For reasons beyond finding Puzzle for Fools (1936) merely okay, I’ve never quite been able to summon much enthusiasm for investigating the work of Jonathan Stagge/Patrick Quentin/Q. Patrick/etc. Maybe it’s all the pseudonyms, maybe it’s the fact that the names seem to hide an army of collaborators, maybe it’s their general unavailability…maybe it’s a combination of all of that. But The Scarlet Circle (1943) came recommended by someone (apologies, I get a lot of book recommendations) and, being newly minted in the American Mystery Classics range, there was no reason not to check it out. And, having read it, I’m still unenthusiastic about these guys, just now with more evidence.