Brady, Nicholas - The House of Strange Guests (1932)

The house of the title is the home of Maurice Mostyn and the strange guests are the various people whom he invites there to discuss private business.  All of the guests show up under aliases and, according to the butler Summers, often forget their name when addressed and sign checks under different names.  Summers reluctantly gives other odd details to the police but will not come out and say what he thinks. What kind of "business" exactly is being conducted here? Any well-read mystery will guess almost immediately that it's far from the legit kind of business.

The book opens with the report of the death of Mr. Mostyn who is found dead in a gas-filled bathroom.  Suicide is almost immediately ruled out based on the position of his body in the tub and the discovery of rubber gloves the maid used in a place where they shouldn't be.  Interrogation of the suspects reveals that they are all glad the man is dead. After some prodding from Inspector Hallows and Rev. Buckle (who was among the guests in disguise) we learn that all the guests were victims of an intricate blackmail scheme.  The autopsy reveals that Mostyn was poisoned with a rare toxin called strophanthin and that it was administered in his toothpaste.  After some routine grilling of the suspects the story takes an interesting turn when Buckle starts his own investigations.  He is fascinated with the household accounts, the manner in which the bills are paid, and three hidden safes in the Mostyn home.  One of these safes is custom made and its odd combination lock requiring two separate combinations (one with letters, one with numbers ) as well as a key piques Buckle's interest.  He tracks down the safe maker and learns several interesting things that only confirm Buckle's suspicions and eventually lead to the discovery of the murderer.  If the denouement unveils one of mysterydom's most groan inducing clichés the writing and the story are lively enough to forgive Brady's lack of invention.

Reverend Buckle is one of the more interesting least known detectives in the genre. He has an almost macabre interest in the criminal mind but is also an avid gardener and will often be found perusing the latest gardening catalogue which he always seems to have handy in one of his many pockets. He reminds me of Gideon Fell. In fact, the last two chapters in which he more or less lectures to Inspector Hallows explaining the solution in detail and also eliminates all but one of the suspects proving that only person left has to be the killer is very reminiscent of the kind of lecture that Dr. Fell delivered in Carr's books.

This seems to be more run-of-the-mill than other Brady detective novels featuring Rev. Buckle all of which tend to have an element of the bizarre in the plot. The most bizarre of the Brady novels and a minor classic of sorts for its gruesome and ingenious plot is certainly Fair Murder.  Sadly, only two of these books were published in the US, both with a very small print run, and none of them were reissued in paperback in either the UK or the US making all of the Nicholas Brady titles rather hard to find.

J F Norris