Murder in the Family

Vol II Stories of Crime and Detection contains one novel, a novelette and a short story:Murder in the Family  Stephen Osborne has just lost his job, not a good one and not one he particularly enjoyed. But at 50-some years of age in the Depression era and with no savings, he doesn’t know how he’s going to provide for his large family except by asking his sister, a wealthy woman, to help him financially. Unfortunately, Octavia Osborne is a most unpleasant person. During her annual visit to Stephen’s home, she not only refuses to help but tells the family that she is writing all of them out of her will. Bad timing on her part, for while she is sitting in a room with her niece, who is engrossed in a book, someone comes in and chokes her, causing death by heart failure.  This novel was made into a 1938 British crime film starring Barry Jones and Jessica Tandy.The Monocled Man (also known as The Gentleman Crook)   Chicago gangster Pete Carponi and his associates, ‘Shorty’, ‘Squiffy’ and the alluring ‘Cincinnati Sadie’, are transported to London in pursuit of ‘The Dude’ and a stolen diamondThe Second Bottle.  A tense and suspenseful short story that takes place in a diner in the US during a cold hard winter.