Preiss invited 23 authors to write a short story featuring private eye Philip Marlowe and, unfortunately, all of them agreed: despite their personal afterwards citing Chandler's humor, grace, style, their indebtness to him for their careers, etc., only three writers manage to honor Chandler; the rest merely pander or parody. The exceptions: Jonathan Vallin's "Malibu Tag Team," with a believable larcenous lady, an inadvertent double-cross, and a downbeat resolution that actually has an authentic 1940 tone; Paco Ignacio Taibo II's "The Deepest South," the archetypal misfit story, with a hardedged churl that Chandler would have relished: and Robert Crais' "The Man Who Knew Dick Bong," a tear-jerker father-son relationship complicated by a cynical ex-wife, a robbery that turned sour, and a sentimental bent for Marlowe, a good man. The only other worthwhile story is Chandler's own "The Pencil," which concludes the collection and demonstrates that a strong plot and sharp characterization can only enhance a story. Other contributors include Eric Van Lustbader (purple prose rampant), Simon Brett (uncomfortably macho), Sara Paretsky (outright corny), plus anthology perennials Ed Hoch, John Lutz, Loren D. Estleman, Francis M. Nevins, Jr. Also included are a map of Philip Marlowe's Los Angeles; 25 chapter drawings of varying period success; and an introduction by Frank MacShane, who rehashes what he's done—and done better—so many times before. A serious disappointment, but it'll probably turn up in most Chandler fans' Christmas stockings anyway.
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 1988
ISBN: 0394573277
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1988
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
The parts with Nero Wolfe, the only character Goldsborough brings to life, are almost worth waiting for.
In Archie Goodwin's 15th adventure since the death of his creator, Rex Stout, his gossipy Aunt Edna Wainwright lures him from 34th Street to his carefully unnamed hometown in Ohio to investigate the death of a well-hated bank president.
Tom Blankenship, the local police chief, thinks there’s no case since Logan Mulgrew shot himself. But Archie’s mother, Marjorie Goodwin, and Aunt Edna know lots of people with reason to have killed him. Mulgrew drove rival banker Charles Purcell out of business, forcing Purcell to get work as an auto mechanic, and foreclosed on dairy farmer Harold Mapes’ spread. Lester Newman is convinced that Mulgrew murdered his ailing wife, Lester’s sister, so that he could romance her nurse, Carrie Yeager. And Donna Newman, Lester’s granddaughter, might have had an eye on her great-uncle’s substantial estate. Nor is Archie limited to mulling over his relatives’ gossip, for Trumpet reporter Verna Kay Padgett, whose apartment window was shot out the night her column raised questions about the alleged suicide, is perfectly willing to publish a floridly actionable summary of the leading suspects that delights her editor, shocks Archie, and infuriates everyone else. The one person missing is Archie’s boss, Nero Wolfe (Death of an Art Collector, 2019, etc.), and fans will breathe a sigh of relief when he appears at Marjorie’s door, debriefs Archie, notices a telltale clue, prepares dinner for everyone, sleeps on his discovery, and arranges a meeting of all parties in Marjorie’s living room in which he names the killer.
The parts with Nero Wolfe, the only character Goldsborough brings to life, are almost worth waiting for.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5040-5988-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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