Turn of the Table by Jonathan Stagge

"Was the killer a Vampire or Werewolf?"

Jonathan Stagge wrote a complex, involving mystery with Turn of the Table. His amateur detective Dr. Hugh Westlake starred in several of Stagge's mysteries, and from reading this one, I'll have to search them out.

Dr. Westlake is filling in for a rural doctor's practice, and along with his daughter Dawn, is curious about his wealthy neighbors, the Bannisters. He meets Bruce and his wife Sheila, their children Gregory, Oliver, and Linette, and other friends and cousins. There is an involved family story about taking over the family business, the children wanting to break away and have their own lives, but especially about Bruce's past wife Grace, who drowned many years ago on a cruise near Vancouver, BC. Bruce has a nurse in the house for his health whom no one likes; in fact, Dr. Westlake nicknames her The Serpent. She feels she is psychic and persuades Bruce to have a séance, another of many which the family skeptically tolerates for Bruce. While they are around the table in the darkened room, Bruce has an attack and dies—or was he murdered? And how? As the investigation begins, the following night they have another séance and bring forth a vision of the dead wife Grace!

Meanwhile, Dr. Westlake discovers a strange figure moving around the grounds at night, at one point being thrown to the ground—warm breath scorching his neck!—then a stabbing pain as human teeth sank into his throat! Who is this creature that lives on human blood? And is the family hiding a ghost, vampire, or werewolf?

The threads of family dynamics and struggles, psychic adventure, and even supernatural creatures all lead to an exciting finale, which includes a drowning, creature attacks, insanity, adultery, and a raging fire. It's a great puzzle that comes together nicely and even throws a few twists into the last few pages.

The Popular Library paperback 1950 pictured here does a disservice to the quality of the mystery within. Jonathan Stagge is a pseudonym for the writing group of Hugh Wheeler and Richard Webb, along with Martha Kelley and Mary Aswell. Their detective fiction was also published under the names Patrick Quentin and Q. Patrick. As Patrick Quentin, they introduced the popular character Peter Duluth and won a special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Webb and Wheeler wrote the nine Dr. Westlake mysteries.

A superior mystery, always surprising.

1940 / Paperback / 192 pages