who just arrived alerts them to the murder. Because she is both destitute and now alone, Sir Roger helps her by arranging her to stay with his former governess and later as the companion to his wife.

This is a story of vendettas traced back to 2 families over several generations and the stealing of precious gems from the Medici family tomb in Florence in 1818 by Sir Roger’s great-grandfather and a local Italian family. The ancestors of the Italian family have been seeking revenge for a wrong for generations with a number of plot twists at the end. Somehow the murder victim is involved.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

terrific Story!

A very golden mystery! Patience & love of the genre helpful to truly enjoy this one. Reminiscent of Jane Eyre.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but could have used a bit of plot trimming. Also, it's very much a thriller, and not a mystery.

[Joann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more enjoyable than her first mystery. It was a thriller more than a golden age mystery. Had a couple of interesting twists at the end.

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️½

[Rebecca Bratspies · Rating 2 out of 5]

dull and the ending made no sense. skip this one

[Roy Kenagy]

RK KINDLE