The Townsend Murder Mystery

New York: D. Appleton-Century Company. Very Good- in Very Good dj. 1933. First Edition. Hardcover. [a good sound copy, some shelfwear to lower extremities (exposure of boards in a couple of places), small previous seller's (British) price stamped on front pastedown and front jacket flap, one-time owner's initials plus date & place of purchase in ink along edge of rear pastedown (concealed beneath rear jacket flap); the attractive jacket is a bit nicer than the book itself, with just some minor shallow chipping along the top edge and a small pull-tear in the spine panel]. Described as "the first full-length mystery novel ever written directly for radio," it in fact isn't a novel at all, but the full script of the radio serial, originally broadcast from February to May of 1933. The author, in his Foreword, briefly discusses how the show was rehearsed and staged, and how it subsequently came to be published in this format. Although not explictly stated, the fact that the narrative/script is in 39 segments (each about 6-7 pages in length) implies that this matched the as-broadcast format, which comprised 15-minute episodes. A note preceding the Foreword explains that the program originated from WJZ radio in New York, commencing on February 14, 1933, with "new episodes [thereafter] broadcast thrice weekly from the same station over the network of the National Broadcasting Company." The format may have been novel, but the author's protagonist, detective Jim Hanvey, was already well-known to his readers, having been featured in numerous short stories and three previous novels. Hanvey, who's been described as an "extremely soft-hearted and amiable detective," was played in this radio serial by actor Thurston Hall, heading "a big cast of Broadway stars," per a contemporary ad -- although the only other cast member whose name I've been able to uncover is Elaine (who?) Temple. A Montreal newspaper item mentioned that "Cohen's celebrated Negro humor will be well represented by two Negro characters who will have a prominent part in the mystery. Two well-known personalities from the Negro theatre will be heard in these roles." Although not mentioned by name in this particular article, those actors were Frank H. Wilson (who had been the original "Porgy" on Broadway in 1927) and Ernest Whitman (who had a prominent role in the 1930 play "The Last Mile"). Their characters were Jasper De Void ("chauffeur and man-of-all-work for Jim Hanvey; [a] loose-jointed, superstitious, loveable Negro character") and Quintus Jones ("the Townsend's butler, a phlegmatic Negro of 52"), although I haven't confirmed which actor played which role. .