Home Sweet Homicide

Coleção Clube do Crime #9

by Craig Rice (Pseudonym)

All “hash-e-lul squared” breaks out when a mystery writer’s three kids try to solve a murder.

That’s “hell” in the King Tut alphabet used by the three Carstairs children, Dinah, April and Archie, who feel that life will be a lot better if their overworked widowed mystery-writing mother can only solve a murder and get some much needed publicity for her books. And if she happens to land a husband in the process… well, that’s just gravy.

So when shots ring out in the neighborhood, the kids make up a story to throw the cops off track while hiding the chief suspect out in Archie’s playhouse. Dinah provides the brains while April uses her charms to worm information out of a cop. Archie—the only member of the family capable of saving money—bankrolls the operation and talks his gang, “the Mob,” into creating a diversion so Dinah and April can check out the crime scene. In the meantime, Marian Carstairs is up in her room, pounding away on her typewriter, unaware that her kids are setting a trap for a murderer as well as a different sort of trap for a handsome, single homicide investigator.

First published in 1944, Home Sweet Homicide is one of the most honored mystery novels of the first half of the twentieth century, appearing on the Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone list, James Sandoe’s Readers’ Guide to Crime, and Melvyn Barnes’ Murder in Print. It was filmed in 1946 with Peggy Ann Garner, Randolph Scott, Dean Stockwell, and James Gleason.


bcr

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Crime, Cozy Mystery, Young Adult, 20th Century

291 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Pseudonym for Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig aka Daphne Sanders and Michael Venning.

Known for her hard-boiled mystery plots combined with screwball comedy, Georgiana 'Craig' Rice was the author of twenty-three novels, six of them posthumous, numerous short stories, and some true crime pieces. In the 1940s she rivaled Agatha Christie in sales and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1946. However, over the past sixty years she has fallen into relative obscurity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Ri...

Reviews

[Anto M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il primo giallo letto nella mia vita.
Avrò avuto 12 anni e nella libreria di casa trovai questo libro che in cover aveva l'immagine di tre bambini.
Mi ritrovai tra le mani la storia di un omicidio e un mistero da risolvere. Il primo di una lunga serie di gialli che mi hanno fatto compagnia da allora fino a oggi. Certo, i gialli/thriller moderni hanno un linguaggio più contemporaneo, più adeguato ai tempi, ma il fascino esercitato sulla me ragazzina, da "I classici del giallo Mondadori", non l'ho più ritrovato. La mia valutazione 5 stelle, forse, dipende proprio da quella malia provata dalla me adolescente.
Se riusciste a trovarlo ancora in commercio, lo consiglio vivamente.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I dunno. I wanted to like this book, but the main characters were three rather obnoxious children who interacted with one another like no children ever did anywhere at any time. They even invented a cute secret language to communicate with one another. Oh, well, I have better things to do with my time.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned of Craig Rice years ago in a non-fiction book about women mystery writers. The author of that volume loved her and made me wish I could read her books, but I've never been able to find them. So I was thrilled to discover this one at OpenLibrary.com. The story pulled me right in, with three opinionated kids who hear shots and see two cars speeding away from the house next door. Their mother is a single mystery writer who clearly doesn't spend a lot of time with them so they're left to their own resources. Which are large.

This isn't a realistic novel, but a funny one. Since humor is highly personal, not everyone will find it amusing, but I do. I like that the kids wanted to solve the mystery to get publicity for their mother's novels, and mostly did this by causing problems for the police who were investigating the crime. I like the relationship between the kids - the fact that sometimes they were a unit and other times one would get their feelings hurt and go off on their own. That's how kids really act, after all. And I like the mother/writer getting her story mixed up in her head with her real conversations, because writers do get obsessed with their novels and have trouble letting them go to deal with the real world.

There's some 1950's slang, often from the children, and several murders, but nothing graphic. Mostly the story follows the three as they go about their lives investigating the crimes and trying to set their mother up with the detective on the case. Lots of clean fun. I'm glad I finally got a chance to try one of her books; I hope I can find more.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1944 mystery probably only deserves 3½ stars but despite some extremely improbable situations, I enjoyed this a lot. The kids have a naiveté that was adorable if unrealistic -- I don't know if children were that naive even in the 1940s! If you don't like cozies, though, this won't be for you!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must admit that I hated this book to begin with. I thought the premise of kids with a mystery writer mom solving a local murder was cute, but I could not get over how obnoxious the kids were through out most of the book. It also bothered me that just solving the crime was not enough; they had to confuse and outright lie to the cops in order to get all the clues to themselves. Aside from being rude to the cops, including the one they want to set their mother up with, they fabricate evidence, contaminate the crime scene, and basically obstruct justice at every turn.
Eventually, the kids become more likable as they begin to realize that people's lives have and will be affected by this murder and even turn some evidence over to the police. It all ends well, but I wish the author would have made the kids more likable, not like I wanted them to be perfect, just not so irritating. Also, they never seem to understand that some of their actions were wrong and complicated the case. Over all, it was a decent book, but I'm not clamoring for more from this author.

[Koji Mukai · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect murder mystery for a young adult (which I am not, any more).

[Senga krew_w_piach · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Róże pani Cherington” to komedia kryminalna o dość nieszablonowej rodzinie. Marian Carstairs jest wdową, która samodzielnie wychowuje trójkę dzieci 14-letnią Dinę, 12-letnią April i 10-letniego Archiego. Jest też byłą dziennikarką i autorką popularnych powieści kryminalnych. Kiedy pisze książkę nie ma jej dla całego świata, dzieci pozostawione są właściwie same sobie i niezaopiekowane. Niezbyt im to chyba przeszkadza, bo są super samodzielne, ale wiedzą, że matka musi pracować bardzo dużo, ponieważ utrzymanie domu i potomstwa przez samotną kobietę jest olbrzymim wyzwaniem, a to wydaje im się ją unieszczęśliwiać. Kiedy w sąsiednim domu zostaje zastrzelona kobieta, postanawiają wykorzystać tę okazję do odmieniania sytuacji życiowej rodziny i to od razu w dwóch najważniejszych kwestiach. Po pierwsze wymyślają sobie, że to ich mama powinna znaleźć mordercę zanim uczyni to policja. Dzięki temu przypadłby jej splendor i sława, książki zaczęły się super sprzedawać, pieniądze płynąć wartkim strumieniem i mogłaby pracować mniej. Matka, pochłonięta kolejną książką, nie wyraża jednak chęci odstąpienia od maszyny, więc sprytne rodzeństwo postanawia rozwiązać sprawę samodzielnie, a potem przypisać zasługi rodzicielce. Drugą sroką, którą chcą złapać za ogon, jest znalezienie nowego męża dla swojej mamy. Dzieci uznają, że kobieta, którą nie opiekuje się żaden mężczyzna nie może być szczęśliwa, dlatego po wytypowaniu kandydata knują intrygę, która ma sprawić, że padną sobie z ich matką w ramiona i wkrótce będą miały nowego tatusia. Wykorzystując podstępy, matactwa i dziecięce sztuczki przystępują do realizacji planu i zanim wszystko się wyjaśni, udaje im się sporo namieszać.

Craig Rice, która napisała tę książkę w 1944 roku, rzeczywiście była samotną matką dwóch córek i syna oraz popularną autorką kryminałów, podejrzewam więc, że korzystała tu z wielu własnych doświadczeń i opisywanie perypetii funkcjonowania takiej nietypowej rodziny wyszło jej bardzo autentycznie i zabawnie, chociaż z dzisiejszej perspektywy wiele może tu szokować.
Po pierwsze oczywiście dynamika pozycji społecznych kobiety i mężczyzny - nawet jeśli kobieta jest zaradna, samodzielna, a nawet majętna, bez mężczyzny przy boku jest wybrakowana. Wiadomo również, że jej głównym zadaniem jest ładnie wyglądać, sprawiać mu przyjemność i dogadzać jak się da. Jest tu taka scena, kiedy jedna z sióstr przeprasza za to, że jej młodszy brat ogarniał jakąś czynność domową, bo chłopcy nie powinni mieć takich obowiązków, brr. Oczywiście mówi to trochę półżartem, a Archie, chociaż marudzi, wypełnia wszystkie zadania wyznaczane przez siostry jak w zegarku, to i tak pokazuje ówczesny mindset. Z drugiej zaś strony sama Marian wydaje się bardzo nietypowa i jedną nogą już w przyszłości, ze swoją inteligencją, pasją, nie przywiązywaniem specjalnie dużej wagi do konwenansów.
Po drugie, palenie papierosów zdaje się być, zaraz po jedzeniu, drugą najważniejszą czynnością życiową dorosłych. Palą wszyscy, ciągle, dzieci z uśmiechem biegają opróżniać popielniczki mamie, na pewno z przeświadczeniem, że oni też wkrótce dołączą do grona palaczy. Na razie ich głównym nałogiem pozostaje coca-cola, której wypijają przynajmniej kilka butelek dziennie.
Po trzecie, ile można jeść? Rzeczywiście w trakcie lektury ślinka płynie człowiekowi non stop, bo rodzina codziennie serwuje obiady jak w niedzielę, do tego w spiżarni zawsze czeka tort, a wszystko oczywiście jest pyszne. Jedzenie jest równie ważnym bohaterem tej książki co ludzie i ma być dowodem na prawdziwość przysłowia „przez żołądek do serca”.
Tym co szokowało mnie w tej książce najbardziej, była zaradność i poczucie obowiązku rodzeństwa Carstairsów. Owszem, bywali przemądrzali i irytujący, ale też niezawodni. Trudno mo uwierzyć, że kiedykolwiek istniały nastolatki wykonujące wszystkie czynności kuchenno/porządkowe bez zająknięcia, ze zrozumieniem przejmowały obowiązki, aby odciążyć mamę, i stawiały je przed własnymi zachciankami. Albo to ja zupełnie nie umiałam wychować swoich dzieci, z którymi trzeba walczyć o wszystko i o każdej rzeczy 10 razy przypominać.

Biorąc to wszystko pod uwagę, książka i tak sprawiła mi dużo frajdy i doskonale rozumiem dlaczego osoby, które dostawały ją w ręce u schyłku PRLu mogły się nią zachwycić i wspominać do dziś z ogromnym sentymentem. Podobało mi się tłumaczenie Marii Skibniewskiej, upstrzone archaizmami, oddające ten klimat jak ze starych amerykańskich filmów (poza tłumaczeniem tytułu, które nie dość, że od czapy, to jeszcze ze spoilerem 🙈, oryginalny to „Home sweet homicide”). Craig Rice umiała tworzyć historie z werwą, ciekawymi postaciami, licznymi zwrotami akcji i dużą dawką humoru.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three Carstairs children know that their next-door neighbor is unpleasant. But when she's murdered, they see a chance for good publicity for their widowed mother's mystery stories, especially since the detective in charge is named Bill Smith, just like her series sleuth. Besides, Smith is rather good-looking and seems to take an interest in Mom. It seems reasonable enough for the kids to find the murderer themselves, just to save time. This delightful story is set during World War II, although it doesn't impinge much on the plot, although the outdated teen slang can be annoying.

[e b · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went in blind, knowing nothing but the author's reputation, so it took me a while to get into the book's blend of mystery and domestic humour (I'd been expecting straight mystery-thriller). Precocious kids don't usually work for me in any media, so I was surprised to find myself warming to the entire affair more and more as it progressed. The mystery is decent, but more of a catalyst for other events, such as the children matchmaking for their mother, as opposed to the main show.

[Filip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This one was sooo good! The plot itself wasn't bad but it paled in comparison to the humour and the antics of the three protagonists. Generally I dislike children as main characters but these here were great... true devils. This all amounted to a bit of a mood whiplash at the end, but I still enjoyed it very, very much.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read, even if very dated. I can imagine it as an old movie with Doris Day as the mom and Brian Keith as the cop. The amateur detectives and main characters are the three kids who also devise a kind of parent trap.

[Alessandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un giallo delizioso e originalissimo, con sfumature da commedia rosa: ad indagare sono tre pestiferi (ma molto in gamba) ragazzini. Combinando qualche disastro e tentando di trovare un fidanzato alla madre, riescono a risolvere un omicidio che ha fin troppi sospettati.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute tale of three kids who solve a murder.

Not much to say about this one. Very voicy, a1940s screwball comedy kind of book.

Recommend for cozy fans.

[Paulo Leite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simples porem cativante.Boa leitura entre dois livros mais pesados .Divertido

[tortoise dreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining enough but not up my alley. What I did enjoy was that the main character is a hard working mystery writer who writes for a living (much like Craig Rice herself). Good fun. On the other hand, she's a single mother with three children (yep, just like the author herself). Most children in fiction are either so unnervingly precocious as to be unreal, or so naïve and limited that they're uninteresting. Here Rice has it both ways with the three determinedly adorable and oh-so-cute-to-cloying children who play junior detective in Home Sweet Homicide. That's followed up by a romance between the mystery writer mom and the investigating detective. The mystery is secondary, perhaps tertiary behind the cuteness and the romance. As an in-joke there's a shout-out to a character in Rice's John J. Malone series. Just not my cup of tea, but for people who enjoy this sort of thing this is the sort of thing that they'll enjoy. Was made into a movie with Randolph Scott in 1945.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently reissued by Penzler Publications, this is a great read for those who love the Flavia De Luce novels of Alan Bradley.

[Terry Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Home Sweet Homicide was originally published in 1944 by Craig Rice (aka Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig) and reprinted in 2018 by Otto Penzler, who is re-introducing reading audiences to mystery and detective fiction from the years between the first and second World Wars. I found a hardbound copy on the New Releases shelf at our local library.

What an insipid little book. The front cover calls Craig Rice the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction. I'm afraid that's quite an insult to Ms. Parker. The people, plot, and descriptions of surroundings are only vaguely interesting and entertaining--the mystery is wrapped up in a single paragraph about 97% of the way through; most of the rest of the story trudges along with dull descriptions of teenagers and preteens and their goofball antics. I guess if I was a 16-year-old girl in 1944 I might find this to be an entertaining read, but as a gay man in 2018? Meh. Even if I was a 16-year-old girl today looking for something engaging to read, I can't see why I would be interested in reading this dull thing.

[David Dunlap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard-working mystery writer Marian Carstairs is dedicated to providing a life for herself and her three children: Dinah (age 14), April (12), and Archie (10). When they hear shots fired at the villa next door and discover their obnoxious neighbor lady has been murdered, the kids swing into gear to help their mother garner publicity by solving the mystery, using techniques and principles they've read about in her books. When hunky Lt. Bill Smith appears to head the homicide investigation, the dynamic trio set out to play matchmaker with their widowed mother, too. -- A light-hearted mystery with interesting characters. (Thankfully, the special language the Carstairs children have developed is kept to a minimum.) A number of red herrings appear, of course, but the three get to the bottom of who killed their neighbor and all is resolved satisfactorily.

[Nicholas George · Rating 2 out of 5]

This light-hearted mystery about three children of a murder mystery writer who solve the murder of a neighbor probably seemed innovative and quirky when it first came out (1944) but now seems jokey and contrived. The murder concerns a labyrinth of low-life types embroiled in blackmail and kidnapping--that is, people who deserve what they get. The children are overly cute and precocious, speaking in indecipherable slang and running rings around the professionals. There's also matchmaking going on as the kids pair up the lead policeman on the case with their long-suffering mother. Craig Rice (male pseudonym for a female writer) wrote a lot of arch stuff such as this; she is billed as "the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction" on the cover. The book doesn't quite measure up to that billing.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marion Carstairs is a widow who writes Murder mysteries. When a real life murder occurs in the house next door, her three children, Dinah, April and Archie, have the idea that it would be great for their mother’s career if she could solve the murder before the police. They also want to get her married off to the handsome police inspector investigating the case, , Bill Smith. The children are great characters,and their endeavours to solve the mystery and marry off their mother are highly entertaining. There are a lot of suspects, and a lot of twists and turns in the plot. Very enjoyable.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an adorable book. The three children of a widowed crime novelist decide their mother needs fame and a new husband. So they decide to solve a local murder and give her the credit. It's a lot of fun! It was written in 1944, so it has that era's sensibility. Apparently at least one movie version has been made, so I'll definitely seek that out. This is a perfect travel book. Also, it cracked me up how often and how much those kids EAT!!! Hilarious.

[pinta_vodki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so after having it on my iPad for almost a year I finally read it. The book was nice, as a child I would have probably really really liked it. Now it was just ok. But the Russian translation was really not so good. Too bad, cause it may turn some people away from the book.

Also, made me glad I didn't have a stupid little brother. =)

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize that this is an older work, but the mystery part with the young children investigating seemed a little far fetched. Any mother who neglects her children as this one does would have the children taken away. Also the resolution was a little quick and did not make sense to me.

[Cooper]

Could not finish! Maybe in 1944 this was would be considered a quaint cozy, but for me, the kids were annoying as s*#t! At about 75 pages in, I figured life was too short to go any further.

Not my cup of tea!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Eden Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Visit JetBlackDragonfly (The Man Who Read Too Much) at www.edenthompson.ca/blog
featuring a large clean copy of the book cover.

Craig Rice (Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig) has been called the "Dorothy Parker of Mystery", for her witty style. Her popular detective mysteries went so far into comedy, she created a new sub-genre - the 'Screwball Mystery'. Married four times, she was a single mother of two daughters and a son, fathers unknown.
Home Sweet Homicide reads like a home-baked mystery, as it features a mystery writing mother of two girls and a boy who spends most of the time finishing her latest novel, while the precocious kids discover the bodies, dig for clues, and manage the police to a result.

On the front porch, the kids - Dinah, April and young Archie - can hear the purr of the typewriter as Marian Carstairs writes another bestseller - when, next door at the Wallace Sanfords, a shot rings out. Running over, they see two cars drive away, and find the pretty movie star Polly Walker outside the house. She has no good excuse for being there, but they know she didn't kill Flora Sanford. Enter Lieutenant Bill Smith of Homicide Bureau and Sergeant O'Hare. Rather than help the police, the kids begin their own investigation, which includes planting false evidence, lying when questioned, and diverting the police so they can break into the crime scene. Plus, the kids agree: the Lieutenant would be perfect for mother, she needs to get hitched again. Throwing suspicion off Polly, Alice claims a man ran away from the house and invents the false name Rupert vanDuesen - until that man turns himself in to police, claiming he was blackmailed by Flora! Wallace Sanford finds out his wife has died, but to protect himself he hides out in the kids backyard playhouse - you see, it looks like he was dating Polly.

This crime has to do with blackmail and the kids discover several victims who may have killed Flora - Mrs. Carleton Cherington, who grows the best roses in the neighbourhood; Pierre Degranges, a French painter; and Flora's lawyer Mr. Holbrook. Even Rupert VanDuesen and Polly had something to hide. The kids ferret information out of everyone, leaving time of course to make all the meals while mother works, hold a massive treasure hunt party for the neighbourhood kids, bake chocolate cakes - and should I add, the kids have their own coded language - the King Tut alphabet (a sort of pig latin).

This feels like the most convoluted mystery, including an abundance of characters and motives - as well as the most leisurely as nothing much happens. There is barely a police presence, it's entirely focused on the kids. There is even time for five pages preparing for Mother's Day, complete with presents and a maple-iced cake. The background is filled with attempts to coax Mother and Bill Smith together, including inviting him unbeknownst for dinner (and on the day Mother had her hair and nails done - the $3 manicure, not just the $1), showing him the pleasure of a home-cooked meal, complete with lemon pie.

Did I mention the extra body found in the empty Sanford house, which disappears? The burlesque star who kidnapped herself? The man with the second family? The picture without an eye? The incognito screenwriter?
This was an interesting curio, quite popular at the time, that has been recently republished by Otto Penzler.

Home Sweet Homicide was a hit film in 1946 starring Randolph Scott and Lynn Bari.
Craig Rice also wrote for Hollywood, including the screenplay for Lady of Burlesque starring Barbara Stanwyck, and two films in The Falcon mystery series.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Case of the Bullet-ridden Blackmailer.

This book is a HUGE departure from the norm. Craig Rice became famous writing "madcap" mysteries set in Chicago, featuring three profane, hard-drinking detectives who solve brutal murders in between binges. This one's madcap, all right, but it's set in L.A. and the three detectives aren't profane and hard-drinking. They're kids.

Marian Carstairs is a widow who supports her family by writing mystery stories. It's not a conventional family, but Ma Carstairs is a doting mom who's domestic in a slapdash way. And her children love her and are determined to find a husband for her so she'll have some romance in her life and won't have to struggle to support them.

And if there's one thing the Carstairs kids are, it's determined. Dinah Carstairs is a pretty teen-ager who stays busy cooking and taking care of the younger kids so her mother can write. Twelve-year-old April is a blonde with an angelic face and a mind like a steel trap. Ten-year-old Archie is a typical little boy with two older sisters - tough, battle-scarred, and distrustful. He has two great strengths: a cash-stash that his sisters must borrow from constantly and his friends.

The Mob (Archie, Slukey, Admiral, Flashlight, Goony, Wormly, and Pinhead) are pint-sized dynamos. They know every nook and cranny in the neighborhood and they know ways of getting around without being seen. They're loyal, unscrupulous, and know that most grown-ups can't tell one grubby little boy from another. Skillful use of that knowledge keeps them out of jail on more than one occasion.

No one cries when the Carstairs' neighbor Mrs. Flora Sanford is shot to death. The police are sure that her husband killed her, but why are so many people trying to break into her house? What are they looking for?

Dinah and April are determined to solve the murder to get publicity for their mother. Publicity sells books and book sales means money. By casually hiding a fugitive from the police, they discover that plenty of people wanted the victim dead: all the people she was blackmailing with information they were desperate to keep hidden.

There's a respectable lawyer whose daughter is an exotic dancer, a beautiful actress whose father was a criminal, a mild-mannered insurance salesman who was once suspected of being the finger-man in a kidnapping-turned-murder, a war-hero military officer who was caught stealing money, and a "French" artist who may really be a German spy. Mrs. Sanford has been bleeding them all. So which one killed her? And who killed gangster Frankie Riley in the Sanford's house and then dumped his body in that swimming pool?

The LAPD sends Lt. Bill Smith and Sergeant O'Hare to investigate the murders. Lt. Smith is handsome and single. Sgt. O'Hare has raised a large family of his own and claims to know ALL about kids. Dinah, April, and Archie set out to snag Bill Smith for a step-father. And nothing in Sgt. O'Hare's decades of fatherhood has prepared him for the Carstairs kid's no-holds-barred determination to do things their way.

Craig Rice was a many-times married alcoholic who abandoned her three children. Maybe she wrote this book to show herself what her life could have been if she'd been able to tame her demons. I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew and I fell in love with the hilariously go-for-broke style of the Carstairs Trio. I only wish Rice had lived long enough to write more books about them. This is a delightful old mystery.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stand-alone. This 1944 cozy mystery from author Craig Rice is a joy to read although it is dated. Set during WWII, it refers to coast watchers, and the head of the FBI is J. Edgar Hoover. Three precocious kids set out to solve the murder of their next door neighbor using crime solving methodology from the books of their widowed, crime novelist mother. With their suburban period setting think of younger versions of Nancy Drew, though the youngest sibling, and only boy, has friends reminiscent of Our Gang comedies. A romantic development between their mother and the detective lieutenant investigating the homicide if typical of a cozy, but in this case is entirely driven by the kids.

The adventures of widowed mystery writer Marian Carstairs and her three clever and capable children: 10-year-old Archie, 12-year-old April, and 14-year-old Dinah. On a warm, lazy afternoon, the kids are on the porch of their suburban home discussing their mother's prospects. "I wish Mother would solve a real life murder," says April. "She'd get a lot of publicity, and then she wouldn't have to write so many books." At that moment, shots ring out from the house next door. Their neighbor, Mrs. Sanford, has been murdered. When Marian refuses to investigate, Archie, April, and Dinah do so with great gusto, maintaining the pace with snappy patter. Nothing slows things down, not even the romance the children try to initiate between their mother and lonely police lieutenant Bill Smith.

[Gregg Narber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Golden Age mystery. I have no memory of having read a Craig Rice (pen name 0f Georgiana Craig) mystery before. The detectives here are the three children of a widowed mystery writer. They hear gunshots but Mom does not over the sound of her typing in an upstairs room of their house. Of course there has been a murder and of course the three kids (daughter age 14, younger daughter aged 12 and younger son aged 10) resolve to solve it (that would be great for their mother's book sales!). And resolve to put their mother in the arms of the good-looking bachelor police detective in charge of the investigation. Much about this story is too cute by half - the little boy has a gang of friends he calls "the Mob", sort of like Our Gang of the 1930s comedies, who run wild to distract the cops so the three can investigate the scene of the crime - especially the code they talk to each other in based on (supposedly) the Egyptian alphabet to conceal what they are saying from others. How they accomplish all this (of course they do) is mostly silly and farcical. Entertaining and takes little time to read but did not much inspire me to look up other mysteries by this author, though I may since I gather this is very atypical of her work.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2019 bk 137. Oh my goodness, I had forgotten how much I enjoy Craig Rice's sense of humor in writing mysteries. This story is told from the viewpoint of 14 year old Dinah, 12 year old April, and rarely, the 10 year old Archie. This trio is bound and determined to find a husband for their widowed mother. Mother is a mystery author who becomes absorbed while writing, leaving her children to fend very well for themselves. She is so absorbed that she doesn't hear a murderous shot sound next door, nor realize that her kids were close to being witnesses to the death of the neighbor. Blackmail, extortion, espionage, and three kids on the loose who are determined to solve the mystery, get their mother and her mystery books so much attention that she can sell to the movies and not have to work so hard, and finally, get her married to the cute police detective in charge of the murder investigation. The hi-jinks bring much laughter, a few cringes, and high blood sugar from the amount of chocolate malts that are consumed. And in the end... but that would be telling. This was the perfect read for the Sunday before Mother's Day.