The Restless Hands

Ben Helm #3

by Bruno Fischer

Excellent P.I. Ben Helm hardboiled novel.

Genres: Mystery

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Bruno Fischer was the author of 25 novels and more than 300 short stories, a contributor to "Black Mask" and "Manhunt" magazines, and the uncrowned king of the notorious 'weird menace' pulps. He wrote also as Russell Gray and Harrison Storm.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1949, the Restless Hands is the story of a small town in upstate New York where one Tony Bascomb fled back home after running into trouble in New York City with a mobster. Unfortunately for Tony, every time he shows up, someone seems to get strangled or almost strangled. Tony is one of those guys who cannot avoid trouble and it seems to follow him wherever he goes. The town sheriff has it in for Tony and wants him gone sooner rather than later. When Rebecca is attacked at night, Tony is the chief suspect because it just so happens when he comes into town, but so are her other two suitors, the two who did not flee the town before things with her got too serious. To complicate matters for Tony, who comes running after him but the gangster’s girl who wants to run off with Tony and then, of course, the gangster himself who won’t forgive Tony for humiliating him when the deal was supposed to go down. This story has elements of a Catskills hotel mystery since the suspects are limited to those who were in town, but it is told in a tough-nosed crime story manner not a genteel mystery way.

This was actually the third novel in Fischer’s Ben Helm mysteries, which include the Dead Men Grin (1945), More Deaths than One (1947), the Restless Hands (1949), the Angels Fell aka the Flesh was Cold (1950), the Silent Dust (1950), and the Paper Circle aka Stripped for Murder (1951).

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Bruno Fischer a lot, but the two Gold Medals PBOs I've read were better than the Dells, which were good, but not great. Both The Restless Hands and The Pigskin Bag had a lot more talk than action, which made them seem to drag a little. Too much dialogue.