IT’S ABOUT CRIME
by Marv Lachman

WILLIAM L. DeANDREA – The HOG Murders. Avon, paperback orginal, 1979. International Polygonics, paperback, 1999.

   William L. DeAndrea has acknowledged his debt to Rex Stout, and it is especially apparent in this second novel, The HOG Murders, with its eccentric-genius detective, Professor Niccolo Benedetti. Even Benedetti’s Goodwin, Ron Gentry, will remind you of a subdued Archie. (Actually, Matt Cobb, DeAndrea’s series detective since his first novel, Killed in the Ratings [1978] has more of the Goodwin glibness, which he combines with Wolfe’s being a stickler on grammar.)

   When a mass murderer who signs himself “The Hog” goes on a killing spree in the fictional upstate New York city of Sparta in midwinter, panic sets in, and the world-famous Benedetti is summoned back from South Africa. To carry the Stout analogy a bit further, The HOG Murders suffers from “Too Many Detectives,” with at least five sleuths, professional and amateur.

   The background of wintery weather as an impediment to detection is well handled, especially in a scene in an Adirondack cabin with the wind-chill factor at fifty-five degrees below zero. DeAndrea has a nice surprise waiting at the ending, though it is weakened by the limited number of suspects he has presented and a couple of holes through which one can drive a medium-sized vehicle.

   Incidentally, DeAndrea won Edgars with both of his first two novels, the second in the paperback-original category. I don’t believe that has ever been done before or since; it’s the literary equivalent of Johnny Vandermeer’s consecutive no-hit games.

Editorial Notes:   The HOG Murders was previously reviewed on this blog by Bill Crider. Check out his comments here. At least one other source (Wikipedia) agrees with me on the spelling of HOG in the title of this book, which is how I have presented it in Marv’s review. That’s how I remember it, anyway!

       The Niccolo Benedetti series —

The HOG Murders. Avon, 1979.
The Werewolf Murders. Doubleday, 1992.
The Manx Murders. Penzler, 1994.

       William DeAndrea — Edgars won:

Killed in the Ratings, 1978. (Best First Novel, 1979)
The HOG Murders, 1979. (Best Paperback Original, 1980)
Encyclopedia Mysteriosa, 1994. (Best Critical/Biographical Work, 1995)