THE FLOATING LADY MURDER by Daniel Stashower

[Barry Ergang]

The Floating Lady Murder by Daniel Stashower (Avon Books, 2000)

An episode from the second season of "Monk" titled "Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico" contains a tantalizing premise for fans of impossible crime stories: a young skydiver plunges to his death, which is witnessed by his friends on the ground. An autopsy subsequently reveals that the fall didn't kill him; he drowned, apparently in mid-air.

The episode's moments that dealt with Adrian Monk's obsessive-compulsive behavior were often hilarious, but as a mystery it was huge let-down for a couple of reasons. It didn't play fair with the viewer, and the solution was basically a "cheat" because it concerned events only Monk knew about.

The Floating Lady Murder, the second in Daniel Stashower's series featuring Harry Houdini and his brother Dash Hardeen as detectives, employs a similar premise. It doesn't play entirely fair with the reader, but the solution doesn't cheat so it's not likely to disappoint him either.

In 1898, Harry Houdini--except in his own mind--has not yet achieved the fame that would later make him known throughout America and abroad. His brother Dash, the story's narrator, though a somewhat accomplished performer himself, serves primarily as Harry's booking agent. Lately he's been unable to secure jobs for Harry and Harry's wife Bess, Houdini's on-stage assistant. Thus, when he reads that Harry Kellar, "the dean of American magicians," is hiring additional crew members for his troupe, Dash suggests that he, Harry and Bess apply. In his vanity, Harry balks at the notion until Dash and Bess persuade him of the wisdom of it.

They are hired, and soon learn that Kellar is determined to debut his Floating Lady levitation when the touring company returns to New York City from Albany. The illusion was conceived years earlier by Kellar's mentor, The Wizard of Kalliffa (a.k.a. Duncan MacGregor). Levitation was common among magicians, but this one was to be spectacular in that the person levitated would float out over the stage and high above the audience. MacGregor's wife, assisting her husband by taking the role of the Floating Lady, fell to her death from a great height when the illusion failed. In tribute to the MacGregors, Kellar wants to perform the illusion on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Mrs. MacGregor's passing. He has only a matter of days to refine it. Working with the Great Man and his stage crew, Harry and Dash devise an effective means of doing so, receiving Kellar's ecstatic gratitude.

The performance has every member of the troupe holding his breath as the beautiful Francesca Moore seemingly levitates high up into the theater's dome, "borne aloft by the hypnotic force of animal magnetism." The audience is enchanted. But then something goes horribly wrong, and Francesca Moore plummets seventy-two feet to her death.

It seems a terrible accident until, during an autopsy, it's learned that Miss Moore's death resulted from drowning, apparently--and impossibly--in mid-air. When one of the stagehands, Jim Collins, is arrested for murder, Harry and Dash are determined to prove his innocence and uncover the real murderer. This they do when Kellar and a rival magician, Servais Le Roy, team up to perform the illusion once again, putting Bess and Harry's lives in peril.

Stashower does an excellent job of bringing the era to life while serving up a well-paced story that's loaded with action, suspense, a great puzzle, and a lot of humor. Dash Hardeen is not a vacuous Watson who marvels at his brother's brilliance. He, in fact, is the brainier of the two. Harry provides the brawn, as well as unchecked egotism that spawns some wonderful comic moments.

Recommended without reservations.

[Dave]

Thank you for your excellent review Barry. It sounds like it may have some parallels with the excellent Carter Beats the Devil by Glen Gold, another book that has a magician from that time period dealing with mysteries and intrigue. If you haven't had a chance to read this one yet I highly recommend it, it is one of the better books I've read in the last few years.

[Barry Ergang]

Thanks for the recommendation, Dave. I followed your link and found this in the Amazon review:

Carter Beats the Devil has a mustachioed villain, chase scenes, a lion, miraculous escapes, even pirates, for God's sake.

I didn't mention it in my review, but The Floating Lady Murder also has a lion--one that escapes from its cage, a potential menace to everyone in Kellar's troupe, impelling Houdini and Dash to heroic action.

[Patrick Gore]

Thanks, Barry. I just ordered a copy for $3 at www.half.com. I look forward to reading it!

According to amazon.com, this guy won a Fulbright Fellowship in Detective and Crime Fiction Writing. Who even knew there was such a thing?

[Patrick Gore]

OK, read this novel, The Floating Lady Murder, last night, and here's my take on it.

Puzzle plot: B. Although the clue to the true identity of the killer(s) is pretty ridiculous, the explanation for how the victim drowned in mid-air is what you would call "satisfying." But: the murder happens late in the book (page 128 out of 251) and unlike in a Carr novel, there is very little discussion afterward of the "how" of the crime -- ruling out false solutions, etc. If there had been, I think "howdunit" would have been quite obvious. (Incidentally, for a Carr-Rawson kind of novel, this one is remarkably short on the juicy details about famous illusions that make The Crooked Hinge, The Three Coffins, Death from a Top Hat, etc., so enjoyable.) Also, a quibble: if

Spoiler

she was already dead before falling, why is the corpse bleeding from the nose after the fall? I don't know much about forensic science, but this sent up a red flag for me.

Dialogue & characterization, etc.: C-. I found that the 1st-person narration (by Houdini's brother, Dash) and the dialogue rang false. Now, I admit this narrative is made up of the sentimental reminiscences of an old man, Dash, and so he's inevitably going to sound a little nostalgic about the good old days and mother's porridge, but the dialogue in the scene early on with Houdini's mother is especially cutesy and embarassing ("eat your porridge, Harry," etc.) and in general the characters speak like they are in a novel for young adults. Houdini is played up as a buffoon, but the humor at his expense is rather predictable and ham-fisted. The character of Houdini's wife, Bess, is a stereotypical "great woman behind every great man" kind of character, with no real individuality as a creation.

Overall grade: B-. This guy shows promise, and since Carr's not around anymore, it's nice to know somebody's writing this kind of book. Stashower's best work is probably ahead of him, but this is a diverting read for an hour before bed time.

[Barry Ergang]

I admit, Brian, that The Floating Lady Murder isn't in the Carr/Talbot/Rawson league, but it's still nice to know that there are writers out there who still want to mine the impossible crime story.

The point you make in the spoiler is valid, and I think it sent up a flag for me, too, when I first came upon it, but I'd forgotten about it until you brought it up.

I agree with you that the dialogue is stilted and the characterizations are hardly "in-depth," but nevertheless find an old-fashioned charm to the story and the manner in which it's written. Additionally, as mentioned in my original review, I enjoy the fact that Houdini, despite his own overweening self-image, is not the infallible genius you expect the star of this kind of story to be, that Dash instead is the voice of reason and reasoning.

As for Carr's logical successor, that guy is Paul Halter. Unless you read French, however--and I, alas, do not--you're out of luck because so far none of his novels have appeared here in translation. One of his short stories appeared in EQMM last summer, and another is scheduled, I believe, for the March 2005 issue.

If you haven't already seen it, have a look at my review of The Houdini Specter, the third novel in this series and the first one I read, elsewhere on this site.