Carpenter and Quincannon : Professional Detective Services [Paperback]

Bill Pronzini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 1998

1890's detection in the Old West!

When you are faced with puzzles involving fraudulent rainmakers, nefarious spiritualists, coney games,a one-eyed lady gambler, a crook who disappears from a train, the stolen body of a Chinese Tong leader, and similar mysteries -- you hire the firm of Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services. Sabina Carpenter, the widow of a Pinkerton detective, has joined forces with John Quincannon, a former United States Secret Service agent—in fact, Quincannon would like to join forces in other ways, but his partner continues to resist his lustful advances.

Carpenter and Quincannon includes some of Bill Pronzini's finest short stories.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sabina Carpenter and John Quincannon are San Francisco-based detecting partners of the 1890s who have appeared in two Pronzini novels: Quincannon (1985) and Beyond the Grave (1986), coauthored by Pronzini's wife, Marcia Muller. In this collection of nine stories (eight reprints, one original), Pronzini makes skillful use of various period elements?including a logging camp, a rain-making fraud, a counterfeiter, a spiritualist and Chinatown?in nine clever puzzles. Quincannon is a former Secret Service agent and a reformed alcoholic; Carpenter is a former Pinkerton agent. Together, they form a team that relies more on wit than on firepower. Quincannon's constant efforts to make their relationship romantic earns consistent rebuffs from Carpenter, a narrative touchstone that gets annoying when presented, as it is here, in story after story. But even so, through these tales Pronzini again proves that he's as adept with short fiction as he is with the novel, making this a good bet for all his fans, not just the completists.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Combines the Western ambience with fairplay detection, including locked rooms and impossible crimes. -- Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March 1999

Pronzini proves again that he's as adept with short fiction as he is with the novel... -- Publishers Weekly, October 26, 1998

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: Crippen & Landru Publishers; 1 edition (October 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885941250
• ISBN-13: 978-1885941251
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,980,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Westerns with a mysterious flair, February 6, 2006

By 

D. Greene (Norfolk, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Carpenter and Quincannon : Professional Detective Services (Paperback)

Pronzini's Carpenter & Quincannon tales combine classic fairplay puzzling with an impeccable sense of time and place and a quirky eye toward the humor of a situation. Pronzini may be the most underrated writer around, but his followers know that he is one of the best. The book as well as the 2 C&Q colelctions through Five Star are worth obtaining, as is BEYOND THE GRAVE, a cross-time C&Q novel by Pronzini and his wife Marcia Muller.

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars pronzini needs to find better ways to keep reader involved, June 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Carpenter and Quincannon : Professional Detective Services (Paperback)

bill pronzini's carpenter and quincannon lacks clear focus and thought. While i read the book in hopes of being entertained, the various detective stories pronzini writes about are as elementary and outdated as the very events in time that take place. While he utilizes a clear and consice writing style, one that incorporates a kind of formalistic, European-Anglo type, the content of a suspenseful, thought-provoking narrative definitely lacks. While he writes about various detective stints that his San Francisco detective agency encounters, the stories lack a good climax and fail to keep the reader guessing as professional detective stories often do.