Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss. ( )

Premise: A man checks into a hotel. He meets another man who requests that they exchange rooms. It is arranged. The next morning, the man who requested the room change is found dead. To futher compound things, he wasn't who he says he was.
I was intrigued by the premise, by the fact that this book was a classic in the 30s that fell into obscurity, and Otto Penzler has brought it back to life. I love love love the resuscitation of lost classics.
The author, Vincent Starrett, was an expert on all things Sherlock Holmes, so that sounded grand as well.
It is my own muddle-headed handicap that if there are too many characters introduced at once, I find it darned hard to keep them all sorted in my head. The very-likeable sleuth makes it more difficult by posing various explanations of motives and allegiances so that midway through the mystery. Imagine that you don't have a firm grasp on the rules of chess and someone proceeds to point out all the possibilities of the next five moves and what could happen, only backwards. I gave up all hope of sorting for myself and just kept reading for the fun of it.
I enjoyed the book. There were quite a few passages where either the 30s language or a description stopped me in my tracks and I had to read it again to savor it. Also found myself wondering if the sleuth Riley Blackwood might reappear in another novel. Bit of a surprise ending. No way I would have hashed it all out. For all that, the book itself is lovely, I mean physically lovely--feels good in the hand, fun cover, well-formatted. I'm looking forward to hunting up more Otto Penzler Presents American Mystery Classics. ( )

This is a classic whodunnit murder mystery set in Chicago circa 1935. It's written in the Golden Age style with a (relatively large) closed circle of suspects and a mostly unsolvable puzzle for readers to deal with. The puzzle's solution, when finally presented, seems randomly chosen. There's plenty of action, some is near farcical, with a suspenseful and exciting denouement. The characters are plentiful, although only one will likely stick in anyone's memory for long: the amateur sleuth, Riley Blackwood. There is enough local colour to recognize Chicago as the story's locale and a quasi-character. Atmosphere is in short supply. The Introduction by Lyndsay Faye is informative about the author and the story. It merits reading. ( )

A little autobiographical, this main character. A literary critic, but instead of writing mysteries, he’s solving them. A lot of fun. So many of the stories have this wisecracking Ellery queen type character. Very good though. ( )

Not a great mystery or particularly compelling other than the iconic writing style of the 1930s and a nice setting - Chicago. Riley Blackwood is an untrained amateur sleuth who spends too much time hatching theories and is not terribly skilled at getting information. The premise is fun - a woman’s breakfast date at a grand hotel is late. When hotel staff are finally convinced to open the man’s room, they find a dead body in the bed. But it’s not the man who rented the room! Plausible red herrings are sprinkled throughout but most of the characters are thin and the dialogue is often awkward. ( )