I recall BLACK MASK MURDERS being pretty good. While this one was narrated
by Hammett, the other two in the series -- THE MARBLE ORCHARD and SHARKS
NEVER SLEEP -- are narrated by Raymond Chandler Erle S. Gardner,
respectively. It's a decent historical-mystery series, peppered with
intriguing characters and events of the time(s), and it was interesting to
see Nolan vary his style to accommodate the real and imagined elements of
his narrators' personalities and life stories. It's been a number of years
since I read them...I don't recall with any clarity any of them being
significantly better than the other, though, just a general sense that they
were pleasing reads. Plus, as an expert on Hammett (and, in a more general
sense, on Black Mask-era writers, with THE BLACK MASK BOYS), Nolan's
writings came off as historically capable, though I admit I didn't examine
them for accuracy.
Ron C.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> funkmasterj@runbox.com
> Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 12:46 PM
> To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Blask Mask Murders
>
> I enjoyed this novel by William Nolan featuring Dashiell
> Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Raymond Chandler as
> protagonists. It tried to be hard boiled, but came off as
> somewhat cozy to me. It reminded me of Ron Goulart's Grouch
> Marx detective series (which I also like).
>
> Jordan
>
>
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