Black Widow [Paperback]

Patrick Quentin (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell. (1952)
• ASIN: B001VO1Q02
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "She was twirling very slightly on the twisted scarf.", January 19, 2007

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frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Black Widow (Library of Crime Classics) (Paperback)

Patrick Quentin was the pen name used primarily by Richard Wilson Webb and Hugh Callingham Wheeler. Together they launched the Peter Duluth character in a series that began in the 1930s and ran into the 1960s. Duluth is a director, former alcoholic, and all around good guy who seems to have a knack for stumbling over murder.

Black Widow is a brooding and paranoid novel. Duluth befriends a young female writer while his wife is on vacation. His innocent friendship turns into a nightmare when she is found dead in his apartment, in suspicious circumstances. He knows the truth, but he also knows how it looks. When it seems that the innocent young victim was not so innocent after all, then Duluth realizes how black the situation really can get...

I am not a huge fan of theater-based detective novels. But as those go, Black Widow is entertaining. It manages to be free from the worst of the in jokes and does not try to be an expose of the backstage life. The writing is skilled and the story is a quick and very competent read. Recommended for fans of the darker golden age detective novelists.