I Know a Trick Worth Two of That: #2 Sam Holt Detective [Paperback]

Donald Weslake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2006

Sam Holt spent years playing Packard, everyone's favorite TV-detective; he's got no desire to play sleuth in real life. But when a long-lost pal calls with a rant about conspiracies, sinister cargo ships and hit men, and then gets poisoned at a party full of Holt's closest friends, there doesn't seem to be a lot of choice. Sure, Holt could leave it to the cops and cross his fingers. But Packard would never have taken such a weenie's way out. And Holt, to his astonishment, finds that he can't take it, either.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adopting his hero's name, the pseudonymous author presented a wonderfully devious tale in the actor-sleuth's debut, One Of Us Is Wrong. Equally witty and engaging, this sequel starts in Holt's Manhattan town house, where a crime induces him to emulate "Packard," the detective he had played in a popular TV series. Holt is sheltering Doug Walford, on the run from mobsters, when the man dies during a party; the verdict is suicide. The actor, however, knows Walford was killed to prevent him from exposing illegalities covered up by eminent public figures. Facing the unwelcome fact that the murderer is one of his guests, all of them friends, Holt questions each in turn but for a time gets nowhere, except into trouble. The amateur sleuth survives a beating by thugs and finally prevails, gathering the evidence that clinches the case. The swift, tense developments reach a denouement that will surprise the keenest whodunit fan. No matter who this author is, he delivers smashing adventures. (November
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A smashing adventure with swift, tense developments that will surprise even the keenest whodunit fan" -- Publshers Weekly

"Amateur detectives are worth a dime a dozen; here’s one worth at least a buck" -- New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Felony & Mayhem (June 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933397438
• ISBN-13: 978-1933397436
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #940,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Rose By Any Other Name..., April 23, 2007

By 

C. Nicholas Morrison - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Know a Trick Worth Two of That: #2 Sam Holt Detective (Paperback)

Yes, Samuel Holt is actually Donald E. Westlake. Another reviewer said (and I paraphrase) that this book, while enjoyable, is not as good as Westlake at his best. This is true, I suppose...as far as it goes. At his best, Donald Westlake has no peers. But a mediocre Westlake novel is like a mediocre Marx Brothers movie: it's still better than almost anything else in its field. I don't mean to intimate, though, that this is a mediocre effort from Westlake/Holt. Far from it. He's in mid-season form from the first page to the last. If you love Donald Westlake, you're in for a treat with Samuel Holt.

Note To Buyers: When I recently discovered that Westlake had written four books under the name of Samuel Holt, I immediately started ransacking Seattle's used bookshops. 'I Know A Trick Worth Two Of Those' was the only one I came up with. It appears that used Samuel Holt novels are a bit thin on the ground...around here, anyway. So I caved in and ordered the other three books in the series from Amazon. I went with 'Free Shipping.' After all, these books were written in the 1980's and I just unearthed this book last week. I guess I can wait a few extra days for the other ones.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second Samuel Holt Adventure, Way Different Than the First and a Really Good Who Done It Mystery!, February 19, 2009

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: I Know a Trick Worth Two of That: #2 Sam Holt Detective (Paperback)

Know those classic mysteries set in a mansion where one of the guests is killed and you've got to work out who amongst the other guests killed him, well this is Westlake's spin on that plot. A lot of Westlake novels are catergorised under the mystery category when they are not in fact mysteries. This one though, definitly is. You do not need to have read the first Sam Holt adventure One of Us Is Wrong to get into this as enough background on the main character without giving away the plot of that novel is given. One of Us Is Wrong incidentally is not a mystery, it's a hard crime novel.

Donald E Westlake originally wanted to know if he could be successful if he started in the industry today (today being 1986) so planned on writing a series of six books under the pen name Samuel Holt to see how they would sell. Westlake wrote the first three novels in this series at the same time. Only himself and the publishers knew the secret, unfortunately when the One of Us is Wrong novel appeared in the bookstores, Westlake learnt his publishers had betrayed him and posters and displays everywhere told the public Samuel Holt is Donald E Westlake. In fact that was the only book published under the Samuel Holt name without Westlake's on the cover. Westlake saw no further point in continuing the series since the whole point was to see if an unknown pseudonym could make it, so he finished off the fourth book then never brought Sam Holt character to the pages of his typewriter again. And that's a shame, as the Sam Holt character is just as good as Dortmunder or Parker (found under his pen name which he revealed to the world after it was successful - Richard Stark).

The other books in the series are What I Tell You Three Times Is False and The Fourth Dimension Is Death. If you forget their order remember the number is in each title. Westlake passed away in December 2008 so unfortunately this all we are likely to see.

This is a sensational mystery. Basic plot is Doug Walford, Sam's ex partner from his days as a Long Island police officer convinces Sam to meet up with him in an isolated place. Sam learns that Doug has annoyed some people so much that they killed his girlfriend and her daughter in a fire and now they are after him. Sam decides to let Doug hide out in his house, only problem is he has a party coming up. It is decided to disguise Doug and pass him off as a writer with writer's block. Unfortunatly Doug is murderered. The police tell Sam it's a suicide but he knows it wasn't. Sam Holt is going to have to face the fact that one of his friends is a murderer and he's only going to be able to return to a normal state of everyday living when he's worked out who. Of course those responsible for Doug's demise are not going to be to happy when an ex TV detective, starts being a detective in real life!

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Donald Westlake book?, January 9, 2006

By 

Judith J. Brown "judybrowni" (Santa Monica CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Know a Trick Worth Two of That (Hardcover)

Yup, or so many of the fan sites would have us believe. Written when he was cranking out mysteries under pen names, it may not be Westlake at chipper best, but each is a well-written, well-crafted mystery starring "Samuel Holt," a cop turned star of a cancelled televison series, who now has the time to solve cases for real.