Fri 15 Jun 2018
JOHN D. MacDONALD – Deadly Welcome. Dell First Edition B127, paperback original; 1st printing, March 1959. Cover by Robert McGinnis.
An unsolved murder in a small western Florida town is causing the Pentagon some difficulties, and to help resolve the situation, they call on Alex Doyle of the State Department. Although it’s his home town, Doyle’s problem is that when he left, it was not voluntarily, so not only must he solve the murder, he must also confront his past.
[NOTE] This review as originally written had two final closing statements. Here is the first:
JDM was a gifted writer, but at times he was not a very subtle one. The girl is too obviously meant for Doyle,the villain too brutish and nasty, and the solution is far too easy.
And here is the afterthought I included as a footnote to the review:
That last line is far too negative. As you read it today not only does this book take you back in time to 1959 and the sights and sounds of what amazingly is now a bygone era, but Doyle’s problems take him back an additional 15 years as well, filling the book with the sad sweetness of coming home and seeing what has become of the place where you once lived, and the people (some of them) who still live there.
The murder that has occurred is a part of this, but in many ways — believe it or not — it’s not even of primary interest in the story.
June 15th, 2018 at 10:58 pm
Obviously I will have to read this one again. Surprisingly, it is one of few of MacDonald’s books that has never been reprinted. (Correct me if I am wrong.)
June 16th, 2018 at 7:19 am
Writers like MacDonald off-handedly captured the spirit of their times and evoked it more sharply than the “important” novelists of their day. And you evoked MacDionald’s writing so well that I’m going right to my bookshelf for some more.
June 16th, 2018 at 2:30 pm
MacDonald’s star has lost some of its luster since his death, but I certainly agree with you that of all the authors writing the Great American Novel of his era, he’s right up there toward the top.
June 16th, 2018 at 12:49 pm
DEADLY WELCOME was printed in hardcover by Hale in 1961. Gold Medal reprinted the book through the 1960s and 1970s, the first one being Gold Medal d1659 in 1966. In the UK, Pan reissued it in 1964 (G675) and 1966 (X582).
June 16th, 2018 at 2:26 pm
Glad to be proven wrong, Bill, and thanks! I think for some reason when I did a search on abebooks, I had the publisher set for Dell. No wonder the Gold Medal’s didn’t show up, or any off the British editions… Doh.