My Book Notes: Home Sweet Homicide (1944) by Craig Rice

Esta entrada es bilingüe. Desplazarse hacia abajo para ver la versión en español

MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, Inc., 2018. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 3421 KB. Print Length: 282 pages. ASIN: B079GNF4L6. ISBN: 978-1-5040-5025-8. First publish by Simon & Schuster in 1944.

Synopsis: When your mom’s a mystery writer, a talent for detection is only natural. So when the three children of prolific whodunit author Marion Carstairs become material witnesses in a neighborhood murder, they launch their own investigation. And why not? They know everything about baffling mysteries from reading their mother’s books, the publicity could do wonders for her sales, and then she and a handsome detective could fall in love. It’s too perfect for words.
Marion’s too busy wrapping up the loose ends of her latest book for the inconvenience of a real crime. But what’s surfacing in the shadows of the house next door is not quite as predictable as fiction: accusations of racketeering, kidnapping and blackmail; a slain stripper; a grieving but slippery husband; a wily French artist; a panicky movie star; and a cop who’s working Marion’s last nerve. If the kids are game, Marion decides she is too—in between chapters, at least. Besides, this whole dangerous bloody mess could turn out to be a source of inspiration!
This stand-alone mystery was the basis for the classic 1946 comedy starring Randolph Scott and Peggy Ann Garner and “makes clear why Craig Rice remains one of the best writers of mystery fiction” (Jeffery Marks, author of Who Was That Lady?).

My Take: Mystery writer Marian Carstairs is a widow with three children who produces four books a year and lives off their sales. Her children, Dinah (14), April (12) and Archie (10) decide to get involved in a murder investigation that has been committed in the house next door when they hear the shots. Thanks to reading their mother’s detective books they consider themselves trained to carry it out. To this end, they start looking for clues and, occasionally, they tamper them. Sometimes they lie and even change their testimony to the police, but their purpose is to attribute the resolution of the case to their mother. After all, she is too busy working and should not be disturbed. For sure, this could give her books great publicity and could boost the sales. They also think about the future of their mother when, ten years from now, they’ll be ready to leave home, leaving her by herself, and it would be a good idea to pair her up with Bill Smith, the handsome detective in charge of the case.

Home Sweet Homicide is an entertaining detective story, written in a humorous tone and with some truly surreal touches, that turns out being extremely funny to read. In addition to that it has some truly  memorable characters. In case you decide to read it, I hope you like it as much as I did. A perfect read to spend a very pleasant time by an author who in my view is well worth following from what I’ve seen so far.

Home Sweet Homicide has been reviewed, among others, by  Jeffrey Marks at January Magazine, Les Blatt at Classic Mysteries, Patrick at The Scene of the Crime, Kate Jackson at Cross-Examining Crime, Aidan Brack at Mysteries Ahoy! Jim Noy at The Invisible Event, thegreencapsule at The Green Capsule.

(Facsimile Dust Jacket, Simon and Schuster Inner Sanctum Mystery (USA), 1944)

About the Author: Craig Rice (1908 – 1957), born Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig, was an American author of mystery novels and short stories described as “the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction.” In 1946, she became the first mystery writer to appear on the cover of Time magazine. Best known for her character John J. Malone, a rumpled Chicago lawyer, Rice’s writing style was both gritty and humorous. She also collaborated with mystery writer Stuart Palmer on screenplays and short stories, as well as with Ed McBain on the novel The April Robin Murders.

Suggested readings: The Wrong Murder (1940) [John J. Malone #3]; The Right Murder (1941) [John J. Malone #4]; Trial by Fury (1941) [John J. Malone #5]; The Big Midget Murders (1942) [John J. Malone #6]; The Thursday Turkey Murders (1942) [Bingo Rigss and Handsome Kusack #2]; To Catch a Thief (1943) [as by Daphne Sanders]; Home Sweet Homicide (1944)[standalone]; Crime on My Hands (1944; ghost-written for and published as by George Sanders); Mother Finds A Body (1953) [as by Gypsy Rose Lee].

During the 1950’s Rice concentrated her energies of a large number of short stories, most of which have never been reprinted since their original magazine publication and which I have not been able to find or read. Some of these show Rice at her best: “The Murder of Mr. Malone” (1953), “The Little Knife That Wasn’t There” (1954), “The Frightened Millionaire” (1956), and “The Last Man Alive” (1953), which Rice choose for the anthology, My Best Mystery Story. This last piece, like Rice’s first novel, 8 Faces at 3 (1939), was based on a dream Rice had. This is an appropriate choice of inspiration for a writer whose best work contains the logic, surprise and poetic feelings of our dreams. (Mike Grost)

Further reading: Who Was That Lady? Craig Rice: Queen of the Screwball Mystery (Delphi Books, 2010) by Jeffrey Marks

Mysterious Press publicity page

Open Road Media publicity page

Penzler Publishers publicity page

Craig Rice Page at The New Thrilling Detective website

Craig Rice at A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection

Craig Rice at Golden Age of Detection Wiki

Beyond the Book: Craig Rice’s John J. Malone by Dick Lochte

Home Sweet Homicide, de Craig Rice

Sinopsis: Cuando tu madre es una escritora de misterio, un cierto talento para investigar es algo natural. Entonces, cuando los tres hijos de la prolífica autora de novelas policiacas Marion Carstairs son testigos materiales de un asesinato en el vecindario, ponen en marcha su propia investigación. ¿Y, por qué no? Conocen todo sobre misterios desconcertantes por la lectura de los libros de su madre, la publicidad podría hacer maravillas con sus ventas, y luego ella y un guapo detective podrían enamorarse. Todo demasiado perfecto para poder expresarlo con palabras.
Marion está demasiado ocupada terminando los cabos sueltos de su último libro por el inconveniente de un crimen real. Pero lo que está aflorando en las sombras de la casa de al lado no es tan predecible como la ficción: acusaciones de pertenencia al crimen organizado, secuestros y chantajes; una bailarina de striptease asesinada; un marido afligido pero escurridizo; un taimado artista francés; una estrella de cine asustada; y un policía que saca de quicio a Marion. Si para los niños va a ser un juego, Marion decide que para ella también, entre capítulos al menos. Además, ¡todo este peligroso y maldito desastre podría convertirse en fuente de inspiración!
Este misterio independiente fue la base de la comedia clásica de 1946 protagonizada por Randolph Scott y Peggy Ann Garner y “pone de manifiesto por qué Craig Rice continúa siendo uno de los mejores escritores de novelas de misterio” (Jeffery Marks, autor de Who Was That Lady?).

Mi opinión: La escritora de misterio Marian Carstairs es una viuda con tres hijos que produce cuatro libros al año y vive de sus ventas. Sus hijos, Dinah (14), April (12) y Archie (10) deciden involucrarse en una investigación de asesinato que se ha cometido en la casa de al lado cuando escuchan los disparos. Gracias a la lectura de los libros de detectives de su madre se consideran capacitados para llevarla a cabo. Para ello, comienzan a buscar pistas y, en ocasiones, las manipulan. A veces mienten e incluso cambian su testimonio a la policía, pero su propósito es atribuir la resolución del caso a su madre. Después de todo, ella está demasiado ocupada trabajando y no debe ser molestada. Sin duda, esto podría dar a sus libros una gran publicidad y podría impulsar las ventas. También piensan en el futuro de su madre cuando, dentro de diez años, estén listos para irse de casa, dejándola sola, y sería una buena idea emparejarla con Bill Smith, el atractivo detective encargado del caso.

Home Sweet Homicide es una entretenida historia policiaca, escrita en tono humorístico y con algunos toques verdaderamente surrealistas, que resulta sumamente divertida de leer. Además de eso, tiene algunos personajes verdaderamente memorables. En caso de que decidas leerla, espero que te guste tanto como a mí. Una lectura perfecta para pasar un rato muy agradable de un autor que a mi juicio bien vale la pena seguir por lo que he visto hasta ahora.

Acerca del autor: Craig Rice (1908-1957), nacida Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig, fue una autora estadounidense de novelas y relatos de misterio calificada como “la Dorothy Parker de la novela policiaca”. En 1946, se convirtió en la primera escritora de misterio en aparecer en la portada de la revista Time. Más  conocida por su personaje John J. Malone, un abogado arruinado de Chicago, el estilo de escritura de Rice era a la vez valiente y humorístico. También colaboró con el escritor de misterio Stuart Palmer en guiones y cuentos, así como con Ed McBain en la novela The April Robin Murders.

Lecturas sugeridas: The Wrong Murder (1940) [John J. Malone #3]; The Right Murder (1941) [John J. Malone #4]; Trial by Fury (1941) [John J. Malone #5]; The Big Midget Murders (1942) [John J. Malone #6]; The Thursday Turkey Murders (1942) [Bingo Rigss and Handsome Kusack #2]; To Catch a Thief (1943) [as by Daphne Sanders]; Home Sweet Homicide (1944)[standalone]; Crime on My Hands (1944; ghost-written for and published as by George Sanders); Mother Finds A Body (1953) [as by Gypsy Rose Lee].

Durante la década de 1950, Rice concentró sus energías en una gran cantidad de relatos, la mayoría de los cuales nunca se han reeditado desde su  publicación original en revistas y que no he podido encontrar ni leer. Algunos de ellos muestran a Rice en su mejor momento:  “The Murder of Mr. Malone” (1953), “The Little Knife That Wasn’t There” (1954), “The Frightened Millionaire” (1956), y “The Last Man Alive” (1953), que Rice eligió para la antología My Best Mystery Story. Esta última pieza, como la primera novela de Rice, 8 Faces at 3 (1939), estaba basada en un sueño que tuvo Rice. Esta es una elección de inspiración adecuada para un escritor cuya mejor obra contiene la lógica, la sorpresa y los sentimientos poéticos de nuestros sueños. (Mike Grost)

Craig Rice (1908-1957)

Georgiana Ann Randolph was born in Chicago on June 5, 1908, the daughter of Harry Moschiem “Bosco” Craig and Mary Randolph Craig. Her father was an itinerant artist, her mother the daughter of a Chicago physician. Accounts differ on her correct surname. Her most famous pen name combines her father’s last name and the last name of his brother-in-law and sister with whom she lived, Mr. and Mrs. Elton Rice.

Educated by her uncle and in a Jesuit missionary school, Rice developed a dislike of conformity and at the age of eighteen began earning a precarious living in the Chicago literary world. She succeeded because of her versatility; she took on jobs as a crime reporter, a radio and motion-picture script writer, and publicity manager for Gypsy Rose Lee and a group of traveling wrestlers, as well as working as a general freelance writer.

Rice was married at least four times, to Arthur John Follows, a newspaperman named Arthur Ferguson, H. W. DeMott, Jr., and a writer named Lawrence Lipton, not necessarily in that order. Her children, Nancy, Iris, and David, appear as characters in her semiautobiographical novel, Home Sweet Homicide (1944). The children spent much of their time in boarding schools while their mother wrote at home in Santa Monica, California. Her husband at the time, Lawrence Lipton, worked in an office in Los Angeles.

Rice’s first detective novel, Eight Faces at Three (1939), took her nearly two years to write. The first chapter was easy enough, but she had trouble getting beyond its intriguing problem. She claimed that she never understood how she did it, but the character of the hard-drinking, womanizing John J. Malone succeeded with the public and appeared in several subsequent novels.

Reportedly an expert marksman, cook, and grower of prize gardenias, Rice enjoyed life enormously. Nevertheless, in spite of fame and financial rewards (she was the first mystery writer to appear on the cover of Time), she found meeting deadlines increasingly difficult. The drinking that she made amusing in print was not amusing in her own life. On August 28, 1957, she died of an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol.

(Source: “Georgiana Ann Randolph – Biography” Masterpieces of Fiction, Detective and Mystery Edition Ed. Carl Rollyson. eNotes.com, Inc. 2008 eNotes.com 2 May, 2020 http://www.enotes.com/topics/georgiana-ann-randolph#biography-biography-3425)

Craig Rice’s work as a mystery writer falls into a number of phases. Craig Rice’ early novels tend to have a Society background. Her detectives gain entrée into this world through Helene Brand, who is a debutante and member of Society. There is a closed circle of suspects built up, in what is almost a parody of Golden Age tradition, all people who were present at an early crime or sinister event. There are good things in the pre-1942 books: the great mise-en-scène of the opening chapter of The Wrong Murder, and the beginnings of Rice’s surrealist plotting technique in the middle chapters of The Right Murder. I also like the bandleader’s name in The Big Midget Murders (1942). She hit her stride with such inspired novels as Mother Finds A Body (1942), The Thursday Turkey Murders (1943), To Catch a Thief (1943), Crime on My Hands (1944), and Home Sweet Homicide (1944). Even the lesser novels of 1943 – 1944, such as Having Wonderful Crime (1943) and Murder Through the Looking Glass (1943), have their virtues. After 1944, both her productivity and quality temporarily fell off. Knocked for a Loop (1957, based on a 1955 novella) is somewhat weak. My Kingdom For a Hearse (1956) shows Rice at her furiously surrealistic best. This strange classic of chopped-up corpses takes black humor at first to distasteful extremes, and then into wild flights of imagination. During the 1950’s Rice concentrated her energies of a large number of short stories, most of which have never been reprinted since their original magazine publication and which I have not been able to find or read. Some of these show Rice at her best: “The Murder of Mr. Malone” (1953), “The Little Knife That Wasn’t There” (1954), “The Frightened Millionaire” (1956), and “The Last Man Alive” (1953), which Rice choose for the anthology, My Best Mystery Story. This last piece, like Rice’s first novel, 8 Faces at 3 (1939), was based on a dream Rice had. This is an appropriate choice of inspiration for a writer whose best work contains the logic, surprise and poetic feelings of our dreams. (Mike Grost)

Further reading: Home Is Where the Corpse Is by Jeffrey Marks, and Who Was That Lady? Craig Rice: The Queen of Screwball Mystery by Jeffrey Marks (Delphi Books, 2001).

Mike Grost on Craig Rice Within the mystery field, Jacques Futrelle, Ellery Queen and Craig Rice form a trinity of surrealistic authors. These mystery writers emphasized constantly surprising twists of plot, characters and events that startled readers by their sheer strangeness. Despite all of this strangeness, everything in their books is logically self consistent. Each bit of plot is carefully constructed to lead logically, within its own terms, on to the next. Although the plots are continually strange, they are the diametric opposite of free form whimsy. (Read more at A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection).

(Facsimile Dust Jacket, Simon and Schuster Inner Sanctum Mystery (USA), 1944)

From Wikipedia: Home Sweet Homicide is a 1944 comedic mystery novel written by American author Craig Rice, following the story of three young siblings as they investigate a murder in their neighborhood. The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1946.

When your mom’s a mystery writer, a talent for detection is only natural. So when the three children of prolific whodunit author Marion Carstairs become material witnesses in a neighborhood murder, they launch their own investigation. And why not? They know everything about baffling mysteries from reading their mother’s books, the publicity could do wonders for her sales, and then she and a handsome detective could fall in love. It’s too perfect for words.
Marion’s too busy wrapping up the loose ends of her latest book for the inconvenience of a real crime. But what’s surfacing in the shadows of the house next door is not quite as predictable as fiction: accusations of racketeering, kidnapping and blackmail; a slain stripper; a grieving but slippery husband; a wily French artist; a panicky movie star; and a cop who’s working Marion’s last nerve. If the kids are game, Marion decides she is too—in between chapters, at least. Besides, this whole dangerous bloody mess could turn out to be a source of inspiration!
This stand-alone mystery was the basis for the classic 1946 comedy starring Randolph Scott and Peggy Ann Garner and “makes clear why Craig Rice remains one of the best writers of mystery fiction” (Jeffery Marks, author of Who Was That Lady?). (Mysterious Press publicity page)

The Mysterious Bookshop publicity page.

Home Sweet Homicide has been reviewed, among others, at January Magazine, Mystery File, Classic Mysteries, Cross-examining Crime, and The Invisible Event.