Death Walks in Marble Halls

by Lawrence G. Blochman

DEATH WALKS IN MARBLE HALLS as mysterious people hurry through the aisles bent on escape. A blonde rushes out shortly before a wounded man falls from the balcony, and she is murdered soon after; a scrap of paper is found bearing writing that resembles Sanskrit; a member of the staff finds the clue that results in the capture of the killer after a cat-and-mouse chase through the library. (from the back cover)

The 1942 drama film, Quiet Please, Murder, was based on the short story "Death Walks in Marble Halls" by Lawrence G. Blochman in "American Magazine" (Sep 1942). Story is also known under the title "Death from the Sanskrit".

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

64 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1942

About the author

Lawrence Goldtree Blochman (February 17, 1900 – January 22, 1975) was an American detective story writer and translator.

Writing as Lawrence G. Blochman, he published more than 50 books, including many mystery and detective novels, as well as several hundred short stories, novelettes, and articles. Several of his stories were made into films, television programs, and radio shows. He also translated more than a dozen books and detective stories from the French, including novels by the celebrated Belgian writer Georges Simenon.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Enjoyed this murder mystery set in a large public library. The description of this wonderful institution and its denizens made me want to jump right into the pages and explore this fantastic place. Well, minus the assaults and dead bodies that began to litter the stacks, passageways and reading rooms. Phil Manning works in press relations for the library, and his day is about to get dicey. A broadcaster is lurking around who has been harassing an influential trustee who is assaulted in one of the corridors, a man who used to work for the trustee is seen running away from the scene, an old flame shows up and may somehow be involved. All are in the building when said trustee, H.H. Dorwin is murdered in a gallery above one of the reading rooms as he topples over a railing to the floor below. There is nothing straightforward about Dorwin's murder. Manning, one of the library security guards take control until the police arrive and then the hunt is on. There are plenty of interesting characters and the plot moved in an unexpected direction. Enjoyable read.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder runs amok at the New York Public Library. Phil Manning, with library press relations, has his hands full well before the grim reaper starts harvesting among the stacks. One of the library's trustees, H. H. Dorwin has put him on high alert with a telephone call saying he was his way to meet about an important matter. Then Manning's best girl Betty Vale calls saying that she must see him right away--with tones of desperation in her voice. Before he can attend to either of these matters, he hears a shot ring out in the main corridor. An untidy little man bolts down the hall and Dorwin is leaning against the wall, his face as pale as the marble flakes scattered about from where the bullet hit a bust of Sophocles instead of the director. Dorwin insists he's fine and that Manning should run after the library guard, Tim Cornish, who's running after the little man and bring them both back to the director. "No police!" he commands.

He doesn't quite get his wish...but by the time the police arrive, he's past caring, having become the first victim of the killer on the loose among the books. But, instead of being shot, he has been stabbed. Did the little man come back with a different weapon or is there someone else with reasons to eliminate a library trustee. I bet you've already guessed...there is. More than one. And they ALL decided that they needed to visit the library that very afternoon.... Even though the police have all the exits covered and all the suspects are supposedly blocked in the main area of the library, we still get a nice round of hide and seek among the stacks while Manning and Lieutenant Kilkenny try prevent too many patrons from being removed from circulation permanently.

This is a fun little novella. As much as I enjoyed my first Blochman (Midnight Sailing, reviewed a few days ago), this one ticked off more boxes for me. It has a tighter plot, better clues, and more interesting peripheral characters all packed into a story about four times shorter. I love the library setting and the slightly academic feel. Blochman provides an excellent description of the library's layout which is a great help in visualizing the murders and figuring out where who was when. It's shame that he didn't (according to the internet) do more of this style of mystery with the same main characters--this is only the second appearance of Kilkenny and his medical examiner Dr. Rosenkohl and the only appearance of Manning (who does most of the detective work here). A delightful mystery in a small package.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting, thanks.

[Eden Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Phil Manning is publicist for a large city library—filled with over 6 million titles, reading rooms, circulation desks, and learned staff who specialize in Egyptology or philosophical studies. Everyone is on edge knowing that late-night radio personality Feodor Klawitz is out on bail after charges against the boss, H. H. Dorwin, public library trustee. That morning, someone attempts a shot at Dorwin in the marble halls, dropping the gun as they run away. A man is caught by Shakespeare-quoting security man Tim Cornish, someone who used to work for Dorwin in a private library. Manning's girl, Betty Tate, arrives in her swagger coat of sheared beaver, shaken up after receiving a threatening letter against her friend Dorwin. Before Phil and Betty can figure it out, Dorwin is seen by the spiral staircase to the second-floor gallery, stabbed in the face, toppling over the rail into the reading room below.
Feodor Klawitz is indeed in the library when Dorwin dies, as is Dorwin's mysterious new blonde secretary, who may have witnessed the killer. Dorwin dies with a scrap of paper in his hand, torn from a (now missing) red portfolio which may yield a clue. Tim Cornish and Detective Kilkenny (from Blochman's See You at the Morgue) arrive to view the corpus delicti, and lock the library doors until it is sorted.

There is more murder and attempts to hide in the underground maze of book stacks as we follow the characters all over the library. This was a time when the library was the center of knowledge, music, art, and dance—and the actual mystery involves the score for a new ballet. Fast-paced, with humor and wisecracks mixed into the danger, there is even time for romance with Betty in the Oriental room.

This was filmed in 1942 as Quiet Please, Murder starring George Sanders and Gail Patrick—although they made it about a master forger, an unhappy customer connected to a high-ranking Nazi, and a plot to steal the library's valuable books during a wartime blackout.
(As if the original book was not sufficiently packed with story and action.)
Hard to find perhaps, but a fun mystery I recommend.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly random detour in the form of a corpse-strewn tour of the New York Public Library, circa 1942. A quick sampling of Blochman's other works lead me to believe this will be a one-and-done author for me, but the plot was fun (if occasionally as labyrinthine as the NYPL's halls themselves) and the language was pleasantly zingy...

"Manning's jumpiness increased by at least six latent jumps"

"... she was talking to a dark, slick-haired young man who was quite unessential to Manning's personal happiness"

"The snow-filled crease of his slouch hat fed a rivulet that trickled off the brim to extinguish his cigarette, thus complying with library regulations"

[Jameson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad little book. Filmed in 1942 as “Quiet Please, Murder.”