Wed 7 Dec 2011
K. K. BECK – The Body in the Volvo. Walker, hardcover, 1987. Hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, 3-in-1 edition. Ivy Books, paperback reprint, 1989.
— Peril Under the Palms. Walker, hardcover, 1989. Ivy Books, paperback reprint, 1990.
Two novels, Body set in contemporary times, while Perils is the third of Beck’s period novels set in the ’20s, featuring “flapper” detective Iris Cooper and her erstwhile boyfriend, newshound Jack Clancey.
The Body in the Volvo — which may be the first “academic” whodunit set in an Auto Repair Shop — centers on Charles Garstairs, a young professor at the University of Washington who has just been denied Tenure by a committee headed by Dr. Bateman, who thought Carstairs was fooling around with his wife.
Charles’ uncle Cosmo wins the State Lottery and signs his Auto Repair Shop over to Charles, a very mixed blessing since the Shop’s assets turn out to include an old Volvo — which turns out to contain the body of Dr. Bateman, whose wife reported him missing several days earlier.
Naturally, this puts Charles rather high on the Suspect Scale, and, with the help of bookkeeper Sylvia Snow, he must find the real killer.
In Perils Under the Palms, Iris and her Aunt are vacationing with friends in Hawaii when one of the friends starts seeing a ghostly apparition and another turns up murdered. Jack Clancey arrives on one of the first air flights to the Islands and the Game’s afoot.
Both of these are lightweight, enjoyable and entertaining enough, but I get the feeling that if I read them again in a few years, I’ll have forgotten all about them.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I have forgotten them. Though if I were to pick one up and start reading it, it might come back to me. It’s happened before.
December 9th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Whenever I start a book (by accident) that I’ve read before, I’m the same way. I can remember the plot lines as I go, but for many books, unless the ending was something spectacular (Roger Ackroyd) I seldom remember who did it.
This is especially true for books in the Nero Wolfe series. I think that’s so because in those books, the byplay between Wolfe and Archie and the others is what’s important, more so than the culprit him or herself.
December 9th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I enjoyed both of these books.
My favorite K.K. Beck is another Iris Cooper novel, Murder in a Mummy Case (1986) . It has a delightful wit and a good plot.
The Body in the Cornflakes (1992) is a successor of a sort to “Volvo”. It is an enjoyable read – but not as skillful at plotting.
Beck is a sweet and entertaining author.