I read MARKED FOR MURDER (1945), the twelfth Shayne book,
today. It was an enjoyable fast read, certainly capable, but
not above average.
Shayne's in New Orleans by now, but he comes back because a
reporter friend has been badly beaten and is in the hospital.
He'd been investigating some murders connected to some
illegal casinos run by a Miami Beach gangster. (Shayne and
cops he likes are in Miami, or maybe it's the other way
around. I can't keep those two straight.) The first day
Shayne's in town, he borrows a gun off the Miami chief of
police. punches out a hood, flirts with some women, talks to
the gangster, finds a beautiful dead woman who's dressed only
in black stockings, has a good-time girl come onto him, talks
a postman out of a letter, and swigs back a lot of booze. The
next day he's up early to pull a ridiculous trick so he can
intercept a letter, and later he crashes his car into a limo,
runs it off the road, and shoots a guy in the gut. The entire
mystery is wrapped up in the last fifteen pages or so and by
that time I was having trouble keeping it straight which
deadly blonde was which.
I must say Shayne's a good character, though. And I'm a
sucker for anything where a guy blows into town and never
stops moving until everything's shaken up. The masterpiece
there, of course, is RED HARVEST.
I hope the middling reviews the old books have had aren't
discouraging people from trying out Mike Shayne. Everyone
should read at least one.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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