Interview: Bill Crider

Bill Crider is the author of more than 50 novels. His first was an unassuming entry in the Nick Carter Kill Master series—The Coyote Connection—debuting in 1981, and he has steadily increased his canon since. He has worked in several genres, including horror, western, and juvenile, but he is primarily a mystery writer. His mystery novels have introduced several memorable series characters—Sheriff Dan Rhodes, Truman Smith, Sally Good, Carl Burns.

His longest running series is The Sheriff Dan Rhodes novels set in rural-Texas Blacklin County. The first, Too Late to Die, appeared in 1986, and the latest, Between the Living and the Dead, is scheduled for release on August 11. Mr. Crider has won two Anthony Awards, a Golden Duck Award for best juvenile science fiction novel, and he was inducted in the Texas Literary Hall of Fame in 2010.

Mr. Crider was kind enough, and showed an amazing amount of patience, to answer a few questions. The questions are italicized.  

I have read you were inspired to write by reading the paperback original writers of the 1950s—John D. MacDonald, Harry Whittington, Charles Williams, etc. Do you have a favorite writer, or writers, from that era whose work continues to inspire you?

Those remain my favorites, along with Day Keene, Gil Brewer, William Campbell Gault, Ross Macdonald, Mickey Spillane, and a host of others. I reread all of them now and then, and I’m always amazed at their compact storytelling, their pacing, their ability to sketch convincing characters in a few words.  I wanted to be those guys.

Early in your writing career you wrote a handful of novels under house names, including a Nick Carter title—The Coyote Connection (1981)—and three titles in the Stone: M. I. A. Hunter series. Do you think any of these titles are particularly good, or do any of them have any special meaning to you? 

I have to admit that The Coyote Connection isn’t a great novel, but there are a few things about it that I remember fondly. I had a swell time writing for Steve Mertz in the MIA Hunter series. He gave me pretty much free rein to do what I wanted to, so I read a couple of the novels and took off. I picked up several lines from one of Joe Lansdale’s books in the series (a line that he repeats in his brand new Paradise Sky, by the way), and used them as tags for characters. I never thought of these books as slumming or as anything less than my other work, and I did the best job I could with them. I haven’t read them in years, and I don’t know how much revision Steve did on them, but I suspect I’d still be happy with them.

[Editor’s Note. The three novels Mr. Crider wrote for the Stone: M. I. A. Hunter series are: Miami War Zone (1988), Desert Death Raid (1989), and Back to ‘Nam (1990). The series was created by Stephen Mertz, and published as by Jack Buchanan.]

Too Late to Die (1986), which introduced Sheriff Dan Rhodes, was the first book you published under your own name. There are now 22 entries in the series. When you devised Sheriff Rhodes did you intend it to be a series, or was it an “accidental” series?

When Ruth Cavin, then an editor at Walker, bought the first Dan Rhodes novel, I received a letter (some of your younger readers might have to google that term) from her saying how much she liked the book and that she was buying it. She concluded with, “You are working on a sequel, aren’t you?” While I hadn’t planned on doing a series because I didn’t know that anyone would ever buy the first book, I wrote her back and told her that of course I was working on a sequel and that I’d send it to her as soon as it was done. I never dreamed that I’d still be writing about the sheriff 30 years later, though.

Have you been surprised by the length and success of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series? 

Absolutely surprised. As I mentioned above, I had no expectation that there would be a second book, much less more than 20. I don’t know how much success the series has had. It sneaked into paperback a few times, but it never made any bestseller lists. Ebooks have given it a real boost, though, and now that Crossroad Press has made all the early books available, the series is doing very well, indeed.

Are there any specific rewards or pitfalls that come from writing a long term series? 

There’s a considerable reward in being able to write about characters you enjoy. Writing about Blacklin County is like visiting a real place for me, and I enjoy every trip I take there. I suppose the pitfalls are that there’s a risk of getting bored, but so far that hasn’t happened. I don’t know if the series remains fresh for the readers, but it does for me. In writing about a small county, there’s the danger of the Cabot Cove Syndrome, but what can you do? I’ve joked about it even in the books. Nobody would ever move to Blacklin County. It has a higher murder rate than Chicago.

The rural setting for your Sheriff Dan Rhodes novels is, for me, key to the quality of the series. Is Blacklin County, Texas based on a specific place, or is it entirely imagined?

I’ve lived in three small towns in Texas, in three different counties that are distant from each other in geography and populations, but people in all three counties have told me that they recognize people and places that I write about. I suspect that little bits of all three of them get into the work, but mostly it’s an imaginary place, just as all the characters are imaginary.  

I have been impressed with the continuity in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. As an example, there is a brief mention of a boy who went missing in the Big Woods during a family barbecue in Too Late to Die, which becomes a significant plot element in A Mammoth Murder (2006). How do you keep track of what has happened in prior novels, and then incorporate it in later novels?

If I were smart, which I’m not, I would have created a “bible” for the series. But as I’ve mentioned, I didn’t know it would be a series at all, much less that it would last for so long.  Add to that the fact that I didn’t know what a series bible was back when I started. So I have to rely on my increasingly unreliable memory. I know that there are a good many inconsistencies in the books, but most readers are kind enough to ignore them. I don’t ignore them; I just don’t realize they’re there. Most of the time, anyway.

Your Sheriff Dan Rhodes novels are character driven with a significant amount of wry humor. Two of my favorite characters are Hack, the dispatcher, and Lawton, the jailer. They give Rhodes grief, and make him work for every piece of information. Their roles have increased over the life of the series. Was their increased role deliberate on your part, or did the characters demand more attention?

I introduced Hack and Lawton into the books because one of the things I wanted to do was have someone talk about all the petty crimes that occur in small counties, and they seemed like the ones to do it. They seemed to be having a good time, and so was I. When they demanded more space in the books, I was glad to give it to them. They amused me, and writing about them amused me. Since I write for my own amusement as much as anything else, it worked out very well for all of us.

Do you have a favorite supporting character in the series?

Hack and Lawton are a lot of fun, but I’m also very fond of Rapper. He hasn’t appeared in a while, and he might never come back, if he’s smart. Every time he’s showed up in Blacklin County, he’s lost another little piece of himself. He might have realized by now that he doesn’t stand a chance against Sheriff Rhodes. At the top of the list of supporting characters, however, is the inimitable Seepy Benton. I introduced him in another series, and when the publisher dropped that one, I couldn’t resist moving him to Blacklin County so I could continue to write about him.

Seepy Benton first appeared in the Sally Good series?

You’re right. 

[Editor’s Note. The Sally Good novels are Murder is an Art (1999), A Knife in the Back (2002), and A Bond with Death (2004).]

Seepy, at least the name, is based on one of your living and breathing friends. Are there any similarities between the real Seepy Benton, and the character?

A friend of mine named C. P. Benton (check out docbenton.com) asked me to put him in a book, so I did. He turned out to be such an interesting character that I couldn't let him die with the series. Seepy, the real guy, claims that the Rhodes series is now the Seepy Benton series.  He's somewhat like the character in the book. They both teach math, and the songs credited to Seepy in the book are all real songs by the real Seepy. They're on YouTube.

A major theme in the Dan Rhodes novels are feral hogs. He was attacked and nearly killed in Too Late to Die, they have a central role in The Wild Hog Murders (2011), etc. I have read Texas has a plague of wild hogs. Have you had real experiences with wild hogs, or is it a nifty device you pulled from the news? 

I used the feral hogs in the very first book, long ago, and for whatever reason (I can’t explain it), they’ve crept into just about every single book since. They finally got a starring role in The Wild Hog Murders, and they’ve been back in minor roles in the succeeding books. I own some land in Central Texas (inherited from my father), and my brother manages it. It’s inhabited by many roving bands of feral hogs. My brother traps and hunts them now and then, but mostly they just do whatever they want to.

Dan Rhodes is a fan of “old and bizarre movies like The Alligator People, or I Married a Monster from Outer Space.” Is this a predilection you share with Sheriff Rhodes? If so, what are a few of your favorites?

Just about every movie Sheriff Rhodes mentions is a movie I’ve seen.  I have a special fondness for The Alligator People, but Plan Nine from Outer Space is another favorite.  I’ve watched more times than I care to admit.

While we’re talking about author-character similarities, do you enjoy Dr. Pepper and Dairy Queen Blizzards as much as Dan Rhodes?

I’m a big fan of Blizzards, although I seldom have one. I’ve been drinking Dr Pepper since as far back as I can remember, and while I might drink some other soft drink on occasion, I’m faithful to Dr Pepper.

The most recent Sheriff Dan Rhodes novel, Between the Living and the Dead, is scheduled for release in August. Would you tell us a little about it?

In Between the Living and the Dead (the title is based on couple of lines from a Wordsworth poem; classy, huh?) Seepy Benton decides to go into the ghost-hunting business. There’s a haunted house, and of course a murder, and things do get a little woo-woo.

Can we look forward to more novels featuring Dan Rhodes?

A couple of weeks ago I turned in Survivors Will Be Shot Again, which is the next Sheriff Rhodes novel.  It should be out in 2016. I have a contract for one more book, tentatively titled Dead, to Begin With. If all works out it should appear in 2017. After that, who knows?

You wrote five novels featuring reluctant P. I. Truman Smith. These novels, and the character, have been positively compared with Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels; specifically the humor, dialogue, and plotting. Was Robert B. Parker, and the Spenser novels, an influence on the Truman Smith novels?             

I became a big fan of private-eye novels when I read Hammett, Chandler, Ross Macdonald, and Mickey Spillane long, long ago, so those are the main influences on Truman Smith. As it turned out, when I wrote a p.i. novel, it was nothing like any of theirs but that was okay. I really liked writing those books and hoped they’d be a big success. It didn’t work out like that, but I still think they’re some of my best work.

Truman Smith has a nomadic cat he calls Nameless—a character I very much like. Does the cat’s name refer to Bill Pronzini’s Nameless detective? Or is there another reason for the name?

I couldn’t think of a name for Nameless, so that’s where the name came from, but there’s no question that it’s a tip of the hat to Bill Pronzini and his p.i., in one of the best series of p.i. novels ever.

[Editor’s Note.. Truman Smith appeared in five novels: Dead on the Island (1991), Gator Kill (1992), When Old Men Die (1994), The Prairie Chicken Kill (1996), and Murder Takes a Break (1996).]

You wrote two mystery novels with television personality Willard Scott—Murder under Blue Skies (1998) and Murder in the Mist (1999)—and two with former Houston private detective Clyde Wilson—Houston Homicide (2007) and Mississippi Vivian (2010). Do you enjoy collaborating, and are there any elements of collaboration that are specifically appealing, or any that are especially difficult?

The collaborations were a good bit different. With Willard Scott, I was given a sheet of things that the book was to contain, one of which was a protagonist who was a retired weatherman. I decided to give the fictitious weatherman a background very much like that of Scott, and he was a help in that regard. Other than that, the book is all me. With Clyde Wilson, I was furnished a complete outline of the plot for the first book. Wilson was ailing by the time of the second book, and I got only a brief partial outline, but there was enough to work from. Things couldn’t have gone more smoothly either time. It was an honor and a pleasure to work with both those men.

I heard this question in an interview on a BBC program a few years ago. If you were stranded on an island and you had only one book. What would it be?

I’d have to cheat a little and pick The Complete Works of Shakespeare. I have a couple of these around the house, so it’s not as if I’m picking something I don’t own. The infinite variety would be good for me in that situation. Do I at least get a volleyball to keep me company, too?

The opposite side of the coin. If you were allowed only to recommend one of your novels, or stories, which one would you want people to read?

That’s even tougher. The Sheriff Rhodes series has easily been the most popular thing I’ve ever done, and I like to think they’re pretty consistently entertaining. I’d say just read any one of them and see if you like it. If not, no need to read the others. If so, by all means read the rest of them. I have some atypical standalones I like a lot, too, The Texas Capitol Murders being one of them. And I like the Truman Smith series a lot, not to mention . . . . Well, obviously I can’t answer this question.

Finally, we share at least one favorite author, Harry Patterson who gained fame under the name Jack Higgins, and I can’t help but ask if you have a favorite title of his?     

This one isn’t easy, either. The first book I read by Patterson under his most recognizable name was The Savage Day, and that’s still a favorite. I like A Prayer for the Dying equally well, maybe even a little better. I like a number of the books he wrote as James Graham. Again, I can’t stick to just one.

Thanks for giving me the chance to answer your questions, Ben.

Publicity Push: Robert J. Randisi's Joe Keough Novels

[Publicity Push is a new feature highlighting a book, or a series of books. It is intended to introduce something interesting and new—without the necessity of writing a specific review.] 

Robert J. Randisi writes in both the Western and mystery genres. He writes, under the name J. R. Roberts, The Gunsmith adult Western series and The Rat Pack mystery series—featuring the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. in supporting roles. I previously reviewed two Rat Pack novels: Luck Be a Lady, Don’t Die and The Way You Die Tonight.  

In 1995 Mr. Randisi introduced a series character named Joe Keough—an NYPD homicide detective—in Alone with the Dead. The series ran five books, and Joe Keough, much like his creator, moved from New York to St. Louis for books two through five. The series has received critical praise—

“This is top-notch suspense, right from the chilling prologue to the brutal conclusion.” –Publishers Weekly on Alone with the Dead

“Another exceptionally entertaining and riveting mystery from genre stalwart Randisi.” –Booklist on East of the Arch

“Set in St Louis, this efficient, no-nonsense mystery doesn't waste a phrase or a plot turn.” –Publishers Weekly on Blood on the Arch

“Randisi also writes successful series featuring Miles Jacoby and Nick Delvecchio, but Keough--analytical, intelligent, and emotionally vulnerable--could easily become the author's most enduring, endearing character.” – Booklist on In the Shadow of the Arch

Perfect Crime Books reissued each of the Joe Keough novels in paperback and ebook editions. The ebook editions are a scant $2.99, which is well worth the high quality entertainment. The novels are below—if you click the title you will be transported to each book’s Amazon page—with the publisher’s brief description and the first paragraph from each novel.

Alone with the Dead.

Publisher’s description: New York cop Joe Keough races against time to crack the case of a serial killer who leaves a flower with each victim. Battling publicity-minded bureaucrats in his own department, Keough is convinced that he has to catch not one psycho but two . . . and the copycat killer is crazier than the original.

First paragraph: Kopykat opened the album.

In the Shadow of the Arch.

Publisher’s description: Joe Keough, a transplanted New York cop, signs on with a small St. Louis area police department just in time to track a psycho who chooses his victims from among young mothers frequenting local shopping malls. Meanwhile there is the perplexing case of a toddler who has walked into the police station leaving bloody footprints. So much for Keough's new life in the tranquil Midwest.

First paragraph: He picked summer to start, because the young mothers wore shorts and sundresses in the summer. They walked through the malls, thinking nothing of showing acres of firm, young flesh. In fact, he had one spotted right now. She was blond, in her twenties, walking through the mall holding a young child by the hand. The child was a girl, also blond, about six or seven.

Blood on the Arch.

Publisher’s description: When an influential politician and businessman is murdered, St. Louis police detective Joe Keough takes on a high-powered case that drags a lot of local dirt into the daylight. Dodging a trumped-up sexual harassment charge, Keough races to track down a professional assassin who has more targets on his to-do list--and to find the evil mastermind behind the bloodletting.

First paragraph: The sky was filled with kites of all sizes, shapes, and colors. It was the Forest Park Festival of Kites, the first one Keough had attended since moving to St. Louis a little over nine months ago.

East of the Arch.

Publisher’s description: A monstrous killer is piling up the bodies of pregnant women along the Mississippi, and St. Louis cop Joe Keough is saddled with a female clerk and a Mark Twain-quoting young sidekick as his "task force" as he sets out to stop the slaughter. Fighting him every step of the way are two Internal Affairs cops bent on destroying Keough's career regardless of the cost.

First paragraph: The Mississippi River annually deposits four hundred and six million tons of mud into the Gulf of Mexico, causing one famous riverboat captain to dub it “The Great Sewer.” It is then reasonable to assume that, should one dump a body into the river—a body that one did not want found—it would end up mixed in with all that mud, never to be seen again.

Arch Angels.

Publisher’s description: In the fifth Joe Keough mystery, Keough and his partner Harriet Connors working on a federal task force confront serial murders of children in Chicago and St. Louis. Is one killer at work or two? Keough and Connors plunge into a world of insanity and evil, and the clock is ticking.

ELIMINATION by Ed Gorman

Elimination is the fifth novel featuring political consultant Dev Conrad, and, contrary to popular belief (I’ve always wanted to say that) not the last. It is election season, and Dev is in rural Illinois helping Representative Jessica Bradshaw win re-election. Ms. Bradshaw is in a dead heat with her far-right (read, Tea Party) opponent Trent Dorsey. Dorsey has a billionaire uncle—

“‘Uncle Ken,’ as Dorsey always referred to him…”

—funding television attack ads and robocalls claiming Representative Bradshaw as a drug addicted-Commie-lesbian. Dev’s appearance in Jessica’s district, and home town of Danton, Illinois, is to stop the bleeding and prepare for the final debate. Jessica wins the debate, but the celebration is cut short by a badly botched assassination attempt. An attempt so poorly executed the local law thinks it may have been staged.

Elimination is a nicely twisted mystery, and a poignant commentary on the current political environment. Dev is a wearied political strategist who often finds his clients lacking—megalomaniacs, narcissists, jerks—who just happen to, mostly, vote the right way. Dev is a light-hearted cynic (dubious but cautiously optimistic) with a dry wit and a tendency of self-deprecation—

“A lie, but what the hell. God had personally given me a daily allotment of one hundred and twenty-three lies. I was, after all, in politics.”  

The political is the center of the story providing servings of both horror and humor, and there is enough middle class angst to make anyone nervous, but it is the mystery—who shot at Jessica Bradshaw, and why—and Dev’s voice that make it pleasurable.       

Purchase a copy of Elimination at Amazon.

Thrift Shop Book Covers: "The Vision"

The Vision was published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons as a hardcover in 1977. The edition that caught my eye was the original Bantam paperback edition published in 1978. The cover art actually caught my eye twice in very slight variations. The first was the Bantam edition (a few years ago), and the second was a Golden Apple edition (a few weeks ago). The Golden Apple edition was published in 1984. The artwork is the same, but the layout is different. Both feature a mildly creepy pencil drawing on a white background. The artist: Unknown.

The Bantam edition includes reflective red eyes on the bat.

The Golden Apple edition:

The opening paragraphs:

“‘Gloves of blood.’

“The woman raised her hands and stared at them, stared through them.

“Her voice was soft but tense. ‘Blood on his hands.’ Her own hands were clean and pale.”

The Vision was advertised as a horror novel, but it is more of a genre bender; much like Mr. Koontz’s later work in the 1980s, but not quite at that same exceptional level. Mr. Koontz said his intention with The Vision was to write it “as if Dashiell Hammett had set out to write a horror novel.” It was published just three years before Dean Koontz’s breakout novel Whispers.  

[This is the seventeenth in a series of posts featuring the cover art and miscellany of books I find at thrift stores and used bookshops. It is reserved for books I purchase as much for the cover art as the story or author.]

My Reviews Elsewhere: "Dry Stone Walls"

I’m doing a few book reviews for Ed Gorman’s blog and my review of Robert J. Randisi’s entertaining whodunit Dry Stone Walls is live even as you read. Dry Stone Walls is the first in a new series featuring retired NYPD Captain of Detectives Truxton Lewis. It is set in Kentucky Blue Grass country. It is published by Riverdale Avenue Books.   

Read the review, and then read the book.

Purchase a copy of Dry Stone Walls at Amazon.

Publicity Push: Axel Brand's Joe Sonntag Novels

[Publicity Push is a new feature highlighting a book, or a series of books. It is intended to introduce something interesting and new—without the necessity of writing a specific review. I’m planning to do two or three of these each month. If you are a writer, or a reader, and want to recommend something to be highlighted please email me: zulu1611@yahoo.com]  

Richard S. Wheeler is best known as an author of historical Western novels. He has won an impressive six Spur Awards, and the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Western Writers of America. He has been called “one of the best Western writers around today,” by Publishers Weekly, and “a master storyteller,” by Library Journal. He is also a consummate gentleman, and very nice man who did an excellent interview here at Gravetapping.

While Mr. Wheeler is primarily a writer of historical Western novels, he has also written five novels featuring Milwaukee homicide detective Lieutenant Joe Sonntag as by Axel Brand. The setting is historical—1940s Milwaukee—but the plots are criminal. The series has received critical praise—

“[Brand’s] noir style effectively combines muscle and cheek, and Sonntag is an appealing laconic sleuth.” –Kirkus Reviews on The Hotel Dick

“[The Dead Genius is] buoyed by Brand’s crisp prose and Sonntag’s reflexive wisecracks.” –Kirkus Reviews on The Dead Genius  

Crossroad Press has recently—over the past few months—reissued all five of the Joe Sonntag novels in ebook form, and you may want to try one. The novels are below—if you click the title you will be transported to each book’s Amazon page—with the publisher’s brief description and the first paragraph from each novel. I particularly like the first few lines of The Hotel Dick.  

The Hotel Dick.

Publisher’s Description: “It’s 1948 Milwaukee. The Lakeshore Towers Hotel house detective, J. Adam Bark, is murdered while sitting in a barber's chair. Homicide detective Lieutenant Joe Sonntag is sent to investigate, but has a difficult time with the barber’s insistence that Spencer Tracy killed Bark.”

First paragraph: “Joe Sonntag knew the victim this time. He never liked the man and wasn’t surprised that someone put a bullet through his mouth and another through his heart. There would be maybe two hundred suspects.”

The Dead Genius.

Publisher’s description: “Armand de Trouville is dead. The little genius pioneered a new field, forensic document examination. Thanks to Trouville, forgers and people who write fake wills and stickup men who pass notes to bank cashiers are in jail.”

First paragraph: “The death notice in the Milwaukee Journal announced the visiting hours. Joe Sonntag thought he could manage it during his lunch break because the mortuary was only six blocks away, and it would be a good day to walk.”

Night Medicine.

Publisher’s description: “Milwaukee, 1948. Joe Sonntag, ace investigator for the police department, faces a riddle: a lovely young woman is found dead at the zoo, near the lion cages, lying in a bed of ferns. She has been carefully laid out there, her arms folded. Nearby, a lioness prowls her cage. Plainly, whoever put her there cared for her.”

First paragraph: “The body was near the lions. That’s what they told Lieutenant Joe Sonntag when they woke him up early. A young woman had been found dead at the Washington Park Zoo, a few blocks from Sonntag’s house, so the dispatcher had called him.”

The Saboteur’s Fate.

Publisher’s description: “A violent strike; murder at the factory gates. Milwaukee, 1949. There’s labor turmoil in Beer City. Joe Sonntag gets called to the strike-bound West Allis tractor factory, where a temporary employee has been shot and killed in the middle of the night. The struggle between the Machinists Union and the company has boiled over into murder. But it proves to be more complex than that.”

First paragraph: “The phone knocked the crap out of his beauty sleep. Joe Sonntag staggered out of bed, while Lizbeth stirred, and made his way to the kitchen, where the phone li9ved. It took effort to wake up; he hadn’t slept long, and had been yanked like a marionette out of a peaceful slumber. He flipped on the kitchen light and headed for the upright phone and yanked the receiver off the black stalk.”

The Homicidal Saint.

Publisher’s description: “A church potluck dinner. A sudden, shocking murder right after the pastor says grace. Joe Sonntag is a horrified witness, and swiftly arrests Manfred Wittstein, who claims his wife Freda killed their children, Matthew, Mark, Gerta, and Reuben. Thus begins an odd quest to learn why the killer shot Freda, and whether his wife had destroyed their children. It soon proves to be a case unlike any other Sonntag had tackled. The children are, indeed, missing. And no one can say what happened to them.”

First paragraph: “If there was one thing Lieutenant Joe Sonntag dreaded, it was being trapped inside of a church with pious people. He couldn’t help it. He had no use for churches. He wasn’t against them; he just was totally uncomfortable in them. And now he was stuck.”

DARK SIDE OF THE STREET by Martin Fallon (Jack Higgins)

Dark Side of the Street is the twenty-first novel published by Harry Patterson, and the fifth to feature Paul Chavasse. It was originally released in the U. K. as a hardcover by John Long in 1967 under the byline “Martin Fallon”; a name that has a history with Mr. Patterson. It was an early pseudonym, and the name of two protagonists who met similar fates in the novels Cry of the Hunter (1960) and A Prayer for the Dying (1973). It made a pre-The Eagle Has Landed appearance in the United States as a Fawcett Gold Medal paperback in 1974.

Paul Chavasse is employed by a British intelligence organization called “The Bureau”; its director reports directly to the Prime Minister. Chavasse is educated—a former lecturer of linguistics—ruthless, and very much in demand. When he is approached by Scotland Yard’s Special Branch with an opportunity to spend time in a maximum security prison Chavasse accepts with good humor. His assignment is to infiltrate a criminal organization that seemingly has the ability to penetrate any prison, and abscond with the convict of its choosing. And once out, the prisoner vanishes without a trace.

Special Branch believes the next convict to escape will be Harry Youngblood. Harry was convicted of robbing an airport with two associates, and both have already escaped in spectacular fashion. Chavasse’s assignment is to tag along with Youngblood when his escape comes, and get the details of the organization arranging it. He does, and what he finds is both surprising and daunting.

Dark Side of the Street is one of the more accomplished Paul Chavasse novels. The plot is perfectly executed and surprising. The prose is even and consistent, and at times vividly eloquent—

“Rain drifted against the window with dismal pattering and Chavasse looked out across the farmyard morosely. In the grey light of early morning, it presented an unlovely picture. Great potholes in the cobbles filled with stagnant water, archaic, rusting machinery and a profusion of rubbish everywhere.”

There is a nicely executed heist in the opening pages before it settles into straight adventure. Paul Chavasse is a likable protagonist with a knack for finding himself behind bars, and an uncanny ability of getting out. A situation that happens at least once in the first five novels. The central antagonist is interesting for two reasons. The first is Mr. Patterson’s use of an obvious sociopath with an over the top personality (Sean Rogan less the conscience). The second is his name, Simon Vaughan. A name many readers will recognize as the protagonist from The Savage Day (1972), and Day of Judgment (1979); although it is definitely not the same character.      

The plot is also familiar, but the familiarity is external to Mr. Patterson’s work rather than internal. Desmond Bagley used a similar storyline for his excellent 1971 novel The Freedom Trap, filmed as “The Mackintosh Man”, which was inspired by the 1966 escape of British double agent George Blake from Wormwood Scrubs prison. It is likely, due to the proximity between Blake’s escape and the publication date, it also inspired Dark Side of the Street.  

No matter its inspirations, Dark Side of the Street, is one of the better early novels Harry Patterson published. It is the last novel Mr. Patterson wrote before introducing his most famous nom de plume—Jack Higgins—and it is a bridge between his early work and the brilliant novels he wrote in the middle of his career.   

I wrote a short introduction to the Paul Chavasse novels a few years ago you may find interesting.

Stark House Press: Black Gat Books

I’m a big fan of Stark House Press, and I have been meaning to write a post about its latest publishing venture, Black Gat Books, for a several weeks. Black Gat is a mass market line dedicated to reprinting great crime novels of the past. Stark House’s website identifies Black Gat’s mission statement—  

“This is a single-title line of books, uniformly priced at $9.99, offering additional reprint titles from past masters of mystery fiction. Each book will be numbered. Some will have new introductions, some will not.”

There are three titles currently available:

No. 1.  A Haven for the Damned by Harry Whittington. This is one of Mr. Whittington’s Gold Medal books originally published in 1962. The Black Gat edition includes an excellent Introduction by David Laurence Wilson.

No. 2.  Eddie’s World by Charlie Stella. This is Charlie Stella’s first novel. It was originally published in 2001, and received critical raves. Stark House published its sequel, Rough Riders, in 2012, which was reviewed here at Gravetapping.  

No. 3.  Stranger at Home by Leigh Brackett. This title was originally published as by George Sanders—the English actor—in 1946. It was written by the great Leigh Brackett, and it is thankfully available again.

There are two additional titles that have been announced, but not yet released:

No. 4.  The Persian Cat by John Flagg. This is one of the earliest Gold Medal titles. It features agent Gil Denby, and is set in Tehran. Its release date is August 2015.

No. 5.  Only the Wicked by Gary Phillips. This is an Ivan Monk mystery set in Los Angeles. Its release date is November 2015.  

The Black Gat titles are available directly through the publisher, and most online bookstores. If you click on the titles above you will be whisked to the Amazon page for each.

COMPOUND MURDER by Bill Crider

Compound Murder is the twentieth novel featuring Blacklin County, Texas Sheriff Dan Rhodes. The series started in 1986 with Too Late to Die, and the latest title (number 22 in the series), Between the Living and Dead, is scheduled for release in August. Blacklin County’s population is small, but the characters and crimes are anything but.

It opens with a burglary at the Beauty Shack. The thief broke the restroom window, and stole the Shack’s latest inventory items—“…hair extensions and wigs. Made from real human hair,” which have an impressive street value. Sheriff Rhodes’ report and scene investigation are interrupted by another call. A corpse is in the parking lot of the community college. When Rhodes arrives the scene is being handled by Dr. C. P. Benton; “Seepy” to everyone who knows him. Dr. Benton isn’t a deputy, but he thinks he is, and he is pretty sure the dead man was murdered—

“You’re sure it’s a crime scene?”

“That would be my professional judgment as a graduate of the Citizens’ Sheriff’s Academy.”

As it turns out Seepy is right, and Rhodes quickly identifies a handful of suspects. The victim was an English professor, and not well liked. The primary suspect is a student named Ike Terrell. Ike is a suspicious character simply by relation. His father is Able Terrell who is the leader of the county’s local survivalist group. He has a compound, guns, and rumors of more guns. The investigation is far from clear, and the plot is littered with twists.

Compound Murder is smooth, humorous, and criminal. It is a rural police procedural; mostly whodunit with a shimmer of hardboiled. The humor is secondary to the well-crafted mystery, and acts as a foil to the seriousness of the crime. It is developed in the eclectic oddball characters—the Abbot and Costello act of the police dispatcher and jailer, and Rhodes’ straight man-like reaction to it—and the dialogue, which hums with misunderstanding. The stolen hair is a hot topic, and provides a few well-placed laughs— 

“‘That’s not a head,’ Rhodes said. ‘It’s a wig stand. With hair on it. Real human hair, too, I’ll bet.’

“‘He scalped his victim?’

“Buddy’s voice trembled. Rhodes didn’t know if the cause was excitement or disgust.

“‘No,’ Rhodes said. ‘His victim was Lonnie Wallace.’

“‘It was Lonnie Wallace’s body at the college?’

“Rhodes wondered why all his conversations seemed to go this way. Maybe it was somehow his own fault.”

Mr. Crider nicely develops the setting—the decaying main streets of Blacklin County’s small towns; the heat; the country’s expanse. The places, and many of the characters, flow from novel to novel developing a strong sense of place in each, and the series a whole. There are also a few insider jokes: Joe Lansdale’s name shows up twice. Once as a karate instructor, and again as a novelist.

Purchase a copy of Compound Murder on Amazon.

NIGHTCRAWLERS by Bill Pronzini

The Nameless Detective series has been active since 1971 and it is still strong—in sales and quality alike. The protagonist—Nameless, who isn’t as nameless as he once was—has aged and matured in almost real time. He was young and full of fight throughout his appearances in the 1970s and 80s, but with age he has mellowed with creaky bones, aching muscles, a wife and an adopted daughter.

The thirty-second title, published by Forge in 2005, is Nightcrawlers and while it, and all of the recent titles, is different from the early Nameless stories it is still pretty damn terrific. In many ways the latest releases are better—there is more nuance, the execution is tighter and Nameless—or Bill—has developed into something more than he was. He is a living, breathing, believable character that is not only sympathetic to the reader, but downright likable.

Nightcrawlers is a personal journey for Nameless. There are three storylines that run parallel, and not one of them ever crosses another—there are no hokey connections or ridiculous coincidences, but rather there are three stories (mysteries) compressed with superb execution and sharp prose into one very enjoyable novel.

Nameless’ detective office is a three-person operation now. Nameless has semi-retired, Tamara Corbin is a full partner and Jake Runyon is the main operative. The location of the office has also moved—it is now just south of Market instead of the old O’Farrell Street location.

Business is slow; Tamara is taking care of what seems to be a small skip-trace on a deadbeat dad, Jake is pursuing a non-paying case in an attempt to stop a string of brutal beatings in the Castro and Nameless is doing a personal favor for a dying pulp writer—Russell Dancer who appeared in at least three earlier Nameless novels (Undercurrent, Hoodwink and Bones), and is based on the pulp writer J. M. (Jay) Flynn.

The skip-trace turns out to be more than it first appeared and not because of the case itself, but rather something Tamara stumbles across as she is working it. Unfortunately Tamara never gets the opportunity to tell either Nameless or Runyon her suspicions before she disappears, which acts as the catalyst for the climax of the novel.

Nightcrawlers is damn entertaining. It is written in both first and third person—Nameless acts as his own narrator and the chapters in the perspective of Tamara and Jake are in third person. It works very well. It broadens the scope of the story without diminishing its personality. The perspective changes from chapter to chapter are easily detected (beyond the note at the top of each chapter) by subtle shifts in style and vocabulary. Tamara has the easy flow of the street, Jake is hardboiled, and Nameless is just Nameless.

Tamara: “Now that she was here, out on a field job, she began to feel a little stoked.”

Jake: “The man himself was in his late thirties, short, dark, and cynical. The cynicism showed in his eyes, the set of his mouth, his voice.”

Nameless: “Russ Dancer, dying. Cirrhosis and emphysema. Refused to quit drinking or smoking, refused hospitalization or treatment beyond painkillers and an oxygen bottle that he carried around with him.”

The prose has the deceptive feel and flow of simplicity, but, in its stark hardboiled style, it is vividly saturated with the essence of the characters and their city, San Francisco. The setting is developed well and described in a fashion that it makes the reader feel like she is in San Francisco moving between Market and Castro and all points between. The story builds upon itself with each page and chapter bringing with it a dry and edgy suspense.

Nightcrawlers is the real thing and a terrific entry in the series. Find a copy, read it, and pass it on because more people should be exposed to both Bill Pronzini and his other “Bill,” known as Nameless.

This review originally went live May 7, 2012. It was the first review I wrote for Gravetapping after a long hiatus, and I decided it was worth running again. Nightcrawlers was the first “modern” Nameless novel I read, and since then I have been reading each title as it is released. I have even reviewed a couple: Strangers, and Nemesis. 

Purchase a copy on Amazon.

Requesting Information About Ron Faust

I’m planning to start a permanent page—as part of this blog—dedicated to the work of Ron Faust. Mr. Faust wrote 15 novels between 1974 and 2013; his final novel, Jackstraw, was published posthumously. He died in 2011, and information is difficult to find.

I’m looking for information about Mr. Faust and his work: firsthand stories, interviews, articles, etc. The information will be used to develop a better understanding of both the man and his work. If you have memories, knowledge of his biography, bibliography, or know of any magazine and newspaper articles featuring Mr. Faust I would love to hear them. Please send an email to zulu1611@yahoo.com.

I have written what I know about Ron Faust in the post “Ron Faust: An Unforgettable Writer,” and I have reviewed three of his novels: Nowhere to Run, Split Image, and The Long Count.