2020 mystery, first in its series. Circus brat Willowjean Parker is
recruited by Lilian Pentecost, the great detective who's finding
herself less able to manage the rough stuff.
There are obvious parallels to be drawn with the Nero Wolfe
stories; but I've only read one of those, and I disliked it so much I
didn't finish. Not so here; Parker narrates, they both detect, and
they're out to solve the murder of Abigail Collins, widow of an
industrialist who shot himself earlier in 1945.
They are interesting people individually and together; this is not
that style of mystery which puts all the emphasis on the puzzle and
only has enough characterisation to serve as a mobile viewpoint for
the reader. These people have interests beyond the moment-to-moment
business of detection; they sometimes make mistakes, and those
mistakes flow from who they are rather than from the requirements of
the plot.
The case is a cosy setup (complete with locked room) in the
hard-boiled style, with lots of glamour and money over thoroughgoing
rot all the way down (and indeed a beautiful dame who's certainly
keeping secrets). Some of the discoveries will be obvious to the
reader who's paying attention; some are deliberately withheld.
There are occasional glitches in the period atmosphere (such as the
standard modern error that pregnancy must always have meant instant
teetotalism) but none of them is load-bearing. The setting may not
be authentic New York, but I wouldn't know; it's authentic pulp
magazine New York.
I enjoyed it, and I'll be back for more.