Boucher, Anthony - The Case of the Seven of Calvary (1937)

Where would detective fiction be without the remarkable propensity of murderers to bump off the wrong person by mistake? One would think that - given the possible consequences -- one would want to make absolutely sure of the identity of one's victim before committing the act, but no -- give them a reasonable facsimile and off they go, slaughtering like mad, sparking off investigations and leaving the whole thing to do all over again.

In this, Boucher's first mystery, kindly inoffensive Swiss Dr Schaedel is murdered on a visit to the university campus in Berkeley, California. Martin Lamb, concerned by his friend Kurt's apparent involvement, takes the case to his Sanskrit instructor Dr Ashwin. The murder is complicated by a design on a piece of paper left near the corpse -- a European 7 atop a series of steps. Paul Lennox, a Swiss historian, explains that this is the symbol of an occult Swiss sect called the Vignards, and is known as the Seven of Calvary. Later, when Lennox himself is murdered, a second piece of paper with the same design is found nearby.

Is it an international plot, or a sordid campus intrigue? With Martin's aid Dr Ashwin unravels the case and identifies the guilty. Boucher adds to the fun by giving pen-pictures of his own acquaintances among the suspects, and providing a Latina love interest for Martin. The solution is plausible, if not entirely convincing, and there is a promise at the end to introduce more of Ashwin's cases - which Boucher, alas, never kept.

An entertaining diversion for fans of academic mysteries.

Jon.

Note: Boucher did in fact write another Dr. Ashwin novel. It was never published. But the manuscript survives among his papers. There are also some uncollected short stories about Martin Lamb.