The Only Good Secretary

Jean Potts specialized in cozy mysteries that quietly rivaled the best of Margaret Millar and Charlotte Armstrong. Her literary catalog, spanning 1954-1975, featured fourteen novels; the most celebrated being her debut, Go, Lovely Rose, which earned a 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Stark House Press are all in on Potts, rightfully so, and have published seven twofers collecting her mysteries. At the time of this writing, the publishers has just unveiled Jean Potts: The Complete Short Stories. I've been a little behind on my Stark House reading, so I took a road trip opportunity to devour the workplace mystery, The Only Good Secretary, which was first published as a paperback in 1965 by Ace (G-608). It exists in both physical and digital editions as a combined SHP collection with The Man with the Cane (1957)

The Only Good Secretary reads as if Agatha Christie has invaded Mad Men. It's a tight, expertly woven mystery centered around an employee, Fern, who is found with a fatal scissor wound in a business office. The unnamed detective is brought in on the case, but quickly is disposed of in a quest to present an amateur sleuth duo – in this case a combination of Louise, the office secretary, and High Dudgeon, the office owner/operator.

Potts has a unique way of presenting her stories conversationally. You won't find the author describing a room, or spending much time on trivial character activities. Instead, Potts uses her pagecount wisely by allowing the characters to tell the complete story. Its all fair play for the reader, as these characters possess no information that would reveal the identity of the murderer. Instead, the conversations – and there are a lot – ebbs and flows as suspects are revealed, red herrings are dismissed, and the elimination of motives increases. The reader doesn't need to commit any guesswork, although that part of the reading experience is very rewarding. 

Another interesting aspect to Potts' writing style is the way she turns characters against each other. This formula worked exceptionally well in The Evil Wish (1962), pitting two thirty-something sisters against each other in suffocating living quarters. In this novel, Potts uses a young college student and a teacher, with each of them throwing the other under the proverbial bus. It is this consistent shifting in their testimony and actions that keeps Louise and High digging into the changeable narrative. There is a killer – but the Devil's in the details. 

If you enjoy the tight whodunits of the mid 20th century, then The Only Good Secretary should be your next read. Get the book HERE.