Wake Up Little Susie [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Edward Gorman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2000

Filled with "joyously precise period detail" (Kirkus Reviews), this new Sam McCain mystery brings readers back to 1950s Iowa, as the Ford Edsel is unveiled-and a body is found in the trunk of one of the brand-new cars.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Happy Days' with an edge. -- Joan Hess

An excellent crime novel by any standards. -- Booklist

Assured prose...Gorman's depiction of the town's rivalries keeps the tension strong. -- Publishers Weekly

Sweetly nostalgic...The kind of hero any small town could take to its heart. -- New York Times Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Ed Gorman lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has won the Shamus, the SPUR and the International Fiction Writer's Award among others, and written numerous highly praised novels. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786224649
• ISBN-13: 978-0786224647
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,452,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun in the Fifties, March 5, 2001

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wake Up Little Susie (Paperback)

What could be better than life in Black River Falls, Iowa on a September Saturday in 1957? The new car of the future, the Edsel, is being introduced to the town at the local Ford dealership and there's balloons, hog callers and marching bands, baton twirlers, cub scouts and tap-dancing twins. Unfortunately, there's also the dead body of Susan Squires in the trunk of one of the new Edsels. Sam McCain, a young lawyer who's earning most of his income with his private investigator's license, is asked to look into the murder. In no time, he's got way too many suspects, among them the victim's husband, David. But, soon David turns up dead too and McCain's highschool honey, Mary, goes missing and Sam sets out on a mission to solve the case and find his sweetheart, before it's too late..... Ed Gorman has written an entertaining mystery that will transport you back to those nostalgic days of the 1950s. His writing is crisp and smart and full of witty and irreverent dialogue; his plot, tense and full of surprises and his scenes, vivid and at times, laugh-out loud funny. But it's Mr Gorman's characters that are the real strength of this novel. From the brandy sipping, cigarette smoking, rubberband shooting judge to the fat, bully of a sherriff with a skin condition, who only got the job because his father runs the town, to McCain's best friend, Jeff who's backing out of his engagement because his fiance might not be a virgin, this is a cast of unrivaled, quirky denizens you won't soon forget. Wake Up Little Susie is the second book of a terrific new series, full of small town detail and 1950's wisdom, that shouldn't be missed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A workmanlike effort that lacks punch., March 30, 2004

By 

Michael G. "mikefromrochester" (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wake Up Little Susie (Paperback)

This murder mystery contains all the necessary elements. A clever, likeable investigator who does double duty as narrator. A clearly delineated sense of time and place. An intriguing murder with a number of potential suspects. And a surprise ending which, if not entirely convincing, is at least plausible on some level.
Sam McCain is a 23 year old private eye who also happens to be a lawyer. He loves the small Iowa town in which he grew up and where he still lives. Almost everyone is fond of Sam and his only discernible vice is that he smokes too much. When a woman's body is found in the trunk of an Edsel, Sam is pressed into service to find the killer. As the investigation unfolds, there are many scenes which serve to evoke the feel of life in smalltown America in the 1950s. Moreover, author Ed Gorman gives us a fair amount of good natured humor and the occasional moment of poignancy.
For me, two words sum up the mood of this novel, breezy and nostalgic. Gorman has done a competent, workmanlike job in writing this book. Somehow though, after turning the last page, I felt vaguely unsatisfied. It was as if I had completed a tasty meal and still felt just as hungry as I was when I started. Or as the precocious Sam McCain might have put it, "I guess nostalgia isn't what it used to be".

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed, November 19, 2011

By 

Nancy Abbe (Kent, Wa.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wake Up Little Susie (Paperback)

This book was fun to read. The title caught my eye as I am a huge fan of the Everly Brothers.