Death Sends a Cable: Margaret Tayler Yates

This is a mystery novel published in 1938, set on the Naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba. The main character is Anne Davenport McLean, better known as "Davvie", an ex-Navy nurse now married to a Navy Doctor, Hugh McLean. As the story opens, a young officer has committed suicide; his wife denies that he would do this and enlists Davvie to convince the authorities to investigate. No immediate evidence is found, his death is declared a suicide, and his wife returns to the states. However, she is soon able to convince the higher ups in the military to pursue the investigation.

First I have to make it clear that I loved this book. I think what won me over were the main characters: Davvie; her husband, Hugh; Babs van Born (the niece of another officer); and an undercover FBI agent. But especially Davvie, who tells the story. I enjoyed this look at the U.S. military before World War II has begun. The focus is on the Navy officers, their wives, and the community. I found the interactions in the base housing community to be very realistic. (In the early 70s I was an Air Force officer's wife and lived on base. That was thirty years later, but not much different, I assure you.) Margaret Tayler Yates was married to Navy Commander R. R. Yates and thus had experience as a Navy officer's wife.

Like many mysteries of that time, the story was very complex with a surplus of characters that I had a hard time keeping up with. Yet in the end it all came together. Davvie gets involved in the investigation of the earlier deaths, working with the undercover FBI agent on base to determine what is going on, which sounds strange but actually works within the context of this story. She is resourceful, determined, and not shy at all.

The story is part mystery, part adventure/thriller, with some espionage thrown in. I was at least as interested in the military community and the interactions with the employees of the All America Cable Company than the mystery itself, but I liked that part too. My only complaint was that the villains were a little too obvious, but the emphasis was on figuring out what was behind the murders.  At least that was my focus while reading.

I would love to read more of the series. This is the second book of four, and I am especially interested in the two later stories. Copies are not easy to find, and especially not at a desirable price. Nevertheless, I have ordered the last book in the series, Murder by the Yard.

John Norris introduced me to this book at his blog, Pretty Sinister Books, and kindly offered to send me his copy to read, and I am very grateful  for that. Please see John's review, which is more detailed than mine and full of interesting information.

The Spy Guys and Gals site has a page for Davvie McLean.


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Publisher: Macmillan, 1938
Length:    276 pages
Format:    Hardback
Series:     "Davvie" McLean 
Setting:    Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Genre:     Mystery
Source:    This was a gift.

Reading Summary for April 2019

In April, all my reading was related to the crime fiction genre. One non-fiction book about Scandinavian crime fiction. Of the fiction books, four were published between 1985 and 2002, so nothing very recent. One book published before 1900, and two books published in the 1930's.

Mystery reference

Death in a Cold Climate: A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction (2012)
by Barry Forshaw

The book covers the authors thoughts about crime fiction authors whose books have been translated to English from these countries: Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland. Sweden gets the most coverage and I suppose that reflects that more Swedish authors have been translated. Most of the coverage is for current authors, although earlier translated works by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö are discussed. No way to give a good overview of this in one paragraph. I will read any book on mystery reference, and I learned a lot from this one.

Crime Fiction

The Shortest Way to Hades (1985) by Sarah Caudwell

The Hilary Tamar series centers around a group of young barristers who often seek Hilary's help when they run into trouble. This is book 2 in the series. See my review here.

Tarnished Icons (1997) by Stuart Kaminsky

This is the eleventh novel in Stuart Kaminsky's Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov series, set in Russia in the late 1990's. The prolific Kaminsky is one of my favorite authors. See my review here.

Save the Last Dance for Me (2002) by Ed Gorman

This entertaining and nostalgic book takes us back to the summer of 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were running for President. It is the fourth of ten books starring Sam McCain, a young and not very successful lawyer in Black River Falls, Iowa. In need of money, he often works as an investigator for District Judge Esme Anne Whitney, who is rich and influential in their community. As the book begins, McCain is attending a religious service with the local newspaper reporter, Kiley Burke. Unforturnately, the Reverend John Muldaur is poisoned and dies during the service. Judge Whitney wants the crime solved quickly because Nixon will be visiting the town and she will be hosting an event in his honor. 

Free Reign (1997) by Rosemary Aubert

Set in Canada. The unusual protagonist of this story is a homeless man who was once a judge, high in Toronto society. At the point that the book begins, Ellis Portal is about 50 years old and has been homeless for five years, living in a homemade shelter in a ravine in Toronto. See my review here.

The Woman in White (1859) by Wilkie Collins

I had resisted reading this book for years. Even though it a well-known crime fiction classic, I did not think I would enjoy the old-fashioned story (how wrong I was!). Even then I might have tried it if it had not been so long (600-700 pages).  Finally I overcame my prejudice when Judith at Reading in the Wilderness blogged about how much she enjoyed it.

This book is one of the first sensation novels.  It tells the story of a young woman who marries unwisely and the man who loves her and tries to rescue her from the clutches of an evil. It has multiple narrators, which I really like. William Hartright, a young drawing teacher, starts out the story and is one of the major players, but at times he is only on the fringes of the story.

Death Sends a Cable (1938) by Margaret Tayler Yates

Anne Davenport McLean, better known as "Davvie", is a Navy officer's wife who is living in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Her husband is a doctor; she is an ex-Navy nurse. Recently a young officer on the base has committed suicide; both his wife and Davvie insist that the death was not suicide. Eventually his death is investigated and that leads to other crimes and discoveries. This was the second book by Margaret Taylor Yates in a four book series featuring Davvie as the sleuth. John Norris introduced me to this book at his blog, Pretty Sinister Books, and kindly offered to send me his copy to read. I enjoyed the book, both the mystery and the picture of life in the Navy in this time period. A post with more of my thoughts on the book will follow soon.

Cards on the Table (1936) by Agatha Christie

This is another Christie novel with a different approach. A strange and somewhat disconcerting man, Mr. Shaitana, has invited Hercule Poirot to dinner. When he arrives, he learns that three other sleuths have been invited: Colonel Race, Superintendent Battle and Ariadne Oliver. (Mrs. Oliver is actually a mystery writer, but in this case she tries her hand at detecting.)  After dinner, two foursomes play bridge. At one table are the sleuths, the remaining four guests play at the other table. During the bridge game, some one dies. This was the first appearance of Mrs. Oliver and I enjoyed meeting her. I always love it when Colonel Race shows up. So this was a fun read for me.