Freeman Wills Crofts: The Purple Sickle Murders (aka The Box
Office Murders) (1923)
I don't think anyone would call this hardboiled, but it is a
police procedural. It is mainly of interest as a period
piece, being an early example of the detective inspector
novel.
Two cinema cashiers are dead. Coincidence? Hardly. Several
months later, another cinema cashier is missing. Fortunately,
she has been forewarned and she is very resourceful. For
example, she removes the screws from an overhead skylight
using a coin she has sharpened on the hearth and tied in
place in a pair of fire tongs as a screwdriver, while
standing on a stool balanced on a bed--then replaces
them!
This is possibly the most verbose novel I've ever read.
Inspector French pursues his inquiries in an age when urgency
didn't mean moving quite as fast as it does now. Everything
is spelled out interminably. How the inspector cultivated his
informants. What goes through his mind every inch of the way.
All the steps in the detection process. The plot, which
involves counterfeit coins, is rather unusual. There is a lot
of technical information about minting coins, fluctuating
prices of metals, tide tables and so on.
Here's an interesting commentary on the book: http://members.aol.com/MG4273/crofts.htm
Language note: I was surprised that at one point a sergeant
says "okay."
Karin
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