The Unknown Seven

On a wet October night in Bleecker Street, Kingdon Cole watches a professor’s lighted window from a dark doorway. A woman in a limousine interrupts his vigil and addresses him by name. She knows about his work, his habits and the disappearance he is investigating. Her unexpected knowledge turns a patient watch into a conversation in which every offered detail may have a purpose.

Herman Landon’s detective story centres on Cole, a student of criminology who takes cases for their intellectual interest. Professor Carmody’s secluded life and reputed laboratory draw his attention as he looks into Malcolm Reeves’s disappearance. Later exchanges bring concealed access, a duplicate key and suspicions of betrayal into the investigation. Set in New York and catalogued under secret societies, the novel builds its puzzle through guarded conversations and practical questions about how an intruder could enter a protected room. Cole’s dry humour adds a lighter note to the uncertainty.