Puzzle for Players

Peter Duluth Mystery #2

by Patrick Quentin

Duluth's theatrical comeback is threatened by a mysterious curse that seems to haunt his new theater. Members of the cast start turning up dead before the curtain call. This book makes nice use of the charcter's Broadway background. - The Mystery Lover's Companion, Art Bourgeau

Genres: Mystery, Crime, English Literature

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Patrick Quentin, Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge were pen names under which Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987), Richard Wilson Webb (August 1901 – December 1966), Martha Mott Kelley (30 April 1906–2005) and Mary Louise White Aswell (3 June 1902 – 24 December 1984) wrote detective fiction. In some foreign countries their books have been published under the variant Quentin Patrick. Most of the stories were written by Webb and Wheeler in collaboration, or by Wheeler alone. Their most famous creation is the amateur sleuth Peter Duluth. In 1963, the story collection The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow was given a Special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.

AKA:
Πάτρικ Κουέντιν (Greek)

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

(read earlier this month)

I actually thought I would die of old age before getting through this one. It is the rare book that tries my patience, but that's exactly what happened here. The saving grace for me was that not only did I never guess the who, but when all was made known, it was someone I never would have suspected in a million years.

Puzzle for Players is book number two in Quentin's series featuring Peter Duluth, but it is the first time I've read anything by this author. The story begins as Duluth is hoping to make a bit of a comeback after having been "tabbed" as the "youngest has-been producer on record." Re-entering the theatrical arena after having been "tentatively cured" of a daily "two quarts of rye" drinking problem during his time in a sanitarium, Duluth is now ready for his "big come-back," after having read the script of a new play called Troubled Waters. A lot rides on Duluth's success, including regaining his "solvency" and "lost self-respect," and the fact that the play is to make its appearance in a theater with a reputation of being "jinxed" means nothing to him. It does, however, seem to make some of the cast of Troubled Waters nervous -- as part of its creepy past, for example, in 1902 a young woman had been discovered "hanging dead" in an actor's wardrobe, very likely a suicide. But Duluth, while sympathetic, is convinced that this play will restore his reputation, and he's got a fine cast to help make that happen.

It isn't long until the first of the weird incidents begin, but really, these are the least of Peter's problems. First, some pretty shady people arrive on the scene, each with an agenda and all adding to Peter's woes. Events begin taking their toll on the cast and especially on Peter himself, but above all, the show must go on. However, after two strange deaths, he's not so sure that will be possible.

I have to say that I was quite taken with the haunted theater idea, and while the author it ran with it for a while, creepy atmosphere and all, it just sort of fizzled. A shame, really, because to me, there was much more he could have done with it and didn't. The focus is very much the characters in this novel, many of whom are harboring secrets and some of whom are actively doing what they can to cause chaos while the cast is gearing up for opening night. And while all of the mayhem is certainly engaging, the story tends to be weighed down by the psychological aspects brought in by Peter's doctor, various romance moments, and the sheer volume of red herrings that are added to the story so that by the time the end came, I was ready to be done. Personally, I think that some careful editing might have given this story more teeth, which is what it needed, in my humble mystery-reader opinion.

I will be encountering another Peter Duluth mystery shortly, A Puzzle for Fools from 1936, so I'm sort of wary at the moment. I know there are any number of readers who enjoyed Puzzle for Players, but I can't really count myself among them. I will say that the final revelation was completely unexpected, which is what saved this novel for me, but the reality is that a good solution does not necessarily a good mystery make.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jana v rámci své akce „přečíst během roku autory od každého písmene v abecedě“ sháněla někoho do Q - a já jí doporučil Patricka Quentina. Vybrala si jeden román z třikrátky Bez detektiva… a já se rozhodl osvěžit si toho autora tak a vybral si Záhadu pro herce s Petrem Duluthem. Ta kdysi vyšla ve edici Kobra a četl jsem jí v mládí určitě tak desetkrát, takže jsem si ji už vůbec nepamatoval.

Knížka je z roku 1938, což je samozřejmě poznat, ale přesto mě to bavilo. I když je tu pátrání, hlavní je tu atmosféra starého divadla a chystání divadelního představení, kdy se odpočítává čas do slavnostní premiéry a herci podléhají svým náladám, záchvatům a jiným ambicím. Je to až tak provázané, že celé odhalování pachatele probíhá během slavnostní premiéry a musí být přerušované, když režisér a hlavní postava odbíhá na scénu. Zajímavé je i to, že hlavní hrdina nic nevyřeší, spíš je jen svědkem – všechno vyřeší police za pomoci jeho psychiatra. Vlastně jediné, co zvládne hrdina udělat je to, že se ožení – během filmově přepálené alkoholické scény.

Je to docela zajímavé i koncepčně (nebo spíš nekoncepčně), protože úvod je až viktoriánsky strašidelný a finále se zvrhává v crazy komedii. Řešení je jednouché, ale není pitomé… a funguje i to, že se spoust věcí řeší průběžně během děje, že se nenechává všechno na konec.

Dostal jsem z toho chuť podívat se na nějakého Thin Mana nebo nějaké podobnou starou detektivní komedii.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the best byproducts of my starting this blog, is my falling in love with a wider gamut of vintage mysteries. I've always adored Agatha Christie, she was my first exposure to grownup mysteries, but it sorta stopped there. I don't have a ton of excuses for why that happened, so I'll just chalk it up to laziness on my part. And it's not just falling in love with a broader swath of Golden Age mysteries, it's my realization that men wrote great mysteries back then. The few times I did venture away from Dame Agatha, it was always towards other female writers. It's sounds like an obvious thing, but for whatever reason, it never dawned on me that men wrote mysteries, I always assumed the books would be more like the typical thriller that are pumped out today.

I read the first book in the Peter Duluth series, A Puzzle for Fools, last year and I loved it. I fell in love with Peter and his quest to redeem himself after falling into an alcoholic stupor after the horrific death of his wife. In the first book he has checked himself into an asylum to recover, and there he gets dragged into investigating a series of horrific murders. Through that process he meets the woman who he will fall in love with and decide to make a star on Broadway. He also becomes friends with the doctor who runs the asylum and helps him get over his alcohol dependency.

In Puzzle for Players, Peter is tyring to make his big Broadway comeback and trying to hold his fragile recovery together. He has found what he believes to be a new show that has the potential of stating once and for all that he is back. He has cast his girl in the show and has gathered a group of actors together that almost guarantee the shows success. So when he is moved to a rundown, dilapidated theater and thing start to go wrong that very night, he is hung on tenterhooks for the rest of the book. Between the horrific faces appearing in mirrors, ghostly women hanging in wardrobes, blackmail, a female lead who's ex husband is doing whatever it takes to be in the show, and the asylum bound brother of the male lead, Peter is facing an uphill battle just to stay sane, let alone making sure the show is a success. So when a real body appears, it drives Peter even further down in the dumps.

Luckily for him, the financial backer of the show is the same doctor who saved his sanity in the asylum, and he appears to be doing it once again. If I were to have a quibble with this book, it would be with the the fact I wanted Peter to do most of the sleuthing. Instead it's the doctor who does most of the legwork. I'm still pretty content with the book overall though. Peter is a great character to get to know, and even if he didn't do a lot of the sleuthing, watching him try to deal with everything that was going on was worth the read. Now I just need to get the third book in the series.

[Jenny Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be read after "A Puzzle for Fools", this book picks up after Peter is released from the asylum ( for his alcoholism ).

This book feels fast paced, and the characters were a bit much, but it fits with the theme of the book. There is enough information given for you to figure out who is guilty without it being painfully obvious.

It gives a bit more insight to his background in Broadway, which is touched upon in the prior mystery. In this book, Peter has decided to make a comeback in the world of theater, a break he took after losing his wife. He has his play lined up, and a cast full of vibrant characters. However, during rehearsals his cast begins showing up dead. There are rumors that the theater is haunted, but that's obviously not the case. Peter has to piece together accounts from frantic actors and actresses to find out the truth behind the murders at the theater.

[Puzzle Doctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent theatre-based mystery. Full review at classicmystery.blog

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Bird Book Deal | Uneven but enjoyable. | It had been awhile since I read the first in the series, so it took some time to get into the style of the writing and to remember the background of the repeat characters. Once I did, I kept getting irritated at the way nobody was telling anyone anything. So much manufactured drama with no good reason for people to be keeping their secrets. Some of the solutions were clear to me frustratingly early in the book. The other became clear before it was revealed, but the authors did a good job of maintaining that mystery longer. There was one red herring that I thought was very successful. I'm curious to see in the rest of the series if Dr Lenz is always the one who solves it all, and if so, how he'll be feasibly brought into the narratives.

[juchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

pensé que iba ser medio plomo al principio pero nada que ver; fue re entretenida toda la primera parte y ver cómo se relacionaban los personajes entre sí tanto dentro como fuera del teatro, a su vez que también se presentaba la duda de si de verdad había algo maligno en el Dagonet o si era alguien del grupo el que los estaba poniendo a todos contra todos en cierto aspecto; aparte, EL FINAL??? HOLA????? nunca lo hubiera pensado yo estaba en otra

[Herman Schmitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este é o livro 17 da série "El Séptimo Círculo" e o primeiro que eu não consigo "matar a charada" antes do detetive. Desconfio que o autor escondeu alguma pista, mas teria que reler a obra para confirmar. O tema do teatro é bem apresentado, em uma época anterior a televisão, quando ainda tinha um grande status e as estreias eram aguardadas ansiosamente.

[Diego Budiño Parreño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entretenido y con buena dosis de misterio; a veces pierde algo de verosimilitud pero en general es un libro recomendable.

[Cari Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Celeste Granda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro que engancha desde el primer momento y mantiene en el lector la sensación constante de que algo malo va a pasar y que los planes del señor Duluth no llegarán a materializarse.

El personaje del Dr. Lenz da muchísima claridad a las situaciones inverosímiles que ocurren al interior del Dagonet y funciona como un cable a tierra que mantiene, tanto al señor Duluth como al lector, en el plano terrenal, no en el espiritual, porque en varias ocasiones es posible pensar que los sucesos son producto de algún ente sobrenatural.

Recomiendo este libro para quienes buscan salir de la rutina y sumergirse en un carrusel de tragedias y alegrías.

[March · Rating 2 out of 5]

My expectations for this book were high due to a positive review I read, but I was disappointed. The Broadway setting is appealing (although the play they are performing sounds like a real turkey) but the plot isn't interesting, the characters (except for Peter, but NOT excepting Dr. Lenz) not believable, and the explanation for the mirror thing not very creative or convincing. Most of all, the narrative is talky and slow and there isn't much in the way of clues or detection.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting 30s mystery, with a fun Broadway setting. A little overheated in terms of the emotional/psychological/criminal/pharmaceutical issues of the characters, but not bad. But would he have been able to learn the blocking that fast?

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The alleged main character is weak and ineffectual, while it is someone else entirely who solves the mysteries. Also, the pacing makes it difficult to maintain interest or care about the characters. Stopped reading before the halfway mark.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was fun to read the "old timey" writing style and characters. Slow in parts, but that's probably due to the fact that it is a very old story