A lot of drinking in the Bill Crane books. Kind of a
slapstick feel to them and they're a lot of fun. Solomon's
Vineyard is a wild book and deals with subject matter that
you wouldn't expect broached up in 1941. The book borrows a
little from the Maltese Falcon where the detective
(taking the name Craven is trying to find out, among
otherthings, who killed his partner. The final confrontation
between Craven and a vicious mobster named Pug Banta made me
laugh out loud. It's definitely hard-boiled, maybe a little
farfetched, but well worth reading.
-Dave
-----Original Message----- From:
owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca [mailto:
owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca] On Behalf Of William Denton
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 6:12 PM To: RARA-AVIS
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Jonathan Latimer
I was thinking about reading 42 DAYS FOR MURDER, but then
when someone else read it I thought I pick up something else,
for the sake of coverage. I'm reading HEADED FOR A HEARSE
(1935), by Jonathan Latimer, one of his Bill Crane
books.
There's a fellow who's in jail for murdering his wife, and
he's going to be executed in six days. There are a few points
of evidence that might clear him, and some people get
together to work on it. Now, this is a bit like Cornell
Woolrich's PHANTOM LADY (1942). Its first chapter is "The
Hundred and Fiftieth Day Before the Execution." A man's on
death row and the only thing that can save him is finding the
mysterious woman of the title. The vise is tightening from
the first line and doom is imminent.
In the Latimer book, on the other hand, the convict bribes
the warden to have meetings in the jail. The first day, Bill
Crane, his partner, and two beautiful women, all go have a
nice lunch, which is described in detail. Then they break and
reunite for dinner, where a witness may talk to them. They go
to a fancy club and what they eat and drink is listed again.
Then the witness is shot in the face in the middle of the
club, but no-one's particularly concerned.
I read SOLOMON'S VINEYARD (1941) a while ago and can't
remember anything about it except it was tough and good. This
one's described as being a screwball hardboiled locked-room
mystery. It's a lot more relaxed than I'd expected. All the
meals keep making me hungry, too.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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