Tue 11 Feb 2020
PI Stories I’m Reading: EDWARD D. HOCH “The Other Eye.”
Posted by Steve under Stories I'm Reading[4] Comments
EDWARD D. HOCH “The Other Eye.” Short story. Al Darlan #11 & Mike Trapper #1. First published in Crime Wave: World’s Winning Crime Stories 1981, selected by judges for the Swedish Academy of Detection for the Crime Writers’ International Congress (Collins, UK, hardcover, 1981; Fontana, UK, paperback, 1983). Introduction by Desmond Bagley. Reprinted in The New Black Mask No.4, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli & Richard Layman, (HBJ, paperback, 1986).
Apparently (and inexplicably) “The Other Eye” never appeared in EQMM, where Hoch had a historic run of over 34 consecutive years of having one of his stories included. PI Al Darlan (earlier known as Al Diamond) is talked into taking a partner in this one, a young enthusiastic law school dropout named Mike Trapper. Al is in his 50s, and business is slow, so he allows himself to be talked into it — that and an infusion of cash in the amount of ten thousand dollars.
In their first case together they are hired by a businessman who seems to followed (or sometimes preceded) by someone pretending to be him, no matter where he goes — even briefly in his own office and at home. Their job is to find out why. What does he have in mind?
Darlan seems to have the same questions about their client that I did, but he’s too late to prevent a terrible accident from happening, but his deductions do come soon enough to save young Mike from an even worse disaster.
This is one of a very few of Ed Hoch’s many stories that definitely depends on the protagonist being a private eye, and even more, that the junior partner is young and still wet behind the years. Overall, I’d say it’s in the middle of the pack in terms of Hoch’s overall output, but that still puts it way above average, as compared to the competition, as far as I’m concerned.
February 12th, 2020 at 9:57 pm
Hoch was interesting in almost any variation of the mystery form.
February 12th, 2020 at 10:23 pm
Very very true. I agree. He almost never had a story that I didn’t find totally enjoyable.
I have been thinking about the fact that this story never appeared in EQMM. I wonder whether the rules of the contest that Hoch submitted this story to had restrictions on where it might else appear.
February 13th, 2020 at 2:17 am
The Al Darlan stories are very hard to track down.
Has there ever been a collection of them?
A good one I did find is “The Girl Next-Door” (2007).
Hoch is a brilliant mystery writer.
February 13th, 2020 at 7:49 pm
I’m fairly sure there’s never been a collection of Al Darlan stories, but if anyone did, I’d be first in lne to buy it.