Wed 16 Jul 2014
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: KELLEY ROOS – Ghost of a Chance.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[5] Comments
William F. Deeck
KELLEY ROOS – Ghost of a Chance. A. A Wyn, hardcover, 1947. Detective Book Club, hardcover reprint, 3-in-1 edition, 1947. Dell #266, paperback, mapback edition, no date [1948?].
For those who have read all the Mr. and Mrs. North novels, including the couple put aside for emergencies, a dip into the works of Kelley Roos relating the adventures of Jeff and Haila Troy should be next on the agenda.
While the novels are not as complexly plotted as the ones featuring the Norths and the Troys are not as sophisticated a married couple, the books are a great deal of fun.
In this novel Jeff gets a call from a Mr. Lorimer saying that some woman is going to be murdered shortly. Trying to keep Haila from getting involved is futile, of course, so he and she chase from bar to bar trying to find Lorimer. Eventually, Lorimer gets shoved in front of a subway train without revealing who is going to be killed.
Thus the Troy’s have to find the woman among New York City’s three million females. They can be reasonably sure it isn’t Haila or Haila’s Aunt Ellie, a delightful character, but that’s about it.
When Jeff and Haila try to check into an inn, the innkeeper suspects their bona fides since they have no luggage. Haila explains: “I am a milliner’s model. In the off season I model foundation garments and do a little stag party work. I am determined that my young brother shall the have the education I was denied….”
How can one not adore such a woman, as long, of course, as one doesn’t have to associate with her in public?
Editorial Comment: I reviewed this same book by Kelley Roos just over a year ago on this blog. You can find my comments here.
July 16th, 2014 at 2:55 pm
Pretty much as Bill suggests I discovered Roos and the Troy’s when I had exhausted the North’s and couldn’t stand the Abbots or McNeils (Pat Crane and Theodora duBois), they, Fox’s Marshalls, Patrick’s Peter and Iris Duluth, and Powell’s Arab and Andy Blake were all satisfactory substitutes, though the Troy’s came closest.
Brian Aherne and Loretta Young played the Troy’s in Remember Last Night (yes, there is another film no relation of the same title and a third with a similar title, and ironically the one with the same name is another team of husband and wife sleuths) and it is an entertaining little film. At least one of Roos books was done on live television with Robert Sterling as Jeff and Virginia Graham as Halia, “There Was a Crooked Man.” But as far as I know that is all of their screen credits though I think there was a radio series called The Troys.
I should take offense (not really, besides I know these are retro reviews), at least two of my wives were Pam North/Halia Troy types, lateral thinkers and you never knew what they would say next. Thank heaven I wasn’t with Pinkerton’s while married to either one, the mind boggleth. I will grant though associating with them in public was a dicey business sometimes. Fun, sexy, but dicey
But I can empathize with Jerry and Jeff, it was never dull or ordinary.
July 16th, 2014 at 3:35 pm
Virginia Gilmore not Graham — who was a mouthy talk show kind of broad. Gilmore, a great beauty and talent.
July 16th, 2014 at 7:49 pm
I was surprised at Graham, but that was what the source said. Haven’t watched it yet, but I notice Charles Korvin is in it.
Roos was a good suspense novelist on her own without the Troy’s, and of course wrote the stunt novelization to go along with Smellovisions The Scent of Murder — neither as bad as you might be led to expect.
July 17th, 2014 at 9:24 am
Interestingly, the movie Scent of Murder was based on the book Ghost of a Chance, which was apparently changed enough for the screen that they wrote a new “novelization” of it.
July 17th, 2014 at 9:43 am
A small correction in the title of the film, which is SCENT OF MYSTERY. I’ll have to look to see if it’s available anywhere. I hadn’t caught the connection to GHOST OF A CHANCE before, so thanks for that, Ken.
There is a long detailed synopsis of the film at the AFI site:
http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=53276
I can see some resemblance to the plot of the book, but not a whole lot!