Zenith Jones Brown (1898–1983) was a U.S. crime fiction writer. She wrote under the pseudonyms David Frome, Leslie Ford, and Brenda Conrad. Brown began writing as David Frome in 1929 while living in England. She used the pen name Leslie Ford for her mystery novels published in the United States. During World War II, she wrote several novels about nurses under the name Brenda Conrad. Brown was also a war correspondent for the United States Air Force.
Her books were often serialized in The Saturday Evening Post before being published. Brown also wrote short stories, which appeared in periodicals and anthologies.
Her series characters included Lt. Joseph Kelly; Col. John Primrose, a career soldier, with Grace Latham; Major Gregory Lewis; and Evan Pinkerton with Inspector J. Humphrey Bull. She also wrote stand-alone novels.
Evan Pinkerton is a timid widower, at loose ends after the death of his domineering wife. His only friend is Inspector J. Humphrey Bull of Scotland Yard, who rented a room from the Pinkertons before his marriage. Bull allows Pinkerton to tag along on his investigations; sometimes Pinkerton is helpful and sometimes not.
Ten of the Pinkerton books were published between 1930 and 1939. The final one came much later after the end of the war. Homicide House: Mr. Pinkerton Returns (Rinehart, 1950), also published as Murder on the Square by Robert Hale in 1951, finds Mr. Pinkerton living in a former maid’s room on the top floor of a boarding house, where he shares the bath with another boarder, since his house incurred bomb damage. The other residents included the Winships, whose house across the street had been almost leveled.
Mr. Pinkerton is sitting outside one day when Dan McGrath walks down the street to the boarding house. He is looking for Mary Winship, who shared a bomb shelter with him several years earlier. He was smitten with her and has come to find her to marry her. Mr. Pinkerton knows she lives in his building with her mother and her overbearing aunt. McGrath’s entrance into the picture serves as a catalyst. The murders begin, starting with the obnoxious building valet.
Complicating or possibly contributing to the deaths is Mary’s father, who may or may not still be alive. Mary’s aunt insists that he is dead, other people think he’s in hiding. McGrath thinks the man is alive and waiting for the right time to appear publicly again. He was believed to have taken a valuable painting when he disappeared. All in all, lots of activity, sometimes disjointed, in this story.
The resident manager of the boarding house doesn’t realize that Mr. Pinkerton is actually the owner of the building, she thinks he’s someone’s poor relation that she’s been told to find a space for and she treats him accordingly. Mr. Pinkerton still isn’t used to the idea that he has a great deal of money so living in a small cramped space is fine. His wife was abusive and having the manager and the staff mistreat him seems normal. The scene where she learns the truth ends the book with an amusing touch.
Steve Lewis published his views about this book in his Mystery File blog of May 2008, https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=600. See the comments in the same column for Mike Grost’s observations.