Mon 23 Apr 2018
A PI Review by Barry Gardner: STEPHEN GREENLEAF – False Conception.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[6] Comments
STEPHEN GREENLEAF – False Conception. John Marchall Tanner #10. Penzler Books, hardcover, November 1994. Pocket, paperback, March 1997.
Greenleaf has been one of the best known and regarded of the hardboiled PT writers over the last decade or so, and one of my personal favorites, albeit one whose last few books have disappointed me anywhere from a little to a lot. This is his first book for Penzler after a number of years with Morrow.
Tanner is hired by a high-powered lawyer for whom he’s done occasional work to check out the background of a potential surrogate mother. She’s to be surrogate for the wife of a scion of a wealthy San Francisco family, and they have many natural concerns. The job itself seems relatively straightforward, but Tanner finds his own ideas surrogacy not as clear as he thought, and his own life throwing up a few parallel complications.
The surrogacy contract is signed, and the woman impregnated, but then things go bad. Tanner begins to sift through the lives of all concerned, and — surprise! — it turns out that the past haunts the present, and everyone is wearing a mask.
Though all but the frothiest of crime fiction deals with moral and philosophical issues, Greenleaf’s tales usually do so with less concession to conventions of action and violence. Whether this is good or bad depends on your tastes, but it’s something to be aware of.
The appeal of the series has always been to me grounded both in Greenleaf’s excellent prose and the attractiveness of the aging Tanner as a believable, sympathetic human being, and is still. I think this is one of his best books of recent years. It breaks no new ground; he’s been compared frequently to Ross Macdonald, and I see the influence strongly here, though Tanner has always been less the untouched recorder than was Archer.
The plot is complex. I’m not sure all the pieces fit perfectly together at the end, but it was an end I had no trouble accepting, and a book I enjoyed.
April 23rd, 2018 at 2:45 pm
Greenleaf along with Arthur Lyons and Jeremiah Healy were a few of my favorite PI writers back in the 80’s and 90’s. I haven’t read anything from them in years, this review makes want to go back and reread some of their stories.
April 23rd, 2018 at 4:39 pm
Greenleaf brought the literary eye as close to fruition as it came, and Tanner was one of the more interesting eyes of the era. There were a few misses, but for the most part it was a fine series.
April 24th, 2018 at 6:41 pm
I read the first eight, perhaps more in the series, each with diminishing pleasure. I still think the first three books are the best.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Rick, Your experience pretty matches mine. I read the first eight than maybe one or two of the rest of the series.
There were 14 in all. Here’s a complete list:
Grave Error. Dial Press, May 1979. Paperback reprints: Ballantine, Jan 1982; Bantam, Dec 1991.
Death Bed. Dial Press, Oct 1980. Paperback reprints: Ballantine, May 1982; Bantam, Dec 1991.
State’s Evidence. Dial Press, May 1982. Paperback reprints: Ballantine, May 1983; Bantam, Dec 1991.
Fatal Obsession. Dial Press, May 1983. Paperback reprints: Ballantine, April 1984; Bantam, Dec 1991.
Beyond Blame. Villard Books, Dec 1985. Paperback reprint: Ballantine, Dec 1986.
Toll Call. Villard Books, Feb 1987. Paperback reprint: Ballantine, Sept 1988.
Book Case. William Morrow & Co., Jan 1991 Paperback reprint: Bantam, Dec 1991.
â— Nominated for the Dilys Award, The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, 1992.
â— Received The Falcon Award, 1993, for the best private-eye novel published in Japan.
Blood Type. William Morrow & Co., Sept 1992. Paperback reprint: Bantam, Sept 1993.
Southern Cross. William Morrow & Co., Nov 1993. Paperback reprint: Bantam, Feb 1995.
False Conception. Penzler Books, Nov 1994. Paperback reprint: Pocket, Mar 1997.
Flesh Wounds. Scribner, Jan 1996. Paperback reprint: Pocket, Feb 1997.
â— Nominated for the Shamus Award for Best Novel, Private Eye Writers of America, 1997.
Past Tense. Scribner, Apr 1997. Paperback reprint: Pocket, Feb 1998.
Strawberry Sunday. Scribner, Feb 1999. No paperback edition.
â— Nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel, Mystery Writers of America, 2000.
Ellipsis. Scribner, July 2000. No paperback edition.
â— Nominated for the Shamus Award for Best Novel, Private Eye Writers of America, 2001.
There is an interview with Greenleaf that was conducted by Ed Lynskey in 2005. It was first printed in the print version of M*F and is also online here:
https://mysteryfile.com/Greenleaf/greenleaf.html
April 27th, 2018 at 8:37 am
My experience with Greenleaf’s books mirrored yours and Rick’s. I enjoyed the first few, then became more disenchanted with each successive book.
April 27th, 2018 at 3:16 pm
I loved the entire Tanner series and hated to see it end. To David’s assessment of Greenleaf, Lyons and Healy I’d add Earl Emerson with his Thomas Black series.