Wed 21 Oct 2020
A PI Mystery Review: RICHARD HOYT – Decoys.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[10] Comments
RICHARD HOYT – Decoys. John Denson #1. M. Evans, hardcover, 1980. Penguin, paperback, 1984.
John Denson is a Seattle-based private eye. While his first case is no out-and-out classic, it is refreshingly different, and Denson’s a character I’d love to see again.
Nor would I mind if his competition in this book for an unknown treasure – unknown to Denson, that is – were to show up along with him. She is Pamela Yew, also a private investigator, and she knows what the objective is. They make a bet. She will win the $50,000 piece of artwork adorning Denson’s office. He will win, um, her.
A lot of male/female stuff comes into play. Denson does not think PI work is a woman’s line. She refuses to stay on the pedestal he offers her. Who wins? You’ll have to read this one for yourself to find out.
There are also a large number of “decoys†in this book. It all depends on how deep allegorically you want to dig. And even so, if you like your detective fiction fast-paced with a lot of twists, and populated by characters who know what they are all about, I can’t imagine your failing to enjoy this one.
Rating: A minus.
The John Denson series –
Decoys (1980)
30 for a Harry (1981)
Siskiyou (1983; aka “The Siskiyou Two-Stepâ€)
Fish Story (1985; aka “Contract Killer”)
Whoo? (1991; aka “Flight of Death”)
Bigfoot (1993)
Snake Eyes (1995)
The Weatherman’s Daughters (2003)
Pony Girls (2004)
Short Stories –
“Private Investigations” (1984, The Eyes Have It)
October 22nd, 2020 at 11:57 am
I really liked this when I read it, which was shortly after it came out, and read and liked the next two. Don’t think I read any after that. I did a review of it either in The Perp or on BrokenBullhorn.
October 22nd, 2020 at 12:57 pm
Even though I don’t remember much of this book, I’d say it’s obvious I liked this one too. But I’m like you, Rick. I drifted away after two or three books myself. No matter how good a series is, it’s easy to keep searching for good new authors as they come along.
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:11 pm
I think I made it through four before giving up on the next one and never going back. The early ones were fun, however.
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:47 pm
Ah, so do you mean the series somehow took a wrong turn? I was wondering about that.
October 22nd, 2020 at 3:49 pm
I read the first four, although I don’t remember any of the details that were mentioned in this review (female PI, bet?). Did like the setting and character, and wonder if the gap between books four and five was when I started reading less PI books.
He had another series he wrote about, John Burlane, that may have been PI stories but I thought were more political in nature.
October 22nd, 2020 at 4:01 pm
I don’t remember reading any of the John Burlane books. Here’s how one website describes him:
James Burlane, an ex-CIA operative turned private investigator in the USA:
1. Trotsky’s Run (1982)
2. Head of State (1985)
3. The Dragon Portfolio (1986)
4. Siege (1987)
5. Marimba (1992)
6. Red Card (1994)
7. Japanese Game (1995)
8. Tyger! Tyger! (1996)
I thought they were spy thrillers, so passed on them. Maybe I shouldn’t have.
October 22nd, 2020 at 7:26 pm
I enjoyed both the series Hoyt wrote and don’t know why or when I disconnected from either. DECOY was a fine debut, and the books were mostly fun and well written. I don’t recall any of the Burlane titles in paperback after HEAD OF STATE.
October 23rd, 2020 at 8:21 am
As several others have said, I read the first two or three in this series and liked them quite a bit but then drifted away from it. I wonder if Denson just wasn’t an interesting enough character to stick with it. But it was so long ago, that’s just speculation on my part.
October 23rd, 2020 at 12:37 pm
It is curious that so many of us have followed the same trail: reading and enjoying the first few books then dropping the series without looking back. Denson’s entry on the Thrilling Detective website suggests that Hoyt got a little too loose and easy with the character, or the character himself did:
https://www.thrillingdetective.com/denson.html
December 11th, 2020 at 10:08 pm
I must chime in and profess myself a fond fan of Richard Hoyt’s detective prose. I’ve read two of the above-mentioned John Denson series and found them both hip, slick, glib, and supple. Really fun mystery-adventures with a Pacific Northwest backdrop. Left me craving more of the same. I would have read further into the series but they simply thrown in among a cardboard box of free paperbacks which came my way by random chance. That same box also introduced me to Thomas Perry, Walter Walker, and a few others similar. Grand stuff.