The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

This 1939 crime noir is Raymond Chandler's first novel. After 6 years of developing his perfect detective in short story form, Chandler branched out to introduce private investigator Philip Marlowe. The Big Sleep is perhaps the most well known of Chandler's works as Humphrey Bogart would play Marlowe opposite Lauren Bacall. 

But don't expect that iconic 1944/46 film (its release was delayed nearly 2 years because of the war) to be anything like the book. At least in terms of pornography. See Marlowe discovers that the youngest daughter of a wealthy oil magnate is being blackmailed into taking dirty photos for a low level pimp. The pimp is claiming that the girl has gambling debts tied to a big shot casino owner by the name of Mars. 

Marlowe is hired to put the kibosh on the debts, which technically can't be legally claimed upon. Older daughter Carmen thinks that the shamus is being hired to find her missing husband, who presumably ran off with Mars' estranged wife. When the pornographer is bumped off, Marlowe starts to make more connections to Mars and the missing husband, all the while being tempted by both sisters, one of which is psychotic as hell. 

You've got the porn. You've got nudity and sex. There's bisexuality and homosexuality. There's even a hint of cross-dressing or some other kink. Dirty cops, murder, Mickey Finns, and a whole bunch of boozing and gambling. Considering what I know about the Hays Code, I am surprised that this film was made during WW2. While some areas were changed to fit the code, there was a whole heck of a lot of implied depravity in the film. 

This is the story that famously, when Howard Hawks was filming the movie adaptation, neither he nor the producers could figure out who killed one of the characters and Chandler replied 'Damned if I know.' So while written by a master of 20th century American literature, this is not a book without its flaws. But he does get better. The Lady in the Lake and The Long Goodbye are both nearly flawless. But this one seems to do too much in just a short amount of time. At 230 pages, I think this might be the shortest Philip Marlowe novel. This is definitely a case of 'less is more' not working so well.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Case of the Dangerous Dowager by Erle Stanley Gardner

I have a fairly extensive knowledge of the character Perry Mason because of my mom. She owned a copy of every one of the books written by Erle Stanley Gardner and when growing up, there was a good chance that Perry Mason, played by Raymond Burr was on in either rerun or as a 2-hour movie of the week.

For about the past year now, I have been enjoying mystery novels. Mostly the crime noir tales of private detective Philip Marlowe written by Raymond Chandler. I've always loved a mystery and with me about to have run the gambit of works by Chandler, I felt that it might be time to seek out another classic mystery writer. 

During our family's annual scavenger hunt during the 301 Endless Yard Sale, I decided to put a Perry Mason novel on the list. Hopefully, somebody would find one and since you didn't really have to start with book #1, I was open to whatever might be available in just about any condition except severely water damaged and mildewed.

I got lucky at my first stop, a thrift store that supports a pet rescue called Street Dogs and Stray Cats. Minus the dust jacket, I found this 1937 first edition of The Case of the Dangerous Dowager. It's the 10th book in the series and it's about as far away from episode of the golden age of television series as I think you could get. 

Here's a quick rundown of the case. There is this rich grandma who knows that her granddaughter is over $7000 in debt to a pair of 'legitimate businessmen', who own a casino ship, legally 12 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. The husband of the granddaughter is about to file for divorce and if he could get his hands on the IOU slips, it would strengthen his case to become sole guardian of their infant child and executor of a rather large trust fund. 

The grandmother hires Perry Mason to buy up the IOUs before the husband can. It's not really the sort of thing Mason does. But the grandmother feels that the lawyer is a very trustworthy soul and she authorizes him to include a bonus to prevent the casino owners from blackmailing the granddaughter and keep the inheritance in the family. 

Mason takes a speedboat to the casino. With money in hand, Mason is prepared to buy the IOUs and then wash his hands of the entire affair. However, when he goes to visit the co-owner who oversees the financial side of things, he finds the man shot through the temple. Only, there's no gun! The IOUs are right there at the deceased man's desk. The granddaughter was spotted on the boat. As was the husband. Grandma too! 

So Perry Mason finds himself implicated for the murder. Instead of going to trial, the lawyer goes on the run. As the story breaks in the newspapers and radio, Perry runs through the suspect list in hopes of clearing his name and finding out just who the murderer is. 

With exception of a scene that takes place in a conference room with the Los Angeles County District attorney and all of the suspects rounded up about to testify before the grand jury, there is no actual court proceedings! Perry manages to wrestle control of the pre-jury meeting from the D.A., and through extensive questioning, gets to the bottom of things. But in this book, he's more of a P.I. than a lawyer. 

I know that on the 2020 HBO reboot series, Perry Mason starts out as a private detective, working his way up to becoming a defense attorney. So having him trying to solve the crime by beating the pavement by working over leads might be in line with the character. But I don't remember an episode of 1957-1966's Perry Mason not ever taking place in a court of law. Where's Hamilton Burger, the most unlikely assistant D.A. in history? Where's the judge threatening contempt of court? This is so unlike what I grew up with.

There's a rule in my family that we never judge a TV series by the first episode. We always give shows at least 2 more episodes before we decide whether or not to cut bait. I luckily was able to get a second book at the same time as this one. I'm just wondering if all of the books are like this one or is The Case of the Dangerous Dowager the exception to the rule?

I'll find out shortly.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Tova Sullivan is a 70-year old widow whose son mysteriously died at sea 3 decades ago. They never found his body. Tova has never found closure. She works nights at the Sowell Bay Aquarium not because she's financially desperate. She actually enjoys cleaning! 

During her rounds, Tova interacts with the exhibits at the aquarium. She greets the wolf eels with a hearty hello. While dusting the sea lion statue, she gives it's nose a playful boop for good luck. But when it comes to the site's most popular attraction, she gives what's inside the tank more than her fair share of attention. The exhibit in question is a 60-lb coral orange Giant Pacific Octopus named Marcellus. 

Unknown to Tova, Marcellus is resting in the bottom of his tank with a secret. Before his time in captivity, as a small octopus, Marcellus came across a solemn sight. Decades earlier a young man had drowned inside the crevice of some jagged rocks. All that remained was some pieces of rubber from a pair of shoes that had long since disintegrated in the Pacific. Also surviving the elements was a key chain that contained an odd looking house key. One of which is exactly like the one Tova wears on the belt clip on her hip! 

Another secret Marcellus keeps is that he likes to escape his tank and raid the other tanks in the aquarium for snacks. Turns out a Giant Pacific Octopus can live outside of water for about 15 minutes. The sea cucumbers are particularly tasty. One night, Marcellus decides to raid the break room and ends up getting tangled in some power cords. With time running out, Tova comes to the rescue, forever earning Marcellus' respect. In return for saving his life, Marcellus makes it his mission to inform Tova of his childhood discovery. While an octopus is a remarkably bright creature, there is such a thing as a language barrier between him and Tova.

I discovered this 2022 book after seeing a trailer for the Netflix live action adaptation. A mystery starring an octopus as the sleuth! I was already in love with The Sheep Detectives franchise. So it felt like a no-brainer to give Remarkably Bright Creatures a try. Unfortunately I don't have Netflix. (I'm a Ludite, I know) Thankfully, there was the book! Plus, I was headed for the beach and despite vacationing off the Atlantic coast, it was a very fitting read. 

I did read this book as slow as I probably could. That's because I didn't want to reach the end when one of the characters will die. I don't think that's too much of a spoiler. The death is foretold on the second page. If you are one of those bookstore shoppers who needs to read a couple of pages before deciding on whether or not to buy the book, you'll know who dies. This is a book about aging and death, and trying to cope with loss. It's just such a great character. Perhaps one of most endearing in modern American lit.

Thankfully, I wasn't 100% heartbroken by the end of the book. I have to thank author Shelby Van Pelt for giving me ample warning. It would have been a terrible shock to get to page 350 and then BAM- tragic death of a beloved character!!! Still, knowing that the end was drawing near with the turn of every page, my reading pace was significantly slower than normal. 

I've been in Tova's shoes, experiencing a lost that never achieved closure. Just maybe not on such an emotional level. A couple years ago, my goat, Pomegranate, was stolen. Despite spending a lot of time and money, she was never found. I've been wanting to write up a recount of how I dealt with that theft and how God blessed me eventually with a herd of now 10 goats, but I just couldn't find the voice. The unhealed wound just remains raw. But seeing how Van Pelt had Marcellus as the occasional narrator, I think I know how to write it now. I've got almost 2 months of summer break from my teaching job. So maybe I can get it started. 

If anything, this book helped me find an outlet for my unanswered loss and I appreciate that very much.

As for seeing the movie on Netflix, this book definitely makes me more interested in subscribing. But I am still a ways away from that actually happening.

Worth Consuming!

Rating 9 out of 10 stars.

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Keeping in mind that I've only read about half of the Philip Marlowe novels written by Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely is currently my least favorite of the bunch. First published in 1940, this is only Chandler's 2nd Marlowe novel. So it's early Chandler. Unpolished Chandler. 

I'm learning that Raymond Chandler is a fantastic writer. He paints pictures with words that are so vibrant, I feel like I am there. But when it comes to plotting, the writer isn't the most thorough or revealing. You know that conspiracy theory board where the paranoid guy has red strings going all over the place? Well I feel like Chandler uses two bulletin boards placed on opposite sides of the room, because some of the connections he makes with the clues behind the mystery are a bit of a stretch.

There's a trio of Russian cigarettes that contain a secret in them. How Chandler connects the murder of a client all the way to the organized crime racket of a seaside California town still has my scratching my head. If it didn't have anything to do with the plot, I would consider it a red herring. But Chandler does find a way to glue the puzzle pieces together. I just think he forgot to tell us how he did it. 

There's a famous anecdote about where Howard Hawks is trying to adapt The Big Sleep to a screenplay and he can't figure out how one of the characters died to which Raymond Chandler telegraphed back 'Damned of I Know.' The Big Sleep was Chandler's first Marlowe novel. So you can imagine how excited I am to read it in light of this Hollywood legend. 

Some of the Philip Marlowe novels were originally published in the pulps, only without Chandler's iconic hero in the starring role, and being around 50 pages or less, having slightly changed plots. And yes, some of the plots were altered quite a bit. The scene where Marlowe goes to a hotel and shares a pint of whiskey with the manager is a moment taken directly from 'Pickup on Noon Street'.

So what's the plot to Farewell, My Lovely? In a nutshell, Marlowe runs into a massive ex-con who needs help finding his sweetheart: a girl by the name of Velma. After Moose Malloy accidentally kills the man that owns the new establishment at the locale that used to be where Velma worked, the big guy flees. Several cops warn Marlowe away from the case. But you never can tell the detective to stay away from a mystery. That's practically invitation for the shamus to keep on looking for clues.

Marlowe's search for Velma will hopefully lead the cops to arrest Malloy. In the meantime, he takes a rather small assignment, helping a pretty boy playboy conduct a money drop for some stolen jewelry. Smelling a set up, Marlowe goes around to case the scene. But that's a bad idea, because it results in his client's death. With the help of a loaded cigarette case of reefers and a spunky news reporter, the P.I. will stumble in the path of a con man playing celebrity psychic, his odorific henchman and a disgraced doctor who holds the narrator captive with truth serum and dope before finds his way to freedom and the off shore gambling houses of one of the state's leading 'legitimate businessmen!'

Argue as much as you like that a lot of Marlowe's exploits seem to repeat throughout the books he stars in. But the 2 chapters where the dick languishes in a drugged fueled haze is completely new territory. Plus, I do not recall marijuana playing a role in any of the other novels written by Chandler.

Chandler takes Marlowe all over L.A. County it seems. If it was a travel guide, this would be one of the most amazing works of mental pictures about the underbelly of Southern Coastal California. But this is a crime noir. One that is written so well but needs a road map to get from Point A all the way to Point B. I think this would have worked better as 2 short stories. One about Marlowe's encounters with Moose Malloy and a second about the murdered client. I think if Chandler had done that I would be a fan of 2 amazing novellas instead of on the fence about a very confusing mystery novel. Though, some of the confusion could be based on my copy being a UK edition. 

Perhaps some of the late 1930s slang used by the characters in this book were changed for British audiences. It's possible. I just don't know how likely that could be.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Sherlock Holmes and the Masquerade Murders by Frank Thomas

I figured 'what the heck...' I had been riding high from my enjoyment in reading a non-canonical Sherlock Holmes novel that co-starred the Prince of Darkness. Having another similar book on hand, I did the rare thing and went right into another Holmes mystery. 

1986's Sherlock Holmes and the Masquerade Murders was written by Frank Thomas. No, not the former infielder for the Chicago White Sox who now sees testosterone supplements on TV. But this Frank Thomas is famous too; as he was an early teen star in television, starring as the lead in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Though the title of this book might lead one to believe that it's another Holmes crossover, it is not! I thought being the 'Masquerade Murders', that maybe Holmes and Watson were summoned to Paris where they were to confront the dreaded Phantom of the Opera! Alas, that's just not the case.

The case begins at an investment firm where an auditor is found dead. Known to have a bad heart, Scotland Yard wants to rule it an accidental death. However, something smells fishy to Holmes and he decides to take the case despite objections from the Commissioner of Police and the influential owner of the firm. Using his arsenal of reformed confidence men, safe crackers and the cherubic lads who make up the Baker Street Irregulars, Holmes and Watson seek to uncover a murder that is masquerading as death by natural causes.

This was a book that needed to build up steam. I think that the artist did a pretty good job writing in Dr. Watson's voice. However, I think Thomas overdid things quite a bit trying to remind us of the previous adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The Sherlock Dracula only requires you to have a prior knowledge of 'The Adventure of the Essex Vampire', along with Bram Stoker's Dracula, understandably. Thomas not only alludes to many of Holmes' original cases, there's plenty of references to the previous 5 Holmes works written by Thomas. 

The book was exactly 250 pages. I think by page 185, maybe 190, it really hits its stride. I haven't read every Holmes novel by Doyle. What I have read is mostly the earliest stuff. I'm not used to Holmes utilizing so many reformed criminals to solve his cases. A member from the Irregulars, absolutely. But that's about it. I really liked the crew Holmes had assembled. The break in of the investing house was on par with Mission Impossible. Plus, there were some funny moments like when Holmes' crew accidentally followed the wrong carriage after telling the World's Greatest Detective that they would 'cover the bad guy like a tent!'

I'm not going to hunt for further Holmes stories by Frank Thomas. But if I stumbled across another, I would have no issues buying it as long as the resale price was decent. Apparently, 2 of the works involve Holmes and the complex card game of bridge. I've got to admit, they've got me intrigued. But since I don't have a clue how to play that game, it's up in the air as to whether I'll appreciate it or not.

Another reason I might not be able to find another Frank Thomas penned mystery is that they might have all disintegrated! The cover to my copy was coming apart in flakes. By the time I finished it, the wrap-around looked like an old pirate's map. There wasn't a smooth edge to be found. It's probably going to hit a free shelf or get donated to a thrift store because in its current state, I doubt a used book shop would buy it. It's funny, but the Holmes book from a decade earlier held together much better than the later copy did!!!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen

I'm not sure when and where I got this 1978 novel by Fred Saberhagen. I've been holding onto it for a very long time. I can tell you that much.

This is actually the second book in a series. Thankfully, this book can act as a stand alone read. You pretty much just need to have some knowledge about Sherlock Holmes and Bram Stoker's Dracula. 

The concept behind Saberhagen's Dracula series is that Count Dracula survived his death at the end of Stoker's work. Deciding to chronicle his side of the story, in The Dracula Tape, the vampire then records his life up to the present day while interacting with notable figures of literature and history. 

In the Holmes-Dracula File, the Count is seeking Mina Harker, whom he considers his true love. The search takes him to London, just days before Queen Victoria's 60th Jubilee. With Saberhagen's version of Dracula, vampires don't have to feed on blood daily. Although a fast can cause them to become less powerful and to age rapidly. Upon stepping foot on the docks, Dracula in his wizened appearance is Shanghaied and taken to a makeshift research clinic where he is subjected to experiments. 

Meanwhile, the bodies of several derelict Londoners have been found floating in the Thames. Only they didn't die from drowning or any other sort of misfortune. No, these bodies tell a different story as they all show signs of the Plague!

Just as the author has taken liberties with the legend and established lore of Dracula, Saberhagen does the same with Sherlock Holmes; especially with the sleuth's possible true lineage. This is very much a non-canonical story, though it builds heavily upon the Holmes mystery The Adventure of the Essex Vampire. 

You might think why would Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula meet? In this story, Dracula, once he returns to full strength is often confused as the World's Greatest Detective. Why? You can thank Hollywood for the idea. That is because both Dracula and Holmes are described as having the appearance of the late, great Christopher Lee who portrayed both characters many times in the 60s and 70s. It was this sort of brilliance that made me a fan of this Victorian horror mystery!

The book is told in alternating first person narratives. First Dracula is your narrator. Then Dr. Watson. Every other chapter is told by one or the other's perspective. While I am not familiar with Saberhagen's Dracula stories, I have read several of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original Holmes adventures. Saberhagen does a fantastic job capturing Watson's voice and manner of speech. Even more impressive is how distinct Dracula's narration is. This book really feels like 2 different people wrote it instead of one guy doing a terrible job of both. I'd have no problem reading another of the author's Dracula chronicles. But being a nearly 50 year old series, I doubt it would be so easy finding other volumes. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of Chandler's novels written towards the end of his career/life. Philip Marlowe has always been a cynical character (to be a private investigator in a mega-corrupt City of Angels, you really have to be as such), but here it seems that Chandler started to become that type of cantankerous old man who yells at kids to stay off his lawn. There are several diatribes at how society has lost its way. Quite a bit about how America became a super power after the second world war, producing terrible products sold inside of top of the line quality packaging. It almost read like a boomer who doesn't know how to stay quiet on social media 

That's not to say that I didn't love this 1953 book. There's several mysteries all intertwined and while I needed a dictionary to decipher many of the outdated references and lingo sprinkled throughout this book, I didn't get lost in the plot. In, fact I actually was able to solve most of the crimes before Marlowe did and I was pretty proud of myself for it.

Marlowe becomes friends with a cuckold veteran of WWII. His wealthy wife openly cheats on him while nobody is able to say a single bad thing about the guy. When the wife turns up brutally murdered, the guy takes the fall and flees to Mexico. Marlowe is arrested for driving the guy to the Mexican border. But the detective is soon released when news arrives that the fugitive kills himself.

Marlowe is willing to let things drop. But friends and acquaintances of the killer keep approaching Marlowe, warning him from looking further into the murder/suicide. Thus the P.I. has no option but to determine if his old pal did it or if he was framed. There's also concern that Marlowe's friend might not have actually pulled the trigger on himself but instead was made to look like it was suicide. 

Meanwhile, a publishing agent of a famous hack romance writer, is looking to hire Marlowe to keep the author, who's got a history of drink and violence, on track to finish his latest work. Marlowe doesn't do babysitting assignments. Normally, he'd turn the job down. Only the scribe has an alluring wife who's caught Marlowe's eye. Plus the guy has gone missing for several days now. So it appears that as much as Phillip wants to wash his hands of this crew, just like with the death of his friend in Mexico, he's got another mystery to solve whether he likes it or not.

I swear I have read this book before. When I was about 12, I read a couple of Philip Marlowe novels. I know that I read Lady in the Lake and I at least tried to complete Raymond Chandler's unfinished work, Poodle Springs, and hated it. There was just so many aspects of this book that were extremely familiar to me. Maybe that's why I solved many of the mysteries in here. 

It could be that I have seen the 1973 Robert Altman version starring Elliot Gould. I was a big fan of Altman's in the 90s and would watch just about anything he made. But after I finished this book, I went to Wikipedia, mostly to see who was cast in the roles. From what I gleaned, I don't think seeing the movie explains my feeling like I had read this book previously. The plot of the film differs too darn much from Chandler's work. 

I will admit that I couldn't stop picturing Gould as Marlowe. There's just too many lines that sound like they would have come from the M*A*S*H* and Friends actor's mouth. I had always pictured someone more plain as Marlowe, like a Montgomery Clift. But I don't think I will be able to anymore. 

There's only 4 Chandler novels and just an even smaller handful of short stories starring Philip Marlowe left. I really want to read them all. But I also don't want to rush through it and be left with nothing new. I've got Farewell, My Lovely already in my possession. But I will probably wait until closer to the beginning of summer to start it. I don't think it matters what order you read the Marlowe books in, although there were a couple of characters that have appeared in some previous stories. I just think that I like the older, post-war Marlowe the best. I don't know why because he gets away with insults and barbs that would end up in viral video fisticuffs these days. 

Oh what a simpler, grittier time...

Worth Consuming!

Rating 10 out of 10 stars.

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

A mystery novel in which a flock of sheep attempts to solve the murder of their shepherd. 5 years ago, I would have overlooked this book. But today, I am the owner and caregiver of several Nigerian Dwarf goats, I've become an amateur vet tech for a variety of animals, and I can't get enough mystery stories. So, this book seems to check off a lot of interests for me.

I first became aware of this 2005 novel about a month ago and I owe it all to Facebook. It was on that social media site that I came across the trailer for the live action film adaptation. Sheep Detectives, starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson, is due out later this Spring. By the end of the 2 minute sneak preview, I was dying laughing and so ready to go see it in theaters. I must admit, it's been a long time since I have been left wanting to see an full-fledged comedy of any sort that wasn't rated appropriate for general audiences. And even though I am not happy with Jackman divorcing his wife after an affair with a much younger actress, I was willing to overlook it to see this movie!

The trailer is where I learned that Sheep Detectives is based on a mystery novel. I immediately went to Amazon in hopes of purchasing a copy. Only, I couldn't find anything cheaper than $35. In fact, most editions were priced in the $80 to $100 plus range. For a 20 year old book! What the frick?! 

I then learned that the book was originally published as Three Bags Full. Also, in order to tie in with the film, all previous editions were placed out of print in place of a brand new edition. Thus the move prompted most sellers to raise their prices to those astronomical prices. I don't think they realized that this is actually a dumb move, as with a much cheaper edition coming out, and pretty soon as well, I was willing to wait for the pre-order. I assume that with how insane overall prices have become, a lot of eager mystery fans were willing to wait for a more pocket book friendly edition to come out.

My book arrived just before Easter. That seemed very appropriate considering how lambs and lush fields are symbols of the holiday season. I was taken by the adorable set of sheep on the front cover. I would encounter them more as they all appear in a makeshift animated sequence that plays out on the bottom right corner of the book if you flip the pages kinda fast. 

I learned from the back cover that this book was originally written in German where it has the different title of Glenkill, the name of the rustic Irish town where the murder takes place. Since I would be reading an English translation of a German text, I was concerned that some of the charm and humor might be stunted; forever lost in translation. However I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very cute book with many humorous moments as the flock try to solve the murder of George Glenn from their observations of the human race. 

Naturally, these ruminants get things wrong. Hilariously wrong. As the story is told from the point of view of the sheep, there's a lot of missing parts. Being that nothing happens in this book unless one of George's sheep are present, you might wonder how much mystery can be solved in a small pasture. But it's a very busy crime scene and these goats like to wander off... a lot.

When I read a gritty crime noir, I often get a little lost. (I chalk it up to my growing short term memory loss issues.) So I'll go back and thumb through the book trying to figure out what I missed. As all of the action in this book occurs only in front of the sheep, and they don't quite understand humans very well, there is a lot of incomplete data. Thus, if something didn't make sense, I think that was intentional on the part of the author. Still, not all of the pieces to all of the puzzles fit neatly together at the end. But if you can read between the lines, you should do okay. 

Glenkill is like any small town in the U.K., full of unsavory people who might or might not have something to do with the murders or one of a dozen other scandals that it seems everyone but the sheep and the reader know about. Is it the priest? The butcher? The scorn woman? Everyone is guilty about something but only 1 of the townsfolk knows the truth behind who killed George the shepherd.

Fanciful and fun. Funny too. The charm doesn't have to end and I am not just talking about going to see the film in theaters. Leonie Swann has actually written a sequel; 2010's Big Bad Wool. As opposed to a mystery, it's got a horror edge to it. I wonder if I can wait until October to devour it as part of my Halloween time reading list. It'll be tough but I think I can do it!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hamett

Who would have thought that Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man was a Christmas novel? Okay, maybe it's more of a Christmas story like Die Hard is, in that the first half of the book takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and the remainder occurs up to just about New Year's Eve. The holidays are responsible for getting San Francisco socialites Nick and Nora Charles to spend Christmas in Nick's hometown of Manhattan. It's also what gets the former private investigator involved in the life of the Wynant family as daughter Dorothy is desperate to find her estranged family, Clyde.

On Boxing Day, it's revealed that dear old dad's mistress was murdered. The prime suspects are the missing Clyde or his ex-wife Mimi, who was present when the other woman passed on to her eternal reward. Nick just wants a quiet holiday in the Big Apple. Nora is enthralled by her husband's previous career and the chance at playing amateur sleuth. The police need all the help they can get. So it seems no matter how much he tries to distance himself from the case, it appears that Nick Charles, P.I. is back in business.

The Thin Man is very much a Dashiell Hammett work and it's also very different. I've always thought that Hammett was more wordy than Raymond Chandler. The Maltese Falcon wasn't so bad with the unnecessary dialogue. But Hammett's in rarer form here. Three whole pages were devoted to an account about a cannibal in the Old West. A whole paragraph is about a book sent to Nick as a Christmas card for testing your urine at home. Neither item has anything to do with the murder of Clyde Wynant's mistress and neither were some sort of foreshadowing of plot developments to come. And no matter how much I have tried, I cannot find a definitive answer as to why Hammett put these accounts in this book. Plus, I probably would have finished this book several days earlier than I did going back and trying to figure out who this person was or is pretending to be; not to mention those other rabbit holes... And if they're red herrings- I HATE red herrings.

I did find myself liking this book a lot more than The Maltese Falcon. It was rapid fire with Nick and Nora's one-shots at each other. I liked how the plot played out like an Agatha Christie novel with so many other secrets and deceptions coming to life. Plus, I like the fact that I solved who the murderer was! (I always like when I do that.) I  also like to think it's a sign of a good story when you want to read more adventures starring the main characters. To my regret, Hammett never wrote another Thin Man story as a novel. But he did write several of the screenplays that followed up the live action film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. I'm excited to say that I managed to get one of them recorded on my DVR to watch over my holiday break!

You might think that this novel being from 1934 and a condensed version first appearing a year earlier in Redbook, that The Thin Man is a fairly innocuous little story. With the impropriety, boozing, murder, assaults on women, dirty cops and at least 1 erection, I can't believe this made it into a women's fashion magazine. Something like GQ or Playboy, sure I could see The Thin Man making an appearance in the pages of those. Maybe the 1930s was a different time for women's mags. 

This was an interesting read that makes me want more. Yeah, it had some flaws. But it wasn't enough to keep me from visiting the works of Dashiell Hammett some time in the near future.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Thanksgiving #1

There were very few Thanksgiving themed comics on the market this year. Who am I kidding? I think there was only 2. 3, tops! But I really looked forward to this one. And look forward to it I did; because it took forever for my favorite comic shop to precure a copy. I had almost given up hope, figuring I would have to wait until Thanksgiving, 2026. But at the last minute- holiday miracle!

Thanksgiving is set in a snowy small town on Thanksgiving night. The burg is living in fear as a Turkey Day serial killer has struck again and the police are stymied. For the Grandt family, this Thanksgiving is a chance to rekindle relationships, enjoy some delicious grub and share family secrets. 

Mark Russell penned a thrilling Thanksgiving murder mystery. I'm almost sorry that it was a one-shot. But with it's twist ending that borderlines on the surreal, the ending was warranted. Though with all great horror mysteries, there's always room for a sequel or mo
st definitely in this case, a prequel!

I figured out the killer pretty quick. But the motive was a surprise. So was the revelation of several mysteries; especially the one surrounding the narrator's mother. Besides, it doesn't upset me if I solve the mystery. It makes me feel smart. But it's all a shocking good story that fans of serial killer horror, true crime and holiday comics that are more than just cheery and bright will enjoy!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

I don't know if there's been a debate over which is the better detective writer. But between Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, my money is on Chandler. I tried to get into crime noir as a kid and while I liked it, I wasn't mature enough for it. I tried to get into Hammett's work but I found him too wordy. I probably would have stayed by that assessment without needing to review my position. But I found a copy of The Maltese Falcon for a really good price and decided to give Hammett another try.

The story is where the world was introduced to Sam Spade. He'd appeared in a short story a year prior. But it didn't really move the needle. It was until the popularity of this story broken into 5 parts in the pages of Black Mask magazine in 1929, that the world really got a good look at the celebrated private investigator who only ever appeared in 5 works by Hammett and one of those was left unpublished! 

When The Maltese Falcon were collected into a single novel in 1930, it became a smash hit. It also laid the foundation for hard boiled crime fiction. Humphrey Bogart made the character of Spade a household name in 1941's black and white film adaptation, directed by John Huston; which is considered one of the greatest films ever made. You might be wondering why it took over a decade for Bogie to play Sam Spade.  Actually, a film version was made in 1931. But it's content was so salacious, with nudity, sex and homosexual overtones, that film standards adopted shortly after it's release, prevented it from ever being re-released to the viewing public. Hence, a toned down remake was necessitated to be made for the viewing public of a pre-WW2 America.

In the story, Sam Spade is accused of murdering his detective agency partner, with whom he is having an affair with the man's wife. To clear his name, Spade must figure out how the client his partner was hired to protect got tangled up with a trio of criminals who all accuse the woman of stealing something valuable from them: a one of a kind golden statue covered in black resin called the Maltese Falcon. Lost from the annals of history, the Falcon was supposed to be a tribute to the King of Spain, during the time of the Crusades. If the bird can be recovered, it would be a priceless relic that could net Sam Spade and his client a hefty pay day.

As the murder count grows, so does distrust among the group. Sam and his client get rather intimate with each other. And the police threaten to send Spade away on a murder charge for a very long time. What results is a trio of chapters that crosses and double-crosseds everyone on the suspect list a good 3 or 4 times a piece and becomes some 40 or so pages of the most well written crime drama even written. I just wish the other 175-odd so pages were just as good. 

Okay, that last statement might not be quite so fair. Before the last 3 chapters, there is a span of 3-4 chapters that I also thought were very good. But I just couldn't get into this book until I reached chapter 11. At that point, something just clicked. It felt like the writer had finally gotten into the zone, or whatever similar mode of excellence that writers get into when they get cooking. But that first half of the book was rather difficult for me to get engaged with. I was averaging 2 chapters a night at first. That was how much I could take. With the adventures of Philip Marlowe, I was finishing entire 80 page short stories in just an hour worth of read time. 

I will say that I no longer consider Dashiell Hammett to be 'wordy'. But I feel like he was too focused on the mundane. For instance, he can spend an entire 200 word paragraph, exploring the contents of a dead man's pocket. Not plural. For each searched pocket, Hammer devotes another paragraph to it and I am just not sure it was all that necessary. But Hammett's dialogue is brilliant. So good, that I am willing to give Nick and Nora Charles with their witty repartee and frequent downing of martinis a try with Hammett's The Thin Man. 

It wasn't Raymond Chandler. But it wasn't terrible as I had thought it was 30 years ago either. My tastes grew up and so did my appreciation. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars. 

The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler

This is my first venture into the Philip Marlowe archetype stories written by Raymond Chandler. Well, almost. If you thought George Lucas was bad with his constant retooling of the original Star Wars trilogy, you have never encountered Raymond Chandler. The celebrated crime author was never happy with the end result of his work and he struggled for years with perfection. It is listed as one of the underlying causes of his chronic alcoholism. 

The character began with the name Mallory. Ever the perfectionist, Chandler switched up his ultimate character ideal with another private investigator named Carmady, then Malvern before settling on John Dalmas, whom the author made the focus of a majority of his crime works from 1936-1939 when Philip Marlowe picked up the baton in the form of an ever smoking revolver to fight and solve crime in the Los Angeles area.

Once he was happy with Philip Marlowe, Chandler began to go back to his older pulp shorts and reworked the shamus into them. Stories that I have previously read such as 'Finger Man', 'Red Wind' and 'The Lady in the Lake' were written before Raymond Chandler was satisfied with his protagonist. Yet, the editions I read were the second final drafts. In this collection, I got to read the original published works. It was almost like coming across a DVD with the original 1977 theatrical cut of Star Wars- before it was retitled as Episode IV: A New Hope.

This anthology of Chandler short stories begins with the title essay 'The Simple Art of Murder'. Chandler wrote a lot of essays on crime and mystery writing. This one is considered the Gettysburg Address of brief dissertations on the medium. It gives insight into the thought process behind crafting a mystery story. It also lets me a little off the hook when I find myself feeling like something didn't gel right as Chandler argues that crime stories are full of inaccuracies, red herrings and are in a word, implausible. 

Along with the piece that was first published in the Atlantic Monthly, there are 8 short stories. My favorite was 'I'll Be Seeing You'. It was the shortest story in the book and is considered the most perfectly set mystery story of all time. It certainly was memorable and I didn't want it to end. 'The King in Yellow', 'Pickup on Noon Street' and 'Spanish Blood' were really good as well. That last story sees the main character spending some time in the same mountain town where The Lady in the Lake took place and I enjoyed the sense of a shared universe because of the setting.

I was excited to see 'Guns at Cyrano's' in this volume. That story was originally published in Trouble is My Business. But the edition I read omitted it. It was story that was worth the wait. 

I was on the fence about 'Nevada Gas'. I like that the protagonist was something other than a PI. Here, he's a mid-level hood who is simultaneously fighting off a romantic rival as well as gangsters trying to frame him for the aerosol murder of a businessman. But this story also has some gaps like in one scene when the main character walks in on his girl and the rival, who disappears but is never mentioned as ever having exited the scene.

The one story I could have done without was 'Smart-Aleck Kill'. It seems like an open and shut case of suicide. But the murder weapon is a hand gun that's been filed, which doesn't seem to fit the M.O. of a suicide. So the detective on the case goes to the widow of the gun's original owner and that's when things are supposed to get really good. But I was bored with this story. It just didn't resonate with me. It took me several days to finish and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Though I wasn't a fan of every story, I love the crime noir world of Raymond Chandler. Even with some tales having flaws in them! I'm totally hooked right now and I want to read more. But as there's so many volumes of collected works that often have some of the same works. I think I am gonna need a list so I can keep straight what I have read and what's still out there to uncover.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Human Target, Vol. 1

I like Tom King. But he's got this annoying little habit of taking those more obscure, fan favorite DC characters that I grew up reading from my dad's comic book collection and deconstructing them. Even to the point of killing off the character.

This time, Tom King decides to strip bare the character Christopher Chance, the Human Target. Trained to be a master mimic with skills in various martial arts and proficient in countless weapons, Chance becomes the target of people who have a death wish against them. All you have to do for the Human Target to take a bullet for you is to pay him his asking fee of 10% of your yearly income. So when multi-billionaire Lex Luthor approaches Chance to discover who's planning to kill him at an annual technology conference, the Human Target sees nothing but dollar signs. 

Christopher not only takes the bullet for Lex Luthor, he also drinks the hemlock. It seems that more than one person wanted to kill Luthor. An seemingly innocent cup of coffee was laced with a slow acting poison. Now with 12 days left to live, the Human Target will investigate his own murder. But it's not going to be easy because the prime suspect in the case is the entire lineup of the original Justice League International!

This maxi-series is a superhero populated version of the noir classic D.O.A.. Readers go into this work knowing that the Human Target will die by story's end. We just don't know who killed him and what was the motive. That's the mystery being solved. Christopher Chance's fate is sealed.

Thankfully, this is a Black Label story. Those stories aren't canon. Still, that doesn't mean that I'm not hoping for a happy ending here. Plus, it doesn't mean that this story might not actually happen later on in the future. A bunch of Marvel What If... stories have been made into canon and DC is no different. Several of their Elseworlds tales were made into official alternate Earths populating the multiverse. What's not to say that some future crisis that occurs in the DC universe will not someday make this story along with the rest of Tom King's Black Label works from becoming real; killing off a bunch of my favorite B-list characters for realsies? That prospect scares the DC fanatic in me!

The first half of the story has been near perfect. I did think that the chapter involving the Martian Manhunter was unnecessarily chaotic. But it's been an engrossing read and a visual delight. Generally,it doesn't feel like a legitimate Tom King story without the artwork of frequent collaborator Mitch Gerad's. However Greg Smallwood has this style that looks and feels quintessential 1950s and very early 60s corporate art. I can't quite put my finger on just what Smallwood's artwork reminds me of just yet. However, if you told me that the artist used to draw the storyboards for Don Draper's ad pitches, I would believe it.

I checked this out at the library and now I am kicking myself! for some reason, I decided to only pick up volume 1! I've gotta rush to the library and hope nobody snagged up the follow up before I did!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

Believe it or not, I first read this book about 35 years ago. I was somewhere between 11 or 12 when I read it. Nobody ever said that my parents had very good parental discretion. The Lady in the Lake has got sex, violence, dirty cops and several gristly murders. 

I remember being enamored by the title that was a reference to the Arthurian legend. I'm here to tell you, this Raymond Chandler classic has absolutely nothing to do with King Arthur and Merlin. It would have been neat had the main setting, a secluded cabin in the Californian San Gabriel Mountains, had the name of Camelot. But nobody ever said that a Philip Marlowe mystery had a lot of symbolism. 

There was one point where Marlowe provided false information. That lie really confused me. The private investigator states that a murder suspect wore a certain piece of clothing when in fact, it was Philip who wore the accessory. I spent a good half hour going back through the book, thinking that I had missed something. Instead, I should of followed my own personal rule when I read a Raymond Chandler classic: just follow along for the ride.

Being a re-read, despite it being decades since I first read this book, I still had some memories of my first interaction with it. But my memory was foggy enough to still be surprised from time to time. Plus I was just really shocked by the content of this 1943 work, both for the level of loose morals for a time period otherwise considered puritanical compared to today. Plus I still can't believe my mom let me read this book when I was barely in middle school!!!

Marlowe is hired to find a missing wife. Her husband is a high level executive who's more afraid of the scandal behind his wife's history of infidelity than he is concerned about her safety. The last time she was seen was about a month earlier when she went to summer at her mountain cottage. Added to the mix was a bizarre telegram win which the woman claims she's gone to Mexico for a quickie divorce and even quicker remarriage. Only the guy she claimed was going to marry her never took the plunge and hasn't seen her in weeks.

When the shamus visits the cabin, he learns that the caretaker's wife disappeared at about the same time as the missing socialite. When Marlowe discovers a body partially submerged in the water, it's identified that the victim is the caretaker. But could the murderer have been his client's missing bride? It's up to the detective to solve two mysteries that while seemingly unaffiliated; the clues keep entangling like a fast growing vine around each other.

One thing that readers need to understand about this book is that it was written during the height of World War II. There's a lot of situations that seem very unusual to modern day readers as those moments should. There was a very great fear of sabotage especially along the West Coast. Plus with priority going towards the war effort, shortages and rationing was a very real first world problem for Americans in the 1940s. Once you understand the impact the war made on everyday life in the United States, despite our country not becoming an active war zone, it will help you better enjoy this work.

A great read. Just remember to let Raymond Chandler guide you. Things might seem out of sorts at time. But it all circles back in the end.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer: The Comic Strip, Vol 2

I've got so many books that I had forgotten that I even owned this. I've been reading a lot of mystery noir lately and I was going through a forgotten corner of my comic book collection where I unearthed this read. So I was already in the mood to finally read it. How long has it been in my collection? I couldn't say other than I've not had it longer than 2007 when I started collecting again after over a decade pause.

From 1985, this collection from Ken Pierce, Inc., reprints the final half of the short-lived Mike Hammer comic strip that ran in nationally syndicated newspapers from 1953-54. Written by the master himself, Mickey Spillane, these stories are as gritty and violent as his novels. Take the wrap around cover image of a partially undressed girl being tied up, gagged and tortured with a lit cigarette being held to the bottom of her foot. It was so salacious at the time, several major newspapers dropped the strip immediately, spelling the end of the strip that ran 6 dailies along with a separate Sunday supplement story.

The cancellation didn't really bother Mickey Spillane all that much. He was getting tired of the grind of coming up with stories that would last about 6 weeks on average. The author wanted to focus on just novels once again. But for artist Ed Robbins, he took the cancellation very hard, causing a rift between the artist and Spillane.

Novelist Max Allan Collins interviewed Robbins for years and the two developed a friendship. Collins' forward to this book details that relationship along with an overview of the Mike Hammer strip and the events behind it's demise. Unfortunately, Ed Robbins died before this book could be published. Though I am happy to report, not before being able to patch things up with writer Spillane.

The stories are quite good. But they are not quite my taste. I prefer Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe stories. But I'd rather read something by Mickey Spillane than anything Dashell Hammett wrote any day of the week. 

The stories inside involves private eye Mike Hammer being targeted by an unknown assailant when the NYPD erroneously claims that the detective saw who killed a man he found dying in the streets. Mike and trusty secretary Velda then help a naive young couple who are swindled by a pair of loan sharks. Hammer also falls for a girl (the same one being tortured on the cover), who is trying to help her brother flee from gangsters that thinks he stole a jackpot's worth of dough from them. Lastly, Mike gets a paying customer for once; a dying old man who's desperate to reunite with his prodigal son one last time.

I think the most striking thing about this book was how different Mike Hammer looks in the strip compared to the detective I grew up watching on TV. I'm used to envisioning actor Stacy Keach in my head with his gray business suit and equally gray fedora with slicked back hair and mustache. That's because that's exactly what the actor looked like on the CBS TV series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer in the 1980s. Here, Hammer is short and stocky, with a buzz cut, a nose that has obviously been broken many times, and wearing really shabby looking clothes. Obviously, this is what Mike Hammer is supposed to look like as I highly doubt Mickey Spillane would have let Ed Robbins draw his signature character any other way. But it's a stark contrast from what I grew up watching.

I was satisfied enough to not need to search out volume 1. I enjoyed what I read here. But not enough to keep it. So I felt like I was nonplussed with needing to read further. That is until I found out that one of the stories contained in volume 1 is a Christmas Mike Hammer adventure. Well, let's put that on my holiday comic wish list.

Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!!!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Trouble is My Business by Raymond Chandler

When I read Agatha Christie, I feel like I'm challenged to solve the mystery before her main characters do. When I read Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, I feel like I'm sitting in on a lecture about criminology; learning new and unusual facts. But when I read Raymond Chandler, I'm merely along for the ride. 

Chandler's Philip Marlowe stories are fast paced, wordy whodunits filled with slimy thugs, morally questionable cops and dangerous dames. Private Detective Marlowe doesn't always seek the justice. He's like a 1930s Robin Hood who tries to solve the crime while making sure that the player treated the least fairly is given a fighting chance to better themselves. Marlowe is the lone narrator of his adventures. I just wish I knew what the hell he was talking about sometimes.

Written in a different time where California was still more Wild West than the home of Tinsel Town, nobody can or should be trusted in a Raymond Chandler work. It could be argued that you shouldn't even trust Philip as he'll turn against a paying client if he determines that they're in the wrong; even if every rule in the law book is squarely on their side. But as Marlowe runs the reader through each story, both the private eye and the characters he encounters use verbiage that is so antiquated that the last time they were used in public was during the filming of a Philip Marlowe mystery!

Dictionaries and Google are definitely needed to understand what's being said. 

There are 4 short stories in this collection. Now before some of you Raymond Chandler experts out there berate me on what I just said. Yes, I know, Trouble is my Business contained 5 novellas when the collected edition was first published by Penguin in 1950. I have no idea why 'Guns at Cyrano's' is no longer included in this 1992 edition from Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. Here, you only get the title story along with 'Goldfish', 'Finger Man' and 'Red Wind'. 

'Trouble is my Business' sees Philip being hired out to by a wealthy widower to hopefully persuade a gold digger to unleash her grasp from the millionaire's adopted son. Marlowe then gets a lesson in ichthyology when he goes to the Great White North in search of some stolen pearls. Jewelry is once again the subject, this time as an object of blackmail, when Marlowe witnesses the murder of a man in a speakeasy in 'Red Wind'. Then in a story that has to have influenced Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Philip is given the choice to take the fall as the 'Finger Man' or let an innocent woman take the rap for the murder of a two-bit hustler in a mystery that revolves around a crooked politician who controls all of the gambling dens in Los Angeles.

All 4 stories were fun reads. 'Goldfish' was perhaps my favorite because of the fish out of water quality to it with Marlowe being in the Vancouver area instead of sunny California. I also really liked 'Red Wind'. While each story had a sultry femme fatale as a character, 'Red Wind' was the only story where I felt that Marlowe was going to get burned by getting too close to the flames of passion. Also, it's the only tale where Marlowe never enters his detective agency office. It's dive bar, apartment, out in the field; solving a case he never even agreed to a fee to in a single night.

Don't neglect to read the opening article written by Raymond Chandler himself. It's a well known essay in which the author admits his works are far from literature. But that doesn't in any way detract from the artistic quality of his writings. Ironically, among fans of mystery noir and the pursuit of the great American novel, the case files of Philip Marlowe, P.I. are among the pinnacles of mid-20th century lit. 

A must read for murder mystery enthusiasts. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams

Lots of sequels make the mistake of following the original winning formula too closely. Others make the mistake of not following the blueprints close enough. I tend to think that The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, the second Dirk Gently novel by Douglas Adams, fits into the second category.

What can only be described as an 'act of God' at the London Heathrow airport results in a giant of a man in a coma, a missing bag check clerk and another woman seriously injured. Meanwhile, Dirk arrives at a paying client's home only to find the residence swarming with police and his client's head spinning atop a turntable. Add in a very angry eagle who swoops down on just about every character in the book, an elderly man in a high priced health clinic who might be Odin, the High Father of Asgard, and a whole bunch of fender benders and you've got one heck of a puzzle. Unfortunately, I think it's a puzzle that has all of the pieces. 

The previous Dirk Gently novel wrapped everything up in a very nice tiny package. It was kinda like one of those huge Hickory Farms gift sets where every inch of space is smarty filled with beef sticks, cheeses, spreads and those tiny little strawberry candies. With book two, several key elements are left unanswered. For example, Dirk's client had a TV addicted child living in the upstairs attic. Sadly, now he's an orphan. It felt like Douglas Adams didn't really know what to do with the lad and that's infuriating because of how everything is supposed to fit together. Dirk's holistic approach to solving a mystery, all clues, participants and events are supposed to tie in to one another. Could it have been that Adams was going to explain everything in a third book?

Basically none of the characters or events of the first book are mentioned in this book except for Dirk and his long-suffering secretary who finally got the nerve to quit the detective agency. When I was reading The Salmon of Doubt, I was very lost because a lot of the characters and fallout from The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul unfolds and appear in that book. 

Some trilogies start off as a single volume. Since it's a new concept, creators make a story that can go one of two ways. First, you have a happy ending that should audiences not make the work a success, it can stand on its own. Secondly, your piece becomes a colossal hit and so you end volume two on a cliffhanger of sorts so that fans have to know what happens in the final act. Perhaps this book felt so unfinished was that the author was going to give fans a thrilling ending that tied both books in the series together in a climatic crescendo. Instead, in reality Douglas Adams got bored with making a third book and instead began focusing on non-fiction articles about  conservation and technology, along with a very poorly received 5th Hitchhikers book. Then when came not time but interest in Adams wrapping up the Dirk Gently trilogy, he passed away too soon for it to be completed. 

Maybe I will get my answers in volume 2 of IDW's adaptation of The Salmon of Doubt. I'm eager to find out if that's the case. Though I might need to re-read volume 1 again. No, I definitely need a re-read.

A good read. But I expected a lot more. Plus it helps if you have an understanding of British debt law of which I have zero knowledge. But it plays into the ending and use of Wikipedia for guidance is a must. At least the explanation behind the Coke machine and the angry bird was executed brilliantly!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was a very odd book. Not because of the quirky, irreverent nature of author Douglas Adams. His obscured view on things is rather refreshing. No, I consider this book to be unusual because of all things you'd expect from a whodunnit/sci-fi/satire novel; and by that, I mean: math.

The edition I read was a 1987 paperback published by Pocket Books. It was 306 pages in length. Of those pages, the main, title character doesn't appear actively until you're over a third of the way done at page 113! He's talking to another character over the phone. It's another 30 pages before he actually appears in person! I've read a lot of mystery novels. Mostly, Sherlock Holmes and detective noir. A little bit of Agatha Christie. In those books, it might be one or two chapters tops before the main protagonist appears as writers like to present the crime in order to set up the plot. I'm okay with this. I've never had to get to chapter 14 to encounter the title character of a story.

Dirk is mentioned in great detail in chapter 6 by at this point by what we assume are the two main characters: Reg and Richard as Adams has devoted about 40 of the first 50 pages of the book to a very odd encounter between them. I really couldn't figure out where things were going. I was even more confused as I had watched by seasons of the BBC America's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency starring Elijah Wood and Samuek Barnett as Dirk. None of this book unfolds like either season. Even Dirk from the book is nothing at all like Dirk from the show, other than he's rather annoying. Though I think Barnett's portrayal makes Dirk to be a more likable character. Dirk Gently on paper is like the most irredeemable character in the history of literature. You think Ebeneezer Scrooge was a monster. But he at least becomes a likable character by the end of A Christmas Carol. By the end of this book, you're convinced that fans would have hated it the main protagonist to the point that there would never be a sequel; much less a radio series and 2 TV show adaptations.

And yet considering how despicable Dirk Gently is, you kept wanting to read more!

The plot for the book is rather complicated. To reveal too much would spoil the wondrous magic of the book. This is a nearly 40 year old book. But if all you've ever read of Douglas Adams was his 5-volume Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, to give away too much would be like exposing Houdini's secrets! So how best to give a synopsis...

Here goes:

Dirk Gently is a detective. He's not a very good one. He's more of a con man; trying to get clients to fund his holiday excursions as important mind-clearing methods for solving his cases which mostly involve finding lost cats. Dirk is slightly psychic, though he would deny this to the grave. But his holistic way of looking at the universe seems to work out in the end. Here Dirk helps an old college friend escape a murder rap when the guy's boss is mysteriously killed by an unknown intruder hiding in the deceased's automobile. 

I really don't think I can say more about the plot. But I did have to re-read several sections more than once. And I had to use Google and ChatGPT AND Reddit to finally understand all of the nuances of this book.

After reading the Salmon of Doubt, I ran out and immediately bought copies of both of Adams' Dirk Gently novels. It wasn't a bad decision on my part. It's just not an easy book to read. There's a good mystery and I was able to figure out some of the clues. But if ever there was a book that needed CliffsNotes, this was it. Don't go into this expecting it to be like the BBC America series as you will be 100% disappointed. But if you approach Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency like another masterpiece by the late great Douglas Adams, you will be in for a humongous treat!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.