Sat 16 Jun 2018
Mystery Review: DONALD E. WESTLAKE – Somebody Owes Me Money.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[8] Comments
DONALD E. WESTLAKE – Somebody Owes Me Money. Hard Case Crime , softcover, June 2008. First published by Random House, hardcover, 1969; and Signet Q4800, paperback, 1971.
It is difficult to realize that this comedy romp from one of the grand masters of comedy romp mysteries will have its 50th anniversary next year. The funny thing is that there’s almost nothing dated about it. Except for some technological advances such as iPhones that are missing, this wacky caper could have taken place yesterday, and what’s more there’s nothing in this plot that would have gone another way even if anyone did have an iPhone.
Not that the plot is all that complicated, either. A cabbie named Chet Conway is given a tip on a horse that pays off at 27-to-1, but when he stops by his bookie’s apartment to get his money, he finds the bookie shot to death. Question: who’s going to pay him his $900?
Major problem: his bookie was playing both sides of two rival crime gangs, and they both think Chet did it. Forget the money. Can Chet get out of the scrape he’s in alive? Aiding him is Abbie, the bookie’s sister, illustrated superbly on the book’s cover. (See above.) Not only is she luscious to look at, but she’s also a card sharp from Las Vegas.
Minor problem, at least as far the story is concerned, is that the warfare between the two gangs, not all of whom are all that bright, which is where the comic element comes in, goes on a few pages too long. And of course after exhausting all of the plot possibilities so far suggested — and most of the participants — everyone eventually comes to realize that neither gang is responsible for the killing.
This is a good thing, as it allows the tale to perk up again with a “gather all the suspects together” kind of ending which polishes off all the loose ends most satisfactorily.
There are lots of copies of the Hard Case Crime edition around, so the book is not hard to find. Even though it’s almost 50 years old, you have no excuse for letting this one slip by.
June 17th, 2018 at 12:49 pm
Nobody was or is remotely close to Westlake in the comic-caper novel.
June 17th, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Agreed. And even so, as Richard Stark and the Parker books, he also wrote some of the toughest hard-boiled books ever. I can’t think of another author who did both so well.
June 17th, 2018 at 3:56 pm
I actually read SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY about 50 years ago and still have fond memories of Westlake’s comic caper novel. Later I learned one of my other favorite caper writers “Richard Stark” was also Donald E. Westlake. What a talented writer!
June 17th, 2018 at 3:57 pm
And Happy Father’s Day to you, Steve, and all the other Dads out there!
June 17th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Likewise to you, George, and everyone else reading this who’s a Father!
June 17th, 2018 at 5:22 pm
L.A. Public Library has it available. They’re sending it y branch.
Thanks for the heads up
June 17th, 2018 at 9:22 pm
I think you’ll enjoy it, Rick. Glad you could find copy so easily.
Of the three covers, only the most recent one, at the top, matches anything in the story.
The second one down is from the hardcover, and while a headless guy in motley fool array may fit some books, how in the world does it fit this one.
The bottom one is from the Signet paperback from 1971, and while Chet has a regular poker night with some buddies, and Abbie is from Las Vegas, I don’t remember any dice being tossed. It’s been a few days ago since I read it, so I could be wrong about this.
June 19th, 2018 at 10:13 pm
Ironically I was just searching my shelves for something to read and found my Hard Case copy of this. So I didn’t need to request it from LAPL. Oops.
I’ll just tell them to keep it when I pick up my other two holds: one of which is “Reckless Daughter” a 2014 biography of Joni Mitchell; the other is “Gun, With Occasional Music”.