Customer Reviews

Murder

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"Murder" by Harold Adams is the first book in the Wilcox series. The series is set around a ne're do well who does odd jobs in his parents' hotel. He is an ex-con, with a penchant for attracting women, trouble or both. One of Wilcox's enemies is found murdered in a barn, and Wilcox tries to get to the bottom of it before it attracts bad attention upon him. There are a lot of suspects in this murder. Is it the brother of a "loose" waitress who wants to defend his sister's honor? The sleazy butcher who idolized the victim? Or the boyfriend of the dead guy's daughter? The conclusion is good, with a noir feel to it. This book is also rare in paperback, so it is mostly found in large type.

This was an interesting, fast-paced read with the sort of snappy dialogue and description that makes noir so much fun. It's set in the Depression, and stars an ex-con come back to his hometown. He mozies around, doing work, investigating a murder, trying not to start drinking again, all while trying to catch the eye of a pretty lady new to town.

Although the book revolved around crime, had sex in it and several killings, it was done as tastefully as possible. It wasn't graphic, something which I really appreciated.

The characters were all interesting and weren't difficult to remember. A review on the back said it was a "claustrophobic small town" atmosphere, but I didn't find it so. I liked the fact that the town was small, and there weren't 1,001 characters to remember. There was still plenty going on! I actually found the atmosphere rather homey, with depths about the characters' pasts that made you think there could have been a whole series written before this book. I was surprised to see that it was the first in the series.