John T McIntyre

Allan Morris gets implicated in the murder of his tormentor Hume and Ashton-Kirk must investigate the matter and find the real murderer. Detective Ashton-Kirk is a charismatic detective who solves crime for fun and has partners in Pendleton and Fulton. Just like his famous predecessor Sherlock Holmes, Ashton-Kirk is a consulting sleuth with knowledge of diverse and eclectic fields.

It is always a task of much difficulty to select an experience of Ashton-Kirk's from among the many which have been set down in the records under his name. A maze of episodes in these records attracts the mind, and one finds there a train of singular adventures, any one of which would make a book. The experiences which go to make up the volume "Ashton-Kirk, Investigator" were chosen because they dealt with a rather arabesque murder, the hidden features of which were brought to light in an extraordinary way. In "Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent," the elements seemed uniquely mixed, and shed an unusual light upon the windings of European diplomacy. In the third volume, "Ashton-Kirk, Special Detective," the note of horror was rung shrilly, and the confident talents of this extraordinary young man were brought smartly into play. It may be that the appearance in this history of the detective's big, good-natured, strong-handed friend, Bat Scanlon, had something to do with its finding a place in this series. In the present book this engaging personality has again a part in the drama. But aside from this influence, the episode makes a powerful appeal; the brilliancy of the criminologist's work in the case treated here would surely have compelled a place for it in any list of his experiences.

Ashton-Kirk, who has solved so many mysteries, is himself something of a problem even to those who know him best. Although young, wealthy, and of high social position, he is nevertheless an indefatigable worker in his chosen field. He smiles when men call him a detective. "No; only an investigator," he says. He has never courted notoriety; indeed, his life has been more or less secluded. However, let a man do remarkable work in any line and, as Emerson has observed, "the world will make a beaten path to his door." Those who have found their way to Ashton-Kirk's door have been of many races and interests. Men of science have often been surprised to find him in touch with the latest discoveries, scholars searching among strange tongues and dialects, and others deep in tattered scrolls, ancient tablets and forgotten books have been his frequent visitors. But among them come many who seek his help in solving problems in crime. "I'm more curious than some other fellows, that's all," is the way he accounts for himself. "If a puzzle is put in front of me I can't rest till I know the answer." At any rate his natural bent has always been to make plain the mysterious; each well hidden step in the perpetration of a crime has always been for him an exciting lure; and to follow a thread, snarled by circumstances or by another intelligence has been, he admits, his chief delight. There are many strange things to be written of this remarkable man-but this, the case of the numismatist Hume, has been selected as the first because it is one of the simplest, and yet clearly illustrates Ashton-Kirk's peculiar talents. It will also throw some light on the question, often asked, as to how his cases come to him. A second volume that shows the investigator deep in another mystery, even more intricate and puzzling than this, is entitled "Ashton-Kirk and the Scarlet Scapular."

Duddington Pell Chalmers is a young man of taste, class, and girth. As trustee for a local art museum, he is called in by police when the troublesome curator is murdered and soon finds himself at odds with the official enquiry. There is no shortage of suspects among local artists, art dealers, and collectors, while motives become muddled when it is discovered that murder was not the only crime. Chalmers knows that time is of the essence, or the police will arrest his artist friend, bringing ruin to a bright career, but can he follow the clues to unmask the murderer? John T. McIntyre (1871-1951) was better known for his early works starring detective Ashton-Kirk and later mysteries featuring Philadelphia private investigator Jerry Mooney (the latter published under the pseudonym Kerry O'Neil). The Museum Murder was first published in 1929.Additional mysteries available from CoachwhipBooks.com.