Wed 8 Jul 2020
GEORGE HARMON COXE – Woman at Bay. Alfred A. Knopf, hardcover, 1945. No paperback edition. Kindle edition available.
When one thinks of Coxe, one usually thiks first of Flashgun Casey or Kent Murdock, ubiquitous photographers for Boston newspapers, but Coxe often did switch his non-series mysteries to scenes of the Caribbean, If this book were the only evidence, however, I’d say it’s awfully difficult to distinguish a round of nightlife in the Boston area from night clubs, cafes and liquor spots in Havana.
This adventure occurs just before the end of the war, when Cuba was useful for European refugees as a stopping-off place before entry into the States. Paul MacKinnon is sent by a secret government agency on a hunt for the diary of a top-rank Vichy official whose window once was Mrs. MacKinnon. His job is the diary and not to fall in love again – he keeps telling himself.
The key to the resulting murder is an obvious one, but Coxe has always been capable of a pleasant shuffle surrounding the charade. This one’s no exception. by far.
July 8th, 2020 at 8:15 pm
I resisted Coxe for a long time thinking he was another soft boiled voice, but once I started reading I read quite a few, series and non series.
July 8th, 2020 at 9:12 pm
Even though Coxe write a lot of stories for BLACK MASK, I’d call him no more than medium boiled.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
July 12th, 2020 at 10:41 pm
I think this book was one I hadn’t been able to find when I drove out to Old Lyme, Connecticut, to interview Coxe for an article for The Armchair Detective. During the interview I mentioned I lacked that book, he thought for a minute, stood up and went to the basement where he found a copy and gave it to me. I think it was a British edition.