An inspired plot which Fearing doesn't really make enough of. George Stroud is a mid-level executive in a Manhattan publishing firm who puts his marriage and his job at risk when he has a fling with the CEO's girlfriend, Pauline Delos. On leaving her at her apartment, George sees his boss, Earl Janoth, arrive, while Janoth notices, but does not recognise, him. That evening Janoth kills Delos, and it becomes very important to him to find and remove the unknown witness. The resources of his publishing empire are called on to track the man down -- and George Stroud is placed in charge of the investigation. Unwilling to call in the police and destroy his marriage, Stroud plays along.
Unfortunately, having got an intriguing investigation going, Fearing doesn't really know what to do with it. There are a string of entertaining vignettes as the characters confront each other, but no real progress until Fearing's crew track their mystery man to the publishing building. The police, meanwhile, are simply incompetent. It is not them or Stroud's wits but sheer luck that saves him at the last moment, in a disappointing finish.
A well-written and interesting curiosity, but not the classic of detective fiction that it has sometimes been described as. And why didn't Stroud merely make an anonymous call to the police?
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
