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Peter Cutler Sargent II #1-3
Three by Box: The Complete Mysteries of Edgar Box
Edgar Box is a nom de plume used by Gore Vidal.
457 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 9, 2019
There are many great mystery writers that we’ve all probably read. Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle come to mind. There are also authors from other genres who also wrote great mysteries. Among them are JK Rowling, Nora Roberts, and Gore Vidal. Wait…Gore Vidal?
Yes, Gore Vidal. Back in the early 1950s, he had been blacklisted and could not get anything published. Publisher Victor Weybright suggested he write a murder mystery and he’d publish it. (BTW, Gore Vidal was not his legal name either.) Over lunch, Weybright suggested he use Edgar after mystery writer Edgar Wallace. After lunch the pair went to a party that afternoon for a Mr. and Mrs. Box. It didn’t take long for Vidal to come up with the name Edgar Box.
From 1952-1954, Edgar Box wrote three mystery novels, all are led by amateur sleuth and public relations specialist Peter Sargeant. The novels are frequently combined into a single tome. I read them under the combined name “Boxed In”.
In “Death in the Fifth Position”, Sargeant is hired to publicize a ballet company. When the lead dancer is killed during a performance and lands in the fifth postion, he gets pulled into solving the murder.
My favorite of the three is “Death Like it Hot.” A terrific name for a mystery. In this story, Sargeant is hired to do a big PR splash for an ambitious Senator. But he ends up dead on the night before he’s to announce is run for President.
The last story is “Death Before Bedtime.” I like the love interest in this story the best. Here, Sargeant spends a week at the home of a Long Island socialite where he is hired to get the word out for a big party. But when one of the house guests, the wife of a famous painter, ends up dead, he again jumps into action to solve the murder.
All three stories are a delight. Just as you think you know who the killer is, Box twists things in a way that has you guessing again. You really don’t know until the very end. I was left wishing he’d written more mysteries. If you’re looking for light-hearted, well written stories, you can’t go wrong here. Open the Box and give them a read.
Yes, Gore Vidal. Back in the early 1950s, he had been blacklisted and could not get anything published. Publisher Victor Weybright suggested he write a murder mystery and he’d publish it. (BTW, Gore Vidal was not his legal name either.) Over lunch, Weybright suggested he use Edgar after mystery writer Edgar Wallace. After lunch the pair went to a party that afternoon for a Mr. and Mrs. Box. It didn’t take long for Vidal to come up with the name Edgar Box.
From 1952-1954, Edgar Box wrote three mystery novels, all are led by amateur sleuth and public relations specialist Peter Sargeant. The novels are frequently combined into a single tome. I read them under the combined name “Boxed In”.
In “Death in the Fifth Position”, Sargeant is hired to publicize a ballet company. When the lead dancer is killed during a performance and lands in the fifth postion, he gets pulled into solving the murder.
My favorite of the three is “Death Like it Hot.” A terrific name for a mystery. In this story, Sargeant is hired to do a big PR splash for an ambitious Senator. But he ends up dead on the night before he’s to announce is run for President.
The last story is “Death Before Bedtime.” I like the love interest in this story the best. Here, Sargeant spends a week at the home of a Long Island socialite where he is hired to get the word out for a big party. But when one of the house guests, the wife of a famous painter, ends up dead, he again jumps into action to solve the murder.
All three stories are a delight. Just as you think you know who the killer is, Box twists things in a way that has you guessing again. You really don’t know until the very end. I was left wishing he’d written more mysteries. If you’re looking for light-hearted, well written stories, you can’t go wrong here. Open the Box and give them a read.
February 6, 2023
DEATH IN THE FIFTH POSITION
This was the first of three mysteries featuring PR man and amateur detective, Peter Sargeant, written by Gore Vidal as Edgar Box.
Set in the world of New York ballet with which Vidal was very familiar through his relationships with two leading ballet dancers, it is more remarkable for its insights into that world than for its murder plot.
Three deaths of people intimately connected to a ballet company performing at the Met are "investigated", although the professionals mainly finger the most obvious suspects while Sargeant uses light interviewing plus intuition, before accidentally landing proof of guilt.
On the way there is an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a ballet company and a foray into the gay club and baths scene of early 1950s NYC. There is an engaging frankness about various forms of sexuality and sexual behaviours, but little to satisfy the intrepid devourer of detective fiction. The serious political backdrop of the "patriotic" anti-communist witch-hunts of the period is but lightly sketched.
A short , stylish and slight read.
3.25 stars.
This was the first of three mysteries featuring PR man and amateur detective, Peter Sargeant, written by Gore Vidal as Edgar Box.
Set in the world of New York ballet with which Vidal was very familiar through his relationships with two leading ballet dancers, it is more remarkable for its insights into that world than for its murder plot.
Three deaths of people intimately connected to a ballet company performing at the Met are "investigated", although the professionals mainly finger the most obvious suspects while Sargeant uses light interviewing plus intuition, before accidentally landing proof of guilt.
On the way there is an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a ballet company and a foray into the gay club and baths scene of early 1950s NYC. There is an engaging frankness about various forms of sexuality and sexual behaviours, but little to satisfy the intrepid devourer of detective fiction. The serious political backdrop of the "patriotic" anti-communist witch-hunts of the period is but lightly sketched.
A short , stylish and slight read.
3.25 stars.
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June 11, 2020The three mysteries written by Gore Vidal. (Who knew?) I liked them in ascending order of preference, and the last one had one of the most amusing opening paragraphs I've seen in a long time. I only wish he'd written more!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2019
Gore Vidal writing mysteries under the pseudonym "Edgar Box"
October 28, 2021
Great fun!
October 30, 2024
By the early 1950s, Gore Vidal was in a place of career transition. His career as a novelist had cooled off since the publication of his pathbreaking, controversial novel on homosexuality, The City and the Pillar (1948). As such, the chief executive at Dutton, his publisher, suggested he write mystery novels under a pseudonym. Intrigued by the idea and having known many of the tropes of the genre as a reader of Agatha Christie, Vidal assumed the name “Edgar Box” (a combination of Edgar Wallace, the godfather of the modern mystery tale, and the last name of an acquaintance) and wrote three mystery novels in a short clip: Death in the Fifth Position (1952), Death Before Bedtime (1953), and Death Likes it Hot (1954).
The main protagonist of all three novels is Peter Sargeant II, a dashing, witty public relations man and occasional journalist who finds himself stuck in the middle of mysterious murders with a colorful cast of potential subjects. In Death in the Fifth Position, he successfully solves the murder of a prominent ballerina whose star shined too bright to the liking of her killer. Death Before Bedtime, my personal favorite of the three, sees Sargeant exposing the murder of an ambitious U.S. Senator and prospective presidential candidate. In the final book in the trilogy, Death Likes it Hot, Sargeant unravels a fiendish murder plot in the Hamptons during the dog days of summer. All three have twists, turns, and red herrings—in the classic Christie mold—mixed with very clever dialogue and snapshots of American life in the early 1950s, albeit in power centers like New York and Washington, D.C. It would’ve been interesting to see him write a mystery novel under his own name, even with an historical bent, but that wasn’t to be.
While certainly not among his best work, these three novels represent the strongest of Gore Vidal’s pseudonymous works and illustrate his singular knack for genre fiction.
The main protagonist of all three novels is Peter Sargeant II, a dashing, witty public relations man and occasional journalist who finds himself stuck in the middle of mysterious murders with a colorful cast of potential subjects. In Death in the Fifth Position, he successfully solves the murder of a prominent ballerina whose star shined too bright to the liking of her killer. Death Before Bedtime, my personal favorite of the three, sees Sargeant exposing the murder of an ambitious U.S. Senator and prospective presidential candidate. In the final book in the trilogy, Death Likes it Hot, Sargeant unravels a fiendish murder plot in the Hamptons during the dog days of summer. All three have twists, turns, and red herrings—in the classic Christie mold—mixed with very clever dialogue and snapshots of American life in the early 1950s, albeit in power centers like New York and Washington, D.C. It would’ve been interesting to see him write a mystery novel under his own name, even with an historical bent, but that wasn’t to be.
While certainly not among his best work, these three novels represent the strongest of Gore Vidal’s pseudonymous works and illustrate his singular knack for genre fiction.
April 7, 2014
I think that because I had read all the historical books like Lincoln and Burr, I had too high an expectation of these. they were okay, very dated, set in the upper echelons of New York society and very snobbish. it was Gore Vidal's voice but very waspish and not very likeable as a detective.
June 3, 2015
Must read if Vidal fan. Tongue-in-cheek but still Vidal-ish. Surprisingly good genre read.
October 31, 2014
Fantastic...someone said the books are dated...so what? I wish there were more than three.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews