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Captain Heimrich #15
The Distant Clue
Secrets of the past lead to murder in the present in this Captain Heimrich whodunit from the authors of the “excellent” Mr. and Mrs. North mysteries (The New Yorker).
Capt. M. L. Heimrich of the New York State Police may not have the flash of hard-boiled city detectives, but there’s no lead the intrepid investigator won’t follow until his every hunch is satisfied . . .
When secretary Enid Vance comes across the bodies of her employer, Homer Lenox, and the town librarian, Loudon Wingate, her discovery marks the beginning of a scandal that will shake the town of Van Brunt to its foundations.
Both men have been shot dead, and the gun is lying right next to Homer Lenox’s hand. All evidence points to a murder-suicide, but the motive is unclear—until Captain Heimrich is called in to investigate the shocking crime.
When Heimrich turns up the book Lenox was writing—a detailed history titled The Families of Putnam County, New York—he suspects the exposé is somehow involved. The detective finds the unfinished manuscript decidedly dull, but when an intruder breaks into Lenox’s house and burns all the remaining papers found at the scene, Heimrich becomes convinced that someone in Van Brunt is willing to kill to protect their family secrets.
The Distant Clue is the 15th book in the Captain Heimrich Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
“Ingenious as always.” —Kirkus Reviews
Capt. M. L. Heimrich of the New York State Police may not have the flash of hard-boiled city detectives, but there’s no lead the intrepid investigator won’t follow until his every hunch is satisfied . . .
When secretary Enid Vance comes across the bodies of her employer, Homer Lenox, and the town librarian, Loudon Wingate, her discovery marks the beginning of a scandal that will shake the town of Van Brunt to its foundations.
Both men have been shot dead, and the gun is lying right next to Homer Lenox’s hand. All evidence points to a murder-suicide, but the motive is unclear—until Captain Heimrich is called in to investigate the shocking crime.
When Heimrich turns up the book Lenox was writing—a detailed history titled The Families of Putnam County, New York—he suspects the exposé is somehow involved. The detective finds the unfinished manuscript decidedly dull, but when an intruder breaks into Lenox’s house and burns all the remaining papers found at the scene, Heimrich becomes convinced that someone in Van Brunt is willing to kill to protect their family secrets.
The Distant Clue is the 15th book in the Captain Heimrich Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
“Ingenious as always.” —Kirkus Reviews
- GenresMystery
245 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1963
39 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Frances Lockridge
96 books48 followersFrances Louise (Davis) Lockridge wrote popular mysteries and children's books with husband Richard Lockridge. They also published under the shared pseudonym Francis Richards.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 23, 2021
The elderly lawyer and the elderly librarian were sitting across from each other in Homer Lenox's study. Neither spoke when Miss Enid Vance stopped by with typed copy of pages in the lawyer's book The Families of Putnam County, New York. Neither would ever speak again. Lenox and his friend, retired Professor Wingate, have both been shot in what looks like a murder-suicide. The gun is lying near Lenox's hand.
Captain Heimrich is called in to determine whether the case is as simple as it looks. And...well, since this is a murder mystery novel, it's no spoiler to say...it's not. Wingate had been providing Lenox with books, newspaper articles, and family papers to help the lawyer with his research. Is the motive for the deaths buried somewhere in Putnam County's past? Did Wingate provide materials that led Lenox to uncover some secret from the past? But then there's the fact that Lenox was the driver in a fatal accident. He was officially cleared of blame...but does someone still hold him responsible? And did Wingate just wind up being in the wrong place at the wrong time? There's also the fact that Lenox bought some high-powered binoculars and could see his neighbors (even quite far away) more clearly than they might have preferred. Oh...and there's all that pretty money that his adopted step-son will now inherit.
This one is quite as fairly clued as one might like...though there's plenty of pointers that could set the armchair detective on the right track. The motive isn't really evident until quite late in the game. I had my eye on the culprit all along, just didn't know quite why they might have done it. Still loving the characters and watching Heimrich and Forniss go through their investigations.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
Captain Heimrich is called in to determine whether the case is as simple as it looks. And...well, since this is a murder mystery novel, it's no spoiler to say...it's not. Wingate had been providing Lenox with books, newspaper articles, and family papers to help the lawyer with his research. Is the motive for the deaths buried somewhere in Putnam County's past? Did Wingate provide materials that led Lenox to uncover some secret from the past? But then there's the fact that Lenox was the driver in a fatal accident. He was officially cleared of blame...but does someone still hold him responsible? And did Wingate just wind up being in the wrong place at the wrong time? There's also the fact that Lenox bought some high-powered binoculars and could see his neighbors (even quite far away) more clearly than they might have preferred. Oh...and there's all that pretty money that his adopted step-son will now inherit.
This one is quite as fairly clued as one might like...though there's plenty of pointers that could set the armchair detective on the right track. The motive isn't really evident until quite late in the game. I had my eye on the culprit all along, just didn't know quite why they might have done it. Still loving the characters and watching Heimrich and Forniss go through their investigations.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
August 24, 2010
Two bookish men appear to have argued and then one killed the other than himself. Problem is, the set up didn't quite match this reality. They both were historians and they were researching history of the families of Van Brunt. The clues were both distant/near in time and place.
A real brain teaser, very hard to figure out which way to look. And it took a while before Heimrich figured out how to alter his view through a clue from young Michael, and solve the case.
A real brain teaser, very hard to figure out which way to look. And it took a while before Heimrich figured out how to alter his view through a clue from young Michael, and solve the case.
June 23, 2020
Early Bird Book Deal | Not really fair play, but enjoyable | it's not that the Captain had information that the reader isn't supplied with, it's that the necessary clue doesn't come to anybody's knowledge until the end, so there's little point in guessing. That said, you can tell whodunit by personality and the habits of the genre long before you get the vital info that provides motive. The red herring in this one was a little wearing, but the supporting townsfolk and surroundings are nice as always.
June 20, 2018
next up in the series, owned in book club edition hardcover
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews