The Dead Stay Dumb by James Hadley Chase

Out of the 5 or 6 novels I’ve read by James Hadley Chase, this one is my favorite so far.  I understand that this author turned to full-time writing after his very first novel was published (No Orchid for Miss Blandish) and since this is only his second novel, the quality is really quite remarkable.

Make no mistake, this is one hard-boiled crime story.  It’s a gangster novel through and through and is often violent and even brutal in its approach.  Dillon is a hardened criminal but never content with his level of power.  He works his way up the mobster ladder through deceit, double-cross, and murder.  And the more power he gets, the easier it is for him to take the easy way forward and simply eliminate his competition.

The story is rounded out with a handful of important characters that are associated with Dillon.  While most of them are also criminals, they tend to have at least some sort of redeeming quality that makes the reader root for them in hopes they will finally give Dillon what he deserves.   Many times, they actually feel like the main character of the story, particularly Myra, who becomes a gun moll for Dillon. 

This novel is certainly not for everyone.  It was written in the early 1940's so the violence and degradation is pretty mild by today’s standards.  Nevertheless, some characters’ stories are tragic, and you really get gut-punched a couple of times.  For me, it was a worthy reading experience even if I do feel the need to go read something akin to Winnie-the-Pooh next, just to provide balance to my outlook on life. 

Devil Take Her by Fan Nichols

Fay Adams is a lounge singer, and a pretty good one.  She has the looks, a nice singing voice and the kind of sweet personality that keeps her fans and admirers coming back for encore performances.  The only problem is, she’s got a secret.  She didn’t choose the backwater town of Bayport Florida as a way to jump-start her career, but rather as an out-of-the-way locale that would keep her hidden from her former life in New York, one step away from a role on Broadway, and a double-murder rap.  She didn’t commit the murders but she was there and the evidence all points to her…so she ran.

This sounds like a set-up for a movie-of-the-week melodrama but it was far better than I expected it to be.  The character of Fay Adams is certainly a flawed one, allowing herself to be ruled by greed for fame and fortune and not at all leery of using other people for her own ends. Her choices grow riskier as she tries to make fast money and she grows more and more desperate as she gets in over her head.  But as the protagonist of the story you can’t help but root for her to overcome it all, and turn herself around.  

Several years ago I acquired a huge box of beat-up old paperbacks from the 1940s-1960s and occasionally I pull one out at random and give it a whirl.  I had never heard of this one before (or the author) so it was very surprising when I found myself completely absorbed after the first few pages.  My research indicates that the author, Fan Nichols, began her career as a mainstream novelist but then dabbled in romance and then moved towards crime fiction.  She evidently enjoyed writing career driven female characters and thus most of her work was sold to genre paperback original publishers like Popular Library.  I don’t know that this one was ever picked up for re-publication but it should be.  Hard Case Crime or Stark House Publishing should take a look.

ll need to be on the lookout for more Fan Nichols stories.