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Faye Quick #1
This Dame for Hire
"I didn’t start out to be a private eye. I thought I was gonna be a secretary–get my boss his java in the morning, take letters, and so on. Hell, I didn’t get my degree in steno to put my life on the line. It was true I wanted an interesting job, but that I’d end up a PI myself . . . it never entered my mind."
New York, 1943. Almost anything in pants has gone to serve Uncle Sam in the war–including Woody Mason, the head of a detective agency in midtown Manhattan. Left to run the show is his secretary, Faye Quick, who signed on to be a steno, not a shamus. At twenty-six and five foot four, there’s not much to Faye, but she’s got moxie–which she’ll need when she stumbles over a dead girl in the street and takes on her first murder case.
This victim wasn’t any ordinary girl. Claudette West was a student at NYU and the daughter of a Park Avenue family. Faye, who lives in bohemian Greenwich Village–where no one cares how you look–ventures uptown, where people care enough about money to kill for it. Claudette’s father is convinced greed was the motive, and that Claudette’s working-class boyfriend, Richard Cotten, killed the girl because she threw him off the gravy train.
Faye, however, isn’t so sure, not when she learns about all the other men Claudette was secretly seeing–from her lecherous literature professor to an apparent con artist. For Faye, there are more shocking surprises in store than turns and dips in the Coney Island Cyclone.
Going after the bad guys and fighting a good fight on the home front, Faye is as scrappy and endearing as any character Sandra Scoppettone has ever created, and This Dame for Hire’s period setting is rendered so real you can hear the big band music, see the nylons and fedoras, and feel the rumble of the Third Avenue El. When it comes to an irresistible detective and a riveting new series, you must remember this: Here’s looking at Faye Quick.
From the Hardcover edition.
New York, 1943. Almost anything in pants has gone to serve Uncle Sam in the war–including Woody Mason, the head of a detective agency in midtown Manhattan. Left to run the show is his secretary, Faye Quick, who signed on to be a steno, not a shamus. At twenty-six and five foot four, there’s not much to Faye, but she’s got moxie–which she’ll need when she stumbles over a dead girl in the street and takes on her first murder case.
This victim wasn’t any ordinary girl. Claudette West was a student at NYU and the daughter of a Park Avenue family. Faye, who lives in bohemian Greenwich Village–where no one cares how you look–ventures uptown, where people care enough about money to kill for it. Claudette’s father is convinced greed was the motive, and that Claudette’s working-class boyfriend, Richard Cotten, killed the girl because she threw him off the gravy train.
Faye, however, isn’t so sure, not when she learns about all the other men Claudette was secretly seeing–from her lecherous literature professor to an apparent con artist. For Faye, there are more shocking surprises in store than turns and dips in the Coney Island Cyclone.
Going after the bad guys and fighting a good fight on the home front, Faye is as scrappy and endearing as any character Sandra Scoppettone has ever created, and This Dame for Hire’s period setting is rendered so real you can hear the big band music, see the nylons and fedoras, and feel the rumble of the Third Avenue El. When it comes to an irresistible detective and a riveting new series, you must remember this: Here’s looking at Faye Quick.
From the Hardcover edition.
290 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
8 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Scoppettone
53 books77 followersAlso wrote as Jack Early.
Sandra Scoppettone first emerged as one of the best hard-boiled mystery writers using the name Jack Early for her first three novels that included A Creative Kind of Killer (1984) that won the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America for best first novel. She had started writing seriously since the age of 18 when she moved to New York from South Orange, New Jersey. Scoppettone in the 1960s collaborated with Louise Fitzhuh and in the 1970s wrote important young adult novels. The Late Great Me depicting teenage alcoholism won an Emmy Award in 1976. Her real name was revealed in the 1990s with the start of a series featuring PI Lauren Laurano. Scoppettone shares her life with writer Linda Crawford.
Sandra Scoppettone first emerged as one of the best hard-boiled mystery writers using the name Jack Early for her first three novels that included A Creative Kind of Killer (1984) that won the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America for best first novel. She had started writing seriously since the age of 18 when she moved to New York from South Orange, New Jersey. Scoppettone in the 1960s collaborated with Louise Fitzhuh and in the 1970s wrote important young adult novels. The Late Great Me depicting teenage alcoholism won an Emmy Award in 1976. Her real name was revealed in the 1990s with the start of a series featuring PI Lauren Laurano. Scoppettone shares her life with writer Linda Crawford.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
June 11, 2025
__________________________
Noir in Pink
Now do not get me wrong. I do not have any prejudice against skirts having the vote. I mean, I figure the same bums are going to be in office whether the ladies are suffragizing or not. Right? But putting a luscious tomato on the payroll to be a detective in a noir mystery in the 1940s, that just is not jake.
This tale of ratiocinating has more holes in it than Al Capone's Valentine’s Day party guests.
For instance, Faye Quick, the frail of which I am talking, was the secretary in the employ of a real gumshoe and she just pecked on the typewriter all day and fetched his java until World War II happened and he got his ticket from Uncle Sam and went off with the Marines to invade some sun-drenched tropical isle. Quick had rode along with her boss on stakeouts on one occasion or two and that apparently qualified her to take over his detecting racket after his ship sailed. Don't sound copacetic ta me.
Then some snappy looker gets whacked and after Quick noodles out that the initials what appear in some documents are clues to the identity of the murderer, and we eventually we tumble to the fact a whole mess of red-herrings share some of those same initials. Hey! Like that happens every day, right?
Quick's character is not as highly developed as her bosoms. Despite being a dame, Quick speaks just like the tough, cynical PIs you expect to find in legit noir mysteries. The only way you can tell this gat-totting broad is a gal with your eyes shut is that she sometimes wishes she had some new silk stockings to cover her gams.
The book was written in the vernacular, which if I remember correctly, is what the hoi polloi call a broad’s boudoir. Quick talks like me, using the same slang, phrases, spellings, and sin tax as I do here. It gets annoying. Real annoying.
Now, maybe you're of the opinion that the snappy dialog in noir mysteries is half the fun, but the dialog in this book is so wooden that Noah could have used it to build an ark. I found it was distracting and made the story hard to follow, and it’s not like my lips was moving when I was reading it.
🌟🌟Stars. Faye Quick, girl PI, is probably not going to like what I said here, but I figure, if she can't stand the heat, she should have stayed in the kitchen.
Noir in Pink
Now do not get me wrong. I do not have any prejudice against skirts having the vote. I mean, I figure the same bums are going to be in office whether the ladies are suffragizing or not. Right? But putting a luscious tomato on the payroll to be a detective in a noir mystery in the 1940s, that just is not jake.
This tale of ratiocinating has more holes in it than Al Capone's Valentine’s Day party guests.
For instance, Faye Quick, the frail of which I am talking, was the secretary in the employ of a real gumshoe and she just pecked on the typewriter all day and fetched his java until World War II happened and he got his ticket from Uncle Sam and went off with the Marines to invade some sun-drenched tropical isle. Quick had rode along with her boss on stakeouts on one occasion or two and that apparently qualified her to take over his detecting racket after his ship sailed. Don't sound copacetic ta me.
Then some snappy looker gets whacked and after Quick noodles out that the initials what appear in some documents are clues to the identity of the murderer, and we eventually we tumble to the fact a whole mess of red-herrings share some of those same initials. Hey! Like that happens every day, right?
Quick's character is not as highly developed as her bosoms. Despite being a dame, Quick speaks just like the tough, cynical PIs you expect to find in legit noir mysteries. The only way you can tell this gat-totting broad is a gal with your eyes shut is that she sometimes wishes she had some new silk stockings to cover her gams.
The book was written in the vernacular, which if I remember correctly, is what the hoi polloi call a broad’s boudoir. Quick talks like me, using the same slang, phrases, spellings, and sin tax as I do here. It gets annoying. Real annoying.
Now, maybe you're of the opinion that the snappy dialog in noir mysteries is half the fun, but the dialog in this book is so wooden that Noah could have used it to build an ark. I found it was distracting and made the story hard to follow, and it’s not like my lips was moving when I was reading it.
🌟🌟Stars. Faye Quick, girl PI, is probably not going to like what I said here, but I figure, if she can't stand the heat, she should have stayed in the kitchen.
June 13, 2014
I love our library and sometimes I just browse around looking for something that just jumps out into my hands.
This was it, jumping into my hands earlier this week and I'm glad it did because it was a fun read.
With the guys away mostly in Europe but all over the world during WWII, Faye Quick who worked for A Detective Agency now held down the fort at home for Woody Mason, the agency's owner. Woody trained Faye everything including how to "stake out," how to shoot a gun and before he left, she had her P.I. license and was her own boss. It was all in an effort to keep the doors open while he was overseas doing his patriotic duty.
While the book was written in 2005, Scoppettone did a thorough job researching the lingo of the first five years of the '40's decade.
The problem I had and it knocked the book from four to three stars, is the author was exhaustive in her use of the vernacular. Almost every word the letter "g" was dropped; instead of 'using' it was usin; instead of having it was havin. She used no apostrophe which as we know, indicates to the reader that a letter is missing...such as havin' or usin' (which is why I didn't put those words in apostrophes or quotes in the last sentence.)
The setting was NYC...and I guess she was trying to show how they talked.
I've come across this before in books but it's for a few short sentences which is not bothersome. In this 255 page book, it starts on page one and never lets up until it's over so it took me much longer to read the book than it should have. What happens is that I end up re-reading the entire sentence because my eye is trained to see the "g" or the apostrophe. Then there's the "ya" instead of you and the "yor" for your or you're. It's a pain in the neck to read the same sentence twice because Scoppettone likes to be clever. She is making me work unnecessarily so I question whether I want to read another book written by her unless she dropped that annoying kind of writing.
While I think Scoppettone is trying to be clever rather than lazy, I loved this blog post by my friend and author of The Past Never End, Jackson Burnett.
As an author, it's his opinion (which I strongly agree with) that lack of proper use of punctuation pains the reader but makes the writing easier for the author. This is pertinent since an apostrophe is punctation but Scoppettone goes one better with the spelling using the vernacular. And it made me, the reader tired reading her book. Here's the blog: G@##&$~t!!!!! Use Quotation Marks!
Oh, lastly, although it was a pretty good "who dun it" I got the character early on which I seldom happens to me. Therefore I question how good a mystery it really was. See for yourself but checkout from the library says this dame who loves hard-boiled.
This was it, jumping into my hands earlier this week and I'm glad it did because it was a fun read.
With the guys away mostly in Europe but all over the world during WWII, Faye Quick who worked for A Detective Agency now held down the fort at home for Woody Mason, the agency's owner. Woody trained Faye everything including how to "stake out," how to shoot a gun and before he left, she had her P.I. license and was her own boss. It was all in an effort to keep the doors open while he was overseas doing his patriotic duty.
While the book was written in 2005, Scoppettone did a thorough job researching the lingo of the first five years of the '40's decade.
The problem I had and it knocked the book from four to three stars, is the author was exhaustive in her use of the vernacular. Almost every word the letter "g" was dropped; instead of 'using' it was usin; instead of having it was havin. She used no apostrophe which as we know, indicates to the reader that a letter is missing...such as havin' or usin' (which is why I didn't put those words in apostrophes or quotes in the last sentence.)
The setting was NYC...and I guess she was trying to show how they talked.
I've come across this before in books but it's for a few short sentences which is not bothersome. In this 255 page book, it starts on page one and never lets up until it's over so it took me much longer to read the book than it should have. What happens is that I end up re-reading the entire sentence because my eye is trained to see the "g" or the apostrophe. Then there's the "ya" instead of you and the "yor" for your or you're. It's a pain in the neck to read the same sentence twice because Scoppettone likes to be clever. She is making me work unnecessarily so I question whether I want to read another book written by her unless she dropped that annoying kind of writing.
While I think Scoppettone is trying to be clever rather than lazy, I loved this blog post by my friend and author of The Past Never End, Jackson Burnett.
As an author, it's his opinion (which I strongly agree with) that lack of proper use of punctuation pains the reader but makes the writing easier for the author. This is pertinent since an apostrophe is punctation but Scoppettone goes one better with the spelling using the vernacular. And it made me, the reader tired reading her book. Here's the blog: G@##&$~t!!!!! Use Quotation Marks!
Oh, lastly, although it was a pretty good "who dun it" I got the character early on which I seldom happens to me. Therefore I question how good a mystery it really was. See for yourself but checkout from the library says this dame who loves hard-boiled.
February 10, 2016
This was a lot of fun as an audio book. I don't think it would have read as well. The language went a little overboard in setting us in NYC during WWII, but the narrator was very good. She brought out Faye very well. She's a plucky broad who even has a gat, although she normally keeps it on the top shelf of her closet. Still, she needs it since the owner of the detective agency is overseas fighting the Japs or the Gerries & she's proud of all the boys who are serving their country. In the meantime, someone needs to keep the business going & she's just the dame to do it.
The mystery was pretty good until the ending which was a confess all sort. I don't care for those. Overall, I was close to giving it 4 stars much of the time, but in the end I could only give it a solid 3 stars. I don't know that I'll read another any time soon, but it was a fun ride.
The mystery was pretty good until the ending which was a confess all sort. I don't care for those. Overall, I was close to giving it 4 stars much of the time, but in the end I could only give it a solid 3 stars. I don't know that I'll read another any time soon, but it was a fun ride.
May 12, 2010
This was a fun read. I want to immediately point out some things I really liked about it. 1. The heroine smokes, but her smoking habits do not take up an entire quarter of the book. Well done! 2. As usual with a mystery tale, there are LOTS of characters and suspects, but I never got confused. I always knew who was who. 3. There is only one case. One simple case involving numerous interesting people and no stereo typed gangsters.
Faye Quick is running A Detective Agency while her boss is in Europe during world war 2. The parents of a murdered girl hire her to find her killer. They seem to hope her killer is an ex boyfriend from a "lower" class they were not fond of, but upon investigating, Faye may disappoint them. She digs up lots of dirt, and not necessarily about the boyfriend but the family itself. What follows is a lot of surprising twists and turns and even a bump on the head...
Very well told and with a likeable heroine. Faye is a tough gal but doesn't "overdo" it. She's not running around waving her gun in people's faces, having random sex with strangers or anything you may expect from woman P.I. tales. The only thing I didn't like about it is the speech. With "ya" being used almost all the time in place of "you," the characters, Faye included, come off sounding a bit like hicks. Thus, four stars.
Faye Quick is running A Detective Agency while her boss is in Europe during world war 2. The parents of a murdered girl hire her to find her killer. They seem to hope her killer is an ex boyfriend from a "lower" class they were not fond of, but upon investigating, Faye may disappoint them. She digs up lots of dirt, and not necessarily about the boyfriend but the family itself. What follows is a lot of surprising twists and turns and even a bump on the head...
Very well told and with a likeable heroine. Faye is a tough gal but doesn't "overdo" it. She's not running around waving her gun in people's faces, having random sex with strangers or anything you may expect from woman P.I. tales. The only thing I didn't like about it is the speech. With "ya" being used almost all the time in place of "you," the characters, Faye included, come off sounding a bit like hicks. Thus, four stars.
October 3, 2018
Wasn't sure what to think of this one, but as I like almost anything set in historic NYC decided to give it a chance. At first, Faye's snappy patter overwhelmed me, but after a while I grew used to that. Secondary characters are quite well done; this is where the audio narration makes for a possibly better experience with this series. Characters are quite differentiated, with the narrator doing male voices well.
I didn't guess the killer, but then again I rarely do - perhaps I don't want to? The victim's father (Faye's client) was a bit over-the-top. Another minor quibble had to do with Faye's hinting at her family background back in Newark, just throw-away references without any real resolution for this reader. Speaking of Newark, her friend from high school, a rich girl with family money allowing her to live in Manhattan as a psychic, didn't quite work for me in that I don't think Anne would've attended a public school with Faye. Otherwise, I liked the psychic angle. Without giving anything away, there's one suspect who's pretty much dropped leaving his situation rather … unsettled.
The romantic angle is handled well, helped by the fact that he's likeable, in a low-key way. Faye's secretary, Birdie, comes ff as a bit flighty (dippy), though holding her own later in confronting Faye about feeling taken for granted. Woody, the agency owner, serves as a character in his own right though offscreen fighting overseas. She has a couple of What Would Woody Do? moments dealing with the case, along with worrying about his fate. The Final Solution is referenced, which Faye dismisses as too fantasticly bizzare to possibly be true. This at a time when lynchings were commonplace.
Sorry there are only two books, but looking forward to visiting with Faye and the recurring characters again. Especially recommended for those with an interest in life at home during the war, particularly 1940s New York.
I didn't guess the killer, but then again I rarely do - perhaps I don't want to? The victim's father (Faye's client) was a bit over-the-top. Another minor quibble had to do with Faye's hinting at her family background back in Newark, just throw-away references without any real resolution for this reader. Speaking of Newark, her friend from high school, a rich girl with family money allowing her to live in Manhattan as a psychic, didn't quite work for me in that I don't think Anne would've attended a public school with Faye. Otherwise, I liked the psychic angle. Without giving anything away, there's one suspect who's pretty much dropped leaving his situation rather … unsettled.
The romantic angle is handled well, helped by the fact that he's likeable, in a low-key way. Faye's secretary, Birdie, comes ff as a bit flighty (dippy), though holding her own later in confronting Faye about feeling taken for granted. Woody, the agency owner, serves as a character in his own right though offscreen fighting overseas. She has a couple of What Would Woody Do? moments dealing with the case, along with worrying about his fate. The Final Solution is referenced, which Faye dismisses as too fantasticly bizzare to possibly be true. This at a time when lynchings were commonplace.
Sorry there are only two books, but looking forward to visiting with Faye and the recurring characters again. Especially recommended for those with an interest in life at home during the war, particularly 1940s New York.
October 6, 2008
As tough guy private eyes go, Faye Quick does an ok job. She is holding down the business while the real owner is defending the country overseas during the WWII. I liked the novelty of having a woman be the PI and some of the period details, but cannot say this book bowled me over. The mystery was solid but seemed to go on for just a bit too long. The jargon speak (e.g. Waddya lookin at?) gets a bit tiring after a while. I think I might, in future, try getting one of this series as a book-on-tape and see what I think. At any rate, if you are looking for a light weight PI story and a change of pace, you could do worse.
October 16, 2008
Secretary, Faye Quick, takes over the job of Private Detective from her boss who has joined the Army during WWII and then literally trips over the body that becomes her first case.
The reading group rated this book 5.
Everyone enjoyed this book. It was a fast summer read. The author was very descriptive about New York City during the 1940’s; they liked that!No one guessed who the murderer was. This is always a sign of a good mystery book.
October 31, 2017
It's been a long time since I read a true mystery and I enjoyed it. There were more people involved than I like, but it made it fun. It is about a girl who took over a PI business in 1943 after her boss was sent to war. She made the business a success ... she is a tough cookie and a real investigator.
April 25, 2009
Faye Quick takes over her boss' private detective agency when he goes off to fight in WWII. So it is kind of a throw back to the 'forties and the "noir" genre of detective stories.
The Chicago Sun-Times called her "a real hoot" and she is.
Everybody is always "askin if she has a fella yet". And it looks like towards the end of the book maybe she does.
She's coming back from the movies or something one night and trips over a dead body. A couple of months later, the body's parents come to her to see about investigating their daughter's murder. The father's a real charmer. He's got all sorts of demands he puts on her - like requiring her to report to him every day, whether there is progress or not. But he's pretty sure it is her ex-boyfriend, Richard Cotten.
It was an interesting story. But I think if you are paying attenting you can figure out the murderer. I did.
I know this is a first person narrative, but it did get a little irritating after a while with words like "askin", "going", "ya", etc. And there is a lot of classism going on. Now maybe that was really prevalent in the forties, I don't know. But I think the author may go a little overboard on that point.
All that being said, I would probably read future stories about Faye Quick. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining.
The Chicago Sun-Times called her "a real hoot" and she is.
Everybody is always "askin if she has a fella yet". And it looks like towards the end of the book maybe she does.
She's coming back from the movies or something one night and trips over a dead body. A couple of months later, the body's parents come to her to see about investigating their daughter's murder. The father's a real charmer. He's got all sorts of demands he puts on her - like requiring her to report to him every day, whether there is progress or not. But he's pretty sure it is her ex-boyfriend, Richard Cotten.
It was an interesting story. But I think if you are paying attenting you can figure out the murderer. I did.
I know this is a first person narrative, but it did get a little irritating after a while with words like "askin", "going", "ya", etc. And there is a lot of classism going on. Now maybe that was really prevalent in the forties, I don't know. But I think the author may go a little overboard on that point.
All that being said, I would probably read future stories about Faye Quick. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining.
February 18, 2016
Ugh. I couldn't finish this, which was really disappointing as I had randomly recently read another Sandra Scoppettone book which had been pretty fun. The language drove me absolutely wild - surely no one really talks like this, and if they did they would have done it Damon Runyon style and not in this horrible artificial twang - which, even just reading it made the hairs on my arm stand on end. I persevered till I was halfway through and then it was like a bulb went off in my head - if I really, really wasn't enjoying it, why bother? So I put it down 3 minutes ago and now I feel rather happier.
July 16, 2016
I enjoyed this PI mystery. Loved Faye and her no nonsense style. This story took place in the early 1940's when her boss left her in charge of his investigative business while he hurried off the battle the Japanese after WWII. While it was difficult being thrown into the PI business, she finds she has a knack for investigative work.. While many road blocks were thrown in her path, Faye doesn't stop until she catches her man (or her woman). The '40s dress and vernacular makes the time period come alive. I enjoyed the writing style of Ms. Scoppettone.
April 26, 2009
Since this book was written in that old 30s/40s/whatever crime language, it was kind of hard to follow at first. Once I got past that it was an okay story. Kind of slow at first. A few curve balls that were a little out there, like the neighbor being involved somehow. There were just too many suspects at one point. I originally thought it might be a member of the family, and it just kept straying away and back and weirdly before coming back to that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2015
I liked the sense of time and place created in both this book and in the second of the series "Too Darn Hot." I also like the protagonist, Faye Quick, a female PI working on her own in the 1940s. In this book, I didn't find the killer's identity entirely surprising, but the motive and the discussion of some issues that I would have assumed were not talked about in the 1940s in the US added some spice.
December 14, 2012
Enjoyable hard-boiled 40s detective noir story, with a twist. Faye Quick runs Manhattan's "A Detective Agency" in her boss Woody's absence, while he's away fighting in WWII (as most able-bodied men are at the time). Fun period piece with a likable lead. I figured out who the killer was pretty early, but still enjoyed the writing enough to stick with the book till the end.
September 28, 2013
A mock-noir set in 1943 Manhattan. I've always enjoyed Sandra Scoppetone's writing--I read all her Lauren Laurano books with the terrible puns for titles--and this lived up to my expectations. The only thing I would say is that the period jargon went over the top at times, but the characters and the mystery were thoroughly enjoyable.
July 21, 2015
#1 in the Faye Quick series.
Faye Quick, secretary to PI Woody Mason, takes over his Greenwich Village based detective agency when he is drafted in 1943. She literally stumbles over the body of a young woman during a snowstorm and then is hired to find the murderer when the cops have made no progress after 3 months. Good period atmosphere but rather obvious solution.
Faye Quick, secretary to PI Woody Mason, takes over his Greenwich Village based detective agency when he is drafted in 1943. She literally stumbles over the body of a young woman during a snowstorm and then is hired to find the murderer when the cops have made no progress after 3 months. Good period atmosphere but rather obvious solution.
September 11, 2007
Excellent novel. It's a mixture of the familiar hard broiled crime novel and the realities of the war period. I do like the combination that the author manages to achieve in her own POV of the landscape as well as the other stories that came before.
June 10, 2008
This story was set in the 40's during world war II where a secretary finds herself filling in the shoes of her private eye boss who is serving for Uncle Sam. The dialogue is fun and the storyline moves right along so there's no boring moments. Enjoyed the book.
October 7, 2008
I liked this mystery because of the language and time period in which it was set. The characters were the usual suspects but since I listened to it on audiobook, the voices were great to hear. I look forward to reading or listening to the next one in the series.
October 5, 2009
A cute quick read. A murder mystery set in the early 40's. The main character is a female private detective, who is sassy and smart. The author did well researching the lingo and setting of NYC in that era.
September 6, 2013
Really fun, complex murder mystery - even if I saw it coming a solid hundred pages before our heroine. A little heavy-handed on the period slang sometimes (where "ya" means "you" unless you're upper class), but still a really good read.
April 20, 2015
Scoppettone is one of my favorite authors! Step back in time to New York City in 1943. Meet reluctant detective Faye Quick. Compare Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax with a similar conversational style and a discovery of latent talent for detection.
May 28, 2008
Oh, this one was good. It was straight noir, so black and white I expected cigarette smoke to start wafting from the open pages as I read. I LOVED this book. Very, very highly recommended.
May 4, 2013
Kinda fun mystery - think the most fun aspect was all the jargon of the 1940's. If you are not 70 years of age (give or take), I don't think the book would have the same appeal.
November 28, 2013
Had a hard time with the strong NYC accent and 1940-era language at first, but once I got used to them, I liked the story and the narration.
July 10, 2015
I just couldn't get passed all of the 'lingo' used. It seemed like every single sentence was dripping with slang. I was unable to finish since I just could not get passed that.
September 22, 2023
Ah. The blatant use of our film noir hero’s. Gotta (slang). Love it. And yes, Virginia ,people in NYC back then and even now talk that way.
Faye, Faye Raye. Woody Mason/James Mason. Marty Mitchum /Robert Mitchum. Faye’s friend, Anne Fontaine/Joan Fontaine
The Wests:
Myrna/Myrna Loy. Porter/Don Porter. Claudette/ Claudette Corbert. -Family name, West/ gotta say it? Mae West. The uncle, Cornell Walker/ a double Cornel Wilde, Robert Walker
Misc:
Hayworth/ Rita Hayworth. Richard Cotton /Joseph Cotten. Gregory Flynn/ another double, Gergory Peck & Errol Flynn. Leon Johnson/ Van Johnson. Even Joan DeHaven’s cat’s named Rathbone. And don’t forget DeHaven, is Gloria DeHaven.
And for all those little crumbs, which this old man thinks are called Easter Eggs, I’m giving it a 5. Of course, I really should deduct for the lack of apostrophe’s as many have mentioned. But that’s been done to death. Just how do we learn punctuation, if authors or maybe publishers leave it out.
So Fans. Get out your book and see how many you can find. I found at least 34. Yes, even her neighbor, Delores could be Delores DelRio.
Faye, Faye Raye. Woody Mason/James Mason. Marty Mitchum /Robert Mitchum. Faye’s friend, Anne Fontaine/Joan Fontaine
The Wests:
Myrna/Myrna Loy. Porter/Don Porter. Claudette/ Claudette Corbert. -Family name, West/ gotta say it? Mae West. The uncle, Cornell Walker/ a double Cornel Wilde, Robert Walker
Misc:
Hayworth/ Rita Hayworth. Richard Cotton /Joseph Cotten. Gregory Flynn/ another double, Gergory Peck & Errol Flynn. Leon Johnson/ Van Johnson. Even Joan DeHaven’s cat’s named Rathbone. And don’t forget DeHaven, is Gloria DeHaven.
And for all those little crumbs, which this old man thinks are called Easter Eggs, I’m giving it a 5. Of course, I really should deduct for the lack of apostrophe’s as many have mentioned. But that’s been done to death. Just how do we learn punctuation, if authors or maybe publishers leave it out.
So Fans. Get out your book and see how many you can find. I found at least 34. Yes, even her neighbor, Delores could be Delores DelRio.
June 6, 2019
Maybe it helps that I'm originally from the NY metro area, but the use of jargon in the dialogue played easily in my mind and I could "hear" the characters cracking wise throughout the story.
Faye Quick certainly didn't expect to wind up running her boss's PI business and getting her own license, but then again, most people didn't think the US was going to join in the war until Pearl Harbor happened. Faye's not a shrinking violet - she's a straight-up dame who loves NYC and all the crazy therein.
And she has a habit of tripping over dead bodies.
It's a fast paced story with a diverse (if sloppily named) cast of characters. Read it for fun.
Faye Quick certainly didn't expect to wind up running her boss's PI business and getting her own license, but then again, most people didn't think the US was going to join in the war until Pearl Harbor happened. Faye's not a shrinking violet - she's a straight-up dame who loves NYC and all the crazy therein.
And she has a habit of tripping over dead bodies.
It's a fast paced story with a diverse (if sloppily named) cast of characters. Read it for fun.
August 10, 2021
Faye never meant to be a PI, but when her boss got drafted overseas she took over his business, and now it's time for her first murder investigation. Nearly every single word in this book is 1940s NY slang or accent. It's grating. It's overkill. But the plot did keep my attention so I just tried to ignore it as much as possible. I did enjoy the hair and clothing descriptions. The clues kept me guessing, and I did solve it a bit before Faye did.
December 24, 2022
I loved this book! Faye Quick is the reluctant head of A Detective Agency in New York when her boss, Woody joins the war effort. She worries that she isn't gumshoe material but Woody has faith in her and the case of Collette West will test Woody's faith in her as well as in herself. Faye is sassy, bold and far more than she thinks she is. I am hoping to read the second book to find out what happens with this savvy wartime detective.
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