Six Degrees of Separation: From I Capture the Castle to The Six Iron Spiders

 

The Six Degrees of Separation meme is hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavoriteandbest. The idea behind the meme is to start with a book and use common points between two books to end up with links to six books, forming a chain. The common points may be obvious, like a word in the title or a shared theme, or more personal. Every month Kate provides the title of a book as the starting point.

The starting book this month is I Capture the Castle (1948) by Dodie Smith. I had never read this book and it is on my Classics list, so I decided to get a copy and read it right away. This book seems to be almost universally loved, but I was disappointed, although I didn't really have any expectations. Nevertheless, I am glad I read it.

From I Capture the Castle I move on to another book with Castle in the title, The Man in the High Castle (1962) by Philip K. Dick. This book is in the alternate history subgenre. Philip K. Dick creates a world in which the Axis countries won World War II and the United States has been split into three sections. The Western coast is under Japanese rule, the East coast is governed by the Germans, and in between is a neutral zone, sort of. The year is 1962 and the story starts out in the Japanese sector. 

Again linking via a word in the title, my next link is to The High Window (1942), by Raymond Chandler.

Chandler's novels feature the private investigator Philip Marlowe. In The High Window, Marlowe is called in by a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Bright Murdock, because a coin in her late husband's coin collection is missing. She thinks that her daughter-in-law took it, and she wants Marlowe to find it. You would think that she could ask her son about it, but apparently no one in this family talks to anyone else. The coin that is missing is a Brasher Doubloon, in mint condition and very valuable. This novel was not as good as the previous two books in the series, The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely, but it is still an excellent book. Where this novel does live up to the earlier promise of the two previous ones is in the beauty of the writing. Cover art is by Tom Adams, who also illustrated the covers for many Agatha Christie paperbacks.

Using the word Window in the title, I next link to Bedrooms Have Windows (1949) by Erle Stanley Gardner. A.A. Fair is a pseudonym used by Erle Stanley Gardner for the Bertha Cool and Donald Lam series. They are private investigators. Flamboyant, fast-talking Bertha Cool is the boss; Donald Lam works for her. I have not read this book in the series. My copy has a lovely cover illustration by Darryl Greene. 

I have read another book by Erle Stanley Gardner writing as A.A. Fair. Gold Comes in Bricks (1940) is about the same private investigator team. This is the second book in the series and Bertha Cool is still trying to mold Donald Lam into the employee she wants him to be. At the beginning of the book, Donald is studying jujitsu with a master named Hashita. Bertha wants him to be able to protect himself. He is not a tall, handsome, beefy detective. He is short and lean, brains not brawn. Henry Ashbury happens upon the training session and contracts with Bertha to hire Donald to find out how his daughter, Alta, is spending her money. He is concerned that it might be gambling or payments to a blackmailer. He brings Donald into his home as a physical fitness trainer and potential business partner so that he can get to know his family. While following Alta, he also uncovers a scheme to sell gold mine shares which Ashbury's stepson is part of. A very complex plot. The cover of my edition has an illustration by Robert McGinnis, my favorite illustrator for novels of this period.

Using Gold in the previous title leads me to The Golden Spiders (1953) by Rex Stout. Rex Stout is my favorite author. I have read all of the Nero Wolfe titles multiple times. This is a good one, although not in my top ten list for his series. In this novel, Nero Wolfe uncharacteristically agrees to work with a young boy from his neighborhood on a potential case of possible kidnapping. Before long, Archie and Wolfe and his pack of freelance detectives are investigating a group of people taking advantage of poor immigrants who are seeking help in getting settled in this country.

Spiders in the previous title leads me to my last book in the chain, The Six Iron Spiders (1942), by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. This book is a later entry in the Asey Mayo series. Taylor wrote 22 Asey Mayo mysteries between 1931 and 1951. This one was published in 1942, set during World War II. Asey has a job in the Porter Motor Tank Plant but has returned to his home on Cape Cod for two days. I haven't read this book, although I did read the first book in the series, The Cape Cod Mystery. See Kate's review of this novel at Crossexaminingcrime.

My Six Degrees took me from the UK in the 1930s to various locations in the US. The Man in the High Castle covers from the West Coast to the East Coast and two characters take a road trip though the middle of the US. Most of Raymond Chandler's and Erle Stanley Gardner's books are set in California, on the West Coast. Nero Wolfe lives in New York City, and Asey Mayo lives in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, both on the eastern side of the US. Not only that, but all of the books, including the starting book, were published between 1940 and 1962.

Have you read any of these books? I am especially interested in any one who has opinions on Bedrooms Have Windows or The Six Iron Spiders, since I haven't read those yet, and I am motivated to do so soon.

If you are participating in the Six Degrees meme this month, where did your links take you? 

The next Six Degrees will be on November 4, 2023, and the starting book will be Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, a novella that is part of the read-along for Novellas in November 2023.