Barbara Marsden was dazzling at the Wavering New Year Social and Dance, wearing a stunning yellow dress. But she never came home. Despite numerous searches, no trace was found of her.

A month later, Vera Ferris takes part in a local am dram performance, with a last-minute costume change. While Barbara is still missing, somehow her dress has reappeared – on Vera. And then Vera disappears as well.

Enter Anthony Bathurst and Inspector McMorran, who soon locate the naked bodies of the girls, who have been strangled. But what about the yellow dress caused them to be killed? Why did the killer steal a bowl of fat from the local butcher on the night of each murder? And how does it link to a dancing bear?

Reprint Of The Year time and I was going to do another Honkaku title, namely The Clock House Murders, only for there to be a bit of confusion as to when it was published – when I found out it was 1991, that seemed a bit too recent. I’ll be honest, I was a bit iffy on Murder At The Black Cat Café being from 1973, which, to be fair, is fifty-two years ago…

So I had a bit of a think and I realised that there was plenty of reasons why this particular Brian Flynn title needed a bit more recognition.

First off, the role of Helen Repton. Helen works for Scotland Yard and is one of the earliest representations of a female police officer – a realistic one, at least – in crime fiction. This isn’t her first appearance, but it’s a story where she plays a major role, namely wearing the yellow dress to bait the killer, as well as helping with the investigation.

Secondly, the nature of the investigation, namely the search for a serial killer. It’s not the full-on national panic of the serial killer that show up in the later book The Seventh Sign, but we are looking at a killer who is killing for no clear reason. Bathurst suggests at one point that the killer might be hiding one death with a motive in a sea of victims – which is exactly what happened in a previous title – but here, the killer is killing for no rationale motive.

So, as ever, Vote Flynn! Men For Pieces, nominated by Aidan at Mysteries Ahoy! may be a better classic mystery, but this is a tense, dark tale and breaks new ground in the genre with the character of Repton.

Sorry this is a day early, but tomorrow’s my fifteenth blogiversary and I’ve plans for a post that day. Be sure to check out Cross Examining Crime in a day or two for the full list of nominations.