All Concerned Notified

Inspector McKee #7

by Helen Reilly

McKee found plenty of people who wanted her dead. Then, one by one, the suspects also began to die.

Genres: Mystery

275 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Helen Reilly was an American novelist. She was born Helen Kieran and grew up in New York City in a literary family. Her brother, James Kieran, also wrote a mystery, and two of her daughters, Ursula Curtiss and Mary McMullen, are mystery writers.

Reilly's early books were police procedurals based on her research into the New York Homicide squad. Her most popular character is Inspector Christopher McKee. Reilly also used the pseudonym Kieran Abbey.

Reviews

[Anna Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Inspector McKee mystery, and it was perfectly ok. I'm not sure how likely it was that an old mansion, complete with hidden garden, would still exist in lower Manhattan in 1939, but I always enjoy creepy hidden homes. In retrospect, it seems like a bit too much was made of the setting in the beginning of the book, because other than to create an overall ambiance of death and decay it didn't play that much of a role in the story. In part because of the setting, this work leaned more towards the American noir style of complicated conspiracies and psychological imbalances than murder-as-puzzle; more Mary Roberts Rinehart than Agatha Christie. Without explicitly mentioning the word 'psychology' Inspector McKee's close observation and categorization of the suspects drives an investigation that hinges on human nature and inherent personality traits. As such, several of the characters are more stereotypes than people, but they function well enough to drive the plot. Overall, a quick read with some fun details of life in 1939 New York, if not the most engaging puzzle ever.

On the invisibility of middle-aged women: "Her figure was good and she held herself well. When he saw her face his interest evaporated. She was a nondescript dame climbing fifty, respectible, however-almost painfully so-dressed in a severe dark suit and carrying a Gladstone bag made of 14-carat pasteboard."

Didn't expect that analogy: "Christopher McKee, the head of the Manhattan Homicide Squad, didn't believe in the perfect crime. He was convinced that if you dug deeply enough the hidden clam would squirt."

My favorite sentence in the whole book: "I wonder whether this presentation of mediocrity isn't a manifestation of the usual so extreme that it indicates art?"

And, of course, the classic (but nonetheless sexist) rebuttal of ladies being overlooked because they're too soft:
"But surely, McKee, you don't think a woman used that hammer!"
"Why not? As far as physical strength goes they're no longer wax dolls and they're quite as capable of committing murder as men. That's a common place. What's more, they're better able to cover their tracks afterwards. They've got more nerve, their reflexes are quicker and they're natural-born liars."

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman is murdered in a hotel room with a hammer, but no one seems to know anything about her. Inspector McKee finally learns her identity, that she had been working as a housekeeper. McKee goes to talk to the people living there: a man with his adult daughter and niece, an older couple, and several servants. Also involved are the boyfriends of the two young women. A number of secrets are revealed and two more people are found murdered, before the murderer is finally caught. I like the McKee mysteries and this one is no exception.