Rocket to the Morgue, by Anthony Boucher; originally published 1942, rereleased 2019; 224 pages.

A competent “locked-room” mystery with solid and believable characters – albeit couched in the rather stilted and archaic language of the period. Interesting as a mystery, but more interesting to me as a snapshot of science fiction in the period of its infancy immediately prior to WWII.

Without giving anything away, the central mystery of the story is solid. Enough red herrings to make the ending believable, but not so outrageously red-herring-laden as to make the ending a farce. No deus ex machina here!
The characters and language they use are all period accurate. Not surprising, given that it was written in that era – but it does lead to a few uncomfortable moments here and there for those of us who read the story in the modern era, through the lens of modern sensibilities.
The “locked-room” mystery is an old chestnut, more or less thoroughly debunked, disregarded, and derided even when this story was written, way back in 1941. To a modern reader, it still reads as something…somewhat tired. Trite. Old-fashioned at best, and more or less silly at worst. The characters are obviously and rightfully perplexed, while the reader sits back in jaded luxury and says, “Just get on with it already!” We, the readers, know that the mystery will be solved by some neat little trick, so stop being all clever, Mr. Author, and let us in on the trick already!
So it’s not the mystery that compels the modern reader.
What I found compelling was the snapshot of that particular and peculiar moment in time and space that was the West Coast in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor, intersecting with the nascent world of Science Fiction. I have read reasonably deeply of what is now termed Space Opera and pulp fiction…the ancient antecedents of modern science fiction. And this story, its characters and its world-building, accord perfectly with everything that I know of that world. The milieu in which the characters move is, if not intimately then intellectually, well-known to me. However fictional, this story gives that world a life and vibrancy which intellectual study cannot. Of course, despite the author’s protestations, the characters in the story are based in some way or other upon real people of the period – he even inserts himself however tangentially into the story!
In the end, this is a book that should rightfully appeal most strongly to readers who appreciate either the history of Mystery or Science Fiction – or those scholars of literature who find the intersection of history and genre intriguing. Or to folks who are simply deeply curious about…well, everything. And who can accept somewhat archaic modes of speech and social interaction, ha ha.
And if this sort of thing appeals to you, I would encourage you to read the works of Paul Malmount, Matthew Pearl, and Dan Simmons – modern writers engaging in some very well-crafted meta-fiction of the same sort, but in a significantly more modern style.