Raise the Devil (Scott Elliott Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Terence Faherty (Author)

Book Description

Series: Scott Elliott Mysteries | Publication Date: October 12, 2000

How do you stop a vicious killer whose motive is vengeance and whose prey is a movie company on an isolated California ranch?

In 1962, Scott Elliott, top operative of Hollywood Security, problem solvers of last resort, travels to Las Vegas to rescue a starlet, Beverly Brooks, who has fallen afoul of a move-struck gangster. When Brooks and the producer of her current film, a cut-rate Cleopatra, are later killed in a fiery plane crash, Elliott follows a bloody trail from the ranch to Los Angeles and back again. There he must deal with a murderous evil - and the knowledge that his actions may have unleashed it.

Evoking the high summer of a lost American era while exploring the weaknesses and secret sins that led to its destruction, Raise the Devil is in every way a worthy sequel to Come Back Dead, winner of the Shamus Award for Best Private Eye Novel of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If Scott Elliott, Hollywood security agent, had had his own TV series, Craig Stevens could have handled the part without breaking a sweat. But he was starring in "Peter Gunn" just about the time Elliott, Terence Faherty's series hero, kidnaps starlet Beverly Brooks from the Las Vegas hotel suite of mobster John Remlinger. The time is 1962, and this nifty little whodunit doesn't miss a cue or a clue in setting the scene--a movie location where producer Marcus Pioline is shooting Warrior Queen, an epic to rival Cleopatra. The movie stars Pioline's ex-wife, his former stepdaughter, and the aforementioned Brooks, working from a script written (and still being rewritten) by Scott's wife, Ella.

When Beverly and Pioline are killed in a plane crash that looks suspiciously like sabotage, Scott sets out to find the killer before Remlinger beats him to it. Faherty's pacing is more than adequate, but he really excels at snappy dialogue and clever plotting. The Elliotts are an admirable duo--a Nick and Nora Charles with a '60s flair. When Scott's tied up all the loose ends and is relaxing with Ella, the phone rings. It's Paddy, Scott's boss:

"Scotty, I need you down here right away. It's about the Marilyn Monroe business."

"What business?"

"You mean you haven't heard? She was found dead. Overdose of sleeping pills... They're calling it an accident, but the whole thing smells to high heaven. How soon can you be here?"

Thus, in true Hollywood fashion, Faherty sets up his sequel in the last page. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Scott Elliott, an actor turned private detective, and Ella, his screenwriter wife, are on location for the shooting of Warrior Queen, a historical epic, when starlet Bebe Brooks and Marcus Pioline, the film's director, both perish in a plane crash. Scott feels somewhat guilty since he just returned poor Bebe to the set, rescuing her from the clutches of Johnny Remlinger, a mob hoodlum. This is Faherty's third Elliott tale (after Kill Me Again and Come Back Dead), which like the others is set in the '60s and suitably drenched in movie lore. Unfortunately, in this instance the plot drags, weighed down by the imbalance between an agreeably large cast of characters and shamefully few murder motives. Pioline's former wife, once a leading lady, is relegated to a lesser role in Warrior Queen. His nervous daughter also has a bit part. Bebe's husband, a hard-boozing writer, also has cause for resentment. Johnny isn't exactly saintly, but he claims that Bebe needed him to get her off drugs. There are rumors of affairs and two more deaths occur. The eventual solution relies on an overly used crime novel gambit, and is especially unsatisfying given the uniform excellence of Faherty's other series, which features Oscar Keane and began with the Edgar-nominated Deadstick. For a mystery writer to have more than one series up and running is far from unusual. What is surprising is the wide disparity in quality between Faherty's two. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (October 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312266405
• ISBN-13: 978-0312266400
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Mystery, October 20, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raise the Devil (Scott Elliott Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In 1962, movie director Piolene, trying to take advantage of the filming of Cleopatra, is filming Warrior Queen on location in central California. The story based on the life of the Briton Queen Boudacia, stars Beverly "Bebe" Brooks. However, two-bit Vegas mobster Johnny Remlinger abducts Bebe from the set. Warrior Queen scriptwriter Ella Elliot recommends to Piolene that he hire Hollywood Security to rescue his starlet. With the help of his employer Paddy MaGuire, private investigator Scott Elliot daringly rescues Bebe.

However, the rescue does not last long when a plane carrying Bebe and Piolene crashes into a hill with the latter at the helm. Unable to sit back and let the law enforcement types handle the case, Scott begins his own inquiries. Though the suspect list starting with Remlinger seems endless, no one has a clear-cut motive for killing the two movie personalities. Still, feeling deep pangs of guilt for bringing Bebe back to die, Scott continues to investigate what seems like a hopeless case to solve.

RAISE THE DEVIL, the third Scott Elliot case is an enjoyable historical mystery that brings to life Hollywood during the Kennedy Administration. The vast ensemble slows down the story line with unnecessary detours that fail as red herrings because motives never surface. Scott is an interesting individual, but his deep remorse does not feel genuine even if it propels him to obstinately pursue a helpless case. Although the early sixties at the movies is fun for the nostalgic baby boomers and Scott is overall a top rate character, most fans will be better off with Terence Faherty's other series.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scott Elliot gets better with age, November 15, 2000

By 

Zelda Bailey (Golden, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raise the Devil (Scott Elliott Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this 3rd Scott Elliot mystery. The series gets better with each book, as do the characters. The plot's believable and complex enough to keep you interested, but not so twisted that you get lost. The setting feels right, and it's obvious that Mr. Faherty has done his research.

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah, what a good book! A gritty period piece!, August 12, 2004

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Raise the Devil (Scott Elliott Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This is the kind of mystery you enjoy reading so much that you're torn between wanting to know what happens next (so you want to read quickly) and just enjoying the book (so you want to read slowly to savor the pleasure). The setting is the Kennedy Administration in California during the making of a movie -- a movie that is meant to compete with Cleopatra, which is being filmed in Italy at the same time. The book begins with our hero, Scott Elliott, snatching a half-naked actress from the Las Vegas hotel where she is being held captive by a bad-news gangster. It reminds me of the opening of a James Bond movie, where you're immediately on a roller coaster but don't quite know what's happening.

The action shifts to the California ranch that this movie is being filmed on -- the actress is the lead in this movie, and that's why Scott's security firm was hired to bring her back. Scott gets the feeling that he and the filming crew are in real danger now because the gangster is going to be very angry at him and he's going to want to get the actress back again. TO make matters worse, Scott's wife is one of the writers on the movie and he's concerned about her safety.

Faherty is such a great writer that I felt like I was there as it was happening -- riding in the 1960 Tbird convertible with Scott down a remote California road, wondering when the gangster is going to show up again.

I have read other books by Faherty but not in this series. I'm going to have to read more Scott Elliott mysteries -- this book kind of made me sorry that the early 60s are over.