Sun 21 Oct 2018
A PI Mystery Review: RICHARD GALLAGHER – Cannon: Murder by Gemini.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[12] Comments
RICHARD GALLAGHER – Cannon: Murder by Gemini. Cannon #1. Lancer 74783, paperback original; 1st printing, 1971.
As I imagine everyone reading this already knows, Cannon was a TV series that lasted for five years on CBS, from 1971 to 1976. Playing Frank Cannon was a decidedly rotund movie, radio and TV actor by the name of William Conrad, and it’s my opinion that much of the success the series had was due to his down-to-earth but still somehow debonair personality. It wasn’t his good looks, that’s for sure.
It’s difficult to describe on screen charisma, and the preceding sentence is the best I’ve been able to do. Richard Gallagher seems to have had the same problem in writing this book, an early novelization of the series. Forced to use only words on the page to flesh out Frank Cannon, author Richard Gallagher makes an occasional reference to his weight, but little more. The Frank Cannon of the book could be any fictional ex-cop turned PI, of which there are hundreds.
I also found it a bit curious that instead of L.A., Cannon’s usual place of business, almost all of the book takes place in Wyoming, in Grand Teton territory.
The puzzle presented by the story itself is based on an interesting question. If a murder is committed by one of two identical twins, but an eye witness can’t identify in a lineup which one it is, the police have no choice to let both of them go free, including the one who is actually guilty. What else can they do?
Cannon is called on to investigate, but he quickly finds himself stumped as well. Most of the book is filled with local lore and three increasingly narrow escapes from attempts on his life.
It might have made for good television — though I don’t believe this is based on an actual episode — but in terms of a book to read, there’s not a lot of meat in this particular sandwich.
October 21st, 2018 at 10:59 am
I really liked the TV show, watched it most weeks the first two seasons. After that, either something else was opposite that I preferred, or I just stopped watching. Still, fond memories. I’ll skip the book.
October 22nd, 2018 at 1:00 pm
I really like the series too, but I was working then (teaching) and I had to spend many an evening making sure I was ready for class the next day. I couldn’t make the commitment to watch every episode, and like you, Rick, after a while, I gradually drifted away.
I wonder how many people actually watched most of the shows as they were broadcast over the entire five year stretch.
October 21st, 2018 at 7:01 pm
Cannon relied almost entirely on Conrad’s commanding voice and personal charisma, which would be almost impossible to recreate in print.
Since the character was a gourmet cook and PI I just pretended he was Hammett’s Brad Runyon, THE FAT MAN, with a few pounds trimmed off and a bit more action oriented.
I suspect Conrad’s familiar screen persona and voice contributed a great deal to CANNON’s success.
October 21st, 2018 at 7:45 pm
Tie-in books existed for several reasons. One was to promote the series of movie. Another was it gave fans a chance to enjoy their favorite characters beyond the limits of TV at the time.
Remember there were no video tapes or DVD. The stories were shown only twice – once originally and again in Summer reruns. Miss it and you never had a chance to see it again unless the show lasted long enough to be syndicated.
October 22nd, 2018 at 1:04 pm
Watching television was really different then, wasn’t it? You did your best to watch your favorite shows, but you weren’t always successful, even though you realized that it was one and done if you missed one.
October 21st, 2018 at 8:35 pm
I’m a great fan of tie in books and there were some fine writers including not only Michael Avallone but Lawrence Block, Henry Kane, Marvin Albert, Richard Jessup, Don Tracy, Leigh Brackett, Orson Scott Card, Max Allan Collins, Stuart Kaminsky, Lee Goldberg, and many more behind them, but not all were equal, and this one was not one of the more successful ones.
October 21st, 2018 at 9:27 pm
And there still are some good writers out there doing books on STAR WARS, STAR TREK, and DOCTOR WHO, to name a few.
The Doctor Who books are famous for two special things. One, the early tie-in books were adapted from actual episodes by the writer of the episode and remain the only record of episodes now lost. Two, the books, especially the fun Virgin books kept the series alive between the many years (16?) it was off the air (between Classic Doctor (1-8) and Modern Doctor (9- 13 or so).
Much like the modern Bond books have been done by talented writers, the recent Who books include writers Michael Moorcock and Neil Gaiman.
Tie-in books continue to be popular with most featuring new stories but more loyal to the TV characters and premise.
October 22nd, 2018 at 4:19 pm
I have read this book, and can confirm that it is decidedly thin on plot. Basically, Cannon just spends a hundred pages or so waiting for the killer to incriminate himself.
October 22nd, 2018 at 5:12 pm
It is as if the author took a good premise and did not know what to do with it.
But in all fairness, neither do I. If those involved had done nothing, there would have been little if not nothing anyone could do.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:33 pm
From what I recall, a much used plot device in the show was for Cannon to visit some small town somewhere, and find a hostile population.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:51 pm
That fits in with this one, Glen. Thanks for the recall!
October 24th, 2018 at 9:15 pm
I once collected such tie-in books, but rarely read many of them. I did read every Doctor Who book I could find and most of the Star Trek titles until the latter got to the point it was hard to keep track of them.