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Sinners Go Secretly

Page history last edited by J F Norris 13 years, 4 months ago

Wynne, Anthony - Sinners Go Secetly (1927)

 

Crime stories with emphasis on psychological motives.  Some are detective stories, most are not.

Listed in Adey’s Locked Room Murders

 

This scarce collection is the only volume of short stories featuring that locked room and impossible crime expert – Dr. Eustace Hailey, a snuff taking psychologist with lots of opinions, a violent streak displayed in his fondness for fistfights, and a weakness for all beautiful women.  The book contains the famous and often anthologized story “The Cyprian Bees” in which a murderer uses his knowledge of anaphylactic shock to commit a devilish murder.  Many of these tales are noteworthy for the bizarre murder methods (poisoned cat claws, bee stings, etc) and, I guess, for their emphasis on the psychological motives of the criminals.  But the psychology is naïve and like most of Wynne’s work shows a dearth of understanding even for the 1920s.  Dr. Hailey in his early days was a nosy busybody as well as a violent young man who wouldn’t think twice about punching a villain in the face.

 

J.F. Norris

 

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