Imagine waking to all of the clocks in your home having mysteriously stopped at 3 o’clock in the morning, the house deserted with the exception of your old, miserly aunt. But then you discover that your aunt is dead with a pen knife stuck in her chest. This is the living nightmare that Holly Inglehart finds herself in, and everyone – even Holly herself – cannot help but think the girl went mad and slayed her oppressive aunt for money and freedom. One person is certain of her innocence, however. Jake Justus, the manager of Holly’s new husband and band leader Dick Dayton, feels it in his bones that she has been framed. And he hires old friend John J. Malone, defender of the typically guilty, to save her from the electric chair. 

I swear that with every American cozy mystery I read, I become more and more certain that these authors were just trying to create the wildest, most absurd yet hilarious, mysteries to ever exist. First I thought this about John Dickson Carr and Vincent Starrett, and now Craig Rice, born Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig. She is a very new author for me. Her novel, Eight Faces at Three, is the first in her John J. Malone series. The Mysterious Bookshop chose this book for one of its April book clubs, and I am so thrilled that it influenced me to splurge and purchase the Penzler Classics edition. There is so much to love about this mystery, and here’s to hoping my review does it justice!

Rice does a wonderful job setting up her readers in Chicago during the dead of winter. The icy roads and low temperatures do not stop this novel’s characters from participating in the fast life: benders, beer for breakfast, and serious hangovers. I swear alcohol in its many forms acts as an additional character! Naturally, this adds to the action and pure chaos that ensues as what becomes an actual squad of amateur detectives drive all around Chicago chasing down leads and participating in some shady business themselves in order to find the real murderer. Setting the mystery aside for the moment, I just loved being immersed in the time period with its big bands and scandalous newspaper headlines. We still have newspapers today, yes, but access to the news through our devices lessens the chance that you will buy a paper and see “HEIRESS KILLS AUNT IN THE NIGHT” on the front page.  

My favorite aspect of the novel is its clever, eccentric band of characters. John J. Malone is a grumpy lawyer with gray morals and snark for days. Jake Justus is the character we follow most as he is the most active and ready to enter battle at any time. He is also equally irked by and obsessed with the Inglehart’s next-door neighbor, Helene Brand. It may be enough to divulge that she is introduced to the characters barging into the room, wearing blue silk pajamas, a fur coat, and galoshes as she declares that Aunt Alex deserved to be murdered. Genuinely the gem of the narrative, Helene is witty and brave, but she is also thoughtful and reflective. I adored her as much as Jake does! The humor in the dialogue and the narration is off the charts. One of my favorite lines comes almost halfway through the narrative. After breaking Holly out of jail, Holly and Helene are learning a new knitting stitch from Mrs. Fraser, the woman housing the fugitive, as Jake looks on:

Inside, you will encounter a jailbreak, a kidnapping, bribery, and near-death experiences! Rice artfully blends elements of cozy mystery AND hard-boiled detective fiction, keeping the reader on their toes from beginning to end. A whirlwind mystery, and an author I cannot wait to get to know better!