Sat 22 Dec 2012
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: RICHARD BURKE – Murder on High Heels.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[4] Comments
William F. Deeck
RICHARD BURKE – Murder on High Heels. Gateway, hardcover, 1940; Arrow Mystery Library #5, digest-sized paperback, no date (1943).
Once the thrill, not likely to last even microseconds, has passed from the discovery that the detective’s name is Genghis Donne — his brother’s name is Kublai — which occurs on the second line of Page 1, there isn’t much left of interest here.
Since Clarence Elden, the murdered man, was president of the New York branch of the American Purity League, was owner of a sizable pornography collection, and apparently had a planned assignation with a female for purposes ostensibly impure, Burke could have had some fun with this situation. He doesn’t.
Occasionally I am introduced by mystery authors to others as a “critic.” I respond that actually I am a reviewer. Reviewers appraise, or try to appraise, as in my case, what the author has written; critics tend to deal with what the author would have written if the author had been only half as talented as the critic.
Thus, I am not going to criticize Burke for what he didn’t do in his first novel. I shall merely say that what he did was create, or more accurately borrow, stock characters — among others the dumb and antagonistic cop, the dumb and friendly cop, and the show girl down on her luck — and a plot so forlorn that I kept reading only in the hope that something, anything, fresh might appear. My hope was dashed.
Editorial Comment: Although author Richard Burke wrote nine other mysteries, this was the only appearance of Genghis Donne. (See also Comment #1.)
December 22nd, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Two of Burke’s novels were published by Ziff-Davis in their Fingerprint Mystery series:
https://mysteryfile.com/ZiffDavis/Fingerprint.html
Here Victor Berch, Bill Pronzini and I had this to say about the author:
“Over a relatively short writing career, Richard Burke had ten mystery novels appear from six different publishers between 1940 and 1948. This pair of Fingerprint Mysteries from Ziff-Davis were the last two he did, although he lived until 1962. Five of the ten books featured a Broadway private detective named Quinny Hite, an ex-cop noted for wearing a derby while on the job. His final appearance was in Sinister Street.
“Of note is the first case that Hite solved, The Dead Take No Bows (Houghton Mifflin, 1941), which was the basis for DRESSED TO KILL, one of a series of Michael Shayne movies that starred Lloyd Nolan in the 1940s. Lightning did not strike twice, however, and nothing else that Burke wrote was picked up by Hollywood.
“The Red Gate is one of those tales where a young girl from a poor background marries an old guy (rich) and when the old guy (a judge) dies, the young girl gets the blame. Clumsily plotted, says the review in the The New York Times, while conceding at the same time that Sadie has some charm. The book itself is dedicated to “Helen and Dave,†whom we presume to be Helen McCloy and Davis Dresser, aka Brett Halliday.
“According to his obituary, Burke died on the job as a typesetter for the Santa Barbara News Press at the age of 76, having worked for more than 60 newspapers over the years. The information on the dust jacket refers to him as having been on the staff of the Daily Times in Santa Maria, California, for many years, a theatrical photographer, a Shakespearean actor and a world traveler.”
December 23rd, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Both the review and the comments are interesting!
Very little seems to have been written about Richard Burke.
There is a review of CHINESE RED at my site:
http://mikegrost.com/abbott.htm#Burke
This is one of his Quinny Hite stories.
December 23rd, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Thanks for the link, Mike. Although CHINESE RED doesn’t seem to have been a classic, by any means, you seem to have liked it better than Bill Deeck did HIGH HEELS.
To tempt everyone to go read your review, I hope you don’t mind my reprinting the first paragraph:
“Richard Burke’s Chinese Red (1942) shows the Golden Age enjoyment of unusual architecture. The novel takes place in an elaborate, multi-story Chinese restaurant. It is full of staircases, mezzanines, balconies, roofs, hallways and elevator shafts. The back of the 1940’s paperback edition contains complete floor plans, which are useful for following the story. Burke has his characters traipsing all over this building before and after the crime, in the full Golden Age tradition.”
December 23rd, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Steve,
Thanks!
The only other Burke novel read here is HERE LIES THE BODY (1942). Thought it was inferior, and pretty much in line with Bill Deeck’s pan of HIGH HEELS.
Hope you have a wonderful Holidays!