From the massive archive…
MASTERS
OF NOIR: Volume One (2010)
Reviewed
by Barry Ergang
The first in a series of electronic
collections of stories that—I’m guessing about this because original
publication credits aren’t supplied—initially appeared in pulp magazines such
as Manhunt and Pursuit from the 1950s, Masters
of Noir features stories by authors who remain well-known today and others
who were notable in that era from their magazine and paperback original works.
The book opens with a police procedural by
Jonathan Craig in which detectives Dave Emory and his partner Walt Nelson have
a major conundrum to deal with. The young woman was killed in an apartment in
the shabby rooming house, but about her it’s “Identity Unknown.” There’s
nothing in the apartment or among her personal effects to tell them who she is.
Until they can do that, they have no chance of finding her killer.
Wealthy and prominent almost beyond imagining
from his investments, the recently deceased
Walter Harrison was a ruthless charmer who almost invariably got what he
wanted. So what drove him to suicide? Chester Duncan, who had known him since
their college days, came to despise him
with good reason but pretended to remain his friend. He relates to another
friend, Inspector Early, how he engineered Harrison’s downfall once Harrison
saw “The Girl Behind the Hedge.” This story by Mickey Spillane is utterly
different in approach and tone from those in the hardboiled novels he’s famous
for, and ends with a nifty little surprise twist.
Jeff MacCauley “sweated in the Tampico oil
fields for more than three years, socking it away a little at a time,” but now
a tinhorn crook named Carrera has stolen the ten thousand dollars MacCauley
saved to finally get himself out of Mexico. Carrera has the money, but
MacCauley has “Carrera’s Woman.” Or does she have him? Evan Hunter wrote under
a number of pen names, the most famous, of course, being Ed McBain. This story
is one he wrote as Richard Marsten.
The LAPD have dubbed the serial killer the
“Butcher.” When private detective Shell Scott, after making a grisly discovery,
learns that the victim is a young woman he knew, he does some investigating of
his own with the approval of his friend, Homicide Captain Phil Samson, in one
of Richard S. Prather’s darker stories.
The unnamed woman knows she’s beautiful, not
only from her reflection in a mirror, but also “by the eyes of the hungry men,
the eyes that she felt rather than saw upon her everywhere she went.” This evening
she’s in a bar, waiting to see which of the three men whose eyes are upon her
will make the move. Will it be Mr. Dark Suit, Mr. Baldy, or Mr. Bright-Eyes?
And will he or she “Look Death in the Eye” in this Lawrence Block gem?
Dell Harper is a cantankerous, impatient, blustering, self-absorbed man, but he’s agreed to go on a picnic with his wife Julia and their three-year-old daughter Linda “On a Sunday Afternoon.” What none of them expects to contend with is a pack of juvenile delinquents in this taut tale by Gil Brewer.
In Frank Kane’s novelette that’s overloaded
with cigarette lightings, poured drinks, and tugged lower lips, private
detective Johnny Liddell has two gunshot deaths to contend with: his client’s and his assigned operative’s. The
operative, Tate Morrow, was on hand to bodyguard the client. The local homicide
lieutenant investigating the case is sure Liddell is the guilty party, but
Liddell knows it’s a “Frame” and sets out to prove it and bring the real killer
to justice.
Maintaining objectivity while investigating
John Ambler’s murder isn’t Detective Gus Taylor’s long suit. He’s certain Holly
Laird is the guilty party, and behaving brutally toward her and her boyfriend
is as natural as breathing for him. Why? Because Holly reminds him of Martha,
the woman he loved who deserted him for another man. Holly, in fact, could be
Martha’s “Double” in this novelette by Bruno Fischer.
If Grandfather would only die already, Tony
Wren and his cousin Cindy would inherit the money to fulfill Cindy’s dream
of living the good life in Acapulco. But
Grandfather remains healthy and active despite his age, so unless they want to
wait for him to die of natural causes, there’s only one solution. They’re
pretty certain they’ve gotten away with it until the phone rings and the
apparently voyeuristic neighbor Evan Lane enters their lives in Fletcher
Flora’s “As I Lie Dead.”
Although it’s arguable as to whether all of
these stories actually fit traditional
definitions of noir fiction—two feature private eyes and one is a police procedural,
all told from the viewpoints of their heroes—they should nevertheless satisfy
fans of hard-edged, fast-moving tales. Definitely recommended.
Barry Ergang ©2015, 2021
Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang’s written work has appeared in numerous publications, print and electronic. Some of it is available at Amazon and at SmashwordsA. His website is http://www.writetrack.yolasite.com/.
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