Lawrence G. Blochman (1900–1975)

Fans of the Mr. Moto series might enjoy Midnight Sailing. Published in 1938, it tells the tale of Glen Larkin, intrepid, international correspondent as he is thrown into a last minute assignment to follow Dorothy Bonner, beautiful heiress, as she slips out of San Francisco on the Kumo-maru, a Japanese vessel en-route from Peru, carrying war material. You might reasonably prepare yourself to cringe over stereotypes in this book, originally published in serial form, during the fraught time show more leading up to WWII. And there are plenty of stereotypes of all kinds in this novel but there are also some nuanced characters as well as evenhanded descriptions of the international arena.

It's a fun, easy read that evokes well that troubled time. Most of the story takes place onboard this particular Japanese vessel and Blochman does a good job of not letting the location feel to constricted and an even better job of displaying the wonder of ocean travel before the flourishing of commercial air travel. The fun is in those descriptions more than the plot.

I read a local library copy of the 1938 first edition published by Harcourt, Brace and Company which makes it eighty years old. It used high grade paper and the look and feel of it is still a pleasure to handle. No musty odors that this reader could detect. One can only marvel at the high quality of workmanship that went into the book, not to mention that of the care that went into it over the years. There is even a picture of the author carefully placed on the inside leaf across from one of the old library lending pockets.

It wouldn't be hard to get through the 310 pages in a single reading. It's an enjoyable romp. show less

I wouldn't have come across this book if I hadn't been looking for a classic/Golden Age mystery set in India. I was hoping for a forgotten classic. I discovered that this book has been forgotten for good reason. It doesn't match the quality of Golden Age mysteries by authors like Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, Rex Stout, and others of their era whose works are still in print.

Blochman gives more attention to physical descriptions of the characters than to the development of show more the mystery plot. The third person narration switches points of view between several characters, resulting in a non-linear time frame. Sometimes an event or clue is mentioned as if it had already been introduced to the reader, only to be described later in the text. Inspector Leonidas Prike regularly blurts out information he's acquired outside the reader's view and has been withholding from the reader as well as from other characters. The difficulty of trying to solve the case alongside the Inspector combined with the overt racism typical of many works written in that era made for an unsatisfactory reading experience. show less

Very neat ingenious medical mysteries --heparin poisoning, ackee poisoning, hypoglycemia (before it became fashionable), alleged haunting and alleged sleepwalking etc. solved by Dr, Coffee, pathologist and medical consultant to the police (especially Lt. Max Ritter) in the Midwestern city of Northbank, aided by his Hindu assistant Dr, Mookerji. Mookerji's accent is played for laughs, but he is presented as a serious capable scientist as well. Introduction by Dr. Gonzales, chief medical show more examiner of NYC, who vouches for the science. One aspect of the book is a campaign to replace unqualified elected coroners with professional medical examiners. Northbank has an elected coroner, but he usually lets Coffin act in his place. The medical side of the stories is genuinely subtle, but the characterization is obvious; it being just after World War II, veterans who are suspects are invariably innocent, for instance. Sympathetic women are generally eager to become housewives, while professional women may be villains. There is also a mild leftwing slat --some realistic comments =about the profits of politics, rich men and lawyers are villains, and the cannery workers (of the town's main industry) elected a socialist to city council --more likely I the 30s than the 50s when the stories are set. . Somehow I find the stories oddly comforting. show less

A collection of short stories about Dr, Coffee, unofficial forensic medical adviser to the police in a modest midwestern city called Northbank --it still has an elected coroner, but he lets Coffee do the serious work on autopsies and the like. The introduction is by Dr. Martin Helpern, the chief medical examiner of the City of New York. Coffe's Indian associate Dr. Mookerji is a bit of a stereotype with "Baboo Engish" (though Blochman had been in India, he wrote pulp adventures set there, show more and his portrayals of Asian characters tend to be pulp stereotypes) but the basic stories are good. Blochman had a certificate in forensic medicine, so his background was good for its period. (Information on his background from gadetection). show less