You Find Him, I'll Fix Him

by James Hadley Chase

This is the author's sixteenth novel, well in the tradition of his other books where the core of the story provides nerve-gripping tension and a thrilling situation that holds the reader throughout. Set against the background of Rome and the bay of Naples, You Find Him, I'll Fix Him is the story of Ed. Dawson, newspaper man, who commits the car-dinal blunder of forming a liaison with his boss's daughter. From the moment that they plan to spend a month together in a lonely villa in Sorrento, Dawson is heading for trouble. As the pages tarn, the tension grows—yet another thriller that demands to be read at a sitting.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, British Literature, Novels, Detective, Classics

192 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 1956

About the author

René Lodge Brabazon Raymond was born on 24th December 1906 in London, England, the son of Colonel Francis Raymond of the colonial Indian Army, a veterinary surgeon. His father intended his son to have a scientific career, was initially educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent. He left home at the age of 18 and became at different times a children's encyclopedia salesman, a salesman in a bookshop, and executive for a book wholesaler before turning to a writing career that produced more than 90 mystery books. His interests included photography (he was up to professional standard), reading and listening to classical music, being a particularly enthusiastic opera lover. Also as a form of relaxation between novels, he put together highly complicated and sophisticated Meccano models.

In 1932, Raymond married Sylvia Ray, who gave him a son. They were together until his death fifty three years later. Prohibition and the ensuing US Great Depression (1929–1939), had given rise to the Chicago gangster culture just prior to World War II. This, combined with her book trade experience, made him realise that there was a big demand for gangster stories. He wrote as R. Raymond, James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant and Raymond Marshall.

During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force, achieving the rank of Squadron Leader. Chase edited the RAF Journal with David Langdon and had several stories from it published after the war in the book Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology.

Raymond moved to France in 1956 and then to Switzerland in 1969, living a secluded life in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, on Lake Geneva, from 1974. He eventually died there peacefully on 6 February 1985.

Reviews

[Paul Lothane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The portrait of the young lady causing all the chaos here - Helen - is what fascinates me most in this work. How the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the world can turn out to be so rotten and ruthless perturbs me. As her stepmother says about her: "she had absolutely no scruples how she got money so long as she got it. She was perhaps one of the most worldly, undisciplined, immoral and unpleasant women I have ever met"
Ed Dawson the narrator of this work makes the terrible mistake of falling for Helen- and his life is almost destroyed in the process. At one stage we feel that there is no way out for him as the noose tightens around his neck. It is one of those rare occasions when the author pulls off a feel-good ending! Circumstances pull together to ensure a rather miraculous escape for poor Ed...who even finds love in the end. Whoever would have imagined Chase doing this?

[Kakha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This magnificent novel is more than 60 years old, but this is not noticeable, for anyone I think it will not be noticeable. It's a classic. A true classic. It has always been hard for me to single out any work of this favorite author of mine and say that this is my favorite book now. This is not the case. And this is very good. In this book, everything is so masterfully invented, so greatly painted in words, so beautifully narrated. Everything there is so dynamic, everything is rapidly spinning, twirling, developing, striving for its logical conclusion. It always happens to me that when I turn over the last page of the books of James Hadley Chase, I am overwhelmed by the sadness that the books of my favorite author that have not yet been read by me have become one less.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in a row to be set in Italy and the next to last overall published initially under the Raymond Marshall pseudonym. And this one turns out to be a good one. Like many of the Raymond Marshall books, it is not as bloody and murderous as the ones published under Chase, but it has at least two good fight scenes. It also manages to tease out some suspense in a novel way. The hero, here, is American newspaperman Ed Dawson, who is not one of Chase's brighter protagonists. Early on Chase drops a couple of plot devices designed to frustrate the reader. Smart Ed, for example, forgets about a note he signed and left at a crime scene. He also forgets that the phone call his secretary handed to him revealed that he was in place to be the prime suspect for the crime. And the reader spends 80 percent of the rest of the novel saying, "Ed, come on, you've gotta remember these things!" But he just blunders on until he also fails to connect the dots in the biggest clue staring Ed and every reader in the face since barely a quarter of the way in--just who is staying at the sea coast villa. I know it. Every person reading this book who is not a dullard knows it. But Ed doesn't. So Chase ends up frustrating the reader all the way through until almost the very end when the "murderer" and the person behind the detective running a search of Ed's life turns into a pretty good surprise. Read it in one or two settings, and the effect is marvelous.

[Mark Vickers · Rating 4 out of 5]

What another cracker from the maestro, this storyline has more twists and turns than being on a rollercoaster ride, just when you think you know what's going to happen next, there's another twist right to the final pages another must read....

[Zdeněk Strnad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noir at best.

[Ravi Prakash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. The story, which seemed straight first became a zigsaw puzzle. I also liked the first person narration of the protagonist.

[Anette Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de mucho tiempo de no leer algo de suspenso, este libro me ha venido bien. Creo que al ser traducido tuve algunos sesgos, pero no intervino en que me mantuviera clavada. En cuanto al final, me quedó a deber, pero lo compensaría con el vértigo e inquietud que me hizo sentir el autor durante toda la lectura.

[John Avlakiotis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ωραια σαχλαμαρα...

[Lalandrm+ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es muy buen libro, y la narración es buena. Pero no conecte para nada con la historia personalmente

[Simeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chase má rád jako své hrdiny kariéristy… asi proto, že se dají snadno přitlačit ke zdi. Tady hrdina pracuje v Římě, kam přijíždí šéfova dceruška. Zakřiknutá brýlatá dívka, která tady má studovat architekturu… až na to, že vůbec. Mrknutím oka se z ní stává nebezpečná sexbomba, která začne vrhat pohledy i na hrdinu. Ten ze zdvořilosti pár stránek odolává, až nakonec samozřejmě podlehne a vyrazí za dívkou na její opuštěné sídlo, kde jí samozřejmě najde mrtvou. Sice zamaskuje stopy a snaží se dělat, že nic, ale začne se mu to komplikovat a to hned několika způsoby:

1) Police ho podezřívá
2) Šéf ho pověří zjištěním pravdy o konci života jeho dcery
3) Někdo má důkazy o tom, že je do vraždy zapletený a hodlá ho vydírat
4) Někdo má důkazy o tom, že je do vraždy zapletený a hodlá ho vydírat

Do toho je tam jasně stanovený deadline, do kterého musí všechno vyřešit, než se to začne hroutit.

Vlastně mě tam štval jen jediný detail – takový ten okamžik, kdy hrdina někde něco zapomene čistě proto, aby z toho pak byl problém. Ale jinak to funguje fakt skvělé, má to tempo, ale i příjemné nápady. Kupříkladu to, že hrdinu vydírají hned dva vyděrači. Nebo samotné vyústění zločinu, kdy se opět kombinuje to, co tušíte s něčím lehce překvapivým. Rozhodně to není velká literatura, ale stoprocentně je to čtivá literatura.

[Kitty Rodriguez Barani · Rating 2 out of 5]

El primer tercio del libro es muy lento. El segundo es súper rápido. El tercero es patético.
Es entretenido en partes, pero se resuelve el crimen poco después de la mitad y después pasan cosas al re pedo. Da muchísimas vueltas con muchísimos personajes, que va dejando de lado a medida que pasan las páginas.
En la contraportada dice que Ed Dawson, el personaje principal, es "más inteligente que la mayoría". Pero no dejó de tomar todas las decisiones incorrectas, sabiendo que eran decisiones incorrectas 🤷‍♀️. Y le salva el culo todo el mundo menos él (hasta llegar al final).
Está bien escrito al menos.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit hard to rate this one, since I read the first half on a faulty premise. I thought I had read a spoiler saying that one of the main characters will turn out to be an impostor, and highly enjoyed reading the (I thought) very intricate setup. Unfortunately, the novel was quite a bit more simple than that. Still a solid Chase novel.

[Alok Nayak · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first James Hadley Chase novel....!!! loved it

[Olorunyomi Akintunde · Rating 5 out of 5]

it will definitely beat your imagination...great piece

[Jkazakov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Very entertaining. Keeps you tensed the whole time!

[Umar Hanazuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawson nearly had miserable escaped when he was nearly crowded by Chalmers

[Satyajeet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic caper, a real page Turner.

[Vimbai Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way James Hadley Chase brings this story to life and makes us crave for more

[James Kaoma]

Quite interesting