google-site-verification: googlef64103236b9f4855.html Philly Reader: November 2016

Friday, November 4, 2016

The Fallen Sparrow by Dorothy B. Hughes

Kit McKittrick was back in New York. He had fought in the Spanish war, and was then held prisoner for two years until he escaped. He had been recovering in the western US, but when he learned that his friend, policeman Louie Lepetino, was dead, Kit had to return to find out what had happened.

Now he was back in the New York world he knew. The world of money, of high-class women, and posh residences. He had been in love with Barbara Taviton before he went to Spain. When he went to see her on his first night back, she was at a benefit for refugees from the war (It is 1942). She seemed pleased to see him, but she seemed equally pleased to see Otto Skaas who was young, blond, and seemed to be more a member of the Luftwaffe than a refugee. Otto was in the US with his uncle Christian Skaas, who was a noted chemist and Nobel prize winner.

Kit heard that the police thought that Louie had committed suicide by jumping from a window. Kit and Louie's family didn't believe this but thought that Louie had been pushed out of the window. Kit found Content Hamilton, a singer and sister of Kit's good friend Abner Hamilton. Abner had also been in love with Barbara Taviton, but had stepped aside for Kit. Now Abner was working in the State Department decoding messages. Kit had also introduced Louie to Barbara Taviton, and Louie did have an eye for beautiful women.

Kit would find that events from his time in Spain would result in his being watched in New York. Kit seemed to know the location of something very valuable from his days in Spain. He was being pursued by a person whom he called Wobblefoot. He had never seen this person but had  heard these footsteps in the prison in Spain, and now he heard them in New York.  He grew to suspect everyone that he came in contact with of being in some kind of conspiracy against him.

This novel has a complex plot with a number of very suspicious characters. It takes place during World II when it was very easy to suspect refugees of being spies. Kit was essentially a moral man who didn't like violence, but he would use it if it was absolutely necessary.  He grew to suspect everyone around him, and carried a couple of guns just in case. This is a very noir mystery novel, and will appeal to those readers who enjoy this genre.

Dorothy B. Hughes started writing mystery novels in the 1940's. These were mostly hard-boiled, noir fiction, and were quite popular. The Fallen Sparrow was published in 1942 and was made into a movie in 1943 which starred John Garfield and Maureen O'Sullivan. Hughes reviewed mysteries for several publications and she received an Edgar award for mystery criticism, and in 1978 she received the Grand Master of Mystery Award.






Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Green Grow the Dollars by Emma Lathen

Why would anybody commit murder because of a tomato? Tomatoes are something that we take for granted; they are in spaghetti sauce, ketchup, salads, and many other things which we eat everyday. If you are, however, a large company which sells seeds, tomatoes are a big business. Such was the Vandam Nursery & Seed Company which was on the brink of the release of the seeds for the Numero Uno tomato. This was a biennial tomato plant which would produce many more tomatoes than the annual one. This tomato was to be featured in their spring seed catalog which was being eagerly awaited by gardeners all over America. Then a small seed company, Wisconsin Seedsmen, claimed that they had developed this tomato first and had brought a patent suit against Vandam's. Vandam's could not mail the thousands of catalogs to eager buyers until the suit was settled.

The Sloan Guaranty Bank and Trust company was not the principal bank for Vandam's but they were the principle bank for Standard Foods which had taken over Vandam's the year before. Standard Foods was a huge company which owned many smaller food producers. Thus the law suit against Vandam's was brought to John Putnam Thatcher's attention by Miss Corsa, his secretary, who was eagerly awaiting her spring catalog. Numero Uno was going to be worth millions to Standard Foods.

So John Putnam Thatcher, banker at the Sloan and amateur detective, went to Chicago to watch at first hand the developing situation. Dick Vandam told him that the Numero Uno had been developed for Vandam's by the Institute of Plant Research in Aleman, Puerto Rico. The IPR was headed by Howard Pendleton, who was a leader in plant genetic research. Pendleton developed plants for many companies and was growing rather wealthy in the process. His wife Fran was a geneticist but she specialized in roses, and his assistant Eric Most seemed very eager to take over IPR should Pendleton decide to retire.

Wisconsin Seedsmen was a much smaller organization. It was headed by Ned Ackerman who had raised the money to keep the operation going. Its star was Scott Wenzel who was a young plant geneticist who had developed the Wisconsin Seedsmen version of the contested tomato. This company ran on a shoe string, and many on the workers were high school students. Barbara Gunn was the secretary for the company, but she wanted to leave and get a college degree.

Now all of those involved in this controversy would meet at a Chicago convention of people involved in plant genetics. Needless to say, they did not get along very well together. A murder does occur at this convention. It occurs rather late in the development of the story, and I am not going to tell you who dies. So pay careful attention to all of the characters so you can predict the victim, and then determine the murderer.

This book will definitely appeal to gardeners, and the science of plant genetics is still very much in the news. This book was published in 1982, and is one of Emma Lathen's later works. It is available as an ebook and as a used paperback.