The Bank Vault Mystery

Book excerpt: The Bank Vault Mystery, first published in 1933, is a Crime Fiction set in New York’s financial district involving the theft of a large amount of money and several murders. Following a repair visit by three engineers to fix the vault of a large bank, it is soon discovered that a bag containing $180,000 in cash has disappeared. Private detective Maxwell Fenner and NYPD Detective Inspector Bryce are called in to identify motives, suspects and to eventually solve the case. From the dustjacket: On the morning of the thirty-first three engineers accompanied by the manager visited the vault of the Consolidated Bank. Shortly after they left, it was discovered that a bag containing $180,000 in cash had disappeared. And so commenced the famous bank vault case in which Maxwell Fenner, the casual, dapper detective, made a list of six suspects and in tracking them through a maze of motives and two murders found a criminal genius. The Bank Vault Mystery is remarkable for the originality and logic of its complex plot. The setting, too, in and about Wall Street, Fulton Street, and the financial district is full of local color. Its finished, careful style makes it particularly enjoyable whether you read many or few detective stories.