Cat’s Paw

Who killed wealthy cat-loving Bostonian Martin Greenough? Scarlett, the joint pseudonym of Dorothy Blair (1903–1976) and Evelyn Page (1902–1977), provides the clever answer in this ingenious whodunit first published in 1931. For his 75th birthday, Greenough has invited family members dependent on his largesse to his mansion, only to reveal that he intends to alter the long-standing terms of his will, which may impoverish some of them. Sure enough, that unspecified threat leads to someone fatally shooting Greenough in his study, where his corpse is found near a wide-open window. The police conclude that the murder weapon was fired from the outside, and Bureau of Criminal Investigation inspector Norton Kane is called in to probe motives and alibis. The novel’s structure, which alternates between the first-person narration of an attorney friend of Kane’s and third person, allows key evidence to be concealed, even as the ultimate solution makes plain that Scarlett has played fair with the reader. Distinctive characters people the vividly detailed Greenough mansion. This reissue is another gem in the American Mystery Classics series. (Mar.)