Howie: No Face to Murder

On a cold snowy night when the church choir met for practice, young organist Carol Tolliver didn’t show up. That’s when Tess King dropped her music behind the choir pew, and picked it up—screaming. It is hard to associate a church with violence. Alec MacDonald, Dean of St. Thomas’s, wouldn’t believe that such a thing could happen. Tess, his secretary, and Alec’s wife, Ruth, were more realistic. In no time criminal investigator Ran Garrison appeared, and close on his heels, Bishop Walters—who in a pinch proved as proficient at turning up clues as he was at tossing a salad.

Review

“An unusually penetrating picture of a small community, with a double murder in a church as the high light. Practically every member of the choir, around which the story is built, is a suspect, and there are times when the young rector almost seems involved. Inspector Ran Garrison, assisted no little by his girl friend, who is also the rector’s secretary, and a cooking bishop come through with the answers. . . .” (1946 review)