The Red Right Hand

Starred review from May 11, 2020
Surgeon Henry Riddle, the narrator of this virtuoso mix of terror and fair play from Rogers (1896–1984), is driving home to New York City when he stops on a desolate backroad outside Danbury, Conn., to assist a terrified young woman, Elinor Darrie, who tells him a horrible story. She and her fiancé, Inis St. Erme, were driving to Vermont to get married when St. Erme decided to pick up a hitchhiker. After they stopped at Dead Bridegroom’s Pond for a picnic, the stranger attacked St. Erme, and Darrie fled. Darrie is unaware that her fiancé is dead and missing his right hand. Riddle later considers what he believes are the key questions in the case: how the killer managed to vanish, and what became of St. Erme’s missing hand. Seemingly trivial details prove to be significant clues, and readers will marvel at Rogers’s ingenuity at planting them in the midst of his frantically paced plot. First published in 1945, this entry in the American Mystery Classics series deserves its reputation as one of the best mysteries of all time.

Starred review from July 1, 2020
Rogers wrote prolifically in the mid-twentieth century, mostly pulp fiction and a handful of mainstream novels. His work is mainly out of print, but, happily, this outstanding thriller, thoroughly gripping from first page to last, has now been reissued in the American Mystery Classics series. Inis St. Erme and his fianc�e, Elinor, are traveling to Vermont to marry when they stop to pick up a hitchhiker. Shortly afterward, Inis is murdered, and Elinor, terrified and bloodied, flags down Dr. Harry Riddle, who is driving by. Once he hears Elinor's macabre tale, Riddle takes her to the nearby home of Dr. Adam MacComerou, whom Riddle had just visited. As soon as MacComerou hears Elinor's story, he calls the police, who immediately launch a search for the killer. As the story follows the trail of clues and insinuations that Rogers so skilfully lays out, readers will be tempted to jump to conclusions; but, just when they think they have it figured out, along comes another baffling turn. When the full story is finally revealed in this disturbing nightmare of a whodunnit, it will well leave readers reeling. A must-read masterpiece, thankfully resurrected.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)