Thu 13 Sep 2012
LOUIS TRIMBLE – Fit to Kill. Phoenix Press, hardcover, 1941.
Trimble’s first book, or at least his first mystery — it’s possible that in his early days he started as a western writer — and the first appearance of dilettante detective Gerry Storm. And unless Al Hubin messed up, it seems to have been his only case worth mentioning. It’s the only book’s he’s appeared in.
The book starts well, and ends well. The middle is not worth reading. I haven’t gotten around to writing my own first detective novel yet, but I’m convinced that that’s where the biggest hurdle lies. How do you make the process of investigating a murder interesting: finding clues, interrogating suspects, provide a little action and lively banter between the main characters, and keep the reader interested, all at the same time?
This one lets us down on almost all of the above, but on the plus side, what Fit to Kill is, I am happy to say, is a locked room mystery. While there is a small gap in a partially opened window as a means for a murderer to have committed the crime, the flower box in the window has not been disturbed. More: the dead man was not shot or poisoned, but done in with the inevitable blunt instrument, more than 10 feet away from the window, and no sign of the weapon.
The dead man, by the way, was a truly obnoxious creature — hence the title — and there is no dearth of suspects. Storm follows in the well-worn footsteps of Philo Vance and the early copy-cattish Ellery Queen. Nothing I’ve said, however, is enough for me to give this book more than a lukewarm recommendation. By 1941 maybe the Vancian charm was gone, or maybe Trimble was no S. S. Van Dine.
(slightly revised).
[UPDATE] 09-13-12. Toward the end of his career, Trimble seemed to de-emphasize mysteries in favor of either science fiction and westerns. According to Al Hubin, though, he wrote nearly thirty mystery novels between 1941 and 1970, including several as by Stuart Brock and Gerry Travis.
The vast majority of these were written for Phoenix Press or Mystery House, both lending-library publishers of no great distinction, or as paperback originals for Ace, including quite a few Ace Doubles. By the 1950s, Trimble’s mystery fiction had become much more hard-boiled in nature; based on the ones I’ve read, which in truth are not many, he was never a terrible writer, but he certainly never made it to the big time, either. Other than the fact that I wrote this review, I don’t remember Fit to Kill at all. You now know as much about it as I do.
I discovered two copies for sale just now on abebooks.com. The cover of the one seen above is a facsimile, but it’s the cheaper of the two, with an asking price of $175.
September 14th, 2012 at 4:01 am
One of Louis Trimble’s books “Murder Trouble” is available free on-line:
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006499323
The only book by this author I’ve read is a Stuart Brock, “Just Around the Coroner” (ouch!). My review:
http://mikegrost.com/chandler.htm#Brock
September 14th, 2012 at 10:46 am
Thanks for the links, Mike. Your review of one of the books Trimble did as Stuart Brock reminded me that I reviewed one by Brock as well. It’s an early Ace Double novel entitled BRING BACK HER BODY, and coming as a small surprise to me, the review is one I posted here on this blog a long time ago:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=343
It’s a private eye novel that I described as being in the “deep pure pulp tradition,” and I had quite a bit of fun with it.
September 14th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Steve,
Just updated my website article with links to your two MYSTERY*FILE reviews.
Over the past year, have been slowly adding links to MYSTERY*FILE from my site. These MYSTERY*FILE articles are rich in information, and a real resource.
September 14th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Thanks for the compliments, Mike.
But if truth be known, and I’m saying it, the range and depth of your website is beyond comparison. One could start anywhere there and be lost for days.
A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection
http://mikegrost.com/classics.htm
Classic Film and Television
http://mikegrost.com/film.htm
A History of American Art
http://mikegrost.com/american.htm
Classic Comic Books
http://mikegrost.com/comics.htm
September 15th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Trimble wrote one of the worst science fiction novels I’ve ever read, The Bodelian Way (one the the first DAW books)
September 15th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
For some reason Don Wollheim, head of DAW Books, published a lot of Trimble’s books, starting when Wollheim was at Ace and bringing him over to DAW when that line started up. While I’ve never read BODELIAN WAY, I know Trimble wrote a lot of lightweight space opera, which was popular back then but doesn’t get published much any more.
This may be a good thing, but I miss it.
September 15th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I have three ACE-doubles with a Trimble crime novel and one Lion Book: Blondes Are Skin Deep. A typical Lion title. Gary Lovisi begins his essay on Lion Books in “The Big Book of Noir” with a quote from this Trimble novel. I have not yet read any of them. But I should give the Lion Book a try.
September 15th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Josef, I agree. Of the books you have, I’d go with the Lion Book first. (I think you and I agree that Lion Books are the unsung equivalents to the Gold Medal books of the same era.)
September 12th, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Louis was a personal friend. He told me he started writing with thirty mystery novels, got bored with the genre and switched to westerns (he moved from San Francisco to a ranch in Idaho), got bored with westerns, and moved on to science fiction. Then his academic career took off (he was a noted linguist) and he switched to writing linguistics articles. I’ve published an anecdote about his best-received novel (The City Machine) at the link provided above.
September 12th, 2013 at 8:10 pm
Karl
Thanks for the link and the interesting story. I never realized that Louis was a noted linguist, only the SF, mystery and western writer. Lots of books came out of his typewriter!