Strip for Murder by Richard S. Prather

Richard S. Prather wrote over three dozen Shell Scott novels as well as numerous short stories published in the likes of 'Manhunt' and 'Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'. There was even a 'Shell Scott Mystery Magazine' that was published for a while in the 1960s. This novel was fairly early in the series, first published in 1956. The early books were a little inconsistent and one gets the idea that Prather was wrestling with just how he wanted his main character to be. Some were more hard-boiled like Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer and others tended toward the outlandish and comedic. But by the time this book was written, I would have thought the character had settled into a more or less consistent style. But now I’m not so sure.

Many readers regard this one as among the best of the Shell Scott novels. Here, Shell finds himself hired by a wealthy mother to investigate the background of a man who her daughter has married rather impulsively. Is it genuine love or is the guy a gold digger? To add to the intrigue, Shell discovers his predecessor on the case, another private eye, was found murdered. 

Shell’s investigation takes him to a nudist (‘naturist’) colony where he goes “undercover” so to speak as a health and fitness instructor. Of course, in the world of Shell Scott, the women (or ‘tomatoes” as he often refers to them) are almost always gorgeous and willing. The plot is still hardboiled but is interrupted plenty of times with screwball situations, such as his leading the entire nudist colony in calisthenics. His own corny sense of humor is on full display as well. (Sorry, couldn’t resist the double entendre).

The investigation takes him to other locales as well, some very hard boiled while others more of the outlandish type such as a scene where Shell dresses as a knight and uses a lance to fight off some toughs. The mystery is actually fairly complex with a number of red herrings and Shell is adept at following the clues in a logical manner. I felt a little thrown back and forth, going from one serious life-threatening scenario into a wacky situation almost immediately. But for all that, Shell Scott is a fun character to follow and I will keep doing so.

Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers

I realized I hadn’t read a Dorothy L. Sayers novel in over 10 years and thought it high time I revisited this author and her gentleman sleuth creation, Lord Peter Wimsey. I’ve only read one previously and have been working on establishing a good baseline of golden age mysteries so of course I can’t get by with a single Lord Peter novel.

This one, first published in 1931, is the sixth in the series (although I have seen references to it being #7), and Lord Peter has been firmly established by this point. Here, while on a fishing holiday in Scotland, Wimsey takes part in the investigation of the murder of an artist. As the title suggests, there are six solid suspects, only one of which is the actual murderer, leaving five red herrings. By far, most of the book is devoted to Wimsey, and several members of the local constabulary questioning the suspects and constructing possible scenarios for how the murder was accomplished. 

Interestingly, the end of the book details a number of the official inspectors and police personnel offering very plausible scenarios for whodunnit but, of course, Lord Peter Wimsey points out the flaws in their logic and offers the correct solution. 

I found the novel to be a little tedious in places; just so many detailed clues and potentially misleading information offered by the suspects that I lost track of it all early on. Had I been a proper literary sleuth myself, I would have prepared a complex spreadsheet to record all the clues offered, who was where when, and who saw them there, and who was providing alibies for whom. Everything right down to the timetables of the trains which would prove valuable evidence indeed. But I am too lazy to do that, of course, so I let Wimsey handle that for me. 

But the conclusion was most satisfactory. I will not let another ten years pass before picking up my next Lord Peter novel.

The Collected Raffles Stories by E.W. Hornung

This volume collects all of the AJ Raffles short stories written by the original author, E.W. Hornung, combining the works previously published in Raffles: "The Amateur Cracksman" (1899), “The Black Mask” (1901), and "A Thief in the Night" (1905). The only thing missing is the 1909 novel, "Mr. Justice Raffles". So, a total of 26 short stories included as well as an in-depth introduction written by Clive Bloom.

For the uninitiated, Raffles is  "the classic gentleman thief". The character defines the archetype of the gentleman criminal who has a code of honor, steals only from the rich, and is drawn to burglary for the sport as much as for the money. By day he is a well-known amateur cricket player, a useful tool to distract from his other profession. He is accompanied in his thieving practices by  Harry "Bunny" Manders who “writes” the stories much like Watson “writes” the Sherlock Holmes stories. The comparisons don’t stop there considering that the author, E.W. Hornung was the brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle. There are a number of similar plot devices and character quirks that are similar as well.

While I enjoyed the characters of both Raffles and Bunny, the stories are clearly from another time. They are heavy on Bunny’s observations and full of description. The action, particularly the thievery, Raffles' disguises, etc. is subdued compared to today’s style and thus can be difficult to stick with. I keep coming across references to the character of Raffles in other books so I’m glad I’ve read them. I would be interested to read some more recent stories or crossovers by other authors if I can find any.

The Long Lavender Look (Travis McGee) by John D. MacDonald

The 12th book in the Travis McGee series is, perhaps, my favorite so far.  That’s saying something. 

 Travis and his pal Meyer are driving home from a wedding in Travis’ Rolls Royce “pickup” he’s named Miss Agnes.  Late at night in rural, backwater Cypress County of Florida, a brief flash of a young woman darts into the road causing Travis to lose control and end up upside down and underwater in a drainage canal. Meyer is able to fish him out safely, but Miss Agnes will need to be towed out.  But as they’re walking to the nearest “town” somebody shoots at them, believing them to be a couple of henchmen of a notorious local casino robber. This case of mistaken identity keeps on going as Travis is framed for murder and arrested by the local sheriff.

While the main plot involves Travis’ personal investigation to clear his name by finding what happened to the real robbers and murderers, there a number of subplots and deviations as well.  But it’s a tightly packed narrative and fascinating to see unwind.  Perhaps one of the saddest scenes in the entire Travis McGee series occurs in this book and involves the lovable, if odd, Betsy Kapp.  The story can be pretty convoluted but it all comes together in the final chapters. Travis himself is heavily impacted by the events in the book and by the end, there can be nothing sweeter in the world than to get back home to slip F-18 and The Busted Flush houseboat.

Thankfully, for me, he still has nine more adventures to come.

The Case of the Sulky Girl (Perry Mason) by Erle Stanley Gardner

The second of the Perry Mason novels is the first to take on the familiar traditional approach of having lengthy courtroom scenes dominate the end of the book. An enjoyable plot revolving around Perry's client, a young woman who is accused of murdering her Uncle in order to get her full inheritance.

I really enjoyed the way Erle Stanley Gardner combines two major mystery elements here.  The first is the expected mystery of whodunit. But the second, more subtle mystery involves Perry Mason's courtroom tactics and trying to figure out how he is going to turn the tables on the huge pile of evidence against his client. Cleverly done, of course.

Looking forward to more of this series.

Nightmare in Pink (Travis McGee) by John D. MacDonald

The second Travis McGee novel finds our self-described boat-bum doing a favor for an old army buddy who has been confined to a VA hospital and, sadly, is unlikely to live much longer.  The man’s young sister, Nina, needs help as it seems her fiancé has just been murdered in an apparent mugging gone bad.  Travis’s investigation takes him to New York and leads him from one contact to another, the trail eventually leading to a high-priced call girl and an incredible scheme to steel millions from wealthy businessmen.  Along the way, despite trying not to, Travis falls for young Nina, and she for him, although they both know it won't be a lasting thing.

John D. MacDonald was still forming his character Travis McGee in this second book in the 21-book series, a decidedly different sort of protagonist than what the marketplace at the time was used to.  Travis has flaws and, generally speaking, being around him isn't always the safest place to be.  Collateral damage occurs and innocent people sometimes get caught in the crossfire (or by poisoned coffee in this case).  Most people agree that it is not until the third novel, "A Purple Place for Dying" that the general pattern and style for the rest of the books is laid down.  Regardless, this novel was an enjoyable read despite the drugged-out LSD tripping scenes at a 1960’s era lobotomizing horror factory masquerading as a mental hospital.  The title of the novel is most apropos!

The Deep Blue Good-by (Travis McGee) by John D. MacDonald

I first read this novel back in High School and was ill-prepared to appreciate its style.  I had read science fiction, fantasy, and books like Doc Savage almost exclusively and I thought it was high time I branched out.  In fact, I think this was the first book of the hard boiled crime/noir/PI genre I had ever read.  It seemed dull to me at the time but as I grew older (and older) and sampled more and more of the genre and came to love it even, I knew that someday I would get back to Travis McGee and see what it was that I had missed all those years before.

Turned out I was correct.  This time around I thoroughly enjoyed it and will now plan to read the rest of the entire series over the next several years.  The fascinating thing about this book is not so much the plot (although it’s a good one), or the setting (also good), but rather the character of Travis McGee himself.  I really enjoy his approach to life and his ability to thumb his nose at what “traditional” society expects, choosing to live how he wants.  Accumulating money is not his end goal.  He looks out for those that are getting bullied or become innocent victims of the powerful so we readers want to root for him.

The author’s prose is also great fun to read, something else that I under-appreciated in my youth.  He could turn a phrase with the best of them and say so much with a single sentence.  Yes, I look forward to my journey with Travis over the entire 21 novel set.  Overall I give it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 because of the sheer joy I experienced at proving my youthful opinion so very wrong.

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. 

The Case of the Velvet Claws (Perry Mason) by Erle Stanley Gardner

When a self-absorbed woman named “Eva Griffin” comes to Perry Mason claiming her powerful

husband is blackmailing her, Perry’s intrepid secretary Della Street doesn’t trust her. That’s our first clue that neither should we. Later, when Eva overhears her husband arguing with a man just before being shot, she claims it was Perry’s voice she heard arguing with the murdered man. A trustworthy client she is not!  But in true Perry Mason style, he vows to fight for his client no matter the cost.

This is the very first Perry Mason novel, originally published in 1933.  The Perry Mason series consists of over 80 novels and is currently the number 3 all-time best-selling fiction series, following only “Harry Potter” and R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps”.  I thought it about time I sampled one.

Before reading this book, I knew very little about Perry Mason and have never seen the TV series starring Raymond Burr.  As an attorney who takes on clients in trouble, he works diligently to gather all relevant facts using his own considerable powers of observation and intellect as well as hiring private detective Paul Drake to work on his behalf.  While later books will include dramatic courtroom scenes, this first book does not but instead follows a more traditional detective novel format, albeit with some nice plot twists thrown in.

To be honest, I was somewhat surprised at the character of Perry Mason.  He has no qualms about bending and even breaking the law as long as it leads to helping his client.  He will lie about what evidence he has in order to trick somebody into revealing more than they should.  He will intercept personal mail and even a legal summons, read it and then use it to trap people into confessions.  In fact, a large part of his technique, at least in this first novel, is to set up elaborate false situations to trick people into telling him what they know. But because he is a lawyer, he knows just what he can get away with and he deftly pulls out the legal buzz words to impress the right people at the right time.

Overall, I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. The plot was nicely complex with several surprising twists, but it was fairly easy to keep track of who’s who and follow Perry’s thought process as he went.  Looking forward to reading more of this series as well as sampling Gardner's other work.