Shadow Waltz is a light-footed mystery whirl

“Shadow Waltz,” by Amy Patricia Meade (Midnight Ink, 2008, 231 pages, $13.95 paperback)

by A. C. Hutchinson

04.06.08

It’s the mid-1930s, in a small town in central Connecticut, and the local police are coming to terms, albeit reluctantly, with the realization that while Marjorie McClelland may not be a professional detective, she was somehow able to solve two murders before they could. Her photograph appears in the newspapers and she’s something of a local celebrity.

And now there’s another murder. The body of a woman has been found in a basement. It’s a particularly gruesome scene: Her face has been bashed in and her hands and feet removed. Before long, an autopsy brings three critical facts into focus: The victim was killed before the amputations occurred, the amputations occurred on different days, and she was pregnant.

A neighbor reports hearing a terrific row, then silence. Then a suitcase, empty except for a bloodstain, is found under the desk of the man who is believed to have been romantically involved with the victim. And tests prove it’s her blood in the suitcase.

It sounds simple enough: Find the man, an insurance salesman who hasn’t shown up at his office for a few days, charge him with murder, and let him stand trial. And for everyone else life goes on.

But of course it won’t, it can’t, happen that way, not with Marjorie McClelland taking an interest, even though she’s extremely busy preparing for her marriage to a dashing young English millionaire, Creighton Ashcroft, whose wealth is evident in the fact he drives a Rolls-Royce and lives in a huge house.

McClelland’s involvement begins when a worried woman comes to her home to ask her help in finding her husband, who has disappeared. The desperate housewife would prefer to keep the police out of it. One thing leads to another, naturally enough, with the discovery of the body – the missing man’s mistress, it appears – making it a police matter after all.

Many complications arise, including the inconvenient fact that Marjorie used to date the detective assigned to the case, but left him to begin dating Ashcroft. So, while their relationship is relatively amiable, Ashcroft and the detective are natural rivals, and yet for some reason the detective doesn’t seem to mind having Ashcroft help him in his investigation. Moreover, he even believes he’ll serve as best man at the upcoming wedding, even though Ashcroft hasn’t made any such decision and clearly wants no part of it.

Yes, this is a murder mystery, but it’s a far cry from the dark, almost brooding tales told by so many contemporary authors. The fuss about the wedding arrangements – including the pastor’s plans to stage his own play during the ceremony – would make for hilarious scenes on a movie screen, and that’s not what you’d expect from, say, Archer Mayor, to name just one other Vermont mystery writer.

Frankly, Amy Patricia Meade does not yet qualify as a literary heavyweight, and in all likelihood her mysteries will never be best sellers, but the reader may sense that this is of no concern to her. That’s because she’s found a winning formula, one that was responsible for the kind of stories made popular years ago by acclaimed authors such as Dorothy L. Sayers. In fact, it’s probably fair to say that “Shadow Waltz” — the third Meade mystery featuring Marjorie McClelland — is part detective story, part drawing room farce. And both parts blend seamlessly.

In one memorable scene, the doorbell rings so often readers may be reminded of a Tom Stoppard play, or perhaps a story by P.G. Wodehouse. For a budding mystery author, those are not unwelcome comparisons. Meade is clearly having fun with her plot and her characters, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t taken care to be sure there’s also a healthy dose of suspense and, importantly, a surprise twist or two.

“Shadow Waltz” is exactly the kind of book to take on an airplane or to the beach. The characters are amusing, colorful and, in some cases, downright eccentric. The frisky dialogue between McClelland and Ashcroft is typical of lovers in the stories set in the years between the two world wars. Profanity and vulgarity, so commonplace in contemporary fiction, have no place in Meade’s stories, and, frankly, that’s all for the good, given her characters and her plotting.

A native of New York’s Long Island, Meade grew up reading Nancy Drew stories and, later, Agatha Christie’s legendary mysteries and the romantic comedies so popular in the 1930s, so her Marjorie McClelland novels would appear to be a natural outlet for her creative impulses. She excelled in college, and when she’s not working on her next novel she is a freelance technical writer. She lives with her husband, Steve, in Arlington.

And speaking of her creative impulses, check out the author’s Web site (www.amypatriciameade.com). The first thing the viewer sees is Meade behind the wheel of a 1930s roadster, her hair blowing in the wind. But that’s just the beginning. There’s a whole lot more, and after “Shadow Waltz” hits the bookstores the site will surely be augmented with her own insights into the creation of a winning story.

A.C. Hutchison retired as editor of The Times Argus in 1999.