To me, there is no better TV detective than Jim Rockford. Without a doubt, THE ROCKFORD FILES is one of the few such series that has aged well. Sure, it’s a time warp back to the ’70s, but at the heart of it was a detective who seems like a combination of certain literary characters.
You have a bit of Lew Archer, before Archer was at the end of a few beatings. Then you have Travis Magee, a sea-loving Don Quixote who lived on a houseboat and would always help out a damsel in distress. Then there is a Shell Scott, who never met a broad he did not like. All of these qualities make up Jim Rockford, that trailer-living ex-con. The only thing missing is that none of them had a pal like Angel, a dad like Rocky or even one kick-ass theme tune. Can’t win them all, I guess.
THE GALTON CASE by Ross Macdonald — This 1959 case seems to be over before it even starts for Lew Archer. He’s hired by a man named Sable to look for a long-lost son of a woman named Maria Galton. She is getting up in years and really would like to find her boy, who left years ago to spite his family, never to be heard from again. So, with a trail colder then gazpacho soup, Archer tries his best.
The only lead he has is a poem the son published in some poetry magazine under the name John Brown. This takes Archer to San Francisco to see if the editor could provide any leads. What he provides is an old address which opens up the case a bit more: Not only does someone remember the Browns, but there is someone else looking for the missing man — someone whose own son who was left at an orphanage at the age of 4 by his mother.
Could this person really be the son and now grandson of the lady Galton? As Archer tries to piece it all together, there’s a killing at the Sable household, with the handyman stabbed, leaving Sable’s wife an unhinged mess. This case just gets more complicated, leading to the discoveries of lives that were changed all those years ago. There are various tangents in the case involving crooked car salesmen, organized crime, false histories and, of course a few tarnished women — all of it exposed like ripping off a scab.
Macdonald is relentless in this one, never letting a reader take a breath for a second with the surprises he has cooked up for his trusted knockabout detective to dig through. Some readers might think they have it all figured out early on, but that is when the other shoe will drop, showing that it goes even deeper than even archer would think. Macdonald’s writing really hit its stride with this book, coming after THE DOOMSTERS, in which Macdonald finally broke free from the Raymond Chandler comparisons. Also, it’s to be noted that this novel was Macdonald’s personal favorite in the Archer series.
THE QUICK RED FOX by John D. MacDonald — The fourth book in the Travis Magee series can be a bit of sore spot for some; its attitudes are very much of its 1964 publication date. Travis is hired by a movie star named Lysa Dean, who is being blackmailed. It seems after wrapping up a movie, she decided to wind down with friends at what was supposed to be an isolated location, except someone with a telephoto lens had other ideas, taking photos of the weekend’s amourous activities, including certain shots that might cost Lysa her carrer.
Here is the big shocker for its time: Lysa had a lesbian affair, all caught on film. Back then, it probably would have been a huge scandal, but now it’s not much of a big thing at all. She hires Travis to track down the blackmailer and destroy all the evidence — photos and negatives. This leads Travis to investigate everyone that was at the weekend retreat, all the while accompanied by Lysa’s personal assistant, Dana Holzer. Bodies start piling up as soon as Magee gets into the action, including the purported photographer, which leads into a rushed ending for my tastes.
Macdonald’s opinion about same-sex relationships comes through loud and clear. Let’s just say this book will not be on any lesbian reading lists anytime soon. I’m not going to defend or even pretend to understand his ideals, but again, this novel was written in the mid-1960s. Thankfully, attitudes have changed since then. It’s just a shame, since this is a considered a fine introduction to the typical Magee story; the traveling-and-tarnished-knight attitude prevails, but gets saddled down by some truly close-minded thinking.
DIG THAT CRAZY GRAVE by Richard S. Prather — This 1961 book comes closest to what feels like an old ROCKFORD FILES episode. I mean, it’s all there: the search for a missing man, a drop-dead-gorgeous woman, thugs who try and stop our hero and, of course, the obligatory arrest of our hero by the local police. The only thing missing is some non-sequitur answering-machine message and a Firebird Esprit.
Another touch that will remind people of the influence on Rockford is Scott’s use of never telling the complete truth as to why he might be snooping around, since the story starts off in a mortuary where Scott is there to grab some files. He is just waiting for his distraction to kick off: some fireworks he set up with a very long fuse. That kicks the story into a flashback that comes full circle to this point. Cue Scott’s narration of the book from here, when he is hired by the sister of a missing man named Danny Spring.
She is really concerned that her brother has gone missing with no note at all, leading Scott to look for said sibling on the seedier side of town, including clubs run by the local mob and a man named Potts, who demonstrates exactly how powerful he is by lifting a bartender off a floor when he does not move when told to. Potts offer Scott a chance to drop the case and be on his way, but this only makes Scott more determined to find the missing brother.
It all escalates to not just one person missing but several missing. When Scott finally searches around Spring’s old apartment, he already knows one thing for certain: Whenever he finds Spring, the man will be dead. That’s because he comes across three hidden packets of heroin that no junkie would leave town without. Add to this little drama a case of hit-and-run, with Scott’s car causing our hero to spend some time with the local police. But how is it possible, since Scott was with his car all the time and at nowhere near the area of the accident?
Prather seems to love putting his hero in such predicaments, where the reader can’t quite figure out the case. The writing is light and breezy, even when bodies start piling up in no time. Prather never falters or makes the story too bleak, always balancing a bit of humor in the proceedings, even when Scott is shooting at the bad guys. That is why these books were so popular for their time, I’m guessing. I just wish the title did not sound like Jethro Bodine when he went to that beatnik club.
Next time: Pip-pip, cheerio and all that rot. —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF JOHN D. MACDONALD:
• A DEADLY SHADE OF GOLD by John D. MacDonald
• THE DEEP BLUE GOOD-BY by John D. MacDonald
• THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH & EVERYTHING by John D. MacDonald
• NIGHTMARE IN PINK by John D. MacDonald
• A PURPLE PLACE FOR DYING by John D. MacDonald
• SOFT TOUCH by John D. MacDonald
• A TAN AND SANDY SILENCE by John D. MacDonald
• WHERE IS JANICE GANTRY? by John D. MacDonald
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ROSS MACDONALD:
• THE ARCHER FILES by Ross Macdonald
• BLACK MONEY by Ross Macdonald
• BLUE CITY by Ross Macdonald
• THE BLUE HAMMER by Ross Macdonald
• THE DOOMSTERS by Ross Macdonald
• THE INSTANT ENEMY by Ross Macdonald
• THE MOVING TARGET by Ross Macdonald
• THE WAY SOME PEOPLE DIE by Ross Macdonald
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF RICHARD S. PRATHER:
• DANCE WITH THE DEAD by Richard S. Prather
• JOKER IN THE DECK by Richard S. Prather
• THE PEDDLER by Richard S. Prather
• THE SHELL SCOTT SAMPLER by Richard S. Prather
• THE SWEET RIDE by Richard S. Prather
• WAY OF A WANTON by Richard S. Prather
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- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s Man’s World
- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> MacDonald’s Extra-Value Meal
- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> Break from Character
- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> Pulp-a-Go-Go
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the recommendations, Bruce. I actually have the John MacDonald book around here someplace. I may have asked you this before, but have you read Stuart Kaminsky’s ROCKFORD FILES novels of the ’90s? Very good and very true to the spirit of the series.
Never came across those books, the only TV detective books I have read were the Columbo ones.
You know, there really were some rather primitive attitudes expressed in McDonald’s books. I remember one of the characters in A Purple Place for Dying saying something about how a husband should spank his misbehaving wife (or maybe it was the husband saying it, I don’t have the book handy), and I had to stop and read the passage again to see if it was some sort of kinky sex joke or not. It wasn’t. The character was seriously suggesting that grown women be treated like little children. It was a disconcerting moment.
That’s MacDonald. One day I’ll learn to proofread.