2019/101: One by One They Disappeared -- Moray Dalton

“The Prince of Darkness was a gentleman.”
“Oh, these foreign noblemen are often wrong ’uns,” said Collier, who had not quite caught the title. [loc. 1379]

I can't give an objective review of this novel, because I found one aspect of it desperately upsetting.

Mr Pakenham is a genial, elderly American millionaire, who makes an annual pilgrimage -- accompanied by his cat Jehosaphat -- to a London hotel, where he hosts a dinner for a small group of wartime friends. Pakenham, and Jehosaphat, survived the torpedoing of the Coptic in the First World War: he credits his fellow survivors with saving his life, and has made them all beneficiaries of his will. But on this occasion, only two of the men turn up: several of them have died recently.

Inspector Collier of Scotland Yard, having encountered Pakenham by chance, is intrigued and touched by his story -- and suspicious of the sudden deaths. He begins to investigate, and encounters the highly suspicious Mr Freyne, the charming Mr Stark, and Mr Stark's ward Corinna, who is Hapless.

I bought this book because a friend recommended it, and added 'excellent cat'. The cat is indeed excellent.

Spoilers in white text
After Pakenham and Jehosaphat were parted by plot, I sentimentally looked forward to their reunion. Jehosaphat was instrumental in unmasking and foiling the villain, and played a key role in the resolution.

And then, almost as an aside, we discover Jehosaphat's fate. Pakenham tells Collier: "I want to thank you for letting me have my poor cat’s body. Maybe they did the right thing when they shot him, but it’ll be a long time before I get over it. Jehosh and I were never parted until the time came for us to part forever." [loc 2364]

Maybe this is a period-typical attitude to animals: the novel was published in 1929. But killing a cat, presumably because he scratched the villain and indirectly caused said villain's death? I was in tears, and am still upset about it: part of this is that it triggered some bad memories, but part is just the sheer unnecessary nastiness of it.

And now I can't really remember much of the detail of the book, though it was well-written. I think I found the identity of the villain somewhat predictable, and Corinna not as hapless as initially feared. But ... no.