The Deadly Truth by Helen McCloy

Helen McCloy's solid mysteries featuring psychologist Dr. Basil Willing never disappoint.

Hard beauty Claudia Bethune, known for her eccentric parties with amusing games, hosts a dinner group at her Long Island mansion. By four o'clock in the morning, she is the only one at the table, and she is dead, strangled by her emerald necklace. Dr. Basil Willing, a psychologist for the New York District Attorney, is currently a tenant at her beachfront summer house. With no official standing, he assists in the investigation into her irresponsible husband, Mike, who pretends to be a writer; his ex-wife, Phyllis, who somehow remained friends with Claudia; debutante Peggy, who invited herself; and business advisor Charles, who runs the textile mill she inherited. The mill is amidst a violent strike, and stocks are plummeting. The last guest is Roger, from whom she bought her mansion, a biochemist who discovered an truth serum. When Claudia visits his foundation, his unrequited love for her blinds him to the fact that she pockets the drug. Tainted cocktails should prove an interesting game, but her delight in frivolity mixed with the vicious proves one step too far that night. Some guests drink them and some do not, but I've only known them for 84 pages, and I was shocked at the venom released. The next day, when Claudia is discovered, no one is talking.

State Police Captain Blaikie and Willing uncover a web of fraud and embezzlement—with a healthy dose of kleptomania, pornography, pathological frustrations, and abnormal sexual impulses. Claudia had three husbands and a dubious past. An interesting sideline is a deaf guest and the imported French staff who claim not to understand English. This scores all around with great characters, writing, and a tight mystery.

McCloy (Helen Clarkson) was married to Davis Dresser, better known as the writer Brett Halliday, who gained fame for his Mike Shayne mystery novels. In 1950, she was the first woman president of the Mystery Writers of America. McCloy deserves to be better known, and the Basil Willing series (beginning with Dance of Death 1938) is available in eBook format.

1941 / Hardcover /