Hillary WaughRezensionen

The good and the bad. Just finished Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh. One of the first police procedurals. Well written, good plot, very realistic. A solid four stars. So what's the bad part? This was an edition by Poisoned Pen Pres and part of the Library of Congress Crime Classics Series. The series "reproduces the original text, reproduced faithfully from an early edition in the Library's collections and complete with strange spellings and unorthodox punctuation. Also included are a contextual introduction, a brief biography of the author, notes and recommendations for further reading...."

It's the faithfully reproduced part that gives me grief, because of the notes. The original text did not include asterisks and footnotes explaining any and every reference to things that younger readers might not be aware of, even word definitions. Example: first chapter begins with the date - Friday, March 3, 1950* The footnote explains who the President of the US was at the time, that the Korean War would start in three months, that President Truman had sent 'advisors' to Vietnam, that women had returned to the homemaker role following WWII, the cost of an average home (whatever average was because it's not spelled out), the median average income, the cost of a television set and that the first credit cards were issued. That's all interesting stuff and appropriate as they state their purpose is "to start conversations, inspire further research and bring obscure works to a new generation of readers." There's even as asterisk and footnote following the word Kleenex, informing us that Kleenex was trademarked in 1924. I guess that's for the person who questions if Kleenex was around in 1950.

But for the person who wishes to read an early classic and enjoy the plot, the atmosphere, and the writing, all this is very distracting. My reading eye was frequently diverted once or twice per page and twice as often as four times on one page. Writing advice keeps saying, "don't divert the reader." So I have decided this series is for people who want to make a study of the history mystery genre and its classics, it is not for the person who wants to enjoy a mystery by one of the best.

From now on, I will remember to pass editions in this series by and search for old editions with tired and worn covers.

When an eighteen year-old college student disappears after morning classes, her friends check all the logical places like the infirmary, hospitals, without finding any sign of her. She has just disappeared. What follows is a detailed account of the police investigation, said to be the first police procedural novel.

Waugh's book was published back in 1952 when attitudes generally were different from today. For example, the police interrogated a young woman who had done absolutely nothing wrong, apart from not being able to give the information they wanted about a suspect. Their opinions of women were abysmal, although to some degree, accurate. I disliked all of the detectives who had zero sympathy for the missing girl or her father (who was also unlikeable). None of the female characters were developed: wives who serve cocktails and go back to their kitchens, the mother with barely a line. Acceptable only because it's expected of the era. If the reader can overlook the dated style they will find it to be a gripping suspense novel, hard to put down.

This edition with the introduction and notes by Leslie S. Klinger is certainly valuable for those reading Hillary Waugh for the first time. Being at that "certain age", I had to laugh at some of the footnotes explaining a 1950s-type situation. Well acquainted with them....

Indeed as a police procedural, and the first of its kind according to many, the reader is taken through the whole investigation: more than just interesting. However, I think that as a reader you have to have patience. But each page of information builds on the preceding information so you are always in the know. Good story.

This is the first of many police procedurals by Hillary Waugh. Two years later in 1954, Waugh published "A Rag and A Bone", also worth reading.

Last Seen Wearing by Hilary Waugh was originally published in 1952 and is recognized as one of the first police procedurals with it’s detailed, down-to-earth style of narrative and it’s factual straight forward handling of the investigation by police who are looking into the disappearance of a young college girl. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and heartily approve of it’s listing on H. R. F. Keatings List of 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books.

The book unfolds like an actual police investigation. The story is riveting, the characters believable, and for me, the book offered an added bonus of showing how college students lived, police work proceeded and newspaper reporters operated in the early 1950s.

Last Seen Wearing is the first book I have read by this author, but I will certainly be checking out the second hand stores and other locations for more by Hilary Waugh.½

3.5 stars.

Last Seen Wearing was written in the fifties, and set at a women’s college in Massachusetts, a fictionalized Smith or Mount Holyoke, in the old days when that meant curfews and pearls. Freshman Marilyn Lowell Mitchell disappears after morning classes one day. Her hallmates swing by the infirmary later, to check on her, but she’s not there, and she hasn’t signed out for the weekend or packed a bag. She’s just vanished. The story is intriguing right from the start, with early scenes almost begging for a re-read to see if there’s an important clue in the descriptions.

Full review (no spoilers) on the blog.

Hard boiled detective story written in the fifties, this one pushed some buttons im sure

I have this for the first story, in which inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is sent to infiltrate a valley of smugglers. I ignored Whatever Happened to Baby Jane as I gathered from references to the movie that I wouldn't like it.
The third story is a Fred Fellows story, but unlike most which are regular mysteries solved by Fellows, this begins as an inside account of a payroll robbery set up by an uneasy alliance between some professional criminals and employees of the factory which is to be robbed.

Warning: this review contains spoilers

****

This ended up being a much more exciting book than I thought it would be. It did help that I read it on a long train ride and therefore had more uninterrupted reading time. The writing style, as befits a mystery written in the early 1950s, is more elaborate than modern crime fiction and requires more time to get stuck in. Unfortunately the time period also means that there are some problematic elements in the story: namely the fact that the cops' first thought when Lowell goes missing is that she was pregnant and went off to have an illegal abortion, and had been killed during the operation. This assumption persisted despite denials from her family and friends, and I was disappointed that the assumption ended up being proven true. Nevertheless, by that point, the story had hooked me, and then I had to find out who had killed her and how the police were going to catch the person. The ending was also excellent -- I love that it ended right when they were preparing to arrest the guy, after having laid out the whole scenario that implicated him in the murder. It sounded plausible. Was it true? We'll never know. Great technique.

I would recommend this for people who like to read classic crime novels and are familiar with the writing style of the Golden Age.

A very well done police procedural about the search for a college freshman who goes missing. Coincidentally it is set during March in a fictional town in Massachusetts (which I suspect is Holyoke).

I really liked the diary-like way of writing this -- it helped build the tension as time passed with Lowell Mitchell still missing.

From the paperback front cover: Weird, evil, horrifying! This book is all that and more. Howard Whelan, a hard-driving American architect, takes his young wife Angela to England while he completes a new building project. Angela is subject to depression and hypochondria, and falls ill while in London. When Howard suffers a stress-induced heart attack, Angela chooses a remote, long-unoccupied cottage near the sea as the place for them to both recover. The strange events that begin as soon as they move in escalate to a harrowing climax. I still remember the shock I felt at the ending when I first read the book in 1972. A terrifying gothic; really unique.½

I had a long wait to get this one. A good police procedural. I got the title from a list of top 100 mysteries.

She went looking for help - and all she found was death. She was one woman who singlehandedly faced down the ruthless drug dealers who were ruining the town's young people - and she did it alone. She had appealed to investigator Simon Kaye for help; but he had been unable to prevent her murder. Racked with guilt, he swore to avenge her.

He searched for her killers in the mean streets and greasy bars where the drug dealers plied their trade. But there was one thing investigator Simon Kaye didn't realize; drugs aren't only confined to the slums. Heroin can also be found behind the closed doors of the fanciest mansions in town. And so can murder!

I must say that this book wasn't really my cup of tea. I have read and enjoyed two previous books by this author, however I just don't enjoy gritty, drug-fueled plots all that much. I think that I will give this book a B+!

When Angela suffers a sickness, her doctor advises a change of scenery for her. She and her husband Howard move into a house by the sea in England. They soon discover strange happenings occurring at their new house. I first read this book a long time ago, and I've remembered it ever since. I've been trying to get a copy of this book for literally years. My daughter found it in Canada finally. I give this story an A+! most definitely.

A deserted house, the pathetic torso of an unknown woman . . . and no suspects. This is the the second Hillary Waugh book that I've read, and while it wasn't like The Shadow Guest, it was still very good. I give it an A!½

When a New York society columnist is murdered in a way that suggests suicide, the detectives of Manhattan north must try to decide which of her intimates--her estranged daughter, her gigolo lover, her light-fingered secretary--had a good enough reason to kill her. Good plot, unpleasant characters.½

The kidnapped girl’s hideous, brutal murder only could have been done by some wild, animal-like person. And the bony finger of suspicion pointed at Allie and Tony, the two escaped convicts, and Lorraine, their partner-in-crime. They had killed before, and could kill again.

Sixteen year old Sally Anders seems to be a typical teen. She sings in the choir, babysits, has occasional fights with her brother, but when she doesn't return from babysitting, a search is organized. Her body is found where she had been babysitting. She had been raped and murdered.

The story is told in brief sequences of people's thoughts and reactions to Sally's murder. It gives a picture of small town life in New England. The town has a ficticious name but is actually Guilford, Connecticut where the author lived and served elected post.

Waugh gives the reader a step by step approach to what people were doing just before and after Sally's murder. After the initial shock and grief of her death, the response seemed to be, how could this happen here?

With the first person approach, the story reads more like a group of newspaper reports and as result isn't very suspenseful.

The book was written in 1989, the same year that Hillary Waugh was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

At last count on the net, this book was selling for between $60-90, used and in not so great a shape, paperback. My copy is definitely in less than good condition, had trouble turning the pages without them loosening, and the end advertisements offer hardcover books for $4.95 or only $1 if you join the Dollar Book Club. Those were the days.

I first read this book way back in the '60s, if not before, bought a copy in 1975 (an old Pocket Book edition, original price set at 25 cents), and have just re-read the story.

Not only does it still work but the plot is strong enough to make you forget that with the available internet, DNA analysis, cell phones and "CSI" techniques, it would have all been over within the first 40 pages.

It is amazing to read what was ostensibly permitted way back when- mayors releasing names of suspects to the press; photos of crime scenes available to the general public, etc. But- what the detectives were careful to do, was to read the people brought in for questioning their rights. And this is a book published in 1954, twelve years before the Miranda decision was handed down by the Supreme Court. Good going, Hillary Waugh.

It's been said and holds true for me, that if you read the first paragraph or two when you are about to buy the book, like what you read, then buy the book. The first paragraph of this book is superb. Then the fun begins for all of us readers here in the 21st century.

By page 3 there are 6 squad cars and one unmarked police car at the scene and me not having even seen 6 squad cars in one place at the same time since I moved to my town. By page 3 was the first "Yeah?" and by page 5 the photographer was shooting with a Leica and needed flash bulbs. Ah, yes. You could say that this book has a certain ambiance, even to the point that I kept thinking about Sgt. Joe Friday in Dragnet - "Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts".

This story moves right along: building up a case, breaking it down, discarding non-essentials, analyzing clues- a typical police procedural. The reader is made to feel that the police don't know any more than he does.

There are some good turns and curves in this story and it was a pleasure to follow the road to its end. If you look closely at the drawing on the Pocketbook edition, you'll see the conclusion but you won't understand it until you finish the book.

The first police procedural.