UNDERCOVER: CRIME SHORTS - Book review

 

This slim volume collects together six of author Jane Risdon’s crime short stories plus a brief extract of her first novel concerning Ms Lavinia Birdsong, a former MI5 officer.

‘Sweet Sable – the Red Siren’ is an enjoyable caper set in 1930s Hollywood, and Jane has captured the period and the jargon. Sable is a chanteuse some of the time – when she’s not seducing and then fleecing rich marks. She’s a fascinating character, yet 25 pages do not do her justice. Really, she has the potential to fill a book-length novel or novella. Certainly worth getting to know her – but hold onto your billfold!

‘Apartment 206c’ is also set in the States. China shares an apartment with Louise. While Louise goes out to work, China is a writer, usually draped over her laptop. This begins with a tense situation with noisy neighbors that then turns unpleasant. Before I got to the end, I did wonder if it was a variant on Rosemary’s Baby – but it wasn’t. 

The best in the collection is ‘Murder by Christmas’. Deceased Tiffany Blunt has left an intriguing will. ‘Those who’d hoped to inherit didn’t, and those who had been invited to attend without knowing why were suddenly beneficiaries. It was all a bit odd, really.’ (p45) This certainly had the flavor of a Ruth Rendell suspense tale with a set of dysfunctional and amoral characters. Again, these 21 pages, while satisfying, promised the potential of a longer work. With the right director, the story could be a successful TV one-off.

‘The Watchers’ was a clever story, with several watchers involved. Candice, having recently broken off with her boyfriend Ollie suspects she is being watched. She’s of a nervous disposition which doesn’t help. Or is she being paranoid? There was more than one twist to this tale. Let us just say, it doesn’t end well…

‘The Honey Trap’ concerns an unnamed Second Secretary to the British Embassy. He appears to be propositioned at the Majestic Hotel and is only too willing to retire to the attractive woman’s room. Naturally, telegraphed by the title, he is suspicious about her motives. This is a dark piece, but not too graphic, and the conclusion is open to interpretation. Again, I felt that giving this tale added depth of character would have made it especially chilling; if someone is going to be murdered, perhaps the reader needs to know more about them, to empathize. Still, overall, unnerving.

‘The Look’ is playful and deadly. An unnamed woman responds to a dating website and meets the unnamed man for a drink and a chat and shared enthusiasm over photography. They both have ‘the look’. That’s the playful part. Then, slowly, irrevocably, it gets dark, very dark. Murder will out – and there is a reason for it. Oh, and it paid well – very well. It would be a shame to say more as that would spoil the story. Yes, this too could make a suspenseful longer tale, whether novella or novel. A neat amusing ending which echoes the story’s title. 

Ms Birdsong Investigates Murder in Ampney Parva is an all-too-brief extract from a novel; there are at least two sequels in the works. Lavinia has ‘buried her real self, taking on the mantle of a hardened Madam – trafficker of girls.’ (p91) She is in a particularly disagreeable place, mixing with hard-hearted Eastern Europeans. The sample ends when she finds herself in a compromising situation that does not bode well for her future… Yes, we want to read on!

On the whole, there’s a wide variety of crime and murder offered within 92 pages which the reader feels impelled to keep turning.

 

  

Book review - The Song is You

Megan Abbott’s second noir novel, The Song is You (2007), though set in 1950s Hollywood, is topical in light of the #MeToo furore. 

Based on the real-life disappearance of actress Jean Spangler, this novel peels off some of the gloss from Tinseltown. Spin doctor Gil ‘Hop’ Hopkins, former reporter, is tasked with running interference for the movie stars, ensuring that no mud sticks, that scandal stays buried. He’s pretty good at what he does, turning a blind eye to debauchery and traumatised starlets.

There are a number of appropriate name-drops from that period.

On the night when Jean went missing, Hop had been among the crowd she was with, and now he has to retrace the steps of a male double act in order to muddy the water and inter memories. Drugs, sex, and violence – it’s all here, though not too graphic. The few clues from the real case are inserted in the story, with convincing explanations. The real mobster Dave Ogul of the time also features.

While covering tracks, Hop becomes entangled with girl reporter Frannie Adair who’s also on the case. ‘She had been easy for Hop to spot, the sole pair of heels and the only ass worth a glance in the sweeping room full of sweat-stained unshaven ginks. … all ginger curls and round cheeks, like three months off the farm, until she spoke. Twitching her freckled nose, she shot back at him, “What’s it like going over to enemy lines, turning stooge for the plastic factory?”

She didn’t take prisoners, it seems: “I hear you’ve done more white-washing than Tom Sawyer.” (p47)

Besides wit and one-liners, Abbott delivers an atmospheric hard-boiled tale. Despite his less than savoury character, you’re drawn to Hop, a flawed man who wanted to be good, but that didn’t pay enough. We’re with him as he turns over stones and sees what crawls out from under; even when he stumbles upon a corpse, ‘Hop felt his body rise out of his skin, hover there a second, and then thud back down to earth.’

If noir fiction is your thing, then The Song is You is worth your while.

In the real world, the case of Jean Spangler remained unsolved; in the novel Hop gets to a solution.

Editorial comment

The sparse number of chapter headings seems odd.

Over-use of the word ‘something’. On pages 190-191 it appears 7 times; it crops up a lot elsewhere, too. Something to think about, anyway.

BARSOOM REVISITED

Ron Fortier’s a great fan of pulp fiction and literature in general.

His blog is worth a look at any time. I’d like to spotlight his March book review of

JOHN CARTER AND THE GODS OF HOLLYWOOD by Michael D. Sellers, (Universal Media, 348 pages).

This book is all about the movie version of “A Princess of Mars,” by the greatest pulp writer of them all, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Reading this book will doubtless engender some animosity towards many of the people who were 'a part of one of the most disastrous Hollywood marketing fiascos of all time'. 

As Ron says, ‘It is a book that details catastrophic incompetence among so many high ranking Disney executives one is left marveling how such a great movie as “John Carter,” ever got made in the first place.  It also turns the spotlight on the heroes of this epic calamity; the few with the courage of their convictions and the daring audacity to see it finished.  All this despite the selfish individuals determined to see them fail to the point of spreading lies to their cronies; unscrupulous movie critics eager for any scrap of negativity to enhance their own lackluster careers.’

Harsh words. Read the full review here, and weep:

http://pulpfictionreviews.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/john-carter-and-gods-of-hollywood.html

 

At time of writing the votes for the DVD were phenomenally good. Amazon.com has 1801 reviews, of which 1200 = 5-stars, 345 = 4, 112 = 3, 55 = 2 and 89 = 1 star.  This translates as 67% vote of 5 stars. Add 4 and 5 stars and that’s a hefty 86% viewers highly in favour of the film. Go to the bottom scores and the 1 and 2 stars can barely muster 8% of the total votes.

The story is much the same at Amazon.co.uk, with 395 reviews. Of these, 231 are 5-star (59%), 94 are 4-star (24%); that’s combining 4 and 5-star vote of 83% in favour. At the bottom end, the 1 and 2 stars can muster only 10%. (For the record, the 3-star votes, hits 6-7%).

Interestingly, the Rotten Tomatoes score-card of 51% doesn’t quite reflect the notion of a ‘flop’, despite the sourpuss comments; sure, it isn't up in the high 70s, mid-eighties either! Now, their score of 27% for Ishtar, for example, might suggest a flop… Reading the 11 pages of comments of these reviewers, it’s clear that many were very favourable towards John Carter and those who were not, simply didn’t get it, (why, I don’t know, perhaps because they were too young, deaf or jaded). Another oddity: on the Rotten Tomatoes site, they suggest movies ‘like John Carter’ – these are: Prince of Persia (35%), Avatar (83%), 300 (60%) and Thor (77%). Considering most post-war pulp science fiction was derivative of Edgar Rice Burroughs anyway, this is amusing, at least.

There is a sizeable group who are still lobbying for a sequel to John Carter – they can be contacted at http://backtobarsoom.com/