DEATH OF A MINOR POET

by William Krasner ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 6, 1984

Some 30 years ago Krasner wrote two stolid police-procedurals about city-cop Sam Birge, Walk the Dark Streets (1949) and The Stag Party (1956). So it's not surprising that this oddly timed follow-up has an old-fashioned, 1950s-ish feel to it--complete with one of those rather crudely psychoanalytic punchlines that were so prevalent in the decade that peaked with Psycho. Wesley Gowen, a 21-year-old would-be writer, is found dead in an apartment-building hallway, above the bohemian restaurant he frequented. So aging Detective Capt. Birge starts questioning the artistic types in this dated bohemian circle: refugee-artist/restaurateur Mirko; his former mistress, art teacher Jeanne De Plaissy (who has a ten-year-old son); their disciples and hangers-on. Birge also reads Wesley's journal--which tells of his semi-platonic relationship with a tart-ish young woman, whom Wesley tried to rescue from her swinish pimp. Meanwhile, young cop Hutkin, a poetic sort, is infiltrating the bohemian group, learning that Wesley and Jeanne were developing an attachment. And Hutkin's own growing attraction to Jeanne will lead to his own near-fatal clash with the culprit, who turns out to be a half-plausible prototype from Psychology 101. Still, despite the outdated air: sturdy work in the early Evan Hunter/Ed McBain mode, earnest and atmospheric.

Pub Date: June 6, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION