Rocket to the Morgue by Anthony Boucher

A take on the science fiction writers of the time (1941), this book has many thinly veiled references to writers in that genre. They are all working hard to make money by writing as many words as possible and all of them have a great dislike for Hilary Foulkes. Hilary isn't even a writer, he's just the executor of his father's estate. But that estate is vast and Hilary has the power to stop many projects. So it's not, perhaps, surprising to mystery readers that he is getting threats against his life. But Inspector Marshall is not amused as the clues seem to be pointing to his friend, Matt Duncan.

I had heard about this book on the Classic Mysteries podcast. The author was more complimentary than I was but he also knows more about the authors of that time.

Three stars

This book came out 1942

Follows Nine Times Nine

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Nine Times Nine by Anthony Boucher

The Classic Mystery podcast again describes this better than I ever could. The biggest drawback was the fact that this book was written in a time where political correctness didn't exist so there are some discordant notes and the mystery is a little out there.
Sister Ursula's first mystery doesn't have her in it very much. Instead, a lot of the story is focused on Matt Duncan. Through a series of odd events, he ends up the protege of Wolfe Harrigan, a journalist who thrives on exposing cults. When the latest cult he's researching heaps the curse of nine times nine on his head, Wolfe is not worried. But then he is killed behind locked doors with Matt as one of the witnesses. The leader of the cult was distinctive in his yellow robes but was also on stage at the same time.

Three stars
This book came out 1940

Followed by Rocket to the Morgue

Borrowed as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own