Book Review: The Shadow #61: The Triple Trail & Murder Genius edited by Anthony Tollin
It’s time for more exciting pulp reprints of the mystery man known as the Shadow!
“The Triple Trail” is by Walter B. Gibson, the original Maxwell Grant. Stanton Treblaw, collector of letters written by notable people, has been contacted by the mysterious Signet. Signet is offering a rather large sum for one particular piece of correspondence, and after getting a report from an overseas detective firm, Treblaw has agreed to sell via a cryptic newspaper ad.
This ad comes to the attention of the Shadow, but also to the attention of criminals. They murder Treblaw in his hotel room, but the letter they were sent to retrieve isn’t there!
The Shadow and the police are soon on the case, not always at cross-purposes. Where is the letter? Who is Signet? Who is the mysterious boss of the criminals, and what was in that detective’s report? Only the Shadow realizes there are three trails that have crossed, and soon the truth will be untangled!
This is an intricately plotted tale, obviously inspired by an article or book Mr. Gibson had read about the life of Cellini. Trained magician that he was, Walter Gibson knew exactly how to pull off the several reveals at the end, while having enough action every few pages to keep the audience riveted.
“Murder Genius” by Theodore Tinsley is the second of four parts in the Prince of Evil sequence. Benedict Stark is one of America’s wealthiest men, with holdings in the high millions. Secretly, he’s also one of America’s most evil men, with a penchant for murder. The Shadow has figured out that Stark is a baddie, but has no solid proof. Meanwhile, Stark has become pretty sure that his fellow socialite Lamont Cranston is connected to the Shadow, but can’t quite prove it.
After their first clash, Stark has retreated to his private island in the Bermudas. Annoyed that his secretary has fallen for a British scientist, he murders the man, making it appear that the scientist was cheating on his wife and committed suicide. But while still savoring that, Stark learns that one of his long-term schemes has gone awry.
Years ago, he’d arranged for a bank he secretly controlled to give a loan to entrepreneur Andrew Marshall. The plan was to let Marshall build up a manufacturing plant, then as soon as it was profitable, ruining him and forcing the man to default on the loan. That would allow Stark to take over the company for a song on the back of Marshall’s misery.
But Marshall has been too successful, and is about to pay off the loan in full. So it’s time for Stark to move directly to ruining his target, no matter how many lives it costs! Can the Shadow figure out the scheme in time?
There’s some nice mastermind vs. mastermind in this one. The villain’s scheme is suitably horrific, though there’s a certain amount of coincidence needed to pull off the ending. Because it’s part two of four, it feels a bit incomplete.
“Sargasso Club” by Alan Hathway (as “Clifford Goodrich” is a short story of the Whisperer. The Whisperer is Police Commissioner James “Wildcat” Gordon who dons a disguise to fight crime he can’t legally investigate. (And yes, he appeared before the Batman comics came out.)
In this story, there’s been a rash of city government folks who’ve embezzled money and then vanished. Their escapes are a little too perfect, with all of them being completely untraceable. Is it possible they’re all still somewhere in the city? Astute readers will figure out the trick fairly early.
Pulp expert Will Murray provides essays to fill out the issue.
I liked Triple Trail best; if your reading type insists on a complete story, you’ll need volumes 60-63 to find out what happens to the Prince of Evil.
