Review of California Thriller by Max Byrd (1982)

A Bostonian working in San Francisco, P.I. Mike Haller is ex-military and ex-newspaper reporter.  He’s hired by the wife of a missing reporter to find her wayward husband whose last known location was the Central Valley near to Sacramento.  Haller and his ex-cop colleague, Fred, gradually make headway uncovering the story the reporter was working on and tracking his movements, but they soon have their wings clipped and they’re asked to drop the case.  Haller though believes he’s onto something more than simply a missing reporter and is unwilling to let go.

Published in  1982, California Thriller is a fairly average P.I. tale charting the progress of Mike Haller in solving the mystery of a missing newspaper reporter.  Haller has less hang-ups than the average PI, being in a stable relationship and lacking a self-destructive streak and macho bravado.  He is though dogged, tough and smart.  The tale itself mixes a standard missing persons plot with a wider, fairly fanciful conspiracy.  Whilst there is steady stream of action, most of it is reasonably standard PI work and the tale only strays into ‘thriller’ territory in the last quarter, and even then in a fairly low key way. 

Review of Corridors of Death by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Poison Pen Press, 2007; first pub 1982)

Sir Nicholas Clark has climbed the greasy ladder in Whitehall to become head of the Department of Conservation.  On the way he has become bitter and twisted, gaining a reputation for treating his colleagues with contempt without ever being seen to stab them in the back.  After a meeting that was disastrous for his Minister he is found clubbed to death in a lavatory.  Superintendent Jim Milton is assigned to the politically charged case, with the suspects including ministers of state, senior civil servants, and major industrialists.  He finds an ally in Clark’s private secretary, Robert Amiss, who is prepared to reveal the convoluted workings of the British civil service and how Clark spent the weekend before his death deliberately antagonizing family members and those attending the meeting.  Not short of suspects with good reason to hate Clark, Milton is under pressure to achieve a quick result, though Whitehall tends to work at its own pace and in its own ways.

Corridors of Death is the first of the Robert Amiss mysteries and blends British establishment satire with crime fiction.  For me the story was ‘Yes, Minister’ meets golden age British crime novel, a la Agatha Christie.  Edwards keeps the storytelling light, engaging and witty, without undermining the mystery and the seriousness of the case.  The labyrinth bureaucracy and petty personal politics of Whitehall is well depicted.  And the characterisation of politicians, civil servants and family relations are nicely observed.  The style is all show and no tell, and well paced, with the plot having a number of twists and feints.  My only reservation was the denouement, which although plausible didn’t quite seem to ring true.  Nevertheless, Corridors of Death is an engaging and entertaining read that I felt was ready made for adaptation to the small screen. I certainly intend to read other books in the series.