The Birthday Murders

Lieutenant Tuck #4

by Lange Lewis

When her husband is murdered using a method from one of her books, a screenwriter becomes the main suspect

A successful writer and a B-movie director seem like the perfect match in the Hollywood Hills and, with him working to produce her novel for an upcoming film, the pair’s recent marriage isn’t the only way that they’re connected. When the husband is found murdered on the wife’s birthday using a method of poisoning that was described in one of her books, Victoria suddenly becomes the main suspect as her new happy life comes crashing down around her.

The case appears straightforward from the outside but the LAPD investigator on the scene finds the truth to be anything but. Though all the signs point to Victoria, there’s no motive to be found. Now, to solve the mystery of whodunnit, he’ll have to dig beneath the veneer of the household and reveal its inner workings, and to understand the deadly drama that unfolded just beneath the surface.

Reprinted for the first time in over half a century, The Birthday Murder is a beautifully written and psychologically astute Golden Age mystery set in old Los Angeles. It will appeal to fans of vintage whodunnits and of standout domestic suspense authors from the era such as Dorothy B. Hughes, Charlotte Armstrong, and Margaret Millar.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Fiction, Crime

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

pseudonym of Jane Lewis Brandt.

Reviews

[Anissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. This is a re-issue in the American Mystery Classic series. I'm not as committed to this series as the British Library Crime Classics series of re-issues but as I'm all for old books and old mysteries in particular, it's another undertaking that I'm glad someone has thought to do. This had a fascinating introduction by Randal Brandt (no relation to the author whose name was Jane de Lange Lewis Benyon Bissell Brandt) that was appreciated.

This story of a writer with a movie producer husband who winds up dead in the same way as her most current novel was quite the page-turner. Victoria and Albert are both in their second marriages and also work together. Albert is on the cusp of producing a film based on a book Victoria has written and they disagree on who the actress for the titular part should be. Victoria tends to be an eccentric sort for her time and her work wholly consumes her while she also possesses an independence and bluntness that seems to unsettle most people and particularly the men she tends to attract and marry. I'm not going to spoil this but before long Albert is found dead on the morning of her birthday and an investigation ensues led by a very competent and very tall Detective Richard Tuck. What followed was a procedural that felt very much like an intimate character study. Victoria, her best friend Bernice, housekeeper Hazel, dead husband Albert, ex-husband Sawn Harriss (what a name) and the actress who wants the prize part, Moira Hastings. It was riveting. As it happens I had a suspicion of the solution near the beginning but was thrown off because of a lot of very good storytelling. I loved the "A-ha!" moment this gave me when it was all finally revealed. A very fun read altogether.

A couple of detractors here, however. While I enjoy reading books from old, I never get used to archaic attitudes of those times. As I always say, no matter when, not all people held those attitudes so it gets no handwave of "Well, that's just how people were then so it's okay for the time" from me. There were always the people on the receiving end of the attitudes who I am sure, weren't all in on it all being okay. Here, there were a couple of comments expressed by characters about Black and Hispanic people that were eye-roll worthy and the same for some expressed about women and men. Like, I had to read twice to make sure I'd read them right. I had. The matter-of-fact way these things were related by characters added to their breathtaking nature. It certainly added to the memorable moments in the reading. As always, I'm glad when books of old are reissued as they were written. It gives a sense of a time and place and is a record of a sort of those old days.

This was the first book I've read by Lange Lewis but if I can find more, it won't be my last.

Recommended.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victoria Jason is a brilliant novelist and screen-writer who seems to have a gift for understanding people--too well sometimes. However, her professional success hadn't been followed by success in her personal life--her first marriage failed when she saw her husband for what he was. But now she seems to have found her perfect match--Albert Hime, a B-movie producer who seems to adore her. And the two of them are making a perfect team. Victoria's suggestions about his most recent movie helped to propel it to popularity and now it looks like Albert will get a chance to make his first A-list film. The film in question just happens to be an adaptation of Victoria's novel Ina Hart.

But just before he can realize his dream, he's poisoned...on Victoria's birthday. When Lieutenant Tuck of the LAPD is sent to investigate, he finds that there are a limited number of suspects with access to the sugar bowl that contains poison: Moira Hastings, the young actress who was hoping the lead in Ina Hart would help her break out of ingenue roles into more serious dramatic parts--but Albert always listened to Victoria and Victoria didn't think Moira was right for the part; Bernice Saxe, Victoria's friend since childhood--who just might have been jealous of the couple's happiness; Captain Sawn Harris, Victoria's ex-husband who has turned up just in time to help throw suspicion on Victoria (by design?); Hazel, Victoria's near-sighted servant, who may have killed by mistake rather than out of malice; and, of course, Victoria herself. But if the death wasn't due to accident then try as he might, Tuck can't figure a real motive for any of them. And even if Victoria really did want to get rid of her husband of a mere six months, would she really use the method that was highlighted in the very novel Albert was going to turn into film?

When I read two other mysteries by Lewis (Meat for Murder & Juliet Dies Twice) I either missed or wasn't as struck by the description of Lt. Tuck. This time around it makes me think of Lieutenant Columbo:

They [other detectives on the force] could never understand why when violent death left its usual haunts on the wrong side of the tracks and entered a home in Beverly Hills, a Los Angeles University or other such genteel places, it was Tuck whom Gufferty placed in charge, rather than one of themselves. It certainly wasn't that he was a smooth man; he was a slow man, and his inevitable brown suit was apt to want pressing.

An untidy detective who isn't smooth....definitely sounds familiar. His sidekick, Detective Froody, is just as unusual:

Froody was a little fat man with sad green eyes, a waddling walk....Froody loved all niggling detail; he was the perfect leg man. He never swore; he knew his sherlock Holmes by heart, and his Tarzan almost as well. He clipped poetry from the editorial page of the city's most conservative newspaper and kept it for weeks in his wallet. His private life was as colorless as Tuck's own.

An interesting pair, this LA Homes and his Watson. One tiny disappointment--after making such a point of Froody's love of detail and abilities as a leg man, Lewis didn't really make much of those qualities. But--overall, this mystery is well done. The puzzle plot is a good one and the clues to the solution are very subtle, so subtle that I didn't catch them. Lewis does a good job of spreading the suspicion around even without concrete motives to hang that suspicion on. I kept changing my mind about who really snuck into the kitchen and grabbed the ant poison but never did come up with the right answer. Very enjoyable--and very appropriate. I started this book on my birthday. Fortunately, no fatalities at my house.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Izzy E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly serviceable, and with a solution I didn't predict. Unfortunately it suffers from having some superficial similarities to Sayer's wonderful "Strong Poison" (suspect is an author, victim is romantically attached to said author, victim is killed in same way as character in one of author's books). Except here, the detective is some bland and unmemorable LAPD chap named Tuck, instead of my precious unhinged Lord Peter Wimsey, and the author insert, while better, is just not Harriet Vane. It's not fair of me to compare them. But I'm going to anyway.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Birthday Murder takes place in Hollywood in the mid-1940s, where Victoria and Albert Hime live across the street from Humphrey Bogart. Victoria is a successful screenwriter, and Albert is a film producer. They are reaching new career heights when tragedy strikes their home in the form of murder.

While this novel is at its core a murder mystery (made all the more helpful by the map of the Hime house on the back of my edition), it runs deeper than that. Lange Lewis does a fine job of exploring personal relationships in this book: those between spouses, ex-spouses, lifelong friends and the Hollywood crowd. The characters are multi-dimensional, and the reader is as much interested in their interactions and backstories as in the mystery. The lead character, Victoria Jason Hime, is not your typical heroine. She is mid-thirties, prematurely gray and not a Hollywood starlet. Victoria trades on her writing skills and intelligence instead, although she is somewhat abrasive (I pictured her as a young Bea Arthur). She is a refreshing change of pace.

The mystery is well executed (only the most eagle-eyed reader will deduce what happened in the Hime house on that fateful night) and Lewis' writing style is engaging and cinematic. The real highlights of the tale, though, are the characters. I was left wanting to know "what happens next" to all of them. The story felt like but one chapter in their lives.

Recommendable.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great not long book, with a great big story. Saying anything about the plot might give the answer away. I love the characters- the main one is a woman who is her own person, she makes her own money, following her own desire to be a writer. She sees people and situations dead on but then murder happens. The writing here is really fantastic- the portraits of people are very realistic.

I must say it’s probably some of the strongest writing in terms of psychology of people and plotting together. So happy it was reprinted. Would highly recommend.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligently written and with more strong female characters than expected in the average murder mystery. Poor Lt. Richard Tuck is distinctly overshadowed. Solid first read of this author who wrote six mystery novels in ten years (1942-52) when she then moved on to other genres. In the end our protagonist falls for the jerk and not the good guy (argh!), but I guess it was of its time. [4★]

[Randal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book I've read by this author and it is, by far, the best one yet. Lt. Richard Tuck of the Los Angeles Homicide Squad investigates the murder of Albert Hime, a Hollywood producer of "Class B" films. He has been poisoned and the prime suspect is his wife, Victoria Jason Hime, a successful novelist and playwright. But, Tuck just cannot figure out a motive for Victoria to kill her husband. Albert was in a position to produce an adaptation based on Victoria's latest novel (which would be his first "Class A" film) and by all accounts their marriage is a perfectly content one. Once Tuck uncovers a motive, though, things fall into place.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely fantastic mystery. I love how the American Mystery Classics series introduces me to stories and writers I might otherwise never encounter. In Lange Lewis's The Birthday Murder, we are brought to Hollywood, and at the center lies a power couple with great success at their fingertips. Although Hollywood and the movie business are core elements of the story (the power couple are a writer and producer, another important character is an actress and a major plot point revolves around a potential movie to be produced), it doesn't feel like a Hollywood book, but in a good way. The characters are excellently written: complex, multilayered, they give the sense of not fully understanding themselves, which feels quite authentic. The mystery element is also rather clever, and I always enjoy a story when the police aren't made to be bumbling fools. Sometimes Golden Age mysteries can be dated and a bit of a slog to get through, but this was a real page turner. Highly recommended.

[Gaia Cerrai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small thriller, written many years ago. I appreciated the vintage scient, also the final was clever

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Tom Godfrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'll start this off by saying this book is very good, surprisingly so. The characters are well-defined, the detective is like no other I've ever come across, the mystery itself is excellent, and the author plays totally fair with the reader. I polished this off in one sitting.
We're in Hollywood in the mid 1940s. Victoria is a writer and self-made woman whose novel, a story about a woman who poisons her husband, has been picked up for production, while her husband, Albert, is odds-on to be the producer, a major upgrade for him. A young actress, Moira, who is looking for a career upgrade herself, has come to Victoria's house to read from the script in hopes she can convince Victoria she is up to playing the lead, though she knows she is too young for the part. No such luck. Moira intimates the studio head is interested in having her play the part, but Victoria points out that if indeed her husband is the producer, it will be Victoria's opinion that counts..
As it happens, Victoria is not a "housewife", and is not at all domestic. Her 10-year marriage to Albert is solid, if not very intimate, to the point that they have separate bedrooms. Before Albert comes home, she is visited by her oldest friend ,Bernice with a tale of impending divorce, and by Sawn, her first husband, who is now stationed in California, but both are gone before hubby #2 comes home. Albert suggests they go out for dinner, as the next day is Victoria's birthday. In the end they stay home, eating a meal previously prepared by the housekeeper. Victoria is able enough to heat the coffee, which she later reheats for Albert, and they retire to their respective beds. There is too much noise coming from a party next door, so Victoria takes a sleeping pill and drops off. The next morning Victoria wakes up and heads over to Albert's room, where he lies dead on the floor in a posture of some gastric distress. He was poisoned! By the same poison used by the murderous wife in the novel! Certainly Victoria is the major suspect, but it's also possible that Moira, Bernice, or Sawn might have done it, or even the housekeeper accidently. what makes this book so successful is that Ms. Lewis makes a cogent argument for guilt for each suspect, but everyone is logically eliminated. Hmm. As we follow the case, Victoria has conversations with the other characters, probing their psyches in a very valid way, while commenting on women's dependence on men, and how not to let that happen. 75 years later everything she says is spot on. These conversations allow each character to be more than just one note, to show sides that weren't initially apparent, and makes the reading experience remarkably human and insightful.
It isn't until almost the end that the last clue points definitely to the person responsible for Albert's death.
I liked this book a lot, and recommend it.

[Two Envelopes And A Phone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I’m in a tough spot. I’ll put is simply: I loved The Birthday Murder, but the solution to the whodunit reminds of maybe, oh, about four other Mysteries that run a similar main trick. In fact, a similar novel is a huge favourite, and a problem is that that big favourite of mine was published later than this Lange Lewis effort. So, y’know, do I just transfer top love for the later book over to this very fine, wonderfully executed similar book? I mean, this chicken did do THAT thing, before so and so gave us such a good egg too.

Or do I look up the copyright dates of the other or four Mysteries that lounge around the same ballpark? This sub-grouping of clever, but somewhat similarly-premised, whodunits…what’s my position, if I track down who did the trick first and feel someone did it even better later? Did somebody copy someone? Should we not be done with this particular sleight of the hand?

And my gosh, how do I keep falling for this? This is sad - it never entered my head, the species of reveal waiting for me at the finale of this puzzler. I should know, by now, where to poke the stick, in certain situations…

But then, a great Mystery writer knows how to surround a solution with the stuff that is designed to keep your eye away from the prize. And Lange Lewis - even though this is the only novel of hers I’ve read - is obviously as good as anyone at muddying corpse-laden waters. At least in my case…and I should have just, well, caught a whiff of what was really going on. I think I love the fact that she could get me again, from that wonderful little ballpark of Mystery novels that are practically teammates.

Outside of all this, we have great characters, some commentary on love and marriage (especially as it unfolds in 1940s Hollywood), and some moments where I truly felt sorry for where certain people ended up. Wanting Mr. or Mrs. Perfect while perhaps wanting stardom and riches just as much - collisions and crack-ups bursting from all of that. Or, are the shallow players and manipulators the ones to watch closest…?

A terrific Mystery - I think I do prefer something a little similar that happens to come later, and of course it helps that no one quite clones the trick; it gets re-worked and unveiled fresh again, apparently right after I let my guard down.

[Pharmacdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Birthday Murders" is part of American Mystery Classics. I little bit of RHOBH meets the ‘40s.
Victoria Jason is a successful novelist whose recent marriage to film producer Albert Hime seems idyllic. But on her birthday, Albert is found dead—poisoned by a specific, obscure method Victoria described in vivid detail in one of her own mystery novels.
Victoria is the obvious suspect: she had the knowledge, the opportunity, and arguably the means. Yet, she has absolutely no motive. She loved her husband, and her grief appears genuine. The central puzzle isn't just who did it, but why—and how a murderer could perfectly replicate a fictional crime without the author’s help.
Enter Lieutenant Richard Tuck of the LAPD Homicide Squad. Tuck is a refreshing departure from the hard-drinking, cynical noir detectives popular in the 1940s. He is described as tall, mild-mannered, and methodical. He is a thinking man’s detective who relies on psychology and atmosphere rather than fists. Tuck is less interested in aggressive interrogation and more interested in the "emotional temperature" of the house. He senses that the solution lies in the complicated relationships of the Hollywood elite rather than in simple physical clues.
While technically a police procedural, Lewis excels at painting a picture of a glamorous Hollywood life that is rotting from the inside. The tension comes not from gunfights, but from the claustrophobia of a beautiful home turned into a crime scene.
The characters are not cardboard cutouts. Victoria is a nuanced protagonist—an intelligent, independent career woman who is suddenly rendered vulnerable. The book explores themes of female agency and the strange, often competitive dynamic between creative couples (writer vs. producer).
Set in 1940s Los Angeles, the book offers a fantastic sense of place without being heavy-handed. You get the hills, the studios, and the peculiar mix of desperate aspiring actors and wealthy moguls.
The scientific explanation of the poison, while accurate to the time, relies on a bit of "Golden Age logic" that requires suspension of disbelief regarding how easily the killer procured it. Who among you store ant poison with your flour and sugar canisters?
The Birthday Murder is a "why-dunit" that bridges the gap between the puzzle mysteries of the 1930s and the psychological thrillers of the 1950s.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoy reading these American Mystery Classics (here's a complete list of what's come out so far), but I have to admit that I don't tend to think, "hey, Faulker and Flannery O'Connor and Steinbeck were writing at the same time." I tend to think, "hey, this is around the time of John Dickson Carr and S.S. van Dine and Ellery Queen." In other words, I think of them as mysteries and not very often as literature, which, to be fair, the lack of depth of characterization in the vast majority of these novels (I've read, by my count, 39 of them [!]) fully justifies. All of which is to say that this is maybe the first of these that feels like you could compare it with, say, Eudora Welty without shaming the author. I'd never heard of Lange Lewis before this, but she wrote several early-40s novels, all set in and around USC, that critics at the time quite liked. I can see why--this is a complex little tale where the characters' relations are so intensely human, and emotionally, complexly true, and gendered, that they take the notion of "motive" far beyond the usual plot-moving technology of "this person wanted to get revenge or steal some money" or whatever, written in a tone of wonderfully cool irony: "He was writing a novel about a scion of a wealthy New England family who revolts against the environment in which he was born and throws his lot in with the workers of the world. In Greenwich Village at that time there were not more than three other young men writing this same story. His income from the trust fund was then about five thousand dollars a year." It's in essence a procedural, but in an intellectually honest manner that reflects real-people deductive skills rather than genius-detective leaps. There's a bit of clunkily melodramatic dialogue, and the ending feels like it gives up on what made the novel feel ahead of its time, but on the whole it felt refreshing and even energizing. 39 novels in, you sometimes think, ok, now's the time when we'll see another central clue doled out; now it's time for the incorrect solution; etc. Not here. Must look up her other books.

[Elsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly excellent novel reissued in the American Mystery Classics series.

The setting is 1940s Hollywood, among authors, screenwriters, producers, actresses and agents side to side with ordinary “society” matrons and businessmen. Victoria Hime, a successful author and screenwriter, is suspected of poisoning her new husband Albert, a B movie producer, on her birthday. Inspector Tuck of LAPD, Lange’s series character, investigates.

This is a perfectly paced, domestic suspense tale with a psychological slant, in the same vein as Charlotte Armstrong’s The Unsuspected. Since other reviewers have summarized the plot nicely, I will just add that the setting and set-up manages to be both realistic and slightly glamorous. The couple lives across the street from Humphrey Bogart, but the only time this is mentioned is in the connection of the housekeeper going to borrow some coffee from Bogart’s cook. Just a perfect detail!

All the female characters, which dominate the tale, are strong, complex and interesting. The novel revolves around the question of men and women and their relationships with each other. What do we want? Why do we want it, and how do we try to get it? These are all questions Lange poses in her plot and characters. I liked Victoria very much, and wondered how much of herself Lange put in the character. According to the pre-face, she had had four failed marriages by the age of 49, which at least suggests that these were questions she thought about.

As other reviewers have pointed out, there is some dated, casual racial stereotyping, but written without malice and used to add to the red herrings.

Very highly recommended

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1945 mystery has just been released as the most recent book in the American Mystery Classics series.

Victoria Jason is a successful 34-year-old writer living in 'a little house in Beverly Hills". She marries Albert Himes, a B-Movie producer who has had some mild success. They are comfortable with each other, and they make a good professional team.

Albert is poisoned at home. Lange gives us a nice cast of suspects. Victoria, as the wife, has to be a suspect when her husband is poisoned. Victoria's first husband has just shown up. The maid could have done it. A jealous and disappointed attractive starlet could have a motive. It might have been an accident.

Lewis wrote five novels featuring the LAPD detective Richard Tuck and his assistant E. Byron Froody, "a little fat man with far green eyes and a waddling walk." Tuck is 6'4". He is a deliberate patient cop who trusts his instincts.

The suspects and supporting cast are all well done. Victoria's childhood friend is a beautiful socialite who is going through a marital crisis. She and Victoria have good scenes together.

This takes a while to get going. The murder doesn't happen until 50 pages in. Lange at times errs on the side of explaining characters rather than developing them though plot and dialogue.

This is a good solid mystery with an interesting 1940s Hollywood setting and a very clever solution to the murder mystery.

[Lotta Darling · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love old murder mysteries, you'll love The Birthday Murder. It plays our like an old black and white movie. I loved the descriptions and dialogue - very of its time and really sets the scene for a classical noir murder mystery. It was a fast read and very enjoyable, like sitting down to watch a film on TCM, perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

[John Cavanagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up the reprint at random on a “new releases” shelf at the library and enjoyed it. Quietly hardboiled Hollywood noir - the central characters live across the street from Humphrey Bogart - with an unpredictable outcome

[Abby Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It definitely has some plot twists. When I first started it, I didn���t think it was going to be good. Than by page 74 I thought I had the mystery solved. I promise you that whoever you think poisoned Mr.Hime you are wrong. It was overall a really good book!!

[Ron Kastner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever; i wish she married the detective.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first novel I've read by this author. I am glad I discovered her. Lewis' characters and plot lines are built with a writing style that is intelligent and respectful of her reader.

[Cindy Bellomy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gets an extra star for the end.

[FEDERICA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly classic mystery: I had a lot of fun following how the alleged culprits were described, and their motivations.
I particularly liked the narration, and how the various clues were scattered.
In the end I didn't guess who the culprit was, even though in hindsight I should have gotten there and that's another reason I appreciated the book.
The twist isn't something absurd that displaces, but the resolution of the case really lies in the logic of the events.
Recommended

[Sneha Pathak (reader_girl_reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read, and to a great extent enjoyed, Lange Lewis' The Birthday Murder. Set in Hollywood, the central mystery of the book is that of a mystery writer whose husband, a Hollywood producer soon going to produce a movie based on her script, is found dead on her birthday's morning. And the cause of death is the same poison as in her novel. There are a few people besides the writer who might have had the opportunity to poison him, none of them seems to have a solid motive. The entire novel revolves around the detective in charge trying to find the motive, and the killer. With a twist towards the ending which takes this book above average, this book was fast-paced and a good psychological study which I finished in a day. The only issue I had was towards the ending wrt a particular character's views on women, but I suppose that's in keeping with the time the book was written in.

I hadn't heard of Lange Lewis till I saw a recent post by a fellow bookstagrammer and have read two good books by her in quick succession now. Would definitely recommend you read this if you can manage to find a copy.

[Ryan Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic murder mystery set in Holywood of the 1940's. A B movie producer is found murdered in his home. His wife a popular novelist and screenwriter is the main suspect as her husband is killed based on a scene from one of her books. The detective on the case is Lieutenant Tuck of the LAPD. It was entertaining ans had prenty of twists and turns.

[Martina Sartor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un mastino travestito da bassotto... Giallo psicologico, più che indiziario, anche perché il particolare decisivo viene svelato al lettore nel momento stesso in cui anche l'ispettore Tuck si accinge a svelare come sono andate le cose.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albert Hime is a B-movie producer, but it looks like he's getting a chance at the big time. But before he can enjoy his success, he's poisoned. The circumstances make it look like only a few of his wife's visitors could have done the deed, unless his housekeeper did it by accident. But there is his wife, Victoria Jason, the well-known novelist and screen-writer. Her last novel--the one that Albert is going to produce--was about a woman who poisoned her husband, and the poison she used is the same poison that killed Albert.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly bought this because I like the house on the cover. It is an okay mystery.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: his wife has written a novel about a husband being poisoned by his wife. Albert decides to produce it as a movie, but then he's poisoned!