Robert McNair
Wilson (1882-1963) was an English physician and author who wrote some 28
mystery novels under the name of Anthony
Wynne. He wrote during the Golden Age of mystery and detective fiction,
roughly the period between the two world wars. His primary protagonist in these
novels was Dr. Eustace
Hailey. And what Hailey particularly specialized in was the locked room
mystery.
Wynne’s novels
have long been out of print, although a few can be found in used bookstores and
online used book services (a few are listed on Amazon). The British Library
Crime Classics series has, however, resurrected Dr. Hailey in Murder
of a Lady: A Scottish Mystery. The series is edited by British mystery
writer Martin Edwards, and he
provides a succinct introduction to both Wynne and the story. The book was
originally published in 1931.
Dr. Hailey, who
lives in London and works on Harley Street, is visiting a fellow physician in the
Scottish Highlands. The regional procurator fiscal arrives late one evening to
announce that a marauder has been committed at nearly Duchlan Castle, and he
needs the two doctors’ assistance. (The author makes good use of his medical knowledge
and expertise to develop the story.)
Anthony Wynne |
The victim is
Mary Gregor, the elder sister of Duchlan Gregor, lord of the castle. Her head
has been rather viciously bashed in, as if struck by an ax from behind. But
there is little blood in her bedroom; and more significantly, her door was
locked from the inside and the windows overlooking the local loch were bolted.
She has been clearly murdered, but no one is able to understand how the killer
entered or left the room. One other odd clue surfaces – a herring fish scale is
found in the wound. (The book was first published in the U.K. under the title
of The Silver Scale Mystery.)
The police
investigator assigned to the case is a young man full of enthusiasm and action,
but he accomplishes little except to offend the family, the servants, the
doctors, the villagers, and anyone else living in the area. He asks for Hailey’s
help. But soon there is a second murder, with the victim killed the same way as
Mary Gregor, and Hailey understands what the police do not – this murder has
its roots in the distant past, and in the character of the original victim.
Murder of a Lady is a classic locked room mystery,
written by one of the masters of locked room mysteries.
Photograph: A scene in the Scottish
Highlands by Steve Bryant via Public
Domain Pictures. Used with permission.
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