This Dame for Hire: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Sandra Scoppettone (Author) "I didn't start out to be a private eye..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Quick, Claudette West, Warner Garfield (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. An original idea—a female PI working on her own in 1943—and an unusually imaginative portrait of a New York City coping, surviving, even thriving during WWII lift the first of a new suspense series from Scoppettone (Gonna Take a Homicidal Journey). Faye Quick makes a tough and touching heroine, with a voice that just cries out for an actress like Ida Lupino to bring her to cinematic life. She starts as a secretary, learns everything her sleazy but charming boss knows about being a detective, then assumes charge of the agency after her employer is drafted. "Even though I looked like any 26-year-old gal ankling round New York City in '43, there was one main difference between me and the rest of the broads," Faye tells us. "Show me another Jane who did my job and I'd eat my hat." This lively, slightly mocking tone continues at perfect pitch, as Quick finds the dead body of a missing young woman on a snowy street, then is hired by the victim's parents to catch the killer. There are echoes of Chandler and Hammett in the distance, but the plot offers some fresh surprises. Best of all, Quick's 1943 New York looks like old magazine and newspaper photographs come to life—not faded but enhanced by the passage of time. (July 5)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Fresh from her series featuring New York PI Lauren Laurano, the veteran crime scribe introduces a delightful new protagonist, Faye Quick, who also prowls Manhattan in the gumshoe game. But Faye's first mystery unfolds in 1943, as a vibrant-but-jittery Big Apple copes with World War II, and detectives' secretaries sometimes have to take over agencies when their bosses head to the front lines. When Faye trips to her first murder case--by tripping over a young woman's body on a Greenwich Village sidewalk--she must contend with a ration book's worth of shady suspects while keeping the victim's overbearing father at bay. Smart and sassy Faye proves up to the task as she diligently ties off loose ends--only rarely taking a break to sample heavenly lemon meringue pie or cut a rug at the USO with the boys on leave. Although many readers will finger the culprit before Faye does, Scoppettone delivers a satisfying plot about love gone wrong and a large cast of engaging characters. And it's hard to dislike a book that ends with a playful "Hubba--hubba!" Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034547810X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345478108
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #806,479 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book noir, July 5, 2005

By	C. L. Register (Star, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I haven't even finished this book, but am writing this review.
If you love l940's movies as I do, you will love this book.
Especially like the movie star names of the characters.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a new twist to the mystery novel!, June 28, 2005

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Sandra Scoppettone has hit on a wonderfully unique idea in her newest novel, This Dame For Hire.

Faye Quick is a bright, able- bodied, not to mention, gutsy woman. It's 1943 and Faye is working for a sleazy PI, Woody Mason, who heads off to WWII. And it's up to Faye to step up and take the reins of the A Detective Agency so the boss has a business to come home to after the war ends.

It wasn't a surprise to Faye when Mr. & Mrs. West entered her office wanting to hire her. After all, Faye had been the one to find their daughter's dead body on a Greenwich Village sidewalk. And now she's determined to solve the murder of the well-to-do NYU student and Park Avenue resident.

The novel's tone, Faye's tough and feisty attitude, the dialogue and the sense of time all contribute to the feel of 1943 New York in this suspense novel. I only hope it's the first of many Faye Quick adventures because I will faithfully follow her as she traipses through the sordid and steamy underbelly of New York City in the 1940s. This Dame For Hire was better than an 'old' movie, a bowl of popcorn and a rainy Saturday night (which would be nirvana for me). It will be for other mystery lovers also.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Dame is Fun, January 1, 2007

By	DLM "Redqueen" (Gainesville, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Dame for Hire: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Faye Quick is not your typical PI. When her boss leaves for the military during WWII, Faye takes over the New York detective agency where she had been a secretary. The author does a great job of capturing the attitudes and predjudices of the period, and Miss Quick is one smart dame with a big heart. The characters are quirky and fun. Written in the vernacular, it can take some getting used to, but the technique pretty accurately conveys the time period and differentiates classes of people. This is a fun read, meant to be enjoyed.