The Silent Bullet: The Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective

First published in 1912, this entertaining collection of 12 stories by Reeve (1880–1936) features Craig Kennedy, a New York City university chemistry professor, whose journalist friend and Watsonian narrator, Walter Jameson, recommends his services to the NYPD. In the baffling title tale, a stock broker drops dead in the middle of a business meeting from a gunshot despite no one present seeing a firearm or hearing a shot. “Spontaneous Combustion” is especially clever, offering a logical explanation as to how a man ended up dead in his home, burnt from the waist up, with the only copy of his will missing. Another highlight is “The Terror in the Air,” centered on two fatalities during the test of a new flying machine, whose inventor hopes Kennedy can prove his device was sabotaged. Never mind that the characters and puzzles aren’t on a par with R. Austin Freeman’s Dr. Thorndyke stories from the same era. Those interested in early forensics will want to check this out. (Apr.)