Eight Faces at Three

1939 novel, the first of about a dozen featuring crime-solving attorney John J. Malone.

Our victim is Alexandria Inglehart, the distinctly unlikeable maiden aunt of twins Holly and Glen, who even in adulthood live in fear of Aunt Alex. It's Holly who enters Aunt Alex's room early one morning to find that her aunt has been stabbed to death with her own letter opener, and it's Holly who becomes the principal suspect.

She certainly has motive; she's just married a man of whom Aunt Alex doesn't approve (he is -- shudder -- a musician), and Aunt Alex was scheduled to meet with her attorney later that day to change her will.

The musician's manager, Jake Justus, is the one who brings Malone into the case, saying that John could get her "out of show more trouble if she'd committed a mass murder in an orphanage with seventeen policemen for witnesses." Holly's friend, Helene, a glamorous socialite, completes the trio of crime-solvers who will become the central characters of Rice's series.

This book was published only a few years after Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man and its film adaptation, and the influence is obvious. The screwball banter threatens to overwhelm the story; everyone's so busy tossing off bits of witty repartee that you almost forget there's a murder to be solved.

And the booze. My lord, so much booze. Jake, Helene, and John all seem to live in terror of ever completely sobering up; there are lots of "jokes" about how terrifying Helene's driving is when she's had a few; and there's barely a scene in the novel that doesn't find everyone tossing down another drink. I find that level of "hooray for alcoholism!" distasteful -- it's why I never could get into the Thin Man movies -- so I'm unlikely to return for more of Rice's series.

If you're less bothered by that aspect of things, though, what Rice does, she does well. Her principal characters are otherwise likeable, and her supporting characters given enough depth to be more than merely functional. The jokes are mostly funny (though old fashioned, to be sure), the circumstances of Aunt Alex's murder are distinctive and interesting, and the solution is clever and plays fair with the reader. show less

Eight Faces at Three was the debut book from authoress Craig Rice. The story is about the murder of an elderly aunt, who was killed just before she had a chance to change her will. Her heirs of course fall under suspicion and of the two twins that she raised, the female, Holly, is the one arrested for the death of her aunt as she was the only one in the house with her aunt at the time. Time, of course, plays an important role in this case as all the clocks in the house stopped at three o’clock in the morning.

Holly had secretly married band leader Dick Dayton the day before and it was assumed that her aunt was going to cut her out of the will as she disapproved of the relationship,. Dick’s manager, Jake Justus brings in a highly show more regarded lawyer, John J. Malone to represent Holly. I enjoyed this fast moving, humorous story although I was surprised that anything got accomplished as most of the cast were guzzling cocktails and champagne continually. Holly’s best friend Helene and Jake were obviously attracted to each other and probably spent more time drinking than in talking. At one point they were cruising the streets of Chicago drinking champagne straight from the bottle. Like Nick and Nora from the Thin Mans series, this drinking mostly added to the humor and didn’t seem to kill off too many brain cells, as Jake and Helene desperately tried to find the real murderer and clear Holly.

Eight Faces at Three reads like the script of a film but apparently although the author was a screenwriter, this particular work wasn’t adapted for a movie. The John J Malone stories became a series and both Jake and Helene made regular appearances. This classic “screwball” mystery is light-hearted and fun making the reader feel like he is hanging out with a group of friends. show less

As so often happens, I have to thank author, editor and lawyer Martin Edwards for directing me to a new series. Edwards’ most recently anthology, A Surprise For Christmas: And Other Seasonal Mysteries, features a short story by Craig Rice (a female author despite her name, which was her legal name!) that made me eager to check out Rice’s series.

Eight Faces at Three is the first in a series that features wisecracking, hard-drinking press agent Jake Justus and dour, disheveled, hard-drinking lawyer Joseph J. Malone. Justus describes Malone as “a lawyer who could get her out of trouble if she’d committed a mass murder in an orphanage, with seventeen policemen for witnesses.” That doesn’t prove an exaggeration.

Justus and Malone show more bear more than a resemblance to Rex Stout’s Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe, characters who premiered just a few years before Eight Faces at Three was published in 1939. But the plot was pretty good and the dialogue was snappy, so I didn’t mind one bit. Rice’s view of society is a bit darker than Stout’s (and there’s nearly nonstop drinking), and the stories are set in Chicago rather than New York; however, Stout fans will especially savor this book, although any Golden Age cozy fan will be pleased. I’ve already started the next in the series, which is a compliment in itself. Recommended. show less

This is the first of Craig Rice's book that I have read, and is unlikely to be the last.

Rice was actually Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig and this was her first novel published (1939). Rice was the first mystery writer to feature on the cover of Time magazine (1946), so must have been a 'somebody' back then.

Eight Faces at Three references a murder scene where multiple clocks have mysteriously all stopped at 3am. how and why?

There are the usual hi jinks of lawyers at 3 paces, car chases, mistaken identities, snow storms, a hard put upon detectives and prosecutors.

The book has the feel of one of those classic comedies in 1930/1940s movies (Some Like It Hot comes to mind, though the plot has nothing in common).

Well worth a look for anyone show more interested in golden age mysteries/detective novels.

It is the first in a series John J Malone, defender of the guilty. Another series, another bonus.

Big Ship

12 June 2024 show less

Holly Inglehart has woken up at 3.00am. But why? And as she is concerned she checks on the other occupants of the house. Only to find all the clocks have stopped at 3.00 am and the only other person in the house is her dead aunt, stabbed three times. Because she has a motive Fleck, Maple Park's Chief of Police arrests her. Who can come to her aid. It is friends Helen Brand, and Jake Dayton, with the help of lawyer John J. Malone that help her. But does the amount of alcohol they drink help or hinder them.
An entertaining historical mystery, a good start to the series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Originally published in 1939

I would have liked this book more if it wasn't for the basic premise that all people think better drunk. The author is proud that her characters are drunk most of the time, the police and authorities are drunk most of the time and the only sober person is the victim who deserved to die. I must not overlook the Asst DA who really only got drunk on one occasion but did imbibe sometimes just for fun.

Love the snappy dialog of these mysteries.