''Rocket to the Morgue'' is a 1942 American locked room

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

novel by

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

(originally published as by " H. H. Holmes", Boucher's frequent pseudonym when writing mysteries or writing about mysteries, and the pseudonym of a 19th-century American

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Plot

Now-dead author Fowler Foulkes and his literary creation "Dr. Derringer" occupy a major position in science fiction: the character has entered popular culture, and is known around the world. The author's son and heir Hilary Foulkes takes a fiercely protective, even predatory, view of the value of this heritage. Hilary has made many enemies due to his inflexibility and greed. His niece Jenny lives in the Foulkes house and works as Hilary's private secretary. Jenny is devoted to Hilary; but her fiancé, Hilary's brother-in-law D. Vance Wimpole (a science fiction writer), wants money (to pay off blackmailers); and he's recently had unpleasant encounters with two other local science fiction authors, Matt Duncan and Joe Henderson. After two suspicious "accidents," Hilary suspects that his life is in danger, and asks for police help. Police Detective Inspector Terry Marshall arrives at the house just as a ticking "box of chocolates" is delivered. The novel features two investigators from Boucher/Holmes' earlier

locked room mystery The "locked-room" or "impossible crime" mystery is a type of crime seen in crime and detective fiction. The crime in question, typically murder ("locked-room murder"), is committed in circumstances under which it appeared impossible for the perpet ...

'' Nine Times Nine'': Sister Ursula of the

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

of the fictitious "Sisters of

Martha of Bethany Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to J ...

," and police detective Terence "Terry" Marshall.

Reception

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for mos ...

considers ''Rocket'' to be "weaker" than its predecessor ''Nine Times Nine'', and observes that it has a "properly science-fictional though strictly prosaic murder by rocket".On Anthony Boucher
originally published in 1995; archived online originally at http://ansible.co.uk/writing/boucher.html, no later than September 21, 2004 (earliest version on archive.org); retrieved May 7, 2017 In 2017, James Nicoll noted that, unlike of much of Boucher's work, ''Rocket to the Morgue'' was not out of print; he attributed this to "catering to SF fans’ egos." Nicoll also noted that Boucher's afterword "is coy about which particular notoriously litigious estates inspired" Hilary's character; but hypothesized that the character was inspired by the estates of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Arthur Conan Doyle. The

Heinlein Society The Heinlein Society is a United States organization devoted to the study and promotion of the late American science fiction author Robert Heinlein. The Heinlein Society was founded in 1997 with the assistance of Robert Heinlein's widow, Virgini ...

felt that "(a)s a mystery novel, (it) falls a bit short," and it has "too many characters," but conceded that it is "an intriguing look into the beginnings of science fiction as we know it today"; they also noted that Heinlein's " ...And He Built a Crooked House" was published at approximately the same time as when Boucher was writing the chapter in which characters discuss four-dimensional space.Robert Heinlein: Murder Suspect
by Deb Houdek Rule and G.E. Rule, at the

; originally published in ''The Galactic Citizen'', Issue 12, Spring 1996; posted March 2004; retrieved May 7, 2017

Portrayal of science fiction culture in the Golden Age

Boucher was the friend and mentor of many

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

writers of that era, and a member of the Mañana Literary Society. The dedication to the first edition reads, "For The Mañana Literary Society and in particular for Robert Heinlein and Cleve Cartmill." ''Rocket to the Morgue'' is something of a ''

roman à clef ''Roman à clef'' (, anglicised as ), French for ''novel with a key'', is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship be ...

'' about the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

scene of the time. Many characters are thinly-veiled versions of personalities such as

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

("Austin Carter"),Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction
by

Jack Williamson John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term '' gen ...

, 2005 edition (first published 1984)

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...

("D. Vance Wimpole"), then- literary agent

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various ...

("M. Halstead Phynn")Re: Rocket to the Morgue (some spoilers)
by Dorothy J. Heydt; on rec.arts.sf.written; published July 15, 2006; retrieved from Google Groups June 19, 2017 and

rocket scientist Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

/fan Jack Parsons ("Hugo Chantrelle");Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons
by John Carter, published 1999 by Feral House or recognizable composites of two writers ("Matt Duncan" –

Cleve Cartmill Cleve Cartmill (June 21, 1908 in Platteville, Wisconsin – February 11, 1964 in Orange County, California) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy short stories. He is best remembered for what is sometimes referred to as "the Cle ...

and Henry Kuttner; "Joe Henderson" –

and

Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...

). Some writers' actual pseudonyms appear as minor characters, most prominently "Don Stuart, editor of ''Surprising''" (

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

, editor of '' Astounding Science Fiction''); but also "Anson Macdonald" and "Lyle Monroe" (both Heinlein pseudonyms), and Boucher himself (under his real name of William Anthony Parker White). The

science fiction culture Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

is portrayed in a familiar manner, complete with references to Denvention, the 1941 World Science Fiction Convention in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and the appearance of a quintessential

science fiction fan Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

, one Arthur Waring, member of a science fiction society and publisher of a

science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" wa ...

, whose sophisticated language and scientific knowledge displayed in a fan letter have impressed Detective Marshall, but who when interviewed turns out to be a pre-adolescent: " infant with pink and downy cheeks".

Publication history

The first edition was published in 1942 (as by "H. H. Holmes") by

Duell, Sloan and Pearce Duell, Sloan and Pearce was a publishing company located in New York City. It was founded in 1939 by C. Halliwell Duell, Samuel Sloan and Charles A. Pearce. It initially published general fiction and non-fiction, but not westerns, light romances ...

. The first paperback edition in 1943 was the first and only book published under the imprint "A Phantom Mystery"."Rocket to the Morgue"
/ref> It has been repeatedly reprinted (after 1944, as by Anthony Boucher), beginning with a 1952 Dell edition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocket To The Morgue 1942 American novels American mystery novels Science fiction culture Works published under a pseudonym Locked-room mysteries Works by Anthony Boucher