The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

Believe it or not, I first read this book about 35 years ago. I was somewhere between 11 or 12 when I read it. Nobody ever said that my parents had very good parental discretion. The Lady in the Lake has got sex, violence, dirty cops and several gristly murders. 

I remember being enamored by the title that was a reference to the Arthurian legend. I'm here to tell you, this Raymond Chandler classic has absolutely nothing to do with King Arthur and Merlin. It would have been neat had the main setting, a secluded cabin in the Californian San Gabriel Mountains, had the name of Camelot. But nobody ever said that a Philip Marlowe mystery had a lot of symbolism. 

There was one point where Marlowe provided false information. That lie really confused me. The private investigator states that a murder suspect wore a certain piece of clothing when in fact, it was Philip who wore the accessory. I spent a good half hour going back through the book, thinking that I had missed something. Instead, I should of followed my own personal rule when I read a Raymond Chandler classic: just follow along for the ride.

Being a re-read, despite it being decades since I first read this book, I still had some memories of my first interaction with it. But my memory was foggy enough to still be surprised from time to time. Plus I was just really shocked by the content of this 1943 work, both for the level of loose morals for a time period otherwise considered puritanical compared to today. Plus I still can't believe my mom let me read this book when I was barely in middle school!!!

Marlowe is hired to find a missing wife. Her husband is a high level executive who's more afraid of the scandal behind his wife's history of infidelity than he is concerned about her safety. The last time she was seen was about a month earlier when she went to summer at her mountain cottage. Added to the mix was a bizarre telegram win which the woman claims she's gone to Mexico for a quickie divorce and even quicker remarriage. Only the guy she claimed was going to marry her never took the plunge and hasn't seen her in weeks.

When the shamus visits the cabin, he learns that the caretaker's wife disappeared at about the same time as the missing socialite. When Marlowe discovers a body partially submerged in the water, it's identified that the victim is the caretaker. But could the murderer have been his client's missing bride? It's up to the detective to solve two mysteries that while seemingly unaffiliated; the clues keep entangling like a fast growing vine around each other.

One thing that readers need to understand about this book is that it was written during the height of World War II. There's a lot of situations that seem very unusual to modern day readers as those moments should. There was a very great fear of sabotage especially along the West Coast. Plus with priority going towards the war effort, shortages and rationing was a very real first world problem for Americans in the 1940s. Once you understand the impact the war made on everyday life in the United States, despite our country not becoming an active war zone, it will help you better enjoy this work.

A great read. Just remember to let Raymond Chandler guide you. Things might seem out of sorts at time. But it all circles back in the end.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandria Benedict

A young woman is guilted by the final request of her deceased aunt into returning to her childhood home for one more round of Christmas Games. In the past, the Armitage children would solve puzzles during the 12 Days of Christmas in order to find their presents. But after the apparent suicide of her mother, Lily Armitage hasn't participated in the event in years. With the promise of revealing that her mom's death was in fact murder, Lily agrees to play the games one last time with her now adult cousins. The winner of the games gets the family mansion, which has been turned into a lucrative hotel. Lily just wants answers. However, someone is willing to kill off the competition for the home with no regard to helping Lily prove her mother did not commit suicide. Lily very well may have to win the game to not just get the answers she seeks, but to survive the holidays.

This very British holiday murder mystery that promises a number of games, some of which are interactive. One mission is for readers to find passages of the book turned into anagrams of the gifts from The Twelve Days of Christmas. I misunderstood the rules of that game thinking that the phrase 'A partridge in a pear tree' was hidden in Chapter One. So I spent way too much time analyzing every unusual looking sentence. It was getting really tedious going back and forth trying to determine if I was right or not. Once I found out that there wasn't a single line of the song in each chapter, I settled down and just enjoyed the book for the complex thriller it was.

This book is full of characters I liked- most of which died. This book also has a character that I absolutely despised. You'll have to read the book for yourself to determine if they lived or not. I kept going back and forth as to who the murderer was. At one point I thought it might be Lily doing the killing because her thoughts often would be expressed out loud in the next paragraph by one of the other characters. That train of thought got me thinking that maybe the whole thing is in Lily's mind. Alas, I must say, that sort of thinking is a red herring. 

To have a family member die and everybody keeps playing the games seemed a bit far fetched for me. The Armitage family get snowed in on the day of the first murder and of course, the phones go out and personal electronics and WiFi has been forbidden to prevent cheating in the Christmas Games. So I can understand why none of the characters make any attempts to go get the authorities as the nearest town is a long ways away. But I refuse to believe that a family, even as callous as the Armitages, would keep playing frivolous party games as the bodies begin to stack up.  Promise of inheriting an expensive home or not.

As much as I had difficulty with that aspect of the book, I kept on reading. I wanted to know more about these family mysteries that kept piling up. I'm pretty sure not all of them are ever fully uncovered. There's talk of one cousin who did something really bad to make them the black sheep of the family. But it's never fully explored. Another cousin has important things to tell Lily. Only they kick the bucket before saying what they know. Actually, I think this happened twice. 

Until I read this book, I didn't know that there was such a demand for Christmas set murder mysteries. However, it turns out that there are a bunch of such books. As I like a good mystery, I very much might consider making a holiday themed mystery novel a new annual Christmas tradition. (Actually, I read a Sherlock novel last year, so I guess I have already started such a tradition.) As much as this book had some implausible elements to it, this work by Alexandra Benedict did get my attention and it kept it throughout its whole 288 page length. Definitely a guilty pleasure sort of thing full of mind benders, deceits and a healthy dose of anglophilia. A passing knowledge of music theory helps. Though as I'm not very good at reading music or playing instruments, I was at a bit of a disadvantage there.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Murder Book

Not even a week ago, I reviewed a true crime book about murders in New England. Now I am reviewing a graphic novel on true crime. I'm not a fanatic of the genre. My mom sure was. That and mysteries were like her bread and butter. Horror was up there too and I think her fascination with true crime and mystery was a great influence on that and vice versa. 

I'm currently down to just a handful of requirements left to read in order to complete my 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. I chose this book to fulfill my need for a memoir. But despite what the cover of this graphic novel says, I don't think I can truly call this book a memoir.  

Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell examines our society's obsession with true crime. When I say 'our society', I'm really talking about the good ol' U.S. of A. Sure, England has its obsession with Jack the Ripper. But, I think that's more because nobody has yet to truly solve the crimes. So when it comes to murder and how it's literally become an artform, no other country leads the pack than America. 

Campbell explores the explosion of true crime by reflecting on her upbringing while examining a trio of killers- the Zodiac Killer, Ted Bundy, and Tom Capano. Zodiac is essentially what got Campbell's mother interested in true crime as she lived within striking distance of the areas that this unknown serial killer prowled. Ted Bundy is really the figure that first gained national exposure as a serial killer. Thanks to Bundy's friendship with Ann Rule, that relationship essentially created the term 'true crime' with her groundbreaking novel, The Stranger Beside Me; though the unnamed genre had been around for centuries. Tom Capano is really just a small blip on the true crime map. But it's the first case that really peaked Campbell's interest in the subject and thus his murder of mistress Anne Marie Fahey is explored in length. (By the way, Fahey was just one of at least 3 mistresses that the wealthy, powerful and demented Capano had that readers are informed of!)

Throughout this graphic novel, Campbell explores TV, movies and now podcasts which have become fixtures of true crime. Things like Law & Order, Forensic Files, Making of a Murderer and much, much more. The whole thing with the true crime podcasts is unlike anything I've ever seen as there are seemingly hundreds of amateur detectives out there examining every aspect of both popular and under-the-rug murders, posting their work to millions of listeners and getting rich from it, as well sometimes solving murders or helping innocents receive justice. 

Without the pandemic, I really don't see these podcasts becoming so quickly ingrained in our society like they have. Its like the lockdown created a need to find solace in the pain of others and murder podcasts filled that gap. I appreciate that Campbell alluded to this. But there are so many other crimes and serial killers that the author didn't even touch upon. Ed Gein. The Son of Sam. The Menendez Brothers. OJ! And what about how both John Hinkley Jr. and David Berkowitz were so influenced by Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye that they both carried out deadly plans to varying degrees of success? 

I smell sequel! And I am completely okay with that. Though if you do, Hilary, could you make the font a little bigger??? Some of those book titles were extremely hard to read.

O other thing I am not okay with is how insecure I feel after reading this book. Yes, I have really bad anxiety. But I'm not suddenly terrified of being another notch on a serial killer's belt. Instead, I found myself today starting to worry that every woman I passed at the grocery store, coffee shop and post office was fearful that I was a secret killer from every odd look I got in my Indiana Jones Fedora, black sunglasses and blue COVID mask. Maybe they just thought I was weird. I'd be okay with that. But I'm not a serial killer.

I eat cereal... But that's a different type of cereal killer...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Real Clue Crime Stories #9 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Inspired by the success of Lev Gleason Publications' Crime Does Not Pay, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon decided to make a crime comic. As a result, Hillman Publications produced the title Clue Comics. It featured true crime stories that both glorified the underworld lifestyle of sex, murder and greed utilizing a narrator that foretold each tale as a fable for sticking to the path of the straight and narrow. After the third issue, Kirby and Simon were able to convince editor Ed Cronin to add the word 'Crime' to their newest creation. As a bit of a compromise, the word 'Real' was also added since the stories told in the publication were based on true stories, even if these tales were embellished quite a bit. 

Real Clue Crime Stories made its newly named debut with the June, 1947 edition. The life story of the notorious gangster Ma Barker and her family of killers were the cover feature; though historians now believe that this story was made up by the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover to cover for the accidental death of the elderly matriarch during a shoot-out in 1935. 

For the November, 1947 issue of Real Clue Crime Comics, I was able to verify that 4 stories are in fact about real life criminals. Opening story 'Kid Twist' is about the Austrian-Hungarian/Italian gangster Max Zweifach (Zwerbach), who led the Max Eastman gang until he was gunned downed by a team of a rival gang and his own men in broad daylight. Then meet Jack 'Legs' Diamond, a crime lord who became so fearful of being killed, he sets himself up in a literal fortress in upstate New York and runs his operation by plane and proxy.

 'The 9 Lives of Michael Malloy' would be a hilarious story, if it wasn't true. Malloy is a drunkard who claims that he is near death. So a group of friends at the tavern Malloy frequents decide to take an insurance policy out on him. But Malloy just keeps breathing. So, they poison his beer. And Malloy just keeps drinking. After several murder attempts, the fellas finally kill off Michael Malloy. Only now, the insurance company smells a rat. This interesting story was featured on an episode of Mysteries at the Museum and was the inspiration for the episode 'One for the Road' on the NBC 80s anthology series Amazing Stories.

The last verifiable story is the required prose tale Hillman needed to maintain first class postage rates for the comic. It tells of the counterfeit ring of 'Count' Victor Lustig that ultimately brought the con man down. Though he managed to rake in millions of dollars in 1930s and 40s greenbacks, Lustig's most interesting con was his selling of the Eiffel Tower... twice!

The penultimate story of this issue is about a Revolutionary War era highwayman whose generosity turns out to be his downfall. The final tale is a take on the urban legend in which someone is challenged to go to a graveyard at midnight and to plunge a knife into a famous grave. In typical fashion, the knife manages to snag the clothing of the participant. The belief that the dead have risen from the grave due to this insult scares the defiler to death. Only with this being a crime comic book, there's a devious twist at the end. 

The cover and the first story were illustrated by Dan Barry, who drew a ton of beloved comic strip characters including Flash Gordon, Tarzan and Spider-Man in a career that spanned 6 decades. The only other artist who provides a signature is Art Helfant, a gag artist who crafted the 3 one-page funnies that add a slight doze of brevity to an otherwise intense and melodramatic book.

Kirby and Simon left Hillman in 1948. Yet despite this departure, Real Clue Crime Comics lived on. 5 more volumes of 12 issues each were published from 1948-52. A 6th volume was begun in 1953, amassing 3 issues before Hillman decided to shutter its comic book unit. Hillman Periodicals continued to publish a number of general interest and right-wing opinionated magazines until 1961 when publisher Alex L. Hillman sold off his very popular digest-sized Pageant to McFadden Communications. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #13 (With the word 'Clue' in the Title) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

The Borden Tragedy: A Memoir of the Infamous Double Murder at Fall River, Mass., 1892

Victorian true crime writer and artist Rick Geary recounts the events of the Lizzie Borden murders. A big fan of Geary's, I was ecstatic to read his take on the crime. In college, when I was a history major (not culinary), I did a research paper on Lizzie Border. It was a fascinating murder mystery that due to Border being found not guilty, is still considered unsolved to this day. Plus, this case was when I realized that my focus of study wasn't going to go the traditional route. But then again, when do I do anything like everybody else???

Rick Geary's work is one that collects the clues all the way from eyewitness accounts to sensationalized reporting to the court cases themselves. In no way does Geary express his bias onto the story. It's just the facts and nothing but the facts. Well, in the case of the Borden murders, since a suspect was never found guilty of the crimes, there's theory. But again, those theories are based on police and medical examiner findings and not the author's opinion.

I hit the mother lode at my local library recently. I've got 5 more Rick Geary graphic novels left to read and with it getting closer to fall and October, I am getting pumped to read some spooky stuff. You can't build upon the Halloween atmosphere any better with Gothic mysteries. Especially when these case files are all true!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 43

 
     Researching for A Madman Turns 40, I come across some very interesting stories. The one for today is a true crime that's never been solved- or has it? So my loyal readers, put on your deerstalker caps, grab a magnifying glass, and let's go over the aspects of this case...

     On this date in 1977, aspiring actress Christa Helm was found stabbed to death under an automobile in front of her agent's Los Angeles home. Prior to her death, Helm had starred in a couple of b-movie horror flicks and had guest stints on TV's Starsky & Hutch and Wonder Woman. The actress was known to have had numerous liaisons in her attempt to reach the pinnacle of stardom and the LAPD speculate that her use of video tape to record the affairs were the motivation behind her death.

To this day, Helm's journals and sex tapes have never been recovered.

    Now, it's 40 years later and the murder of starlet Christa Helm has never been solved. 

    WELLLLL...

     Here's where things get weird. Exactly 1 year prior to the day of Helm's death, actor Sal Mineo was stabbed to death in nearly the exact same spot. The Rebel Without A Cause star was killed by a pizza delivery man named Lionel Ray Williams. It wasn't until 1979 that Williams was caught. Prior and after Mineo's death, Williams had robbed others in the same area. So did he also commit a second murder- that of Christa Helm, as well?

Sal Mineo, 1973.

       Lionel Ray Williams has both confessed and denied killing Mineo. Sentenced to 57-years in prison, Williams was temporarily released on a but soon brought back in 1990 to carry out more of his sentence for parole violations . His has since been denied parole regularly despite his continued claim of innocence. (Lionel Ray Williams has never denied his role in the 10 robberies he was also imprisoned for.)

     Some speculate that Williams was falsely imprisoned and did not carry out Mineo's murder. Could the former delivery boy have killed Christa Helm instead and got falsely blamed for a stabbing he didn't commit? Or is both Mineo and Helm's murderer still on the streets, thanking a man who taking the wrap for him? This is an strange mystery that while mostly lost to time could make a very interesting mini-series on Netflix or Hulu.
     

Helm in a scene from Wonder Woman.
Lynda Carter is in the background.

      That's all the time I have for today. my fellow armchair Sherlocks, I trust that if I've inspired anyone to reopen these cases, that this Madman is given due credit. Until tomorrow- the game is afoot!

A Treasury of Victorian Murder Compendium

  The unsolved mystery of Jack the Ripper, the prolonged assassination of President James Garfield, and the strange case of H.H. Holmes; perhaps the first serial murderer in American history. Along with a trio of little known murders involving incest, fraud, and deception, this is the first collection of Victorian Era murder graphic novels by Rick Geary.
     If you love true crime. If you are a fan of the Victorian era. If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie, then the works of Rick Geary are right up your ally! 
    You don't have to be a fan of graphic novels to enjoy these historical pieces. With Geary's attention to detail and journalistic storytelling style, anyone who reads Ann Rule or can't miss an episode of Dateline NBC can enjoy this compendium. 
    I'm trying really hard to get my wife to read this. She's balking but I know in my heart of hearts that this is something she'd enjoy and demand more.
    At only $25 cover, this is a killer deal. Especially as each individual Geary edition has a cover price of at least $10 apiece or higher. Check this out on Amazon or your local library, like I did! 
    It would be a crime to pass this volume up!

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

The Case of Madeleine Smith: A Treasury of Victorian Murder by Rick Geary

I’ve read a couple of Rick Geary’s graphic novels. His favorite theme is true crime and I find his style to be clear, concise, and very entertaining. The books of Geary are proof that the comics medium can not only entertain but also educate and can be very ‘highbrow.’

The previous Geary tales I’ve read were about Lizzie Borden and the kidnapping of the Lindbergh Baby. Those were high profile cases that were for their times consider “the trial of the century.” The book I just read was about one Madeleine Smith, a young Scottish girl from a well to do family and the mysterious poisoning of her secret paramour, a French gardener. Perhaps because this isn’t such a well know mystery that I didn’t enjoy this story quite as much as Geary’s previous works.

Much of the tale is a review of love letters written between the two main players. It reveals a young girl whose place in society prevents her from following her heart instead of daddy’s purse string. On the flip side, the affair shows an unstable young man whose complex love affair is exacerbated by his past relationship failures.

The story was a Victorian era Romeo & Juliet romance. While the events were shocking for the mid-1800s, in today’s society, I highly doubt this tale would garner much time on CNN. The biggest sticking point in which the case balances upon is whether Ms. Smith killed her lover with arsenic because he threatened to reveal their affair to her parents or if the young man killed himself because he was rebuffed by a young girl forced to marry another man who could further support her family financially and socially. Honestly, I think this case could’ve gone either way, but you’re just going to have to read and find out for yourself. (Or you can Google it, but what’s the fun in that?)

I liked this book. It just wasn’t one of my favorites by the author and artist. However, I hope to come upon more of his true crime graphic novels in the future. To avoid further encounter with this master of true life suspense would be shocking.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.