Reading in December 2016

I read seven novels in December.

I read one book for the Sci-Fi Experience, hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. That was The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, an alternative history set in 1962 after Nazi Germany and Japan won World War II. Although I have planned to read this book for a long time, I was motivated to read it at this time because I have been watching the TV adaptation produced by Amazon Studios.

I will have more to say about the book in a future post but I can say the book was stunning, although it was not what I expected, especially based on the TV episodes. Having read this book, I want to try more of Philip K. Dick's novels and also his short stories.

As usual, most of my reading during the month was crime fiction. Here's the list:

• Inner City Blues by Paula L. Woods:  Quoting from The Black Female Detective in Mystery Literature at Martin Hill Ortiz's blog:  "Misogyny and racial tension are up-front and center as Det. Justice is plunged into the midst of the "Rodney King" riots and becomes involved in solving the mystery of who killed the man who killed her husband and child. The internal politics and prejudices of the LAPD make a formidable, albeit uncomfortable, backdrop to the novel which went on to win the Macavity Award and spawned three sequels."
• Christmas is Murder by C. S. Challinor:  A contemporary country-house mystery, set at Christmas. Review HERE.
• Kill Now, Pay Later by Robert Kyle:  This is the book I read for the Crimes of the Century meme for December, hosted at Past Offences. Published in 1960. Review HERE.
• Cursed to Death by Bill Crider:  The 3rd mystery to feature Dan Rhodes, Sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas. It was published in 1988. Review HERE. 
• Capital Punishment by Robert Wilson:  This is the start of a series starring Charles Boxer, former homicide detective who has becom a kidnap consultant. Set in London. The mechanics of the business of kidnap response is interesting. 
• The Alamut Ambush by Anthony Price:  The 2nd book in the Dr. David Audley series, published in 1971. Audley features in some way in each book, but some of the books are from the viewpoint of other characters who work with Audley. This time Squadron Leader Hugh Roskill is at the forefront.

Kill Now, Pay Later: Robert Kyle

The book opens with this paragraph:

The bride wore a bouffant gown of off-white silk taffeta with a fitted bodice of Alençon lace. The groom wore striped pants, a carnation and a look of bitter regret. As for me, Ben Gates, I was wearing my .38 in a shoul­der rig inside my best dacron and worsted. But I wasn’t a guest. Most of the wedding receptions I go to socially take place in bar-and-grills. An insurance company had hired me to come to this one and make sure that no­body went home with any of the wedding presents.

The narrator is Ben Gates, private eye. Unfortunately, someone at the wedding drugged his coffee, and when Gates wakes up, everyone assumes he got drunk and allowed a theft and a murder to occur in the house. Thus he has to pursue the investigation to regain his reputation. And shortly after that, the bride's father gives him another job to look into also.

The storytelling is well done; I was entertained throughout. The plot is detailed and intricate, sometimes a bit hard to follow, but I just enjoyed the ride. The Ben Gates series is the type that features beautiful, well endowed women, either scantily dressed or in revealing clothes. I have no problem with that ... I don't find that the women are presented as silly or stupid. Most of them are just as amoral and conniving as the men in the story. In fact, many of  the people that Gates investigates in this story are selfish and self-involved.

A big plus for me is that this detective doesn't seem like a copy of anyone else. This book was published in 1960, and there are plenty of detective novels from that time that I haven't read. But a lot of more contemporary private eyes in fiction seem like they are copies of Chandler's Philip Marlowe, even using the same style of writing, and I grow weary of stories like that.

Ben Gates is cynical, which is fairly typical of this sub-genre. He is attractive to women but not macho. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he is serious about his job. Even though the police cannot prove negligence and take away his license, they are doing their best to ruin his reputation and that is the driving motivation behind his pursuit of this case.

I forgot to mention that this is the third book in the Ben Gates series (of five books). I have the fourth book and will certainly be looking for the others. See also reviews at Ed Gorman's Blog and at Battered, Tattered, Yellowed, & Creased. There is also a fine overview of the series by J. Kingston Pierce at Kirkus.

I purchased my copy of this paperback original edition because of the cover illustration by Robert McGinnis. The illustration also graces the cover of a book titled The Art of Robert McGinnis, with text by Art Scott. Kill Now, Pay Later was published in a new paperback edition in 2007 by Hard Case Crime. The newer edition also has a cover illustration by Robert McGinnis, commissioned for that edition. The book appears to be available only in a Kindle version now.

I am glad that the Crimes of the Century meme for December, hosted at Past Offences, motivated me to read this book. This month the year chosen was 1960. 

Robert Kyle is one pseudonym adopted by Robert Terrall. Just based on reading this book, I don't know why he isn't more widely known. He wrote some books under his own name, this series and some standalone novels under Robert Kyle, and seven novels as John Gonzales. I think that they were all crime fiction. He also wrote using the pseudonym of Brett Halliday, writing a good number of the later Mike Shayne novels.

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Publisher:   Dell, 1960
Length:       191 pages
Format:      Paperback Original
Series:       Ben Gates, #3 
Setting:      New York
Genre:        Mystery
Source:      I purchased this book.