Mon 13 Aug 2018
An Archived PI Mystery Review: KENN DAVIS – Acts of Homicide.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[4] Comments
KENN DAVIS – Acts of Homicide. Carver Bascombe #7. Fawcett Gold Medal, paperback original; 1st printing, October 1989.
What makes this adventure of black PI Carver Bascombe a bit different is that he’s introduced into the case as a suspect, not as the detective of record. Dead — in gruesome fashion — is a girl who loved the theater, working for a stage company in her spare time.
Bascombe also gets involved with the (female) police detective in charge, a first for them both. Unfortunately none of the other people involved in the case are a pleasure to know, and every once in a while Davis lapses into a “gosh-wow” pulpish way of telling the tale.
The Carver Bascombe series —
The Dark Side. Avon, 1976 [with John Stanley].
The Forza Trap. Avon, 1979.
Words Can Kill. Gold Medal, 1984.
Melting Point.Gold Medal, 1986.
As October Dies. Gold Medal, 1987.
Nijinsky Is Dead. Gold Medal, 1987.
Acts of Homicide. Gold Medal, 1989.
Blood of Poets. Gold Medal, 1990.
Previously on this blog:
My review of The Dark Side (CB #1) by Davis & John Shirley.
A later review of mine of Acts of Homicide, written without remembering I’d done this one earlier.
August 14th, 2018 at 6:59 am
I had no idea this series ran that long. I would have guessed two or three.
August 14th, 2018 at 10:35 am
I believe I own all of them, but so far I’ve read only the two, including this one twice.
My later review (linked to above) includes a lot more detail about it, in case you or anyone are thinking of trying to find copies of any or all of them.
August 14th, 2018 at 6:29 pm
The “gosh wow” part sounds like a bit of a turn off considering how many pi tales I have to catch up on.
August 14th, 2018 at 7:00 pm
It will depend on your tolerance for lots of exclamation points at the hand of the author.