VAN WYCK MASON – The Branded Spy Murders. Captain Hugh North #5. Doubleday, hardcover, 1932. Reprinted in Complete Detective Novel Magazine, November 1932. No paperback edition, but currently available on Kindle.

   It’s 1932 and Hugh North, Captain Hugh North the man from G2 (still D.I.C. in 1932), is in Hawaii, where one of his men has recently committed suicide, and with another having blown an assignment both over the same woman, he’s been given a task that could have international implications, since an incident where American soldiers died in a clash with the Japanese in Manchuria is threatening to blow up into full blown war if Hugh North can’t defuse the situation.

   The story takes place almost a decade before Pearl Harbor, but a Japanese fleet is steaming towards Hawaii and Hugh North is the only thing between his country and war in the Pacific unless he can uncover who is provoking the trouble as the deadline for the arrival of the Japanese fleet narrows.

   Not that it’s much of a challenge for Hugh North, who even by this is fifth outing had quite a record of pulling fat out of the fire, whether capturing spies, averting catastrophe, or nailing murderers. He managed to do that particular trick from 1930’s Seeds of Murder to 1968’s Deadly Orbit Mission, so obviously he was pretty good at it. The last “Murders” title was 1941’s Rio Casino Murders, which saw North on hiatus until 1946 and Saigon Singer, when the series continued with more exotic titles usually referring to the locale and more concerned with spying than murder mystery.

   North, as one Howard Nevins, is present at Abner Polk’s dinner party along with Lt. Wilson Clark, the officer who blew his assignment; Baron Von Rentner, a Prussian big game hunter; Mr. Kanamura, a Japanese ships chandler; Polk; and the beautiful Mademoiselle Phedre Renoire (Something feline—that was what she resembled. Sleek, graceful, and probably unexpectedly strong.) when news reaches them the tension has escalated — “JAPAN SENDS U. S. ULTIMATUM!” Then in slightly smaller type: “Shells Kill More Americans Guarding Transpacific Property! War Demanded!”

   Tensions are escalating between Clark and the Japanese over the news. and between Clark and the Baron over a woman both are entranced with, and into this walks North’s old ally — sometimes rival — Major Bruce Kilgour of British Intelligence, when something is noticed in the water nearby …

   That murder (“The poor girl was naked as a jay bird, and there wasn’t a wound on her that I could see—and I looked very carefully. That scratch on her neck—does that suggest anything?”) will have repercussions from Hawaii to Washington D.C.,Tokyo, and Moscow as North finds himself at odds with agents who want nothing better than war in the Pacific.

   Meanwhile North has one dead officer and another one enchanted with the woman who is causing all the problems …

   And it isn’t long before North finds out just how formidable Nadia Stefan is when Lt. Clark commits suicide like Major Cross before him.

   Mason may not be Ian Fleming. and Hugh North certainly isn’t James Bond, but there are plots to be uncovered, codes to be deciphered, genuine detective work, clues to be followed, and an exciting down to the wire ending that helps explain the longevity of the series.

   Prior to the war, Mason, John P. Marquand, and David Garth (Four Men and a Prayer) were the American spy novel, and Mason continued well after the War.

   Mason, who as F. Van Wyck Mason wrote best selling historical novels and was a staple in pulps like Argosy, had a long successful career, having traveled extensively even before he created Hugh North, who would rise in the ranks from Captain to Major and eventually Colonel as the series went from Hugh North D.I.C. to the man from G2. North inspired a short lived radio series, The Man from G2, and comic book artist Nick Cardy (Bat Lash, Teen Titans) even attempted to syndicate a comic strip, Major North.

   Just how he missed Hollywood is still a question, but certainly the series had a long a critically recognized run, North not quite falling in the category of great detective, but so close the difference is hardly worth mentioning. The series was recognized early on for its use of exotic locations fully realized. Mason claimed despite his travels that he did most of his research in  National Geographic, but if so he was a master of spotting the telling detail.

   North might not be a Great Detective, but I’d like to see Ellery Queen or Philo Vance manufacture fingerprint powder in an exotic location or create their own ballistics test with bales of cotton both of which North does in another adventure.

   Of course there is no doubt North will solve the codes and the murder and save the day just on the edge of disaster in a suspenseful finale on a sub chaser. That’s what we read this sort of thing for, but it is an entertaining journey written in surprisingly modern prose with only some of the politics mildly questionable (Mason has less to apologize for than many if not most of his contemporaries), and with a bevy of well written females including the spider like Nadia Stefan at the center of the web, but victory comes bitterly.

TRAVELERS “Travelers” (2016). Canadian-American production. Netflix. 17 October 2016 (Season 1, Episode 1). Eric McCormack, MacKenzie Porter, Nesta Cooper, Jared Abrahamson, Reilly Dolman, Patrick Gilmore. Creator-Screenplay: Brad Wright. Director: Nick Hurran.

   It takes the full hour, but as the pilot episode for this series, it does exactly what it is supposed to do: Introduce both the players and the plot with just enough story to have we the viewer (me) anxious to see the next one.

   I can’t say that it’s a new idea (so I won’t), but you can tell me whether or not you’ve heard this one before: a group of travelers from a rather bleak future comes to our time and place to make some corrections. They do this by entering taking over their new hosts’ bodies at the time they would otherwise have died.

   I apologize if I’ve already told you more than you wanted to know. Me, I prefer going into a series totally cold and not having any idea what the whole story line is. At least I can’t tell you what’s going to happen next, what the team’s various missions are going to be, and for a very good reason: I have no idea.

   The series was on for three seasons, so at least more than few people found a reason to keep watching. This first episode was very stylishly done, with better than average acting on the part of all the participants. Each of the characters who have become hosts for the travelers is quite well drawn. In terms of the lighting and some of the locations, there are some elements of noir to the story. Not as much as in Blade Runner, say, but it’s there. Whether it continues, I do not know.

MARTIN MEYERS – Spy and Die. Patrick Hardy #2, Popular Library, paperback original, 1976.

   Pat Hardy is an oversexed private detective, living the good life of luxury apartments and bosomy girls. When hired by the niece of a deceased jellymaker to find out how he died, he’s caught in a squeeze of national security and enemy agents.

   It’s all nonsense, of course. The highlight of the affair is a meeting with a fat head of security named Julius Foxx, and his assistant Mr. Archibald. There’s a lot of bouncing in bed and other places, a good deal of padding, and little else.

   
   The Patrick Hardy series —

1. Kiss and Kill (1975)
2. Spy and Die (1976)
3. Red Is For Murder (1976)
4. Hung Up To Die (1976)
5. Reunion For Death (1976)

    —
Bibliographic Update: In the 1990s, Martin Meyers teamed up with his wife Annette (as Maan Meyers) to write a series of historical crime novels following the lives of one family living in Manhattan over the years.

MONEY MADNESS. Film Classics, 1948. Hugh Beaumont, Frances Rafferty, Harlan Warde, Cecil Weston. Screenwriter: Al Martin. Director: Sam Newfield (as Peter Stewart).

   There is a small but elite set of noir films that begin with a man getting off a bus (or train) with only a suitcase. The town is usually in warmer climes, and all he owns is likely to be in the suitcase, but that’s not a absolute requirement. It doesn’t take him long to find a girl, perhaps working in a small diner, night club or roadhouse on the outskirts of town.

   In this case, however, before he meets the girl, he puts most of the contents of the suitcase into a bank safety deposit box: $200,000 in cash. We the viewer are suspicious immediately, but not the girl, who is as tired of slinging hash as she is of living with a crabby old aunt. So weary of life as she is living it as to be swept off her feet and be married only two days later.

   Which is when the man (Hugh Beaumont) lets the girl (Frances Rafferty) what he has in mind to do with the aunt, and how he plans to launder the money, although I am not sure that’s a word that was in common use in 1948.

   As the naive young woman, Frances Rafferty is perhaps a little too naive and too willing to go along with the other’s plan, but Hugh Beaumont as the man with the plan is a revelation as someone who can go in only a split second from a sweet-talking lover to a tough and out-and-out cad who won’t take no for an answer, and in no uncertain terms, lets his new bride know it.

   It was a different era when men could dominate women this way, or is it? The story is taut and well-structured with only one caveat, and the minimal amount of money that was able to be spent on production fits in perfectly with the dinginess of life of the less than middle class in 1948.

   The caveat? It’s too late now, but I’ve have told the producers of the film to drop the opening scene altogether. It doesn’t fit, no way no how. They’d have been far better off starting with man getting off the bus, which is where the movie begins anyway. Watch the film for yourself and see if you don’t agree.

TONY KENRICK – The Chicago Girl. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, hardcover, 1976. Berkley, paperback.

   The first line sets the tone: “He’d always said that older hookers were better value; they knew more tricks.”

   The idea is to find a Vassar girl willing to impersonate a prostitute realistically enough to con a fence out of a $800,000 emerald necklace. It’s a dangerous business, with plenty of authentic New York City street life as backdrop. Of course it’s going to be movie. Some of the complications are seen coming, but once you’re hooked, Kendrick has you all the way. A wild finish.

Rating: A minus.

UPDATE. While a couple of Kenrick’s books were made into movies, The Chicago Girl was not one of them.

   I’ve been meaning to do this for quite a while. I don’t go to the comic pages in my daily newspaper first everyday, but they come close. The ratings below, on a scale from 0 to 100, are totally subjective, and if I were to do this again a few months from now, they’d probably change, but not by too much, I hope. I won’t describe any of them. If there are any you’re not familiar with, well, that’s what they invented Google for. Feel free to comment, however, and if you have any favorites that the Courant doesn’t carry, I’d like to know about them.

PEANUTS Charles Schulz. 98
CLASSIC DOONESBURY Garry Trudeau. Not read.
GARFIELD Jim Davis. 90
SHOE Gary Brookins & Susie MacNelly. 90
DUSTIN Steve Kelley & Jeff Parker 90
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE Stephan Pastis 94
MUTTS Patrick MacDonnell 92
ARCTIC CIRCLE Alex Hallett 40
JUMP START Robb Armstrong 30
GET FUZZY Darby Conley 10
BLONDIE Dean Young & John Marshall 95
DILBERT Scott Adams 98
GIL THORPE Neal Rubin & Frank McLaughlin Not read.
MARY WORTH Karen Moy & June Brigham Not read.
REX MORGAN, M. D. Terry Beatty Not read.
JUDGE PARKER Woody Wilson & Mike Manley Not read.
BALDO Canu & Castellanos 88
FUNKY WINKERBEAN Tom Batiuk 20
LIO Mark Tatulli 20
WIZARD OF ID Johnny Hart & Brant Parker 80
RHYMES WITH ORANGE Hillary Price 70
MONTY Jim Meddick 25
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE Lynn Johnston 80
B.C. Hart 85
BEETLE BAILEY Mort, Greg & Brian Walker 92
HI & LOIS Greg & Brian Walker and Chance Browne 92
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE Chris Browne 94
NON SEQUITUR Wiley Miller 10
CURTIS Ray Billingsley 85
PICKLES Brian Crane 99
ZITS Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman 92
ROSE IS ROSE Pat Brady & Don Wimmer 40
MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM Mike Peters 92
ZIPPY Bill Griffith Not read.

   Ha! Not as easy as I thought. I’ve changed some of these numbers several times already.

  RELIC HUNTER “Buddha’s Bowl” A Canadian-produced series. 20 September 1999 (Season 1, Episode 1. Tia Carrera (Sydney Fox), Christien Anholt (Nigel Bailey), Lindy Booth. Guest Cast: Tony Rosato.

   Any resemblance to the Indiana Jones movies is not only not incidental, but as far I can see, totally intentional. Sydney Fox is nominally a professor of archaeology and ancient history at Trinity College, but every week for three seasons on TV, she went off to yet another part of the world to track down a relic, if you will, of a large significance, importance, or (very often) of value. She’s also a master of martial arts, and if this first episode is any example, looks just fine in a simple black bra.

   Accompanying her on all these adventures is her teaching assistant, Nigel Bailey, a much more reserved young man from England whom both Sydney and we, the viewer meet for the first time in “Buddha’s Bowl.” On his very first day on the job he’s swept off to Nepal, where a map is said to point the way to the relic’s present location.

   Of course there is someone else looking for it as well, an old acquaintance and rival who knows Sydney well enough to call her “Sweet cheeks.” The scenery is great, the danger is real (stuck in a tomb filling with sand and no exit, for example), and Tia Carrera, in almost every scene, is a young woman whom every young male would most desperately like to trade places with Nigel to go on all 66 episodes with her.

   Even some of us older fellows.

JOHN GARDNER – License Renewed. Rochard Marek, US, hardcover, 1981. Berkley, US, paperback, 1982. Published first in the UK by Jonathan Cape, hardcover, 1981.

   After the death of Ian Fleming, the holders of the James Bond copyright bestowed upon John Gardner the honor and responsibility of moving the British master spy, along with his galaxy of gadgets and arch-villains, into the 1980s. This established thriller writer has responded admirably.

   Here Bond is assigned to infiltrate the castle of the Laird of Murcaldy, a renowned nuclear scientist who has had meetings with an international terrorist known as Franco. Bond manages to deftly extract an invitation to Gold Cup Day at Ascot. Very English. He is off to the castle in the highlands, where he meets people with names like Mary Jane Mashkins and Lavender Peacock and affects the courses of nations with names like England, France, and America.

   If this novel isn’t a Fleming original, it is still great fun. Everything Bond fans would expect is here: the eccentric, larger-than-life villain with his sexy and thoroughly evil female companion and preternaturally tough henchman; the seductive and seduced beautiful woman of questionable allegiance; the slyly sexual double entendre; the infusion of ultramodern technology; and the name-dropping of expensive quality brands of everything from perfume to handguns.

   So artfully has Gardner penetrated and captured Fleming’s style that one can only wonder if Bond’s old nemesis, SPECTER, might somehow be involved. No doubt Bond’s boss, the enigmatic M, could tell us; but. as usual, he is tight-lipped.

   Another recommended title in the new Bond series by Gardner is Role of Honor (1984).

———
Reprinted with permission from 1001 Midnights, edited by Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller and published by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2007.   Copyright © 1986, 2007 by the Pronzini-Muller Family Trust

   
A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT. RKO, 1932. John Barrymore, Billie Burke, David Manners, Katharine Hepburn. Director: George Cukor.

   Been wanting to see this one for years. It’s a bit stagey — more in the construction than in the filming — but quite nice. Hepburn is competent in her film debut, and maybe shows a glimmer of the overwhelming talent that made her career, but basically, there’s not much to separate her in this performance from say, Elissa Landi, Margaret Sullavan, or any other near- greats. David Manners, fresh from Dracula and The Mummy, manages to look not too far out of his depth, and Billie Burke is her usual fun self.

   But the picture really belongs to John Barrymore, in a showy part as a recoverir1g Mental Patient who thinks he can pick up tl1e pieces of his long-dead marriage. Though he overacts a bit now and then, he’s quite moving at times. The curtain line is very effective and surprising as well.

   So is the on-screen affection shown between Hepburn and Barrymore, considering that this film was the basis of yet another Hollywood anecdote: During production, Barrymore allegedly Put The Make on Ms. Hepburn in decidedly unsubtle fashion.

   Class act that she was, she pointedly spurned him and did not mention the incident again, till the end of filming when she is alleged to have said, “I shall never do another scene with you,” To which John replied, “I wasn’t aware you ever had.”

“FATHERS AND SONS.” An episode of Republic of Doyle, CBC, Canada. 06 Jan 2010. (Season One, Episode One). Allan Hawco (Jake Doyle), Sean McGinley (Malachy Doyle), Lynda Boyd, Rachel Wilson, Krystin Pellerin, Marthe Bernard. Creators and co-screenwriters: Allan Hawco, Perry Chafe & Malcolm MacRury. Director: Mike Clattenburg.

   You can’t tell the players without a scorecard. It’s a large ensemble cast, with already complicated history, even before this first episode begins. I’ll do my best in the next paragraph below, but as a first episode, it does the job quite well in terms of getting the viewers acquainted right away, or at least the screenwriters did.

   Jake and Malachy Doyle are a father and son PI team in, of all places, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador — or at least, I believe so; in spite of all of the picturesque scenery, I don’t remember the town being specifically stated. Their office manager is Malachy’s second wife, Rose, and Jake’s stepmother. Staying with them is Malachy’s granddaughter Katrina, or “Tinny,” and Jake’s niece.

   Jake is in the process of getting a divorce from his wife, Dr. Nikki Renholds, but he has an eye on Constable Leslie Bennett, who is in charge of the police end of the investigation. She tries to be aloof, but she is attracted in spite of herself (or so it appears). The would-be divorce is in jeopardy, however. As this episode ends, Constable Bennett had just let her hair down and is about to knock on Jake’s front door. On the inside, though, Jake and Nikki are busily taking off clothing and consorting with the “enemy.”

   There is as much comedy involved in Republic of Doyle as there is mystery, which has to do with a boyhood friend of Jake’s from being held for manslaughter, but he refuses to say anything on behalf of himself, even though his father has hired the Doyles on his behalf. It’s a good mix of comedy and drama, and I only wish the acting were better. The two male stars are fine, but both the two main suspects, both female, and Krystin Pellerin, as the very good-looking police constable, seem too young and inexperienced for their roles.

   But the season six has just ended (in December 2014), so there are a lot of episodes to watch, should I decide to, and I probably will. I would like to know, at the least, how the cliffhanger works out. (I suspect that she decides at the last second not to knock after all.)