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Catch a Killer
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1956
2 people want to read
About the author
Robert Martin
16 books4 followersRobert^^Martin
(1908-1976)
This is the page of Mystery author Robert Martin. Please be sure any book you add is by this author, not one of the many other Robert Martins.
Also published as Lee Roberts
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...
(1908-1976)
This is the page of Mystery author Robert Martin. Please be sure any book you add is by this author, not one of the many other Robert Martins.
Also published as Lee Roberts
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 4, 2025
Technically I read an abridged version of this reprinted in the July 1956 issue of Mercury Mystery Magazine, which does not currently have an entry on Goodreads.
The sixth Jim Bennett novel by Robert Martin, Catch a Killer again finds our protagonist solving a mystery in Ohio. But don’t let the seemingly subdued location turn you off. Bennett is a sufficiently Marlowe-esque detective, and the opening, especially, calls to mind many a Chandler setup. A wealthy old woman is dying and she wants to pay Bennett a substantial sum to bring her wayward (and only) daughter back home. If the daughter, Francine, returns, all the woman’s money will go to her. If not, it will go to charity.
Bennett finds Francine easily, in Columbus, Ohio, still at her previous address. Convincing her to return home, however, is another story. Francine has decided to run off with a jazz trumpeter she had been with years before. Then the trumpeter gets murdered before a show.
A couple of the characters are inconsistent and therefore don’t ring true. But Martin does a good job establishing a number of plausible suspects, including at least two other Francine suitors, her boss and a simple-minded but very strong young man who also works for Francine’s boss. He also ties in another semi-related mystery and several more attempted murders, which all results in a satisfying stew.
Recommended.
The sixth Jim Bennett novel by Robert Martin, Catch a Killer again finds our protagonist solving a mystery in Ohio. But don’t let the seemingly subdued location turn you off. Bennett is a sufficiently Marlowe-esque detective, and the opening, especially, calls to mind many a Chandler setup. A wealthy old woman is dying and she wants to pay Bennett a substantial sum to bring her wayward (and only) daughter back home. If the daughter, Francine, returns, all the woman’s money will go to her. If not, it will go to charity.
Bennett finds Francine easily, in Columbus, Ohio, still at her previous address. Convincing her to return home, however, is another story. Francine has decided to run off with a jazz trumpeter she had been with years before. Then the trumpeter gets murdered before a show.
A couple of the characters are inconsistent and therefore don’t ring true. But Martin does a good job establishing a number of plausible suspects, including at least two other Francine suitors, her boss and a simple-minded but very strong young man who also works for Francine’s boss. He also ties in another semi-related mystery and several more attempted murders, which all results in a satisfying stew.
Recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review