Room to Die In, A-Jack Vance mystery novel, book review

Room to Die In, A-Jack Vance mystery novel

AKA: Death of a Solitary Chess Player (Author’s preferred title)

A Room to Die In is a 167 page mystery novel that was first published in 1965 by Pocket Books.  It is also known under the title Death of a Solitary Chess Player.  The author, Ellery Queen, is actually the famous science fiction writer Jack Vance. The story has a unique, complex and unpredictable plot and should please Vance fans or those interested in well written, intriguing murder mysteries.  The novel was later released in 2006 as a supplement to the Vance Integral Edition under the title “Death of a Solitary Chess Player.” That VIE book was published as a leather bound very limited release collector’s item.  All releases except the VIE were heavily edited.  The VIE edition is the only one approved by Vance but it is very rare and expensive so most readers will need to purchase one of the used editions or borrow a library copy.  (My out of print 1975 Signet edition has larger print than most mass market paperbacks.)

Unusual for Vance, we have a stand alone main character who is a woman. Ann Nelson lives alone in San Francisco where she teaches second graders.  Her parents, who were never married, separated and abandoned Ann to be raised by her grandmother when she was only two.  Ann does not really like her father and tries to avoid her hypochondriac, emotionally unstable and self-absorbed mother who lives in Southern California.  Although she has not seen her for three years, Ann's mother, Elaine, suddenly appears at her apartment, informing her that Ann's father just inherited a large sum of money.  Elaine wants the father's address because he "has come into money, and I want what he owes me--which is great."  Ann provides her with this address and Elaine abruptly leaves.

Ann does not hear back from her mother but does receive a visit from the police several months later informing her that her father has died. Her father, a reclusive, difficult, irresponsible, self centered, sculptor and  chess player, recently married a wealthy woman who subsequently died in a car accident only six months after the marriage. Her father was found dead in a room that was tightly bolted and securely locked from the inside, so the police assume that he shot himself.  A partially burned note found in the fireplace appears to suggest that he was being blackmailed. Ann doesn't believe her father would ever commit suicide, but when she suggests murder to the police, it is pointed out that she appears to be the only person who would profit from her father's death because she will inherit his fortune.  After viewing the room her father died in, Ann does agree that it seems impossible for any killer to have left the room.  But then things begin to get complicated as Ann's mother can't be located and Ann begins to discover things that don't make sense.

The story is written with Vance's usual skill and portrays a number of interesting, lively characters such as a master chess player, a rather sleazy investigating officer, and a book dealer who wants to claim at least part of the inheritance for himself because he is a cousin to the deceased wife.  But the main attraction of the novel is the clever, enigmatic plot that unfolds like a game of chess.  I found A Room to Die In to be enjoyable to read and quite intriguing. I’ve read it several times and rated it a 4 “Really liked it.”