Sun 2 Sep 2018
Archived PI Review: PARNELL HALL – Murder.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[7] Comments
PARNELL HALL – Murder. Stanley Hastings #2. Donald J. Fine, hardcover, 1987. Onyx, paperback, January 1989.
PI Stanley Hastings first appearance was in Detective, read and reviewed be me in M*F10 [but not yet online], and as I said then, Hastings is not really a PI. More of an ambulance chaser, a self-admitted coward. The scrapes he gets into are invariably amusing, compulsively readable, and not to be missed.
In this case a housewife in his son’s kindergarten’s car pool is also a daytime hooker, unwillingly, and Hastings is asked yo help retrieve an incriminating video tape from her pimp, whom he finds dead. Is he up to the challenge? Read this. It’s the real thing.
[FOOTNOTE.] No, I’m not going to tell you anything about the ending. It’s not quite up to the suspense-building climax of the first book, but it wil do. What I thought I’d mention instead is that when Hastings watches the tape, he tells us exactly what is on it/ He has a problem facing his client after that, which is probably the same reaction I would have.
Pamela Berringer’s character also changes at this point, ever so subtly, from an innocent victim to someone who has something of an upper hand. Most curious.
The Stanley Hastings series —
Detective (1987)
Murder (1987)
Favor (1988)
Strangler (1989)
Client (1990)
Juror (1990)
Shot (1991)
Actor (1993)
Blackmail (1994)
Movie (1995)
Trial (1996)
Scam (1997)
Suspense (1998)
Cozy (2001)
Manslaughter (2003)
Hitman (2007)
Caper (2010)
Stakeout (2013)
A Fool for a Client (2016)
Short stories —
“The Petty-Cash Killing” (November 1999, EQMM)
“The Missing Heir” (2000, The Shamus Game)
“Faking It” (2002, Most Wanted)
“Oh, What a Tangled Lanyard We Weave” (2005, Murder Most Crafty)
“Death of a Vampire” (2010, Crimes By Moonlight)
“Times Square Shuffle” (2013, Crime Square)
“The Naked and the Dead” (2015, Fifty Shades of Grey Fedora)
“The Dead Client” (2015, Dark City Lights: New York Stories)
September 2nd, 2018 at 6:22 pm
Another PI series that I lost track of about half way through. Not that I’ve read more than the first three or four, even then. Some writers write faster than I can read!
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:49 pm
Like you, I stopped following fairly early, but I do recall the few I read favorably.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:22 pm
It’s a pattern that keeps repeating, doesn’t it?
I think one factor that’s at play here, at least for me, is that when books in a series stop coming out in paperback, I skip buying them in hardcover, hoping to catch up later, and I seldom do.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:02 pm
Parnell Hall has been one of the more prolific mystery writers over the past 20 years or so. Besides the 20 books in his Stanley Hastings series, he’s written another 20 in his “Puzzle Lady” series, which I know about but which I’ve never samples.
Then another six as by J. P. Hailey in a series featuring lawyer Steve Winslow, which as I recall is something of an homage to the Perry Mason books.
I need to stay in and read more.
September 3rd, 2018 at 7:04 am
That’s a pretty darn good career.
Steve, are you on the road to recovering? Wishing you well.
September 3rd, 2018 at 10:31 am
And no one has mentioned Parnell Hall’s songs, which can still be found at YouTube.
Why this guy doesn’t get on all the talk shows …
… no justice, I tell ya …
September 3rd, 2018 at 11:03 am
Here’s one I just found. You’re right, Mike. Hall is a fellow with a lot of undiscovered talent: