THE MIGHTY QUINN. MGM, 1989. Denzel Washington (Xavier Quinn), James Fox, Mimi Rogers, M. Emmet Walsh, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Esther Rolle, Robert Townsend (Maubee). Based on the book Finding Maubee by A. H. Z. Carr. The title of the film is derived from the song “Quinn the Eskimo” by Bob Dylan. Director: Carl Schenkel.

   Xavier Quinn has his hands full in this one. Having graduated from the FBI Academy at Quanico in the US, he’s come home to become the chief of police on a small island in the Caribbean, when he’s asked to close up a case of homicide as quickly as possible. Problem: the most obvious suspect is Maubee, a friend of his from childhood. He’s also forced to deal with his estranged wife Lola and he barely has time to see his son.

   Over the years Maubee has become a puckish ne’er-do-well who has a knack of just staying one step of the authorities – that is to say, Quinn, and he leads the latter a very merry chase throughout the movie. The governor of the island and the others powers that be are not amused.

   There is a detective story behind this rather amusing overlay, but it takes second place behind the general atmosphere of singing, dancing and the beautifully photographed colors of the people, the local shop, the beaches and blue sky. It may seem a little forced at first, but once the story gets underway, it all blends together in very fine fashion.

THE STEPFATHER. Screen Gems / Sony, 2009. Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Penn Badgley, Amber Heard, Sherry Stringfield, Paige Turco. Screenplay by J.S. Cardone, based on a earlier screenplay by Donald E. Westlake. Director: Nelson McCormick.

   Let me be upfront. The Stepfather, a tepid remake of the eponymous 1987 cult film about a serial killer who repeatedly invites himself into people’s families, is not a particularly good movie. It’s formulaic, predictable, and easily forgettable. But it has an undeniable shlock charm to it. It may be silly, but it moves at a rapid clip. So much so that the movie’s glaring weaknesses don’t become truly obvious until it’s all over.

   Case in point: there are a few moments in The Stepfather, at least in the first thirty minutes or so, in which the suspense morphs into parody. Indeed, there were a few scenes in which I imagined being in a theater watching the movie and hearing teenagers and twenty-somethings snicker uncontrollably at the proceedings. But for the last hour or so, the movie takes on a more serious – and sinister – tone and these sequences are easily relegated to one’s cinematic memory hole.

   The plot is threadbare. Serial killer and all-around weirdo Grady Edwards/David Harris (Dylan Walsh) has a habit of going from place to place and finding single moms to charm. Soon enough, he’s the new stepfather in town. That is, until the children disappoint his exacting parental standards. Then off he goes on a murderous rampage.

   His latest target is the exceptionally naïve Susan Kerns Harding (Sela Ward) and her two young children. Little does he know that Susan also has a wayward teenage son off at military school who may not be so eager to put up with his nonsense. Enter Michael Harding (Penn Badgley) who turns out to be the one rational actor in the whole affair, especially in comparison to his cloying and annoying girlfriend Kelly Porter (Amber Heard), whose only role in the movie seems to be to cast doubt on Michael’s suspicions that his newfound stepdad is a killer.

   There really aren’t any surprises in the movie. And my summary of the plot doesn’t really give away any spoilers. We know from the first scene in the film that the stepfather is a murderous creep. This takes away the “is he or isn’t he” suspense which could have made this a taut and thrilling movie.

   As it is, The Stepfather is little more than fleetingly mediocre entertainment. Not particularly offensive. But not particularly good, either.

ED DOHERTY – The Corpse Who Wouldn’t Die. Mystery House, hardcover, 1945. Handi-Book #49, paperback, abridged, 1946.

   The protagonist in this better-than-average mystery from a lower-than-average publishing company is Dan Fallon, free-lance writer, who comes on board the S. S. Lesterloid just before it docks in New York, hoping to find someone worth interviewing for a human interest story. One such candidate is a sailor on board who was the only survivor of a ship sunk at sea. Another perhaps is a world famous writer or one of his entourage.

   Before he can talk to the sailor, Eric Raft, however, the man is found dead in his cabin, first shot then hit over the head with one of those blunt instruments you find every so often in mystery novels such as this. Even after the ship lands and everyone is allowed to disembark, Dan finds himself caught up in solving the case, even though the primary detective is Inspector Scott McBurney of Homicide, a 300 pound fellow who looks and talks a lot like Sidney Greenstreet.

   It is not clear how Fallon gets himself invited into the activities of the group surrounding the writer John Helm, but it’s good thing he does, because they constitute the entire list of suspects. Now you may be thinking that the set up so far doesn’t sound like anything out of the ordinary, and I didn’t either until the amount of alibis and other lies start to come into play. The relationships between the characters are complicated, and it seems every and every one has a reason to give an alibi for someone else. It’s either that, or to establish one for themselves.

   I love this kind of approach to a murder case that’s all tangled up like this. Another problem is the gun, which is used to commit another murder – but how did they manage to get it through a very thorough customs inspection?

   I do wish the ones responsible for the title had chosen another one. Hoping not to spoil anything for anyone but [WARNING] it has a lot to do with what happens toward the end of the book that would have been a lot more of surprise without the title the book was given.

   Otherwise, anyone looking for a decent, well-written 1940s era detective story might look around for a copy of this one. I enjoyed it.

HARLAN COBEN – Win.  Grand Central Publishing, hardcover, March 2021.

First Sentence: The shot that will decide the championship is slowly arching its way toward the basket.

   Billionaire friend of the author’s Myron Bolitar character, Windsor Horne Lockwood III is taken to the tower apartment of a hoarder who has been murdered. While one can barely move in the main room, the victim’s bedroom is immaculate with minimal contents. However, there is a Vermeer painting that had been stolen from the Lockwoods, and a bespoke leather suitcase bearing the Lockwood family crest and Win’s initials.

   Both the painting and the suitcase had been missing since Win’s cousin, Patricia, had been kidnapped, yet escaped, more than 20 years ago. The apartment murder victim was behind a group of 70s domestic terrorists, some of whom are still free. The FBI, and Win, would like to find them.

   As the psychopathic sidekick to best friend Myron Bolitar, Win was intriguing. As the protagonist, he’s just boring. By the nature of his character, he’s an empty shell mimicking a functional person. In that, Cohen succeeded in creating his character. However, as a reader, it is not enough.

   The narcissistic recitation of his wealth, art, cars, planes, suits, guns, knowledge of martial arts disciplines, is eye-rolling. It soon becomes apparent his family is as psychotic as he is. Yes, he has one slight crack of humanity; but even that threatens to be a continuation of his dysfunctional family line.

   As for the Jane Street Six, those of us who lived through the years of the SLA, etc., don’t need to be reminded, especially when we now have the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, QAnon, etc. It may have been Coben’s attempt to make the plot current but, with many being on overload, it just doesn’t work.

   Win is a book most readers will probably enjoy. Some, however, may find themselves not caring enough to do more than skim through.

Rating: NR (Not Recommended)

NEW ORLEANS AFTER DARK. Allied Artists, 1958. Stacy Harris, Louis Sirgo, Ellen Moore. Director: John Sledge.

   According to TV Guide, this sad imitation of Dragnet was based on a television series. It took some searching, but I finally discovered that Stacy Harris was also the lead on an obscure syndicated series called N.O.P.D. so that must be the one but that’s all I know about it.

   This movie version concerns dope traffic coming into New Orleans, and two homicide detective who investigate when two showgirls who use the stuff are bumped off. The motive is not exactly clear, but apparently there is a chance they’ll talk if they’re arrested and forced to go without their regular supply.

   Stacy Harris was a veteran radio star — in fact, he was the leading man on This Is Your FBI for most of its eight years on the air — and while his voice is about twice the size he actually is, he does a decent job, but everyone else in this movie acts as stiff as a board.

   At best, this would be fifth-rate TV. How’d they ever come to make a whole movie of it?

RICHARD A. LOVETT “A Pound of Flesh.” Alex Copley #1. Novella. Analog SF, September 2006. Never reprinted.

   A tale of the not-too-distant future, but if the author is to be believed, PI’s are always destined to be down on their luck and work in dingy offices in the bad part of town. Alex Copley, who tells his own story is one such, and speaking on down on his luck, here’s the way his life is going. He is behind on his rent, no surprise there, but here’s the thing, and it’s the thing that makes his a science fiction story.

   Nanotechnology has made it possible to avoid having to call in bill collectors when tenants cannot come up with the rent. When a contract is signed, the signee agrees to be injected with nano bots that, if/when the time comes and a loan is not paid, the defaulter is automatically infected with a pre-specified ailment or disease, which lasts until a antidote nano is taken. No more bail bondsmen, in fact no more lawyers. A brand new way of conducting many a business or financial attraction.

   Or in other words, Copley has a lot to worry about. Until, that is, a beautiful lady client comes knocking on his door. She needs his help, and what’s more, she has money, and she’s willing to spend it. What she needs Copley for is to find a former partner in formulating a another type of nano that can tell if a person, once infected, is telling the truth or not.

   It’s a great beginning, but the rest of story is wasted on finding the former partner, who has gone off hiding in deep backwoods country, and far too many pages are spent with Copley’s adventures in tracking him down, including traveling down a river in a kayak over several whitewater rapids.

   The initial concept is good, but the follow through failed to grab me. It’s still nice to know that you can find PI stories almost everywhere. (This is apparently Alex Copley’s only recorded case.)

TERI HOLBROOK – A Far and Deadly Cry. Gale Grayson #1. Bantam, paperback original, 1995.

   This is a first novel by a lady who is a former journalist. Interesting — the publicity material refers to her several times as Teri Peitso.  She is an American, a Southerner.

   Gale Grayson, an American expatriate once married to an Englishman, and her 3-year old daughter Katie Pru live in a picturesque Hampshire village where now all seems well. It didn’t three years ago, when Gale’s husband was cornered in the local church by police seeking to arrest him for terrorism, and rather than be arrested blew his brains out.

   All will not be well again, either, as Gale’s baby-sitter, a young local woman, is found murdered. The policeman who led the charge that resulted in the church death is dispatched from Scotland Yard to investigate, and all the half-healed wounds are opened again.

   This was recommended to me by someone whose tastes I didn’t know that well, and it looked a bit thick (nearly 400 pages), but it was a village mystery, so I tried it-and it turned out pretty well. Quite well, actually. The Chief Inspector and his lady Sergeant were believable and likable characters, and the numerous villagers were generally well-drawn also. The viewpoints shifted frequently (with that of the police predominant), and the story occasionally slowed down a bit; not surprising in a book of this length.

   But considering how little actually happened, action-wise, it held up really well. It could have been 50 pages shorter, but as is it’s still one of the better village mysteries I’ve read this year.

      The Gale Grayson series —

1. A Far and Deadly Cry (1995)
2. The Grass Widow (1996)
3. Sad Water (1998)
4. The Mother Tongue (2001)

Bibliographic Update: The author’s full name is now known to be Teri Peitso-Holbrook.

ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION. January 1967.  Cover by Chesley Bonestell.     Overall rating: 3½ stars.

POUL ANDERSON “Supernova.” Short novel. An inhabited planet is found to be in danger from a nearby supernova, and the Polesotechnic League sends the Trader Team headed by David Falkayn. In exchange for technology capable of saving their world, the Meresians are asked for a base for scientific study and, of course, a chance for profit. Politics follow. Mostly bland. (3)

HARRY HARRISON “A Criminal Act.” Having too many children may someday be a crime against society. [The penalty may be] legalized murder as the answer to the extra life created. (4)

MACK REYNOLDS “Amazon Planet.” Serial, part 2 of 3. See report to follow later.

H. B. FYFE “The Old Shill Game.” Robots shills are programmed to buy from robot vendors to increase sales. (3)

KEITH LAUMER “The Lost Command.” [Bolo #3.] A construction crew accidentally activates a semi-intelligent war-machine buried deep underground after the end of a war ended 70 years before. (4)

DAVID PETERS – Mind-Force Warrior. Psi-Man #1. Charter/Diamond, paperback original; 1st printing, October 1990. Ace, paperback, 2000, under the author’s real name, Peter David.

   Actually, [as far mystery fiction goes], this is a ringer, and maybe I shouldn’t be reviewing it here. You might find this book in the “action-adventure” section of your favorite chain bookstore. If that fails, you might want to check through the science fiction section before you find it, if you find it at all.

   Then again, the series that this is intended to be the first of might actually take off, like the endless series of Mack Bolan adventures or the Destroyer books that, now that my friend Will Murray is writing them, seem to be going as strong as ever.

   To get down to particulars, if you don’t expect a literary masterpiece, and are either a pulp or comic book fan, there is a better than even chance you even enjoy this. The year is 2021, a former high school teacher named Chuck Simon is the hero, and his trouble begin when the authorities learn that he has psychic powers that can kill. Telekinesis, mental telepathy, maybe even more.

   The problem is that Chuck is a Quaker, and he refuses the opportunity to become the government’s number one assassin, Things have downhill in the years from then to now. Constant air pollution, suspension of the Bill of Rights, a cashless society, cities infested with constant violence. (I think we can blame it on former President Quayle, whose statue is seen on page 104.)

   Not quite as bloody violent or militaristic as most of the men’s adventure series have become lately, this a book that can be read in a very short time. Since David Peters is in reality comic book writer Peter David — the Amazing Spider-Man, among other credits — you should not be surprised at the vivid, picturesque style of writing. You should also not be surprised at either the shallow characterization or the creaky turns of plot. Let me know: if I ever read another, do you want to hear about it?

   
      The Psi-Man series —

1. Mind-Force Warrior (1990)
2. Deathscape (1991)
3. Main Street D.O.A. (1991)
4. The Chaos Kid (1991)
5. Stalker (1991)
6. Haven (1992)

ELLIOTT CHAZE – Goodbye Goliath. Kiel St. James #1. Charles Scribner’s Sons, hardcover, 1983. No paperback edition.

   The entire staff of The Catherine Call hated the general manager, John Robinson, and wished horrible things would happen to him. When the city editor, Kiel St. James, finds Robinson with a letter spike shoved through the back of his neck, those wishes are fulfilled.

   The investigation into Robinson’s death is handled by Orson Boles, who favors a “lizard-green polyester suit” and cracker dialect for conducting investigations. St. James can draw out the more literate Boles, the two men having been friends for years in the small Alabama town they live in.

   Boles soon narrows the suspect field down to five. The major clue comes from finding Robinson’s much loved hat crumpled on the floor; closer inspection shows that it has a small hole that corresponds to the size of the letter spike, and is traced with blood, The blood type is not the same as Robinson’s and Boles’ investigation finds only five people on The Catherine Call who have the matching blood type. Kiel St. James is one of those, and is suffering from blackout spells.

   A subplot surrounds St. James and the state of his love life. His girl friend, Gretchen, is called out of town on business which soon turns into a permanent move out-of-state. St. James keeps bumping into cub reporter Crystal Bunt, “the newspaper’s all-weather, free-style “sex symbol.” St. James tries to hold out against Crystal’s efforts to get beyond his resolve, but doesn’t succeed. The love story that evolves is a pleasant addition to the standard investigation that follows.

   Chaze provides substance, to his mystery by allowing the characters to develop to a point where the reader can care about them, There is a small town charm to Goodbye Goliath that is enhanced by the authentic newspaper atmosphere the author presents.

   Chaze has worked for the Associated Press and as a city editor of the Hattiesburg American, and presently lives in that Mississippi town. Goodbye Goliath is his seventh novel, and an ideal one to curl up with in a comfortable chair.