Goodbye, Inspector." įortunately, he doesn't really have to die to flush out the villain of the piece.Ĭonsidering this was written in the 1970s-long past the Golden Age-this is a very good locked room (rooms, actually) story. It's absolutely essential to have one more murder. "Too late? Too late to prevent another killing?" "I've got to get back to the house before it's too late." Thackery is determined to get to the bottom of it and decides that one more murder is necessary.his own. And the story is full of impossibilities-from the doctor who disappears from a locked bathroom, to the pop star who levitates four stories above the ground and eight feet out from the townhouse, to the reverend who walks into a funeral home's chapel and disappears leaving only his raincoat behind. He sets out to find out what truth, if any, there is in the society's claims and winds up investigating murders.īut before he does sort it out, he has to deal with all kinds of supernatural paraphernalia: scarabs, Egyptian curses, Nostradamus, voices from the great beyond, spirit writing, etc. Members include a pop star recovering from drug addiction, a doctor who is seeking the truth about his son's death a few years ago, a scientist whose aim is to debunk the society's so-called powers, a misfit secretary to the society, and a reverend with more interest in spirits than most British religious figures. His attention is drawn to the Aetheric Mandala Society, a townhouse spiritual commune run by medium Viola Webb. Anything irrational considered.Īnd, having had few takers, he decides to investigate another sort of mystery-the occult, the arcane and mystical. On leave in London, this drop-out from a think tank, professional logician and amateur sleuth would like a challenge. Having recently put an ad in the paper peddling his talents to those in need:ĪMERICAN PHILOSOPHER seeks worry. Detectives always seize upon some insignificant detail when they're stuck.īlack Aura (1974) by John Sladek finds bookish amateur sleuth Thackery Phin up to his eyebrows in mysticism and impossibilities. E: But what can that possibly have to do-?
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