Customer Reviews

The Silver Jackass (Linford Mystery Series/Large Print)

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This private eye novel dates from 1941 and there are some elements of the screwball comedy movies of the era ,making it a work to be taken with a grain of salt rather than in an earnest and po-faced manner.This is not a book that explores Chandlerseque mean streets but rather a quick and breezy read .
The Silver Jackass of the title is an abandoned silver mine in Nevada which turns out to be pivotal to the narrative .The book opens when Otis Beagle ,the glib and smooth-talking owner of a downmarket LA investigations firm decides on an unorthodox -indeed illegal-way to drum up business.He instructs his employee Joe Peel to follow a member of a his(Beagle's )club ,one Cronk by name ,with the intention of making him so nervous and edgy that he will contact Beagle for protection .This is done but there is an irony at work as the firm is hired by a mysterious woman to follow Cronk for real .Shortly afterwards Cronk is murdered .It transpires that he was a mining engineer by profession with information about the eponymous mine .It is not played out as was previously believed but still has silver in it some of which had been illegally removed .The possession of that silver and its location are the hinges of the plot .Before the resolution Joe has been imprisoned in the mine and there have been other deaths .

Otis and Joe are a sort of double act -the former all bluster ,the latter quite capable of turning the tables on his boss if given an opportunity

The dialogue is sparky and brisk and this helps,together with a rapid pace to disguise a thin plot

Its an okay quick read for lovers of vintage light crime writing

I have always felt like a silver jackass but was afraid no one would understand my feelings.

This reminded me that I am a Silver Jackass and lack all phatness

My friend Mark first clued me in to this book. He is really into Jackasses, in fact he is one himself. Considering the fact that Mark is the all-time PHATtest jackass around how could I go wrong? It was really a terriffic book - I especially enjoyed the part the illustrated mark's family tree.

There were even some extra bonus bits of jackassedness that I didn't even know about.

For instance did you know that Mark has his own recording company?

Overall this is a great read for anybody who ever wanted to know more about the world's biggest jackass!