George Gideon #14 - Gideon's River

John Creasey (1908-1973) authored hundreds of crime novels over a literary career that deployed nearly 30 pseudonyms. One of the British author's earliest works was The Baron series (as Anthony Morton, 1937-1979) of novels starring an ex-jewel thief named John Mannering. Perhaps his most popular series is The Toff (1938-1978), an aristocratic sleuth with a literary resemblance to The Saint. I discovered a 1968 paperback titled Gideon's River on my bookshelf. The author was listed as J.J. Marric, but after brief research I learned that this was part of another series of novels authored by Creasey. The series stars Commander George Gideon of the Scotland Yard's Criminal Investigation Department. Gideon's River is the 14th installment and was published in 1968 by Popular Library.

The novel features Gideon working with various law enforcement agencies along the Thames River to solve a diamond heist. But, in what appears to be a series consistency, the author presents a number of crimes for Gideon's team to investigate. This is unlike other crime-fiction novels where one crime or mystery is the narrative's focus. In Creasey's series, Gideon must solve two to three mysteries per book. Along with the diamond heist, this installment features Gideon searching for a missing girl while also preparing his department for a planned robbery aboard a large pleasure boat called River Belle.

In the book's opening pages, the Thames Division of the Metropolitan Police locate a satchel underwater containing a number of industrial diamonds. Gideon assigns Detective Micklewright onto the case which eventually leads to a group of smugglers led by a brutal and sadistic criminal named Screw Smith. With agency resources, the diamond smuggling is traced back to Denmark but leaves Gideon and his department in a heated political exchange with the Dutch Police.

Gideon's own investigation surfaces when a 13-yr old girl goes missing after school. Creasey's narrative focuses on the procedural investigation but also allows readers the girl's perspective as prisoner of a strange man living in a rock quarry. It was this portion of the narrative that produced the best results as Gideon, a father of six surviving children, maintains a close, more emotional bond with the case.

Rounding out the trio of investigations is more of a preparation for a high-profile jewelry and fur show aboard a large riverboat. Gideon's defensive measures are in advance of a planned robbery. This theft circles around to the diamond heist in Denmark, but I won't provide any spoilers on that. Gideon's team collaborates with a number of law enforcement agencies that work the lengthy, fast-churning river.

This series began in 1955 and consisted of 21 novels through 1976. After Creasey's death, four more novels were authored by William Vivian Butler as J.J. Marric. One of the more interesting aspects of the series is that the characters age as the series continues. For example, the series debut, Gideon's Day, features Gideon as a Detective Superintendent. As the series continues, Gideon is promoted to Commander. Further, his six children age through the series and eventually become married and move out. Gideon's second-in-command, Lemaitre, serves for many years but eventually he's transferred out of the department and a character named Hobbs takes the role. In this novel, an event is mentioned from an earlier installment where Hobbs' wife dies. Gideon's River also features more emphasis on Detective Micklewright and his troubles with alcohol and a failing marriage. I could sense that this story also began in earlier novels.

Creasey's prose is like watching a good television episode of your favorite cop series. It's mostly surface level interactions, witness reports and the endless struggles between the media and the law enforcement agencies. It is similar to Ed McBain's (real name: Evan Hunter) 87th Precinct series but not as well written. Considering Creasey's massive production schedule (supposedly over 600 novels), his quality probably varies depending on series and installment. Overall, I was very pleased with Gideon's River and will certainly pursue more of the author's work.

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Fred Fellows #01 - Sleep Long, My Love

In the non-fiction book Hillary Waugh's Guide to Mysteries & Mystery Writing, Waugh, a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, focuses the tenth chapter on police-procedural writing and some of the catalysts that drove him to write some of the best novels of that sub-genre. He says he was influenced and deeply moved by Charles Boswell's They All Died Young, which he remembers reading in 1949. He refers to books by Ed McBain, John Creasey, Roger West and Maj Sjowall and how the business of moving toward the police instead of away from the police was a radical shift in the character of the mystery story. Waugh's recognition of the police procedural genre, and it's creation, elevated his writing to the upper echelons among his contemporaries. Nothing exemplifies that more than his Fred Fellows series. 

I read the second installment of Waugh's Fred Fellows series in 2019, a book called Road Block. I remember liking it, but felt that it was too much of a procedure instead of a compelling narrative. Even though I gave the book a less-than-stellar review, I've always kept Fred Fellows in mind when I've read other police procedural books. No matter how many books I read that Fred fella just kept returning. After halfheartedly searching for more of the Fred Fellows novels I finally found some. I wanted to try Fellows again from the beginning with the series debut Sleep Long, My Love. It was originally published in 1959 and was later adapted into a British film titled Jigsaw (Pan reissued the book under that name in 1962). 

Fred Fellows is the Chief of Police in the small fictitious city of  Stockton, Connecticut. Not much is known about his background or personal life other than he is married, has a couple of sons, and only drinks his coffee with sugar and milk. His police force includes about 20 officers, of which the key characters being Fellows' right-hand man, Detective Sergeant Sidney Wilkes, as well as Sergeants Unger and Gorman. Fellows and his force sometimes work with the nearest big city, Bridgeport. 

In Sleep Long, My Love, Fellows and Wilkes investigate a possible tenant skipping out on a rental house lease. Upon investigation they discover body parts that were morbidly charred in the furnace as well as a human torso stuffed into a trunk. There are scummy blood stains in the bathtub and the remnants of a hacksaw and knife in the ashes of the fireplace. This is a 1959 novel that appears to be very modern based on the disturbing crime scene. The questions are two-fold: Who is the killer and who is the victim? That's the investigation that haunts the two men and the entire town of Stockton.

I've read my share of these procedural stories and I feel comfortable being thrust into the investigation. By having very little knowledge beyond what the police possess I was knee-deep in analyzing clues, evidence, suspects, and motive. The interesting part of the story is that there are two major mysteries here, who was killed and who's the killer. By having very little information the investigation has to comb a lot of streets, towns, and occupations to gather information. As tiny clues are presented the detective work eliminates them. Often I was left with at a dead end just like Fellows. Who was this girl? Why was she killed? The mystery was just so compelling and the various leads seemed so promising. 

This may be one of the better police procedural novels I've ever read. I love the Fellows and Wilkes characters and their system of bouncing ideas off of each other. Wilkes is the second-guess type and Fellows is a bit more diligent in never dismissing any little thread of detail. I couldn't put the book down and read it nearly in one sitting. After completion I thought more about why I didn't like the second installment, Road Block, as much. That novel is based on traffic and patterns of traffic after a heist places robbers somewhere on the real-life Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. I just found the “road work” dull and uninspiring where Sleep Long, My Love is a totally different type of narrative. If you love police procedural novels then look no further than this one. High recommendation. 

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Eve Ronin #03 - Gated Prey

In my review of Lee Goldberg's Bone Canyon (Jan, 2021 Thomas & Mercer), the second installment in the Eve Ronin police-procedural series, I stated that every page in the book meant something. Eve's steadfast, relentless investigations into city corruption, murder, and victim injustice consumed each and every page, leaving no clue neglected for readers and fans to decipher and discover. That sentiment holds true for the series' third entry, Gated Prey (Oct, 2021 Thomas & Mercer), as Los Angeles County Sheriff's detective Eve Ronin, and her partner Duncan “Doughnuts” Pavone journey into some fairly unusual areas to solve a violent home-invasion case.

As the book begins, Eve and Duncan are conducting a sting operation in a 4,500 square-foot mini-mansion in the fictional Calabasas gated community of Vista Grande. The assignment is to bait and catch a group of armed robbers plaguing the community. Eve and Duncan must understand the method of how the robbers are passing the guards undetected if they have any hope of catching the culprits. Thankfully, the sting operation brings the criminal network to fruition, but two of the criminals are killed in the conflict and another escapes to a crowded store. This exciting opening scene sets the stage for Goldberg's twisty narrative to come alive with colorful characters and the obligatory investigation and turbulent aftermath.

By this third novel, readers are aligned with Eve's strong resistance to police corruption and the political upheaval that most of her cases create. One of the most endearing and entertaining aspects to this series is simply watching the young, talented homicide detective ebb and flow through the bureaucracy, endless red tape, and deep criminal channels that seem to envelope society.

Like a riveting multifaceted procedural mystery (John Creasey's excellent Gideon comes to mind), Goldberg's narrative doesn't just present one case for readers and heroes to solve. Instead, Gated Prey presents a number of different story-lines involving not only the home-invasion robbery angle, but also the death of a newborn baby, the aftermath of a deputy's suicide, and Eve's adjustment to a new Captain. All of these elements create a wonderful smorgasbord of crime-fiction that continues the same level of excellence we've come to expect from this new series.

Gated Prey is another stellar installment in the wildly entertaining Eve Ronin series and a further testament to Lee Goldberg's strength as a creative, innovative storyteller. Highly recommended. 

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