Zenith Jones Brown (1898 – 1983) was an American 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 were published in various periodicals and anthologies.
Her series characters included Lt. Joseph Kelly (2 books) and Col John Primrose, a career soldier, and Grace Latham (16 books) published under Leslie Ford and Major Gregory Lewis (3 books) and Evan Pinkerton and Inspector J. Humphrey Bull (12 books) published under David Frome. She also wrote stand-alone novels under the Ford name.
The Pinkerton series was published between 1930 and 1950, beginning during her time in England. 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.
In their ninth adventure, The Black Envelope (Farrar & Rinehart, 1937; published in the UK as The Guilt Is Plain, Longmans Green & Co., 1938). Pinkerton gives himself a vacation in Brighton, where he visits the Royal Pavilion, built by King George IV during his Regency and beautifully preserved according to this account. He enters one of the reception rooms to find a middle-aged woman with a bloody knife in her hand, standing over an elderly lady in a wheelchair. He calls the police and by pure happenstance his friend Inspector Bull is also in Brighton. Bull takes over the investigation, which reveals that Mrs. Isom, the victim, was deeply unpleasant and antagonized everyone around her.
The open nature of the rooms in the Pavilion meant there were multiple exits and entrances and almost anyone could have committed the crime and easily escaped. The weapon, a common vegetable paring knife, was readily available from almost any kitchen, including the one in the Pavilion.
My first thought is how very well written the story is. I found it easy to become immersed in Mr. Pinkerton’s attempts to develop a life for himself. As a devoted fan of Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances, I am always happy to read about the Royal Pavilion and its architectural extravagances. The descriptions here are nicely detailed.
This is the second Pinkerton mystery I have read. A small pool of suspects seems to be the norm, as is the skillful diversion of attention from the miscreant. I was surprised at the resolution both times.
Legendary mystery fan and critic William F. Deeck reviewed the book for Mystery Readers Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, Summer 1990. His review was reprinted on Mystery File, https://mysteryfile.com, on 14 July 2016. This is some of what Deeck had to say: “Frome (aka Leslie Ford) writes well. Once you’ve adjusted to the coincidences and Pinkerton’s being not just rabbity but virtually hag-ridden at the beginning, you can enjoy a complex fair-play mystery.”
Recommended!