My Book Notes: One By One They Disappeared, 1929 (Inspector Hugh Collier #1) by Moray Dalton

Esta entranda es bilingüe, desplazarse hacia abajo para ver la versión en español

Dean Street Press, 2019. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 1986 KB. Print Length: 196 pages. ASIN: B07MVPG5R2 ISBN: 978-1-912574-88-9. One by One They Disappeared was originally published in 1929. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

US Blurb: ‘Nine men drifted in an open boat for three days after the Coptic went down, eight quite ordinary men and a quixotic, wealthy old American who would have died but for the kindness of others. In his gratitude he arranged an annual dinner to celebrate the anniversary of their rescue, and further announced that his entire fortune was to be divided among these eight men. But when a year had passed only two of the dinner guests turn up. One by one the survivors of the Coptic were meeting death by what appeared to be unconnected and perfectly natural accidents. But it was murder, cold and sure as science, baffling and terrifying. The originality of the situation, the mysterious yet perfectly plausible accidents, and the suspense as to who will be the next victim, make this a story of unparalleled thrills.”

Curtis Evans has written regarding Moray Dalton: “Only now coming back into print, Moray Dalton (really Katherine Mary Dalton Renoir) resembles the Crime Queens in many ways, having a decided knack for narrative and characterization. Yet for me she is a bit less “posh” (there’s that word again) of a writer than Sayers, Allingham and Marsh and explores sexual and class dynamics in Thirties and Forties Britain in more original ways.  See, for example, Death in the Cup and The Strange Case of Harriet Hall, which have some truly striking and refreshing situations. I think that Dalton, who seems to have lived life as something of a privileged outsider, may have been more of a forerunner of the modern crime novel than these other, more famous women, estimable as they are.  Her primary sleuth, Hugh Collier, is an appealing young police detective, but modern filmmakers I’m sure could find some grim and terrible qualities to impose on him.  So get cracking, you people!  Five titles by her are coming out in just a few days. (The Passing Tramp)

My Take: This is the first book by Moray Dalton featuring Inspector Hugh Collier of Scotland Yard. The story revolves around an American millionaire who was on a ship that was torpedoed in the mid-Atlantic during what was later known as World War I. He spent three days on an open boat with eight other fellow passengers before they were picked up. He was much older and was in poor health conditions, however they did what they could and saved his life. After the armistice, in gratitude, he invites them to an annual dinner at the Malaya Hotel in the Strand. Last year he told them that, since his only heir had died, he was leaving them most of his fortune equally distributed between them, upon his death. This year only two showed up, and one of them dies accidentally shortly thereafter. Inspector Collier becomes interested in the case and attends the inquest. From inquiries he has made since, he finds that two others have died in circumstances that demands an investigation.

I must admit that One by One They Disappeared has disappointed me quite a bit, and I agree with Nick Fuller, who considers it quite weak as a whodunit. In any case, I won’t throw in the towel with Moray Dalton and I hope that some of her books will be more to my liking, such as: The Body in the Road, The Night of Fear, Death in the Cup, The Strange Case of Harriet Hall, The Art School Murders and The Condamine Case.

One by One They Disappeared has been reviewed, among others, at Mysteries Ahoy! The Grandest Game in the World.

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC. Harper & Brothers (USA) 1929)

About the Author: Katherine Dalton Renoir (‘Moray Dalton’) was born in Hammersmith, London in 1881, the only child of a Canadian father and English mother. The author wrote two well-received early novels, Olive in Italy (1909), and The Sword of Love (1920). However, her career in crime fiction did not begin until 1924, after which she  published twenty-nine mysteries, the last in 1951. She took a major step forward in her literary career in 1929 and 1930, with the publication of One by One They Disappeared and The Body on the Road. These novels were the respective debuts of Dalton’s two main protagonists, Scotland Yard inspector Hugh Collier –a series of 15 books released between 1929 and 1951– and private inquiry agent Hermann Glide. Moray Dalton married Louis Jean Renoir in 1921, and the couple had a son a year later. The author lived on the south coast of England for the majority of her life following the marriage. She died in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1963.

To date Dean Street Press has published the following titles by Moray Dalton: One By One They Disappeared (Hugh Collier #1, 1929); The Body in the Road (1930); The Night of Fear (Hugh Collier #2, 1931); Death in the Cup (1932); The Belfry Murder (Hugh Collier #3, 1933); The Belgrave Manor Crime (Hugh Collier #5, 1935); The Strange Case of Harriet Hall (Hugh Collier #7, 1936); The Case of Alan Copeland (1937); The Art School Murders (Hugh Collier #10, 1943); and The Condamine Case (Hugh Collier #12, 1947).

Dean Street Press publicity page

Moray Dalton Bibliography at Golden Age of Detection Wiki

The Mysteries of Moray Dalton (Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir, 1881-1963)

One By One They Disappeared, de Moray Dalton

Propaganda editorial de la edición norteamericana: “Tras el naufragio del Coptic, nueve hombres se encuentran durante tres días a la deriva en un bote abierto, ocho hombres relativamente corrientes y un viejo estadounidense quijotesco y rico que habría muerto de no ser por la bondad de los demás. En agradecimiento, organiza una cena anual para celebrar el aniversario de su rescate, y anuncia además que toda su fortuna se dividirá entre estos ocho hombres. Pero cuando ha pasado un año, solo dos de los invitados se presentan a la cena. Uno a uno, los supervivientes del Coptic se irán encontrando con la muerte en lo que parecerán accidentes sin relación alguna y perfectamente naturales. Pero son asesinatos, frios y seguros como la ciencia, desconcertantes y aterradores. La originalidad de la situación, los misteriosos aunque perfectamente plausibles accidentes y el suspense sobre quién será la próxima víctima, hacen de esta una historia de emociones sin precedentes.”

Curtis Evans ha escrito sobre Moray Dalton: “Recientemente, regresa a la imprenta, Moray Dalton (en realidad Katherine Mary Dalton Renoir) se parece a las reinas del crimen en muchos aspectos, con una claro talento para el relato y la caracterización. Sin embargo, para mí, es algo menos “sofisticada” (de nuevo esa palabra) como escritora que Sayers, Allingham y Marsh y explora la dinámica sexual y de clase en la Gran Bretaña de los años treinta y cuarenta de manera más original. Vease, por ejemplo, Death in the Cup y The Strange Case of Harriet Hall, que tienen algunas situaciones realmente sorprendentes y estimulantes. Creo que Dalton, que parece haber vivido la vida como una especie de privilegiada “outsider”, puede haber sido más una precursora de la novela policíaca moderna que como son estas otras, mujeres más famosas y estimables. Su detective principal, Hugh Collier, es un joven detective de policía atractivo, pero estoy seguro de que los cineastas modernos encontrarán algunas cualidades sombrías y terribles que imponerle. ¡Así que pongan manos a la obra, gente! Cinco de sus títulos saldrán a la venta dentro de unos días.” (The Passing Tramp)

Mi opinión: Este es el primer libro de Moray Dalton con el inspector Hugh Collier de Scotland Yard. La historia gira en torno a un millonario estadounidense que estaba en un barco que fue torpedeado en el Atlántico medio durante lo que más tarde se conoció como la Primera Guerra Mundial. Pasó tres días en un bote abierto con otros ocho pasajeros antes de que los recogieran. Era mucho mayor y se encontraba en malas condiciones de salud, sin embargo hicieron lo que pudieron y le salvaron la vida. Después del armisticio, en agradecimiento, los invita a una cena anual en el hotel Malaya en el Strand. El año pasado les dijo que, dado que su único heredero había muerto, les dejaría la mayor parte de su fortuna distribuida equitativamente entre ellos, a su muerte. Este año solo aparecieron dos, y uno de ellos muere accidentalmente poco después. El inspector Collier se interesa por el caso y asiste a la investigación judicial. A partir de las averiguaciones que ha realizado desde entonces, descubre que otros dos han muerto en circunstancias que exigen una investigación.

Debo admitir que One by One They Disappeared me ha decepcionado bastante, y estoy de acuerdo con Nick Fuller, quien lo considera bastante débil como “whodunnit”. En cualquier caso, no tiraré la toalla con Moray Dalton y espero que algunos de sus libros sean más de mi agrado, como: The Body in the Road, The Night of Fear, Death in the Cup, The Strange Case of Harriet Hall, The Art School Murders y The Condamine Case.

Acerca del autor: Katherine Dalton Renoir (‘Moray Dalton’) nació en Hammersmith, Londres en 1881, hija única de padre canadiense y madre inglesa. Escribió dos primeras novelas con gran aceptación, Olive in Italy (1909) y The Sword of Love (1920). Sin embargo, su carrera en la literatura policíaca no comenzó hasta 1924, tras la que publicó veintinueve misterios, el último en 1951. Su carrera literaria dio un paso muy importante en 1929 y 1930, con la publicación de One by One They Disappeared y The Body on the Road. Estas novelas fueron los respectivos debuts de los dos principales protagonistas de Dalton, el inspector de Scotland Yard Hugh Collier –una serie de 15 libros publicados entre 1929 y 1951– y el agente de investigación privado Hermann Glide. Moray Dalton se casó con Louis Jean Renoir en 1921 y la pareja tuvo un hijo un año después. La autora vivió en la costa sur de Inglaterra durante la mayor parte de su vida después del matrimonio. Murió en Worthing, West Sussex, en 1963.

Hasta la fecha, Dean Street Press ha publicado los siguientes títulos de Moray Dalton: One By One They Disappeared (Hugh Collier #1, 1929); The Body in the Road (1930); The Night of Fear (Hugh Collier #2, 1931); Death in the Cup (1932); The Belfry Murder (Hugh Collier #3, 1933); The Belgrave Manor Crime (Hugh Collier #5, 1935); The Strange Case of Harriet Hall (Hugh Collier #7, 1936); The Case of Alan Copeland (1937); The Art School Murders (Hugh Collier #10, 1943); and The Condamine Case (Hugh Collier #12, 1947).

Hasta donde yo se solo Los crímenes de Longbridge [The Longbridge Murders (Hugh Collier #11, 1945)] está traducido al español.

Moray Dalton (1881–1963)

Moray Dalton is the pen name of a renowned English author of the mid-20th century named Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir. She was particularly famous for writing detective fiction, crime thriller, and mystery novels. The highlight of her writing career was the creation of the chief protagonist Inspector Hugh Collier. Author Dalton was born on May 06, 1881 in London and died on February 22, 1963, in Worthing, Sussex. Dalton had written more than 20 adventure thriller novels and was quite popular for her work. However, she is now included among the forgotten mystery writers, which is a sad reality. The last crime novel of Dalton’s career was published at the age of 70 in 1951. After that, she was promptly forgotten in spite of being a top-quality writer. When she was at the peak of her career, Dalton was included in the list of major English crime writers of her time. Her fans used to finish reading her novels in just 2 nights.

The first crime fiction book published by Dalton is the 1924 novel called The Kingsclere Mystery. She was 42 years old at that time. Before this, Dalton had released a contemporary novel in 1909 as well as a romantic novel in 1920. Both these books were well-received, but the genre of romance didn’t interest her much. She liked mystery stories that combined evocative settings, fleet narratives, and strong characterizations. It was unfortunate on the part of Dalton that she wrote crime novels of high literary quality, well before authors like Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Anthony Gilbert, Ngaio March, ECR Lorac, etc., but did not receive the fanfare that these authors got. Author Dalton took a major step forward in her literary career with her 1929 and 1930 novels, One by One They Disappeared and The Body on the Road. These novels were the respective debuts of Dalton’s two main protagonists, Hugh Collier and Hermann Glide. She described Collier as an intelligent, young, and woman-shy inspector of the Scotland Yard and Hermann Glide as a percipient and persistent private detective and minor sleuth. These two characters featured in the same fictional world created by Dalton and appeared together in her 1931 mystery novel called The Night of Fear.

During the 1930s, Dalton and other prominent female authors were published by Sampson Low. But, the other authors moved on to join Collins Crime Club and achieved greater fame, while Dalton stayed back with Sampson Low, which is believed to have hampered Dalton’s career. Considering the decades-long absence of Dalton from the world of crime fiction, it is believed that she had sufficient means to live an independent life and maintain her comfort. She was considered a privileged English woman, whose writings were to please herself to a great extent, and that is why she never tried to push her career, unlike other popular female authors such as Gilbert and Lorac. Author Dalton was born to a Canadian father named Joseph Dixon Dalton and an English mother named Laura Black Dalton, and was their only child. During the 1890s, lived with her parents in Southampton’s Lottery Hall. In 1911, her parents relocated to Somerset’s Perth Villa. Later, the family resided in Littlehampton at the time of the Great War. As the family had to live in a small-spaced house, it indicated that the gold reserves of the family had greatly diminished.

In 1919, Dalton’s father died due to a flu pandemic, leaving a great impact on her. In order to kill her time, Dalton started writing memorial poems. During the 1910s, she wrote and published a few of her memorial and martial poems. Author Dalton was believed to have a great passion for Italy and its citizens. This can be understood from the fact that they feature prominently in her crime stories. Though most of Dalton’s stories take place in England, certain sequences are also set in Italy. During the first 4 decades, Dalton lived a rather isolated life. She stayed with her parents and was privately educated. It was only after her father’s death and the end of the war that Dalton started opening up. In 1921, she married Louis Jean Renoir, with whom she had a son. Shortly after, Louis left Dalton. After that, she stayed with her mother in Worthing until her mother passed away in 1945. Dalton left behind an estate worth one million US dollars, after her death in 1963.

The Hugh Collier series written by author Moray Dalton is comprised of a total of 14 books released between 1929 and 1951. The debut book of this series is entitled One By One They Disappeared. It features the primary characters in the form of Elbert Pakenham, Jehosaphat, Corinna Lacy, Gilbert Freyne, Hugh Collier, Edgar Mallory, Count Olivieri, Superintendent Trask, etc. The book opens by showing that Elbert Pakenham is a resident of New York City. He is among the 9 people who survived the Coptic’s sinking. Pakenham’s black cat named Jehosaphat is also among the survivors. After Pakenham’s nephew dies, he prepares his will and names all the survivors as joint beneficiaries. When the beneficiaries start dying one after the other under mysterious circumstances, a lot of eyebrows are raised. When Pakenham himself vanishes, Hugh Collier suspects foul play. He lays a trap to catch the culprit, which results in seriously wounding his best friend. When Collier is unable to narrow down the main culprit from among the list of major suspects, he decides to take the help of Pakenham’s cat Jehosaphat.

Another exciting instalment of this series is known as The Night of Fear. It was originally released in 1931 and was re-released recently in March 2019. The central characters of this novel include Hugh Darrow, Stallard, Hugh Collier, and others. Dalton has set the plot in England at the time of the Christmas holidays. Initially, it is mentioned that a Christmas gathering is organized in a country house on the eve of Christmas. Old and young join the gathering to enjoy the festival. The attendees decide to play hide & seek and turn off the lights. Suddenly, a cry for help is heard and when the lights come on, Hugh Darrow is found standing at the centre of the hall with blood on his hands. Hugh, who is blind, informs everyone that he stumbled upon a dead body at the place where he went to hide. It turns out that the victim is Stallard, a writer by profession. Once again, Hugh Collier is asked to investigate the murder mystery and find the culprit. He begins the investigation by adding everyone present at the gathering in the suspects’ list. (Source: Book Series In Order)

You can read more about Moray Dalton at The Passing Tramp Reissued: The Mysteries of Moray Dalton (Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir, 1881-1963)

What this amounts to is that I’m looking forward to reading, before the year ends, One by One they Disappeared (1929) and The Body in the Road (1930), which were, respectively, the debut mysteries of her major sleuth, Hugh Collier, and her minor sleuth, Hermann Gilde. Stay tuned.

Hugh Collier Series:

One By One They Disappeared (1929)
The Night of Fear (1931)
The Belfry Murder (1933)
The Harvest of Tares (1933)
The Belgrave Manor Crime (1935)
The Mystery of the Kneeling Woman (1936)
The Strange Case of Harriet Hall (1936)
Death in the Dark (1938)
Death in the Forest (1939)
The Longbridge Murders (1945)
The Condamine Case (1947)
The Case Of The Dark Stranger (1948)
Inquest On Miriam (1949)
Death of a Spinster (1951)

Other Novels:

The Kingsclere Mystery (1924)
The Shadow On the Wall (1926)
The Black Wings (1927)
The Stretton Darknesse Mystery (1927)
The Body in the Road (1930)
Death in the Cup (1932)
The Wife of Baal (1932)
The Black Death (1934)
The Edge of Doom (1934)
The Case of Alan Copeland (1937)
The Price Of Silence (1939)
The Art School Murders (1943)
The Murder of Eve (1945)
Death At the Villa (1946)
The House of Fear (1951)

(Courtesy of Fantastic Fiction)

As far as I know there’s another book not listed above, Olive in Italy by Public Domain Books (first published 1909) available at Project Gutenberg.

Facsimile Dust Jacket, Harper & Brothers (USA) (1929) first printing

Facsimile Dust Jacket, Harper & Brothers (USA) (1930) first printing