Leslie Ford was one of the standard writers of mysteries in the era, but this is the only Ford book I own. ( )

The Strangled Witness came out three years before Ill Met by Moonlight, which I had long thought was the first book in the Grace Latham - Colonel Primrose series.

Unlike the books in which Grace is the first-person narrator, this mystery is written in third person. It's set in Washington, D.C. when the New Deal was a new deal, which made it more difficult for rich businessmen to get their own way. Mr. Quinn, the president of the Star Utilities Corporation, would find it much more profitable if a certain river in his state remained in private hands. To that end he's hired a beautiful young widow, Mrs. Lynn Ash, to be his secret lobbyist. He absolutely needs to have the five votes that Senator Greer can guarantee be votes against the administration's new power bill.

Rich Senator Greer has two weaknesses: one, there's a good chance that he used 'methods' to ensure he won his senate seat against the former incumbent, truly honorable James Cameron; and two, the now Representative Cameron's beautiful daughter, Nina.

Mrs. Ash has been having a lot of conversations with Mr. Tracy Scatcherd, Senator Greer's detestable secretary, conversations that sometimes end in her lending him money. Mr. Marius Fage, lobbyist for the People's Lobby, has been doing his best to make sure Greer doesn't vote Mr. Quinn's way. Fage has also been keeping an eye on Mrs. Ash.

Meanwhile, a young firebrand of a reporter named Andy Blair has been raking Senator Greer over the coals in his newspaper column. Is the cause of Blair's zeal the way Greer won the election or is it because Blair is in love with Nina and Nina is flattered by Greer's attentions?

A senate committee is supposed to investigate the ballots from Greer's election, but they're burned in a mysterious fire before they can be shipped to D.C. Then Senator Greer is found murdered in his own house. The Senators are very, very upset. This murder had better be solved and it had best be done quickly. Homicide calls in their ace-in-the-hole, Colonel Primrose and his loyal man, Sergeant Buck, to investigate. Primrose and Buck are retired World War I vets, although I suppose they would have been considered veterans of the Great War back when this was written. Can they figure out who killed Senator Greer before the surviving senators have a meltdown?

Although this book came out during the Great Depression, don't expect to see too many truly poor characters here. This mystery is about the Upper Crust. Sure, Nina Cameron considers herself poor because her father isn't rich anymore (his money was invested in banks that closed). Oh, how sad it is that after leaving Mrs. Ash's beautiful living room she has to go home to her father's house where the living room still has the furniture that was in style when her parents married in 1902.

Well, her father still had a job even if wasn't as prestigious as his old one, she still had a house to live in, and they still have a maid. My parents were in elementary school when this book came out. They were luckier than many children back then because my blue collar grandfathers managed to put food on the table for their large families, but I know they wouldn't have considered themselves poor if they'd had as much as Nina does. If Nina hadn't felt guilty over thinking her life isn't as fun as it used to be, I'd have trouble feeling any sympathy for her and she is pretty nice overall.

The political attitudes and maneuverings seem familiar today, but the casual racism and sexism grate on my nerves. I suppose that it's something that only two white characters, neither of whom are expected to be well-bred, use the n-word. There's also a Japanese butler, and he has to put up with attitudes that he wouldn't have had to if he'd been white. When Lynn Ash's African-American maid hears her humming 'Stormy Weather,' she's disturbed. Lola's mother told her that it was wicked to sing that song. Lola warned Mrs. Ash that the song was bad luck. Of course Colonel Primrose tells her that's nonsense and Lola doesn't believe him, especially after what happened. Then there's this description of Lola: 'The girl's voice still vibrated with a primitive fear that all her training could never overcome.' GAH!

My copy is a July 1943 (2nd printing) of the cheap Triangle Books hardcover reprint. (Triangle's first printing was May 1943.) It has the dustjacket with the Capitol in the background and several men and women are casually about. The three persons in front are a well-dressed smiling man with a white mustache, a top hat, and a dull gold colored boutonniere, a pretty lady, also smiling, who is wearing a mink coat,, and a Japanese man with what appears to be the head of a cane held to his chin. His eyes are looking to the left and he is definitely not smiling. I suppose they could be meant to represent Mr. Quinn, Lynn Ash, and Mr. Kitamura. I wouldn't expect Mr. Kitamura to be on the cover, looking sinister, which he wasn't in the book, but this is a 1943 reprint.

The cover scene continues to the spine so we may see more of the newspaper barely glimpst in the lower left corner. 'Extra' is in very large type in the headline. What we can see below it is 'TICAL CRISIS,' with the top of the letter before the 'T' visible. Yes, it looks like an 'I". Unfortunately, the dustjacket's spine is creased and has chips missing where the front page photo is. To me, it appears to be a mountain in the foreground. Whatever that is to the right looks like a giant man's head -- with black bangs parted in two over his forehead. He seems to be wearing a black mask, not to mention a silly little metal cup on the top of his head. I suppose it could be another mountain. What's on the left makes me think of an old science fiction movie flying saucer pouring a death ray on the mountain, but it might be a giant dirigible. If anyone else has a better copy of the dustjacket, I'd be interested to know what the photo is.

Under the dustjacket the cover is blue with a silhouette of a flower in a wide pot in black. The title and author's name on the spine are enclosed in a dark golden yellow box with more fancy decoration above and below the box, also black. 'Triangle Books' in two lines is near the bottom of the spine. The title and publisher's name are in smaller print than the author's name, which is in all capital letters. The dustjacket is in pretty good condition with very little wear to the cover itself. I suspect the publisher skimped on the quality of the paper because the pages are foxed and brittle along the top, right, and bottom margins.

The back dustjacket flap has 'No.150' under the title and author's name. Both the back flap and the back of the cover include sample titles available from the publisher. On top of the back of the dustjacket is an illustration in black, white, and gray of a family of four. The bookcase in the background is long and has at least four shelves. Mom and the teen daughter are standing next to each other, open books in their hands. The teen son is removing a book from the top shelf. The dad is seated and reading. Mom is wearing a dress, Dad a suit, daughter a more casual-looking dress, and son in shirt and slacks -- no T-shirts or jeans here! Their word balloons (all capital letters in the original):

Mom: Reading has become our family's most popular pastime.
Daughter: I like these love stories -- and books on which "hit" movies are based.
Dad: Yes, it's mighty satisfying to own good books at such a low price.
Son: Boy! Look at these top notch mystery and adventure stories.

I wish the price had been on the dustjacket. How low were Triangle Books' prices?

The mystery itself is interesting and the descriptions are good, but the attitudes of the Bad Old Days spoil this book for me. ( )