Wed 13 May 2020
A Locked Room Mystery Review by Dan Stumpf: HAKE TALBOT – Rim of the Pit.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[5] Comments
REVIEWED BY DAN STUMPF:
HAKE TALBOT – Rim of the Pit. Rogan Kincaid #2. Simon & Schuster, hardcover, 1944. Dell #17, paperback, 1947. Bantam, paperback, 1965. IPL, paperback, November 1985. Ramble House, softcover, 2009. Reprinted in (probably) abridged form in Thrilling Mystery Novel, November 1945.
Hake Talbot’s Rim of the Pit has something of a reputation among Golden Age mysteries, and I’m still trying to figure out why. I read it back in High School because it looked spooky, but even then I found it forgettable. So much so that I forgot it was forgettable and re-read it last week.
It’s one of those things where a rather mundane murderer tries to dress up his quotidian crimes to make it look the work of some occult agent – in this case a northwoods goblin called the Windigo. Talbot trots out a seance, a vengeful ghost, voices in the night and a swooping soul-snatching demon, all to surprisingly little effect.
This sort of thing needs the creepy touch of someone like A. Merritt to evoke the authentic shudder, but all Talbot got from me was a sigh of impatience as characters kept running from room to room, then sitting down for entangled explanations of what they just saw.
And I mean, you need a native to get through some of those passes. By the time we got to the final, no-kidding-this-is-the-real-solution scene. I really didn’t care whodunit, and the only thing I’ll probably remember from all this is the author’s oft-spoken fetish for pink silk panties.
May 14th, 2020 at 4:10 pm
I have to agree — I read this after it was “talked up” on another blog, but in the end I just “didn’t get it”.
May 14th, 2020 at 7:56 pm
I like it much more than you, but it’s reputation is built on the impossible crime angle and not atmosphere, and I have to admit I like Kincaid as the sleuth.
At a time when relatively few writers were attempting the impossible crime novel Talbot at least jumped into the stakes with both feet.
May 14th, 2020 at 8:14 pm
Even though the book’s been reprinted upteen times, and in spite of my affinity for locked room mysteries, I’ve never gotten around to this one. Am I still allowed a say? I think fans of “impossible” mysteries are willing to put up with a lot of so-so writing (not John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson! — most of the time) when the locked room aspect is so cleverly done. I have a feeling that that’s what’s going on here. David, I’d say you nailed it.
May 14th, 2020 at 10:39 pm
I think this had a reputation a number of years ago and for that reason I had a copy in my collection, but I never got around to reading it.
May 14th, 2020 at 10:49 pm
Nor have I, Randy, alas. No promises but I will have to see what I can do about that.
But the reputation you remember it having still exists. Here’s an earlier review of it that I just discovered was posted here on this blog, back in its earlier days:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=9559
Reviewer: Jeff Meyerson.