The Black Stocking

by Constance Little, Gwenyth Little

Irene Hastings' vacation was spoiled when she's mistaken for an escaped lunatic and held under house arrest at a private hospital. When murder strikes, the police think Irene would make a great suspect in this reprint of a 1946 comic mystery.

Genres: Crime

154 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Jessie Constance Little (1899-1980) co-authored with her sister Gwenyth Little mysteries in the screwball-comedy fashion. The Little sisters are referred to as "queens of the wacky cozy." They were sometimes published as Conyth Little, a portmanteau of their names.

Their youngest sister Iris wrote under the pseudonym Robert James.

Constance Little married Lawrence Baker, a men's clothing designer for the Dubois Uniform Company in New York City.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Gypsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irene is mistaken for a psychiatric patient, and admitted to a private hospital. It doesn't take long to straighten out the mess with the handsome head doctor, but it's just the beginning of a mystery involving a disappearing corpse, a headless nurse, a black stocking, and, of course, a murder.

This isn't as much a screwball comedy as is usual with the Little sisters, but it is still brimming with humor and the absurd. The plot is good and the solution extremely clever. The characters are a fun assortment involved in ridiculous situations, generally reacting as any average person would. The Black Stocking is a thoroughly diverting and engrossing book and while it's not the best example of their talent, it's still well worth reading.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book! Insane asylums, headless nurses, missing corpses (but was Horace really dead?), a missing will tired doctors and romance. The Little’s books are always a great read. I found myself thinking about this book when I was busy and longing to get back to it. These books put me in mind of Abbott and Costello, someone should do movies or something from these books!

[Mesembryanthemum · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was fun. It even kinda hung together, plot- and mystery-wise. It would make a great screwball mystery movie.

Fun fact: At one point, a character says something like, "I can find anything, even the lost chord." That's clearly a popular reference from the time, but what the heck is it? So I looked up "lost chord" and learned about the 1877 hit song by Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan) that was famously sung by Caruso in 1912 and parodied by Jimmy Durante in the 1947 film, "This Time for Keeps."

Isn't trivia wonderful?

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irene Hastings just wants to take her vacation, but she agrees to give a lift to a woman in her office and stop at the state asylum so Ann can visit her--unjustly imprisoned, of course--sister. On her way again, Irene soon finds herself locked up in a private hospital run by Dr. Ross Munster because she's thought to be an escaped lunatic. By the time her mercenary mother and a doctor from the asylum appear to prove that she's not Ann's escaped sister, she's decided that Ross and his fellow staff members are amusing enough to keep her attention engaged. Mysterious things happen in the isolated building, some concerned with the missing will hidden by Ross's late father--or is he?

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This year I've been working my way through the Littles' 21 books, and this one is by far one of my favorites. So many times their books hinge on the likeability of the main character and their parent. Irene and Elise are tons of fun. Like all of their books, this one moves along at a good clip. The secondary characters are amusing and even if the mystery itself is convoluted it is not the main reason I read these books.