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Formula for Murder
"A beautiful, weak woman . . . her jealous husband . . . and a puzzling suicide that reeks of murder!" Signet Book #1585.
125 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1958
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About the author
Bill S. Ballinger
89 books12 followersBill S Ballinger received his B.A. in 1934 at the University of Wisconsin. From 1934 he worked in advertising, and as a radio and television writer. After traving Europe and the Near East, Ballinger moved to southern California, to take advantage of the television 'boom' of the 1950s as a script writer. Between the years 1977 and 1979 he was an associate professor of writing at the California State University, Norhtridge. In 1960, Ballinger received for his TV work Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America.
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October 28, 2025
Ballinger’s 1958 standalone novel, “Formula for Murder,” has the following statements on the cover, “A beautiful, weak woman . . . Her jealous husband . . . And a puzzling suicide that reeks of murder!” and “An exciting detective story introducing a strikingly different kind of sleuth, VanMars.” It appears from the cover description that Signet had thought this would be the start of a new detective series, featuring VanMars, a sort of well-to-do Sherlock Holmes type who takes on interesting cases without necessarily having a client or a vested interest in the outcome. VanMars lives in a New York City brownstone, large enough for a servant or majordomo to run the place. Otto is like Alfred is to Bruce Wayne, ever-present, ever-helpful, and seemingly with no outside life of his own. VanMars is a tall, lean man wearing well-tailored and expensive linen suits. He is an intellectual and solves puzzles that no one else can seem to fathom.
As our story opens, his friend, Marcia Graham, a writer for the magazine Chic, wants him to help her investigate a bridge suicide or her magazine. They want, she explains, a profile of a suicide, the background, the tension, “whatever it is that forces a man, or a woman to complete destruction.” VanMars tells her that he thinks the magazine, which is basically a fashion magazine, is becoming pretentious. She enlists his aid because she looks at things so emotionally and he is a theoretical mathematician and has a scientific, detached attitude and can see things Marcia could never see.
Their first subject is a man (Hare) who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge with two eyewitnesses. Two men saw him jump, one was a photographer (Hansom) taking his dog for an early morning walk and the other man was probably a drunken bum who lives someplace in the Bowery (Gillian). It took place at 5:00 a.m. Hansom says he saw a car pull over and stop, the man take off his topcoat, and climb over. It seemed to take him a long time to reach the water.
After interviewing both (and disinterested VanMars takes the lead with the interviews), explains to Marcia that there were certain qualifications to what the witnesses described and that they might not be conscious of the qualifications, but what they told him was certainly affected.
Mrs. Roxane Hare was an exquisitely beautiful brunette, but had no recollection of her husband leaving the house that night and was due to receive an insurance settlement paid in cash. But once she was strangled, she was no longer so exquisitely beautiful.
The entire novel revolves around VanMars taking the lead in interviewing the witnesses and computing how what he found did or did not make sense. The one sense of emotion we get from him is when his good friend Marcia is kidnapped. It is a clever story with a surprising twist.
As our story opens, his friend, Marcia Graham, a writer for the magazine Chic, wants him to help her investigate a bridge suicide or her magazine. They want, she explains, a profile of a suicide, the background, the tension, “whatever it is that forces a man, or a woman to complete destruction.” VanMars tells her that he thinks the magazine, which is basically a fashion magazine, is becoming pretentious. She enlists his aid because she looks at things so emotionally and he is a theoretical mathematician and has a scientific, detached attitude and can see things Marcia could never see.
Their first subject is a man (Hare) who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge with two eyewitnesses. Two men saw him jump, one was a photographer (Hansom) taking his dog for an early morning walk and the other man was probably a drunken bum who lives someplace in the Bowery (Gillian). It took place at 5:00 a.m. Hansom says he saw a car pull over and stop, the man take off his topcoat, and climb over. It seemed to take him a long time to reach the water.
After interviewing both (and disinterested VanMars takes the lead with the interviews), explains to Marcia that there were certain qualifications to what the witnesses described and that they might not be conscious of the qualifications, but what they told him was certainly affected.
Mrs. Roxane Hare was an exquisitely beautiful brunette, but had no recollection of her husband leaving the house that night and was due to receive an insurance settlement paid in cash. But once she was strangled, she was no longer so exquisitely beautiful.
The entire novel revolves around VanMars taking the lead in interviewing the witnesses and computing how what he found did or did not make sense. The one sense of emotion we get from him is when his good friend Marcia is kidnapped. It is a clever story with a surprising twist.
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