Deadly Beloved by John Stephen Strange

If you find Book Club editions from the 1950's, they might have basic covers, and appear to be second rate mysteries. In this case you would be right.

If I knew that Strange was a pseudonym for Dorothy Stockbridge Tillet, author of 22 mystery novels, I would be more interested.

Deadly Beloved is more of a domestic novel than mystery thriller - there is a serial killer in the midst, but the plot hovers around the other tenants of the old New York brownstone on East 58th Street. It's quite sedate, focusing on Letty, a young librarian on the third floor which she shares with Ham (a student actor) and Tom Jones (an architect).

On the second floor are Barney and Muriel Gantt. He is a journalist (a Strange series regular) and Muriel writes as Agony Aunt for a newspaper - and although they are perfect to form a sleuth team to solve murders, they do not, they remain a settled married couple. They share the floor with Miss Schultz, assistant to the dentist Dr. Harrington below. The dentist and his newlywed wife Louisa live on the main floor - it's her building, she has happily been there her whole life.

The building gossips that Louisa is blind to Miss Schultz taking walks with (and even kissing) Dr. Harrington, although no one is telling Louisa. Letty is dating Ham, though she would rather date Tom. They also gossip about the killer on the loose - the papers are full of it, and Louisa can't get enough - a man who has been marrying women to drain their bank accounts before they disappear - usually found months later buried in the basement. What a creep.

It's a hot Fourth of July long weekend when Louisa disappears, sending postcards from upstate that she is fine. Shortly after that, a wire with the surprise news she has had a fatal heart attack. Dr. Harrington neatly ties up the estate, keeping her urn on the mantle. As the summer progresses it is now tasteful for Miss Schultz and Dr. Harrington to consider marriage, perhaps a honeymoon cruise since her wealthy Aunt Ida has passed away, Miss Shultz the sole beneficiary.

A light mystery as there is no tension. It is obvious what is happening. No romantic outbursts as Ham acts upstate, and Tom moves in on Letty. No misgivings about why a new garden was put in the back yard. The only true detection is from Barney and Muriel - loose speculation how all three victims were wealthy older women - the murderous husbands looking a lot like Dr. Harrington.

There is a flurry of activity in the last 10 pages, and a satisfying resolution to it all.

So, what else do you want in a mystery story. It's all there, just not in enough quantity or quality. A pleasant time passer.

1952 / Hardcover / 192 pages