Exit In Green
Brett, Martin. Exit in Green. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1953, pp. 256.
Completed: 21 January 2012.
William Marshall, a writer, heads to the small Quebec village of St. Genebald to recover from a breakdown brought on by overwork. While at St. Genebald he plans to complete his convalescence and to do some light work by interviewing Leonora Kirsten, a well known celebrity of the stage, for a magazine article. But all is not well in St. Genebald. The day after speaking with Leonora Kirsten she is found dead at the base of Bald Rock, a site that has seen the death of a couple of other women.
Marshall is the only one who believes that Leonora’s death was not an accident or suicide. As others come to share his view, it is Marshall who comes to be viewed with suspicion. Still recovering from a nervous breakdown, Marshall’s behaviour is not always coherent or consistent.
Martin Brett is the pseudonym of Douglas Sanderson. As Brett he had 9 novels published. Exit in Green was Sanderson’s second novel, the first published as Martin Brett. Exit in Green is a nice serviceable mystery. It keeps the reader guessing and the story moves right along at a nice pace. Here Brett is just starting out. It is not until his next novel, Hot Freeze, that Brett hits his stride. It is full of memorable characters and the story races along. It is in Hot Freeze that Mike Garfin, PI is introduced. Garfin appeared in 3 of Brett’s novels.
“She just sat and looked ravishing, while I began to fall in love with her.” — William Marshall —
Wollamshram's Blog 
Wonderful to learn something about Exit in Green. I’ve been putting off reading the novel, waiting for a copy in decent dust jacket to show up for sale online. Only crummy ex-library copies I’m afraid. A couple of small queries, if you don’t mind:
1) Is writer William Marshall based in Montreal? If so, do we catch a glimpse of the city?
2) Do we get a sense of where tiny St. Genebald is located?
Okay, that was really three questions. My thanks.
I think that I snagged the last decent copy on the net a few of months back.
1) William Marshall is an American character, based in New York. The only mention of Montreal is when it is pointed out that the hotel owner, Barrette, has two sons working in Montreal. Barrette apparently also has 11 additional sons and 4 daughters. Pity the poor wife.
2) The only location information about tiny St. Genebald (population 532) is that it was “up in Quebec, in Canada.” There is a lake and some wilderness but that doesn’t exactly narrow the search. The town does possess a Sergeant Rivard of the Provincial Police.
My thanks for this, wollamshram. I’m sure I’ll be picking up a copy at some point. Maybe I’ll have more luck with the UK edition, Murder Came Tumbling. Crummy title, but great cover.
I’ve not read anything by Martin Brett (and actually hadn’t heard of him before joining the blogging world). My TBR list is getting longer….
This is also a new writer for me – thanks very much for the introduction!