Baynard Kendrick (1894–1977)

I became aware of Baynard Kendrick many years ago, when I saw his name in a "Based on characters created by…" credit on a TV series called LONGSTREET that I really enjoyed, whose protagonist was an insurance investigator blinded in a murder attempt. This series is the one upon which that premise, that of a blind detective, was based. Duncan Maclain was however, blinded in World War I. The character was also portrayed in a couple of films by the fine actor Edward Arnold in the 1940s.

This show more book was well plotted, and clearly well researched in respect to then current resources available to the sight impaired, and also to some of the background with regard to the murder involved. One starts out obviously intrigued by the character and his milieu. The middle bogs down a bit, but the resolution is quite interesting. Based on this book, difficult to obtain for many years, until they were all released in recent years in Kindle format, I will be reading the rest of the series. Contemporary sight impaired readers of a sensitive nature may be offended by some of the content, but it should be kept in mind that this book was published in 1937. show less

There is a lot going on in this Gold Medal, as a college languages professor decides to run away from marriage with a very rich very beautiful girl and take a job as a chauffeur for a while so he can have time to write. Bad mistake. The family he gets involved with, an older husband, a beautiful young wife, an adopted (and also stunningly beautiful) French daughter, and their son, who isn't too ordinary himself, turn out to have lots of dark secrets and vices. This is about as sordid a pulp show more story as I have read and must have been more shocking in 1952, when I think it was originally published. The author weaves the sado-masochism into the professor's ironic first person account of his adventures. His narrative style is pretty good and as a professor of languages he likes to use a few obscure words now and then that you will need to look up in a dictionary. (Which is great since I read the book on a Kindle, and the Kindle's excellent built-in dictionary made finding out what Hayward was talking about a breeze.)

The problem with the story, however, is that it just moves along from one event to the next. Despite the torrid goings-on (sex, murder, and various perversity), the novel doesn't really generate much suspense. As events take place, the reader is just about as bewildered as the professor is. The professor also has an annoying habit of acting against his own best judgment and resisting (multiple times) the urge to get away from the crazy family he has become involved with. The author also doesn't help matters by making frequent forward-looking statements such as "He was also answering an invitation to get mixed up in two of the juiciest murders California had ever seen."

All in all, not a bad read if you just concentrate on enjoying the various episodes. show less

Interesting mystery, set in contemporary (ca. 1942) New York City. Old mysteries regarding a supposed murder-suicide, and a collapsed bank, have suddenly resurfaced. A blind investigator is brought in to find out the truth, and in a cunning bluff, unmasks the criminal. This was the kind of thing that the Max Carrados mysteries should have been, but wasn't. Interesting characters, and the setting is fun.

This was fun. I have never heard of this golden age detective before. A little silly, of course, and over the top, but a good read nonetheless.