Blind Man’s Bluff (1943) by Baynard Kendrick

This is the fourth mystery in the Duncan Maclain series and it is my second experience of it, having previously reviewed Odor of Violets (1941) last year. My reading of both books has only been possible due to the reprinting efforts of American Mystery Classics and Otto Penzler writes the introduction to the new reprint of Blind Man’s Bluff. He describes the novel as ‘an impossible-crime novel, much like those of the great John Dickson Carr. Here, the problem is that a person obviously alone in a room defenestrates, though there was neither an expectation of suicide nor a rational explanation for the unexpected act. What is colourful and exciting is that it happens again in a situation that is equally impossible. Or unlikely.’ It was interesting returning to this comment after finishing the book and the conclusion I have come to is that whilst the solution is the type Carr might have used, the way that impossibility is investigated and solved is different. Carr often provides his readers with a greater number of clues/pieces of information, for example.

I think Penzler sums up the unusualness of Kendrick’s writing when he says: ‘Although most of Kendrick’s novels, especially those involving Maclain, are genuine whodunits, their plotting has its roots in the pulp fiction magazines of the time, with a protagonist who has many of the characteristics of such pulp heroes as Doc Savage.’ The pulp-qualities in Blind’s Man’s Bluff can be seen, for example, in the crook who tries to make some money from Blake Hadfield’s death through blackmail and in the ending in which the killer is revealed.

Following on from Penzler’s introduction we have a foreword from Baynard Kendrick. I am unsure of when this foreword was written, but it does include the introduction Ellery Queen wrote for their magazine when they printed a Captain Maclain short story in 1953. The introduction by Queen focuses on how Kendrick wanted to create a creditable blind detective based on real blind people’s abilities, finding the exploits of Max Carrados unbelievable. However, Penzler’s introduction already included this information and Baynard himself repeats it for a third time in the remainder of his foreword.

Synopsis

‘Following the loss of his sight in World War I, ex-intelligence officer Duncan Maclain honed his other senses and, with the help of his two German Shepherds, became one of the most successful and well-known private investigators in New York City, picking up on the unseen clues that often slip beneath the visual surface. The Miners Title and Trust is typically dead quiet, having gone bankrupt. Then, late one evening, the bank’s blind president, Blake Hadfield, plummets eight stories to his death in the building’s lobby. The only witnesses are the security guard and Blake’s estranged wife, who were both on the first floor. Blake’s son, Seth, is found drunk and dazed on the eighth floor, making him the prime suspect in what the police believe to be murder. That’s when Harold Lawson and Sybella Ford call upon Captain Maclain for help. Maclain doesn’t think the banker’s death was a suicide or an accident. He believes someone else was in the building — and when more murders follow, he suspects the villain is still at large. Now, Maclain will push his powers of deduction to their limits to solve one of the strangest cases of his career…’

Overall Thoughts

Kendrick is successful in establishing a curious set of events in the opening chapters of his book, which leave the reader wondering what is going on now and what really happened 6 years ago when Blake Hadfield was shot (and blinded) in his office, by a man who is then said to have killed himself afterwards. At the start of the novel Blake is going back to his office for the first time in 6 years and has organised for two interviews – one with Philip Courtney, the man Blake’s estranged wife, Julia wishes to marry, at 10pm – and one at 11pm with Julia. On the spur of the moment Blake then invites his very drunk son to come with him, cryptically remarking that they both may learn something very important about the shooting. As Philip says to Julia: ‘It’s a funny errand, Jule – a trip downtown on a freezing night to a practically deserted building, a difficult errand for a man who is totally blind.’

Whilst we might not be surprised that Blake is dead by the end of the night, the reader, like the police, might be wondering how Blake could have phoned to the police fearing for his life, at the same time he was supposed to be dead. Moreover, when Captain Maclain is called into to help, he adds the further odd question of: Where has the victim’s fountain pen and loose change disappeared to? In addition, Kendrick is good at providing the necessary background information for the reader concerning the key characters and their past history, in a succinct and engaging manner, across the first few pages of the story.

In some detective stories you can wait some time until the lead sleuth makes their appearance, but this is not the case in Blind Man’s Bluff, in which Maclain enters in chapter 2. It is interesting to see how the ongoing conflict (i.e., WW2) is affecting him mentally. He lost his sight in WW1, and as such cannot enlist in the current war, unlike his right-hand man Spud, who is called up to be in the Intelligence Corps. In a sense “being left out” is leaving Maclain demotivated and flat at the start of the book, which other characters such as his secretary recognise: ‘The world could tear itself to pieces with war – she didn’t intend to let it sabotage Duncan Maclain, to pour the emery powder of self-pity into the cogs of such a perfect human machine.’ Fortunately, the case he is about to become a part of, helps him to redirect his attention. I was interested to see Maclain described, on more than one occasion, as a ‘machine’. This put me in mind of Jacques Futrelle’s Professor S. F. X. Van Dusen a.k.a. the thinking machine, which surprised me as I wouldn’t have said they adopted identical approaches to sleuthing. Maclain is more than happy to place himself in danger.

Previously in this review I have mentioned how this book interacts with the style of the pulps, yet this does not mean that the story lacks more traditional policing methods. In fact, Inspector French (created by Freeman Wills Crofts) would have approved of Maclain’s decision to have the origins of a replacement high ball glass tracked down. Furthermore, in contrast to Odor of Violets, I would say this book is more cerebral, requiring more theorising of the case and it is less centred on action and violence. Nevertheless, this near perfect crime, is too tough a puzzle even for Maclain to crack, as a trap is necessary for catching the killer and confirming the murder method. Naturally, Maclain makes himself the bait. Whilst this does achieve a dramatic conclusion to the investigation, the difficulty of the case does result in insufficient progress being made during earlier parts of the mystery. I felt like the reader did not have much to go on and that we were not being provided with much information during the middle of the book. Consequently, when it comes to the unveiling of the solution, the reader is hit with a lot of new information that they could not otherwise have known about. This did reduce my enjoyment of the book, as did the unconvincing romance Maclain is supposed to have become embroiled in. Having too much romance in a mystery novel can be irritating as it takes over the plot, but in this instance, it is a case of too little, to the point of thinking that it doesn’t really add anything, since it is too much in the background until the last couple of pages. So all in all I think I preferred Odor of Violets but others have been more satisfied with this read, such as the reviewer for the criminal record in The Saturday Review. They described this novel as the ‘absolute tops’ and concluded that it had a ‘brilliantly devised and practically unguessable murder method, continuous suspense, believable detecting and an-edge-of-the-chair finish.’

Rating: 3.75/5

Source: Review Copy (American Mystery Classics)

See also: Brad at Ah Sweet Mystery Blog has also reviewed this mystery title here.

P. S. One thing I was amused to learn about was Maclain’s low opinion of chewing gum and those who use it. He says that “there should be a law against chompers. Imagine what it does to those who can see them, too. Human bovines, two-legged ruminants. The world’s in tatters, and they solace themselves with a lump of coagulated goo!”