Fri 10 Mar 2023
An Archived PI Mystery Review: GEORGE CRONIN – Answer from a Dead Man.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[2] Comments
GEORGE CRONIN – Answer from a Dead Man. Virgil Fletcher #1. Condor, paperback original; 1st printing, February 1978.
PI Virgil Fletcher is hired by a lady friend to investigate the disappearance of her brother. While Chantal Montez is a Hollywood movie star, her brother is a New York City accountant. His last audit was of halfway house for heroin addicts, a charity case.
Cronin wrote one other book, Death of Delegate, but according to Hubin, Fletcher’s not in it (*). The guy’s not in Marlowe’s league – this case doesn’t set the world on fire, to be honest — but it’s solid enough, a job by a professional.
(*) According to the latest version of Al Hubin’s Bibliography of Crime Fiction, Fletcher is in the other book. It also came out in 1978, but I’m calling this one his first appearance, only because of its so early in the year publication date.
March 10th, 2023 at 9:06 pm
Missed this one entirely in the heyday of my P.I. reading. I don’t recall so much as a blip.
March 11th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
Condor was the publisher of both f Cronin’s books, and while they must have had great ambitions, they in all likelihood never had much clout when it came to distribution. From Hubin, here’s a list of all of the crime fiction books they did:
Condor
1977:
*The Corruptors, Gerald G. Griffin, pb
*Our Missile’s Missing, Robin Moore & Stan Gebler Davies, pb
*Rotunda, Robert R. Siegrist, pb
1978:
*Answer from a Dead Man, George P. Cronin, pb
*Death of a Delegate, George P. Cronin, pb
*The Poker Club, Chet Cunningham, hc
*Terror at Hillcrest, Shannon Graham, pb
*Anatomy of an Arsonist, Gene Mahoney, pb
*Search and Destroy, Robin Moore, pb
*-Diamond Spitfire, Robin Moore & James Frew, pb
*-The Death Disciple, Robin Moore & Gerald G. Griffin, pb
*The Black Sea Caper, Robin Moore & Hugh McDonald, hc
1979:
*The Cobra Team, Edward E. Mayer & Robin Moore, pb
*The Gold Connection, Robin Moore & Julian Askin, pb