Private Eyes Archives

“The Thin Man”

classic mysteries, Dashiell Hammett, Funny Mysteries, mysteries, mystery, noir, Private Eyes, The Thin Man Comments Off

Jun 172013

"Let's stick around awhile. This excitement has put us behind in our drinking."

That assessment of the situation really isn't too surprising. It came from Nick Charles, former private detective, now married to Nora Charles and - we are told - managing her financial affairs in lieu of actually working. Both of the Charleses certainly seem to have no difficulty putting away their share of near-the-end-of-Prohibition liquor.

But, alas, the course of true drinking never did run smooth, as William Shakespeare probably would have said had he known Nick Charles. So when a young woman asks Nick to help look for her missing father - who may have murdered his lover - Nick is more-or-less forced into helping. I mean, everybody seems to think that he's involved...the daughter, her peculiar brother, the missing man's ex-wife, the lawyer, the cops, the gangsters...so what choice does he have?

Welcome to the world of Dashiell Hammett in The Thin Man, Hammett's last novel and one that, along with his other novels and short stories, helped to define the American hard-boiled mystery story for generations to come. The Thin Man is the subject of this week's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

the missing man is named Clyde Wynant, a scientist who may be working on something for the government. He also may have murdered his secretary, who is also his mistress. Despite his protests, Nick is drawn into the case, winds up getting himself wounded in a confrontation with a small-time gangster, more-or-less helps the police, and so forth. There are a number of murders, of course, before Nick comes up with the genuinely surprising solution. It's what you would expect from a top-of-the-line American Private Eye novel, and it is so well written, with so much genuinely funny dialogue and oddball situations, that it really set the standard for this kind of American detective fiction.

I have to agree with Raymond Chandler, generally regarded as Hammett's successor in shaping the American mystery story, who said of Hammett, "Hammett was the ace performer... He was spare, frugal, hard-boiled, but he did over and over again what only the best writers can ever do at all. He wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before."

The Thin Man was made into a movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. Though Hammett never wrote another book about Nick and Nora, the movie spawned a number of sequels. The movie dialogue and situations are generally light and very funny. A lot of the humor is present in the book as well, but the overall tone, I think, is darker, more noir-ish than the movies. If you haven't read The Thin Man yet, you're missing a real treat.

Here's another early mystery classic that qualifies for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge under way at the My Reader's Block blog. As others participating in the challenge had already reviewed The Thin Man, I am putting it in the category, "Somebody Else's Crime." If you aren't checking the challenge results, you're missing a potential treat - last time I looked, there are links from the challenge to nearly 200 reviews of classic, pre-1960 mysteries. I'll bet you'd find some there to enjoy!

Animation Noir – "The Mystery of You" by Spencer Day

film noir, Private Eyes, video Comments Off

Jun 062013

Spencer Day, an original young jazz vocalist, released a new album back in March. Here's the animated video that accompanies the title track "The Mystery of You." It's a film noir in miniature with a jazz vocal soundtrack.

I thought it was very appropriate for this blog. Check it out.

The video was created and directed by veteran animator Eric Deuel who is best known for his work on the two Kung Fu Panda movies. More about Deuel at his website here.

“The Final Deduction”

classic mysteries, mysteries, mystery, Nero Wolfe, Private Eyes, Rex Stout Comments Off

May 272013

The typewritten note certainly made the situation quite clear:

"We have got your Jimmy safe and sound. We haven't hurt him any and you can have him back all in one piece for $500,000 if you play it right and keep it strictly between you and us. We mean strictly. If you try any tricks you'll never see him again."

That note had been sent to Althea Vail, who was now sitting in the office of Nero Wolfe, asking him for help. Her husband, Jimmy Vail, had been kidnapped. She was willing to pay the half million dollar ransom...but she wanted Nero Wolfe to make sure Jimmy was returned alive and in one piece. And Wolfe, with the prospect of a very rich fee in front of him, agreed - even though it would mean some very fancy footwork to avoid getting the police involved.

And, of course, it all led to murder...and more than a little inconvenience for both Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin...in The Final Deduction , by Rex Stout. Originally published in 1961, The Final Deduction is the subject of this week's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

I suppose that a cynic might say that in The Final Deduction, Nero Wolfe was only in it for the money – although I’m not sure that isn’t true of most of his cases. Wolfe is lured into the case by the very large sum of money that Althea Vail was prepared to pay for the return of her husband. So when Jimmy Vail is released by his kidnappers and returns – alive – Wolfe is willing to agree to the victim’s plea that he say nothing about it for a couple of days. After all, the kidnapper had threatened Jimmy with death if he spoke out too soon. Only there are complications. For one thing, a couple of murders suddenly bring the police on the scene – police who know nothing about that kidnapping. And Wolfe and Goodwin are forced to flee the brownstone to avoid talking to the cops in order to keep their promise of silence. And, in the meantime, there’s also a lot of ransom money that has gone to someone. And Wolfe will be offered the chance to earn a significant portion of that money – if he can find it.

The Final Deduction is a relatively short mystery, and - perhaps as a result of that - it is quite tightly written. The kidnapping, its aftermath, and the murders in the book flow quickly and naturally. Fans of Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin and the rest of the regular recurring characters will find them in fine form here. I may be forgetting some other cases, but I don't believe Nero Wolfe handled very many kidnappings. He's in good form in The Final Deduction.

Femme – Bill Pronzini

Bill Pronzini, Gil Brewer, noir, paperback originals, Private Eyes Comments Off

Apr 132013

Femme (2012) is one of two Nameless Detective novellas recently published by Cemetery Dance, an independent press known primarily for horror novels. It's a throwback for Pronzini to the days of the Gold Medal paperback original. Nameless meets his match in a woman who might have been appeared in any of the number of dark crime and noir novels that were the specialty of Day Keene, Bruno Fischer, and especially Gil Brewer. Pronzini has mentioned in 1001 Midnights that The Vengeful Virgin is his favorite of Brewer's books and I can see that wicked Cory Beckett might easily have been inspired by Brewer's legion of bad women who'll do anything to get what they want.

The plot is a basic find-the-man plot with Nameless hired to track down Cory's brother Kenneth who is on the lam from a robbery. As the story progresses Nameless soon learns that Cory is far from the decorous client and loving sister. She has an ulterior motive for finding Kenneth and Nameless is sure it has to do with money. But Cory wants more than just money.

For those who like their woman characters in crime fiction mean and nasty you get more bang for your buck in Cory Beckett than any other bad girl in the genre. She outdoes Phyllis Dietrichson, Cora Papadopoulos and Julie Bailey and a dozen others whose names may not so recognizable. And the final twist disparaged by some other blog reviewers I thought to be the perfect icing on this frigid monster. This is no book for feminists that's for sure. But for a quick dip into the depths of the darkest of noir you can do no better.

This was my brief contribution to a blog celebration for Grand Master Bill Pronzini who turns 70 today. I'm on the road headed home from the French Quarter Jazz Festival in New Orleans. I promised something and this may be short and sweet, but it's a review of a neat little book that I think lives up to, and in some ways surpasses, the kind of noir novel I love from the past.

Happy birthday, Bill! And keep on scribin'!

“Three at Wolfe’s Door”

classic mysteries, mysteries, mystery, Nero Wolfe, Private Eyes, Rex Stout, Short Stories Comments Off

Apr 012013

Who's that knocking at my door?

Why it's three nasty little murder cases!

First, there's the problem of the gourmet who found that the arsenic sprinkled on his appetizer really didn't agree with him at all.

Then there was the female cab driver who pulled up outside the door...with a dead body in the back seat.

And finally, there was a party for some visiting rodeo stars where a visitor died rather suddenly when somebody decided to practice a fancy rope toss that wound up around the guest's neck.

We're talking about three interesting cases for Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin in "Three at Wolfe's Door," by Rex Stout. The 1960 collection of three novellas is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.

It's worth pointing out that none of these cases which landed at Wolfe's door made Nero Wolfe particularly happy - but he wound up having to solve all of them, for a variety of reasons. After all, that deadly gourmet dinner was prepared by his own personal chef, Fritz Brenner. That cab driver showed up just as Archie had walked off the job, so Wolfe really had to get involved as well. And that deadly little party for the rodeo stars took place in the apartment of Archie's close friend, Lily Rowan, who promptly hired Wolfe to find out who had abused her hospitality.

I would argue that many of Rex Stout's novella-length mysteries are better than many of his full-length books, and I think that's the case with these three novellas. Yes, there are some better ones in other collections, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable collection displaying the talents of Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin and Rex Stout quite nicely. It seems to be available both in paper and as an e-book, and you should add it to your To Be Read pile.

“The Fingerprint”

classic mysteries, Cozies, Miss Silver, mysteries, mystery, Private Eyes, Reading Challenges Comments Off

Mar 042013

The fingerprint was the highlight of Jonathan Field's collection. He loved to tell visitors about how he got the fingerprint after a wartime bomb blast left him trapped with one other man in a bombed-out building. The other man confessed that he had committed a murder and gotten away with it. And, without the man's knowing it, Jonathan had managed to get a fingerprint from him - though he never saw the man's face and had no idea whether he had even escaped from that ruined house. But, Jonathan said, he would recognize the man's voice again - if he ever heard it.

Did that fingerprint lead to Jonathan being shot to death in his country house more than a decade later?

That's the question at the heart of "The Fingerprint," by Patricia Wentworth, featuring one of my favorite Elderly-British-Lady detectives, Miss Maud Silver. "The Fingerprint" is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

If you don't know Miss Silver, you're really missing a treat. She is often compared to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - which is a little unfair to both of them. Miss Marple, after all, is an amateur sleuth. Miss Silver most decidedly is not. Miss Silver spent much of her life as a governess and school teacher. When she retired, she became a private investigator, and she has had a great many successes in tracking down dangerous criminals. Like Miss Marple, Miss Silver knits articles of clothing for the children of relatives and friends - and for much the same reason: nobody thinks twice about talking freely in the presence of an apparently harmless little old lady who is sitting nearby and knitting. That is a talent which certainly helps Miss Silver find her way to the truth in "The Fingerprint," for it is by no means a sure thing that Jonathan Field's murder had anything to do with that mysterious fingerprint specimen.

Miss Silver appeared in more than 30 books by Patricia Wentworth between her first appearance in 1928 and her last in 1961; "The Fingerprint" appeared in 1960. As such, it just makes it under the wire as another entry in the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge, in the category: Leave It to the Professionals: a book featuring cops, private eyes, secret service, professional spies, etc. Miss Silver, as the complete professional, surely falls into this category.

"The Fingerprint" is one of a number of Miss Silver mysteries now available in e-book format, although there seem to be a fair number of used copies available as well through the network of used book dealers. While I think there are better Miss Silver books - particularly the early ones - "The Fingerprint" is enjoyable.

Wolfe Comes to Baltimore

Food and Drink, General Suggestions, Nero Wolfe, Private Eyes, Rex Stout, wolfe pack Comments Off

Mar 012013

Here's an announcement from my friends at the Wolfe Pack that should be of interest to Nero Wolfe fans who live in the Baltimore-Washington area. There's a new branch...oops, sorry, this is a Wolfe orchid...a new raceme forming in the mid-Atlantic area. The group is calling itself the Mid-Atlantic and Chesapeake Area Book Raceme, surely a MACABRe name for an organization, but there you are. At any rate, they are having a general get-acquainted meetup and gathering (and, for the braver souls among you, a costume party) on Saturday afternoon, March 16, in Baltimore, and they are planning their first book discussion for April. Details at the link above.

As I've said here fairly often, I try to attend as many of the New York-area Wolfe Pack events as possible, as they are always lively and entertaining gatherings. For those who live in the Baltimore/Washington/Annapolis area, I suggest you check out the new group!

Parker, Spenser and Penzler

Edgar Awards, Modern Masters, mysteries, mystery, Private Eyes, Robert B. Parker, Spenser Comments Off

Feb 142013

No, that's not the name of a high-powered law firm. It's a summary of a book that may be a bit off the regular reading path of my visitors here. It's a collection of new essays by some of today's best writers of P.I. mysteries about another very important writer, the late Robert B. Parker, creator of the Boston P.I., Spenser. The book, "In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero", is edited by Otto Penzler, of the Mysterious Press and the Mysterious Bookshop.

Readers of this blog know that I don't write about hard-boiled P.I. books very often - they're really not my speed. But it is also undeniably true that Robert B. Parker has been tremendously influential on many of today's authors who are in what might properly be called the Hammett-Chandler-Parker tradition. The table of contents of "In Pursuit of Spenser" includes familiar names such as Ace Atkins (who has been chosen to continue the Spenser series), Lawrence Block, Dennis Lehane, Max Allan Collins, Parnell Hall and S. J. Rozan. There are essays on different aspects of Parker's skills, Spenser's character and about some of the other regulars in the series. There's a good introduction from Otto Penzler. And there's a bonus treat: "Spenser: A Profile," originally written by Parker for the Mysterious Bookshop, now available to a wider readership.

"In Pursuit of Spenser" has been nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical this year by the Mystery Writers of America. It has been published by the Smart Pop imprint of the alliteratively-named Ben Bella Books, which was kind enough to provide me with a copy for this review. If you enjoy Spenser, or if you merely want to learn more about an important author in the wider mystery field, you will enjoy this book.

FFB: The Desert Moon Mystery – Kay Cleaver Strahan

Crime Club, First Books, Kay Cleaver Strahan, Lynn McDonald, Private Eyes Comments Off

Feb 012013

This was a real discovery and I have to thank Diane Plumley over at the Bookshop Blog for including it in her eccentric Best 100 Mysteries List. Apart from The Desert Moon Mystery (1928) having the distinction of being the very first title published in Doubleday & Doran's Crime Club series I knew nothing about it. Turns out not only is it a great book (one of the best American mysteries published in the 1920s I would say) it also happens to have one of the earliest legitimate female private eyes in the genre. And it seems nobody has written a thing about her.

Lynn MacDonald belongs to the Holmesian school of inductive detectives but she's unique among private eyes in that she seeks out her cases. She approaches her clients by a letter of invitation and asks for a whopping $10,000 if she is successful. Not a bad way to make a living in the 1920s. Her first case takes her to a ranch outside of Reno, Nevada where the mysterious death of Gabrielle Canneziano and the suicide of Chad Caufield, a normally cheerful and jocular young man who served as a hired hand, has left owner Sam Stanley, his cook Mary Magin, and the rest of the guests on edge.

The Desert Moon Mystery really is a novel first and foremost; the detective story aspect only follows. Mary serves as narrator and I was impressed with Strahan's witty way of weaving into the story cooking and kitchen metaphors. A dress is described as "two shades darker than cream of tomato soup", rain falls in "drops as big as butter cookies", an egg beater image is used to convey confusion and Mary wisely notes that "love can't be measured in a pint cup." This is only a sampling of Strahan's imaginative writing. All of the characters have distinctive voices, cadences, word choices. A rare skill among novice writers and even among the most experienced of contemporary writers these days. Speaking of word choices, the entire narrative is dense and rich and the reader truly needs to pay attention to every single word. Nothing is wasted here. Nothing is ornamental or gratuitous. Every single sentence and word is intrinsic to the story. This is also something I find to be unusual in Golden Age detective novels.

Mary acts as something of a Rinehart spinster amateur sleuth for much of the book. Accidentally stumbling upon blatant clues Mary thinks aloud in the usual HIBK heroine manner. A sophisticated reader will be able to assemble those clues into a reasonable solution long before Mary or even Lynn MacDonald for the plot hinges on a creaky old detective story cliche.

Yet even with an obvious culprit and a gimmick used repeatedly in mystery novels of this era the book is a real delight. The ranch setting, the numerous puzzles, the characters -- especially the entrance of Lynn MacDonald -- and her subsequent teaming up with Mary of whom she is a little more than wary, all add up to a rewarding story. MacDonald's entrance off the only train in town is like something out of a movie. Mary is so stunned by this beautiful mysterious woman that she abandons her usual kitchen metaphors and turns instead to weather and nature imagery to describe the detective. "She looked like September morning, in our mountains -- that was the zip and the zest of her..." Her wild, orangish hair is described as trying to break free and "go floating off, on its own, to make maybe a tiny sunset cloud." MacDonald is quite a force of nature according to Mary.

MacDonald has several rules that she lays out for the residents of the Desert Moon ranch. She does not want them to discuss the case freely; she only wants her questions answered directly with little embellishment. Her methods are inscrutable. She suspects everyone. She rarely shares information until Mary proves to be her match in the detective skills department. They join forces and make a formidable team. Watching the women battle it out is rather fun.

For a first mystery novel The Desert Moon Mystery is a breathtaking accomplishment. Strahan manages to create a puzzling mystery with multiple deaths in which any one of the five main characters could be the killer. Including Mary herself. There is a point when one of the strangest characters Mrs. Ricker (who has quite a few secrets of her own) tells an outrageous story of something she witnessed and it's difficult to tell whether she's telling the truth. Later it seems that Sam Stanley may have concocted an elaborate plan to mislead and cover up what happened on the ranch. Overall, the book is impressive on so many levels.

There have been other reviews of Strahan's later works in which it appears that she cheats the reader. The Hobgoblin Murder has an unfair revelation in the final pages and Footprints has a solution that is truly baffling. So baffling that Strahan received numerous letters demanding she prove how the murderer actually did the deed. Something she never fully explained in the book and never explained to her querying fans. Nevertheless, her debut is some piece of work. If you only read one book by Kay Cleaver Strahan I suggest you read her very first and leave it at that.

Lynn MacDonald now has her own page at the Thrilling Detective website after I sent an email to Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks, Kevin, for including this early pioneer among the American private eye dames.

Talking Books and Nero Wolfe

Food and Drink, General Suggestions, mysteries, mystery, Nero Wolfe, Private Eyes, Rex Stout, wolfe pack Comments Off

Jan 252013

The Wolfe Pack, the organization of fans of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, has announced its book discussion meeting dates for 2013. Designed for fans who either live in the New York City area or who may be visiting here on those dates, the book talks are great fun, as the group works its way slowly through all the books and novellas - and then, of course, starts over again at the beginning.

The meetings are generally held at a local New York City pub, with separate checks for attendees who want to have food and/or drink. The books and dates this year:

Monday, January 28: "Method Three for Murder" and "Rodeo Murder" (the last two novellas in Three at Wolfe's Door;

Monday, March 18: Too Many Clients;

Monday, May 20: The Final Deduction;

Monday, September 16: Gambit;

Friday, December 6 (part of the annual Black Orchid weekend festivities): Book Event TBD - probably something from the novellas in Trio for Blunt Instruments.

The New England raceme of the Wolfe Pack, meanwhile, has a book discussion event planned in Acton, MA, on Sunday, March 24, discussing both Where There's a Will and Black Orchids.

You will find full details on the Wolfe Pack's website.

If you're in a position to join us for any of the events, please do so - no resrvations necessary. The discussions are lively and they are very enjoyable for any Nero Wolfe fan - and new Wolfean readers are always welcomed.

For that matter, you might consider joining the Wolfe Pack - currently, it's $35 for two years' membership, and that includes four issues of the privately-published Gazette. Check it all out at the website. Hope to see you at one of the meetings!

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