Helen Reilly (1891–1961)

Probably closer to 2.5 stars. An old fashioned (1940) mystery about the murder of a bitchy young socialite at a fashion school. The prose was a bit formal and clunky at times for my tastes. The story had tons of characters--a bit hard to keep them all straight and it was one of those stories where just about any of them could have turned out to be the killer depending on the author's whim. Still, it was a fun enough read.

A beautiful dancer dies in mid-dance at a speakeasy called "the Sanctuary." Inspector McKee of the Manhattan Homicide Squad investigates. Reilly does nice straightforward police mysteries, sometimes a bit grim.

A dubious playboy is murdered leaving a mysterious entry in his diary. Apparentyl his death is linked to a small elite social circle at an upstate resort, so McKee leaves Manhattan to investigate.

A HIBK detective novel without much detection. Upper crust group gathered together on a train, then at a Canadian lodge, are met with three murders. The main character, a young female, is a passive character caught in the middle, trying to sort out the various secrets of the other characters.