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What curious use is being made of the disused mortuary? Why did chrysanthemums suddenly change to violets? What was hidden in the secret files of the Granville Enquiry Agency? Who would want to poison such a harmless child as Felicity Blaker? Those are some of the problems which Dodds and Verity have to solve before the curtain falls on their strange imbroglio.
Five amateur detectives, under the adroit guidance of Septimus Dodds, attempt to solve the mystery surrounding the death of Hedley Whitworth, Public Nuisance No. 1, the method adopted by the quintette being for each to follow one of several bizarre clues found beside the dead man. The efforts of the Five are described with a blend of humor and tensity, while the pace and excitement are maintained until the final, amazing dénouement.
Like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sutherland Scott is both doctor and author, a happy combination which has produced some of the greatest of crime stories. It is only fitting, therefore, that he should tell the colourful story of the mystery novel and of those who have had “Blood in Their Ink”.
What are the pre-requisites of a good mystery yarn? Do you enjoy suspense and atmosphere, the unexpected twist, a touch of the bizarre which excites but never offends credulity? Do you like a leaven of humour and a fast-moving plot? Do you, in short, wish to be taken out of yourself, to be allowed to forget the troubles and worries of these difficult days? If you do, Capital Punishment is exactly what you want.
Was Sunnydene a normal, well-conducted nursing home? If Dr. Kahn’s five patients had been murdered, how had the crimes been covered up? Were the deaths really natural?
The intimate glimpses which it affords of general practice, of the worries and troubles which beset a family doctor, are cleverly interwoven into the mystery.
Begun in England, this novel was continued in France, Belgium and Holland, while its author—a senior Medical Officer with the R.A.M.C.—took part in the final assault on Hitler’s stronghold. This is what he says :
“I wrote a chapter here and there, wherever I could. Normandy, Dieppe, Amiens, Arras, Lille, Brussels, Holland—all saw their quota added. Finally, in what remained of a tiny German hamlet, the end was fashioned. Circumstances over which I had less than no control have held up the strange adventures of Dessie, Peter and McNab.”
Strange, macabre happenings in a country house, which lead to four unpleasant deaths; a conflicting maze of suspicion and tragedy, rising to its final crescendo of unendurable horror. Who was the unknown “Anna” so closely linked with the murders? Why was Slade’s shirt stained with red, blue and purple dyes? Did Debenham’s ghost really walk? Those were but a few of the questions which Septimus Dodds was required to answer. How he arrived at the incredible truth is told by Sandy Stacey, with that delicious blend of eerie atmosphere and humour which has already won him fame.
An artiste is found murdered under peculiarly revolting circumstances, and before the mystery is eventually solved, several additional tragedies and macabre incidents occur in rapid succession. Almost the entire company at the theatre—Crazy gang, trapeze artists, illusionist, dance band performers, crooners, etc.—are drawn into the net of suspicion and intrigue, the complicated tangle being finally straightened out by Septimus Dodds and “Sandy” Stacey.
French translation of Murder Is Infectious, published in 1937.
Publié en Français sous le titre La Série Tragique, Paris, Nouvelle Revue Critique, coll. « L’Empreinte » no 119 (1937)
