Until Hard Case Crime reissued SAY IT WITH BULLETS, Richard Powell is a name with which I was not familiar. With thanks again to the never-ending treasure trove of Stark House Press, readers can stop looking for old, overpriced, dog-eared copies of his work. A SHOT IN THE DARK / SHELL GAME reprints two of his novels, prefaced by a piece by Powell’s daughter, who explains with pride how her father just loved to write and wished he could have lived to see the new readership now coming across his work.
Starting off the collection is 1952’s A SHOT IN THE DARK, a tale of Johnny Edwards, a man who has gone through life with not a care, until learns a wartime pal named Tony has been killed in Cuba. This sets Edwards off on a trail of revenge and justice. He starts his own investigation, since he feels like the local cops don’t care, but comes across more roadblocks than a closed highway.
Edwards discovers Tony may have been killed because of an illegal immigrant smuggling ring. He is forced to leave Cuba by local officials, causing him to run into a woman named Ellen McCarter. He figures he’ll make a play for her, but stands her up instead, causing major problems. As he makes some headway into the case, Edwards goes back to Florida, where he uses his father’s influence to be transferred in his job to border patrol of the coastline, where he again runs into Ellen.
Powell’s writing is not the typical, dark, hard-boiled affair we’re used to with Stark House reprints. His style comes across a bit more light, but I’m not saying it’s a breezy read. Edwards is a likable, self-depreciating hero who regrets waiting too long to help his friend, but still at the center of this book — under all the wit and humor — is a mystery he’s forced to solve, no matter what. It’s truly fantastic that Stark House has reissued this one, since it’s a welcome slight change of pace.
A perfect companion piece is 1951’s SHELL GAME. Again, we have a wise protagonist in Bill Stuart. He’s on the beach collecting shells while on vacation, without a care in the world. But, of course, this being from Stark House, you know that will be taking a turn real quick. That happens when he meets a gorgeous young lady named Valerie, who has such a whopper of a story, he can’t not help this damsel in distress.
As soon as he agrees to help her, she disappears like a David Copperfield illusion. Bill goes to the local police, which make Barney Fife look like Popeye Doyle; they’re more concerned with who’s stuffing the parking meters with slugs. So Bill decides to find Valerie by himself.
In these kind of books, people never learn that a dead body in a hotel room equals trouble. With a homicide on their hands, the cops finally figure it’s time to act. Lucky for them, there is a vacationing officer from New York City named Al, who’s nothing but glib toward Bill, cutting him down to size about his amateur sleuthing and claiming that Bill is making up the whole story.
SHELL GAME has a few more surprises coming Bill’s way, with a gray sedan stalking him, the reappearance of Valerie and so much evidence pointed her way. Bill just can’t figure it out how these people all tie together with a missing mobster, and that just adds to the fun. Powell was really ahead of the game with the idea of a total smart-ass investigator who has a witty little comeback to the police and others at every chance.
Powell does an extraordinary job of keeping all the secrets hidden until the big reveal — something I wish more authors could be better at. This pair of novels is such a change up from what I’m used to from Stark House Press that it’s made me search out more of the author’s titles. —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• SAY IT WITH BULLETS by Richard Powell
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I’ve read three books by Powell. From the screwball school of hardboiled writing. I like his stuff.