A Can of Worms

by Russell H. Greenan

When two policemen investigate the murder of the wealthy Magda Gilman's husband, they discover strange evil

214 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Greenan grew up in the Bronx, had a tour of duty in the US Navy, and after attending Long Island University on the G.I. Bill, went to live in Boston in the early 1950s. For several years he worked as a traveling salesman selling industrial machine parts in remote corners of New England. His savings enabled him to travel to Nice, France where he stayed for a year to write. On his return to Boston he married Flora Bratko and opened an antique shop in Harvard Square. The business was short-lived but the experience provided an abundance of material for his subsequent career as a writer. In 1966, by then aged 40, he left his job as a ball bearing sales manager and traveled with his wife and three children to return to Nice with the intention of taking a year to finish a novel. This work was eventually published by Random House in 1968 titled It Happened in Boston? to significant acclaim.

Greenan maintained his career as an author by dividing his time between Europe and the U.S.A. and concentrating exclusively on writing novel-length works. To date ten novels by Russell H. Greenan have been published in the U.S.A. and France. Over 40 different editions of these novels have appeared in five languages.

Reviews

[Jordan West · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75; a very east coast Blood Simple with at least twice as many schemes and double crosses in play; in typical Greenan fashion it starts out darkly absurd, even a touch zany, but then things go fubar in every direction and the body count rises and it ultimately all ends up somewhere near Chan-Wook Park territory.

[Jim Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just re-read one of my favorites

I've been a Russell H. Greenan fan for years. "A Can of Worms" is a good example of his writing style. Full of colorful characters and details without being bloated.