Clyde B. Clason (1903–1987)

The Minoan culture which is quite ancient and may even be one of the mythic people of the lost city of Atlantis is a wonderful nugget to create a mystery story around. Off the coast of California, on one of the channel islands like Santa Catalina a Greek department store mogul has built himself a castle which he has named Knossos. The estate is fashioned after this long ago culture of the Minoans with regard to decorations and some furnishings.

The tycoon Alexis Paphagloss ( what an unnecessary mouthful, try saying it out loud you have to swallow your glottis) who collects Minoan artifacts as a hobby possesses one of the most precious items there is, a naked chested goddess which gets stolen while there are several people inhabiting the castle, both visitors and family. Alexis asks Theocritus Lucius Westborough (another name that is hard to remember and spell although I could pronounce it} to come to Knossos and find it.

This was a very enjoyable story. There are a lot of characters and the main way to keep them straight was to keep in mind that important characters had long alphabet soup names. The longer the name, the more important the personage, the less syllables in the names the less important the person. The cook was called Anne.

… (mehr)

A rather unusual investigation for Professor Westborough this time. He is the owner of a block of shares in a Colorado gold mine and he is asked by another major shareholder to help oppose a take-over bid by a rival mine owner. Whilst a group of interested individuals tour the deep mine,one of them is shot in full view of the rest of them,but no-one seems to have fired the shot and no weapon is discovered. Historian and amateur detective,Theocritus Lucius Westborough,of course,solves the case and brings the culprit to justice.
This is a Golden Age thriller in the very best tradition.… (mehr)

The detective in this short series of crime stories is Professor Theocritus Lucius Westborough. He is a mild mannered erudite little man who is nevertheless an expert discoverer of criminals. In this particular novel his task is to discover the killer of rich bibliophile Hezekiah Morse who has been stabbed in his study,a room with no apparent access. Early in the investigation the dead man's granddaughter is arrested as the main suspect. Westborough eventually brings the real killer to justice with the help of Barry Foster,the dead man's Lawyer and the granddaughter's intended.
This is a great example of a Golden Age classic crime story.… (mehr)