Robert “Robin” Forsythe (1879-1937) began writing short stories and poetry as a teenager. In middle age after a stint in prison he took up mystery writing, publishing five mysteries with amateur sleuth and landscape painter Algernon/Anthony Vereker. The fourth one was published in England as The Ginger Cat Mystery (John Lane, 1935; reprinted by Dean Street Press, 2015). In the United States the title was changed to Murder at Marston Manor (Appleton Century, 1935; reprinted by Black Heath Classics, 2015).
The village of Marston-Le-Willows in West Suffolk made newspaper headlines for weeks after first the body of John Cornell, the wealthy owner of Marston Manor, was exhumed at the behest of his brother who believed Cornell’s wife had poisoned him, then a week after the inquest reported no evidence of foul play, Cornell’s son Frank was found shot to death on the stairs near his bedroom. The public devoured every detail the journalists could ferret out.
The Chief Constable lost no time in sending for Scotland Yard. When artist Anthony Vereker’s friend Manuel Ricardo (Ricky) saw that Chief Inspector Heather had been sent to Suffolk, he visited Vereker to persuade him that he needed a break from paint brushes. Exercising his detective skills in competition with Heather was just the respite called for. Vereker set out for Marston, leaving Ricky in London to do research for him.
Vereker and Heather found considerable conflict among the people closest to both Cornells, giving them any number of suspects with substantial motives. They spent a lot of time establishing alibis and identifying the gun that killed the younger Cornell. The latter especially was a problem, as there were at least three potential weapons available. Despite their relative positions Vereker and Heather share information freely, which the reviewer for the New York Times (21 April 1935) didn’t like, saying the cooperation between Heather and Vereker detracted from the tension of the story.
This book is an entertaining read. Vereker is a personable sleuth. His friend Ricky takes base advantage of him, emptying his liquor cabinet to the despair of Vereker’s manservant. Ricky’s proposed thriller, full of over-the-top contemporary tropes, is an amusing part of the story. The ginger cat of the title is another snicker-worthy bit; Forsythe had a sly sense of humor.
The plot is enlivened by a haunted drawing room and two very different women who wanted to marry the younger Cornell, as well as the widow of the older Cornell who does not dissimulate about her attachment to the village doctor. The culprit took awhile to identify — all those guns! — but everything wraps up satisfactorily in the last few pages. Recommended for students of Golden Age detective fiction.