Fri 17 Jul 2026
Archived PI Mystery Review: EARL W. EMERSON – Nervous Laughter.
Posted by Steve under Uncategorized[5] Comments
EARL W. EMERSON – Nervous Laughter. PI Thomas Black #3. Avon, paperback original; 1st printing, January 1986.
PI Thomas Black is in danger of falling in love with his client in this case, a woman whose husband is accused of killing a young girl he was sleeping with, then shooting himself. The nervous laughter in the title is hers (see page 86).
Emerson has s smooth, readable writing style that starts the book off well, but the story is all on the surface. Black takes a lot of physical abuse in this book, but as a substitute for twists and turns of the plot, it’s not really very satisfying.
The Thomas Black series —
1. The Rainy City (1985)
2. Poverty Bay (1985)
3. Nervous Laughter (1985)
4. Fat Tuesday (1987)
5. Deviant Behavior (1988)
6. Yellow Dog Party (1991)
7. The Portland Laugher (1994)
8. The Vanishing Smile (1995)
9. The Million-Dollar Tattoo (1996)
10. Deception Pass (1997)
11. Catfish Cafe (1998)
12. Cape Disappointment (2009)
13. Monica’s Sister (2013)
14. Two Miles of Darkness (2015)
15. Jackson Street (2018)
July 19th, 2026 at 3:34 am
Pretty much my reading of Emerson, well written, but much ado about nothing much but the trimmings without the main course.
July 19th, 2026 at 10:10 am
Emerson had a long writing career, but he never seemed to have a lot of impact on mystery fandom, by which I mean reviews by fans and other coverage. Good but never great perhaps.
I would like to read another of his books and see if I feel the same way as I did when I wrote this review.
July 22nd, 2026 at 5:02 pm
Liked his first Mac Fontana novel:
Black Hearts and Slow Dancing.
Of the Black books thought
Yellow Dog Party
Had an edge.
Have only read a sampling oh his work.
July 22nd, 2026 at 10:28 pm
I have not yet read any of the Mac Fontana books, and odds are that I never will. If I get a chance, though, I may yet read one more in his Thomas Black series.
July 23rd, 2026 at 9:06 pm
For many writers their private eyes are central to their work.
This is a sound approach to Hammett, say.
But with Emerson, firefighter sleuth Mac Fontana might be his most important character.
Private eye Thomas Black might be much less important.
However I’ve only read a subset of his books.
So I might be wrong!