Pronzini's writings (the ``Nameless'' p.i. series, etc.), like those of many older mystery hands, have roots of pulp. Here's a repotting of the 1970's adventures of one of the author's better pulp creations—the bodyguard antihero known as Carmody. In a preface that—for its peek at the scrounging life of a young pulpster—is the most valuable entry here, Pronzini explains that he created Carmody to ride the wave of male-oriented pulp antiheroes that crested in the early 70's. The tough-minded bodyguard—who doesn't mind breaking the law but who sticks to a code that forbids theft and wanton murder—appeared in A Run in Diamonds (a 1973 paperback expanded from a pulp-magazine novella) and in three stories published 1971-75: The novel and stories are reprinted here. The stories show a writer learning his craft, capable of energetic prose but also of spelling things out for simple-minded readers: Carmody—we're told in his debut, ``The Dangerous Ones''—``thrived on the action, danger, and adventure in each of the jobs he undertook. He worked inside the law and outside it, whichever suited the occasion....'' All the stories involve Carmody taking a job, being betrayed, and righting the wrong through violence; today, their appeal is the period settings: 70's Algiers, Vienna, and Venice. Richer entertainment lies in the bawdier, bloodier novel, in which Carmody gets enmeshed in a complex diamond-theft scam. The women are sexy, the villains blackhearted (``The best kind of day—one filled with bright green money and bright red blood''), and the action fast and fleshed out with some shading of Carmody's stony character (e.g., lament for a lost love). Not bad for the genre, but there's a reason why this kind of male-action fare died out. A good bet, then, for pulp and Pronzini completists only.
Pub Date: June 15, 1993
ISBN: 0-913165-72-7
Page Count: 225
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
A murder is committed in a stalled transcontinental train in the Balkans, and every passenger has a watertight alibi. But Hercule Poirot finds a way.
**Note: This classic Agatha Christie mystery was originally published in England as Murder on the Orient Express, but in the United States as Murder in the Calais Coach. Kirkus reviewed the book in 1934 under the original US title, but we changed the title in our database to the now recognizable title Murder on the Orient Express. This is the only name now known for the book. The reason the US publisher, Dodd Mead, did not use the UK title in 1934 was to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel, Orient Express.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1934
ISBN: 978-0062073495
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1934
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