Meade: Fatal Shadows

Rather out of the run of the usual mystery stories this excellent detective tale has its setting in the torrid Malayan atmosphere and for its sleuth an inscrutable native, Ismael, whose only technique is the use of his intuitive knowledge of human nature. The Brownleys had given a house party at their Rest House in Johore. Mrs. Brownley had at one time been in love with one of her guests and had insisted upon his meeting her in the garden at the rear of the house. The man had no desire to do so and just at the time she had set for their meeting he was startled by a scream from the direction he knew she must be in. She was found stabbed to the heart by a Malay kris. Most of the guests had motives for the killing and while the death is being investigated two more murders add to the mysterious tangle. Ismael, although a native, is a practical fellow who stalks his quarry through to the inevitable denouement. Although it is Dorothy Cole Meade’s first such story, it is fast-moving, possesses lots of suspense, is colorful and the characterization is good. She has spent much time in the East and her knowledge of the setting has made her story finely realistic and convincing. (Boston Globe, 1933)

Additional

First published in 1933.