Shell Game

by Richard Pitts Powell

Bill Stuart is vacationing in Florida, collecting shells, when one evening he stumbles upon a beautiful young woman hiding under a fishing pier on a deserted beach. Undaunted by her cock-eyed story, he offers her a lift into town. Valerie agrees if she can drive. When she discovers they are being followed by a gray sedan, Valerie breaks every law to shake them; and just as mysteriously does a quick disappearing act when they arrive at the bus station. The local chief of police isn t interested in tracking his missing person, so Bill heads back to the beach to retrace Valerie s footsteps--which just happed to lead to a cabin that is occupied by the body of a very recently murdered man!

Genres: Mystery

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1950

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light-Hearted Beach Murder Mystery

In Shell Game, a 1950 paperback, Powell offers us a light-hearted murder mystery involving an innocent guy on a Shell-collecting vacation and a mysterious woman he finds on the beach. There is murder, deceit, and other complications.

There are a number of humorous scenes where he covers up for Valerie - often right under the police chief's nose- never knowing if he's being a prize chump himself. This would have played well as a movie, particularly with the banter between this oddly matched couple and the hide-in-plain-sight idea. There are a number of actresses who could have pulled this off quite well. This isn't necessarily a deep earth-shattering masterpiece, but it's an enjoyable quick read designed perhaps to have wide appeal.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shell-gathering vacation in Florida nearly lands Bill Stuart in the local jail...and before he's done, he may wind up in the morgue instead.

All Stuart wants is to spend some time on the beach--collecting rare shells and admiring the lovely scenery (of the bathing beauty variety). It gets more than he bargained for when he discovers a beautiful young woman hiding under a fishing pier near his favorite stretch of beach. She tells him a rather fishy story (all in keeping with her locale), but he doesn't let it phase him. He offers her a ride back to town and she begs to drive his convertible.

Thinking nothing of it, Stuart agrees and soon they're off on a wild ride. A mysterious gray sedan starts following them and Valerie swerves and dodges and drives the wrong way down one way streets to lose it. She pulls into a bus station and manages to disappear before Stuart can ask too many questions. From there on, Bill has beautiful girls and corpses popping in and out of his life like so many jack-in-the-boxes. When he tries to get the local police chief interested in the missing girl and the mysterious sedan, the Chief is more interested in the traffic violations his little green convertible has collected.

Even the high-powered investigator from up North, doesn't seem very interested in Stuart's story, so he goes on a little hunt of his own. It leads him back to the beach and a cabin near the pier where he met Valerie. And inside....is the body of a recently murdered man. The Chief and his northern counterpart show up just in time to try and fit Stuart for the part of first murderer. But when the few stray prints in the place don't match Stuart's and DO match Valerie's (via a compact that she happened to leave with Stuart), the Chief gets much more interested in the missing girl. Stuart knows he didn't do it and he doesn't believe Valerie did--but can he find the missing girl, the mysterious sedan, and the right culprit before he winds up in jail or worse?

This is another 1950s, fast-paced, humorous mystery with a B-movie feel. There's the hometown copy who doesn't quite know what to do when the crimes are worse than someone feeding slugs into the parking meters. There are tough, gangster-types. There's the hapless hero who seems to be suspected no matter what he does...and he does it all for the sake of a beautiful dame. Lots of fun, lots of hi-jinks, and lots of misdirection. Three stars for a nice, enjoyable read.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Tad · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could, I'd rate Shell Game a 3.5. I've rounded up to 4 because it's a lot of fun when focused on the relationship between the shell-collecting hero and a woman suspected of murder. However, other elements of the mystery manage to be both too obvious and too far-fetched.

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great and easy read

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vacationing ad-man William J. Stuart is not one for danger or excitement, content to wander the Florida beaches in search of rare shells and beautiful women. Only, the woman he finds—Valerie Wilson—disdains shell collectors, and has a cock-eyed story of why she’s wandering the beach alone at night. Undaunted, Stuart offers her a ride into town, which is when he discovers she’s being tailed by a mystery gray sedan that all but refuses her efforts to shake it; luckily, they lose it just long enough for Stuart to lose Valerie.

When she disappears into thin air, he contacts the police, who have little interest in his missing persons story—at least, until the next day, when it’s discovered she’s a suspect in a murder case. Assisted by a big city detective on vacation, the police show up at Stuart’s cabin looking for her… which is when Valerie barges in, telling the detectives that she’s Stuart’s wife. She wants Stuart’s help, and she’s going to get it. What’s a poor guy got to do to just look for shells around here? Stuart doesn’t know, as he’s sucked down into the investigation as Valerie drags him along for support.

Richard Powell had a knack for writing noir with strong screwball comedy elements; Shell Game has a lot of wit and charm on display, and is a decent mystery to boot. The banter between Stuart and Valerie is classic, but the humor doesn't overshadow the darker, more serious elements to become over-the-top slapstick: it's a novel with good balance. I found it highly entertaining, a fast and enjoyable read. Then again, I am predisposed to Powell's brand of humorous noir-lite novels.

(Full review found here.)

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shell Game is fun mystery set in Florida. A harmless guy goes hunting for seashells and finds a beautiful woman trying to hide in four inches of water, and a whole lot of trouble.

While the puzzle isn't much, the witty repartee makes this a very entertaining book.