The Doorstep Murders

Kenneth Carlisle #2

by Carolyn Wells

Kenneth Carlisle, silent film star turned detective, faces the toughest case of his career - but also the most intriguing. Three men have been killed on their own doorsteps, in the same town, on the same night, with identical daggers. The evidence points to there only having been one killer. But that simply isn't possible. Is it?

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

Carolyn Wells was a prolific writer for over 40 years and was especially noted for her humor, and she was a frequent contributor of nonsense verse and whimsical pieces to such little magazines as Gelett Burgess' The Lark, the Chap Book, the Yellow Book, and the Philistine.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I would try this author again, not having enjoyed a couple of her Fleming Stone novels. Here the detective is former movie star Kenneth Carlisle.

In this there was a limited cast of suspects for the three murders of prominent residents in a small town in the early hours of a Sunday morning.

To say that the plot and detection unfolded in a leisurely way, is to exaggerate. The circumstances are repeated ad nauseam, and the detective's dislike of clues means that there really is no way for the reader to make a reasoned deduction about the perpetrator. That person is revealed in a traditional gathering at the end when Carlisle reveals the evidence which led him to the solution.

Not very satisfying for me.