IN THE HAT
By Dannie Martin
Simon and Schuster, $23
Dannie Martin first proved that he had some valuable, original things to say about crime and punishment in his writings from prison, “Committing Journalism,” edited by Peter Sussman. His debut novel, “The Dishwasher,” showed he could be equally powerful in a fictional context. With “In the Hat,” Martin lets us know he’s definitely a contender for the championship of the noir division of the mystery genre, which has been vacant of late. Martin’s second novel is a weirdly logical and oddly uplifting story about honor and loyalty among pimps, prostitutes, convicts, drug dealers and thieves. Like “The Dishwasher,” it is set in the faded California agricultural city of Fresno. Vernon Coy raises fighting cocks and lives on the earnings of two hard-working hookers–his wife, Paula; and Curly, his older brother Weldon’s lady friend, staying with Vern and Paula while Weldon finishes a long stretch in Soledad for armed robbery. Vernon has never been in prison, but he has killed two men, including the stepfather who brutalized his childhood years. Weldon is an expert at “working the corners,” maintaining prison relationships to minimize violence. When one of Weldon’s jailhouse allies reveals that Vernon’s name has been put “in the hat,” meaning that a tough prison gang called the Dirty White Boys has put out a contract on him as a suspected snitch, Weldon recruits a memorable, just-released old con called the Stepper to help Vernon and his brave, resourceful women defend themselves. Martin has the brains to explain (but not explain away; he’s careful not to turn excuses into justification) all sorts of criminal behavior, and the heart to humanize the kind of people who make moral concessions to survive.
CRIME NOVELS:
American Noir of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s
Edited by Robert Polito
Library of America, two volumes, $35 each
Here’s a fortuitous chance to catch up on Dannie Martin’s predecessors in that now sadly underpopulated American noir category–and to delight the heart of some mystery fan by making an early holiday purchase of one or both of these beautifully published collections of often-hard-to-find novels. Volume 1 ranges from James M. Cain to Cornell Woolrich; Volume 2 covers such dark giants as Jim Thompson (about whom editor Polito wrote a terrific biography, “Savage Art”), Charles Willeford and Chester Himes. A warning: You might need a mood lifter if you read all of these gloomy tales in one gulp.
NO COLDER PLACE
By S.J. Rozan
St. Martin’s, $23.95
Rozan is a New York architect who understands how to design and build a solid mystery and a successful series — by doing your homework, using the best quality materials and keeping the surprises coming until the very end. In this fourth book in the lively Bill Smith/Lydia Chin series, it’s Smith’s turn to narrate a story about thievery and death on the site of a new apartment building. He uses some old skills to get a job as a bricklayer and snoop from on high, while Lydia poses as a secretary in the construction trailer below — meeting later to swap notes and continue their apparently unconsumated relationship. Along with some frightening details of shoddy workmanship that might make you think twice before buying your next high-rise condo, Rozan presents an impressive gallery of secondary characters: a decent, tough-minded bricklayer who quickly sees through Smith’s feeble attempts to keep up; an ambivalent ex-cop who gets Smith involved in the first place; an ambitious, black, female entrepreneur who seems capable of doing anything to get her building up. But best of all are the laconic Smith and the edgy Chin, recognizable humans who are learning to make the best of their weaknesses and strengths.
BAD CHILI
By Joe R. Lansdale
Mysterious Press; $22
“Don’t you get a little tired working so hard to be folksy?” Hap Collins asks a colorful, clod-kicking private eye named Jim Bob Luke about halfway through Lansdale’s latest lunatic east Texas excursion. “Naw,” Jim Bob tells him. “I figure it’s kind of an edge. People don’t know what you’re really thinking. They think you’re just a shallow good ole boy.” Nobody would ever think that about Collins (back in action after “Mucho Mojo” and “The Two-Bear Mambo”), who looks like a long-haired ’70s dropout and is seriously worried about the quality of his life. The first thing that happens to Hap on his return to the seedy confines of LaBorde after a stretch on an oil rig is a bite from a rabid squirrel. This puts him into the local hospital, where a friendly nurse lights his fire, and a visit from a local cop sends him off on a hunt with his best buddy, Leonard Pine–who aside from being black and gay is extremely tough and nasty in a firefight. Hap and Leonard join up to go after the biker who first stole and then killed Pine’s boyfriend; Jim Bob also gets involved in the chase, which converges on a corrupt local chili entrepreneur, a very frightening ex-wrestler named Big Man Mountain, and a totally convincing Texas tornado. Like that twister, Lansdale’s book has many brutal moments and lots of natural energy.
ROAD RAGE
By Ruth Rendell
Crown, $25
Nobody has a better ear for the whine of the unloved and underappreciated than Ruth Rendell. Very early in her latest Inspector Wexford adventure, a young woman who was bound and gagged during a robbery demands victim counseling; not long after, families of some people taken hostage quickly cluster themselves into a support group. The titular “road rage” is equally timely and politically correct: Protestors have gathered from around the world to stop by whatever means they can a new motorway that will cut through some of the woods surrounding Wexford’s fictional but endearing village of Kingsmarkham. One of the hostages taken by a particularly virulent segment of the protestors is Dora, Wexford’s wife. He tries to get himself removed from the case but is refused. (Morse would have been booted off in a minute). You might think that Rendell makes a tactical error in regards to Dora’s eventual fate, but the rest of the details of her story are so strong you’ll probably be content to forgive, enjoy, and wait eagerly for the next book in the series.
