Murder Charge

Max Thursday and Austin Clapp #6

by Wade Miller

When vice merchant Henry Blue rolls into town, there’s a warm reception waiting—hot bullets from some overzealous competitors. While the punctured gangster is indisposed, private investigator Max Thursday steps into his identity. Counting on the fact that Blue is a stranger to San Diego, Thursday takes a gambler’s chance on pulling off the deception. Blue’s daily, deadly rounds include contact with a gentle-voiced spiritualist, a gray-gloved thug, and a one-armed bandit. The odds are against Max when two women arrive on the scene—one or both are setting him up as a target for some trigger-happy hotheads. Max must slug his way out of trouble to smash the backbone of the sinister national crime syndicate that threatens to corrupt the town.

Genres: Mystery

229 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

See also Bob Wade

Wade Miller is a pen name of two authors, Robert Allison “Bob” Wade (1920-present) and H. Bill Miller (1920-61). The two also wrote under several other pseudonyms, including Whit Masterson and Will Daemer.

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 1988.

Reviews

[Tom Britz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say I am impressed with these Max Thursday novels by the collaborated efforts of Bob Wade and Bill Miller (Wade Miller). This is the fifth installment with one more to go.
This one starts out with an assassination try against a mobster, Harry Blue, who came to San Diego to start organizing the criminal class into a cohesive whole. Harry Blue was not killed outright, but while he is kept in the hospital a plan is taking shape in the mind of Austin Clapp, the head of the Homicide department. It just so happens that Max Thursday holds a striking resemblance to Harry Blue. The plan has Max impersonating Mr. Blue and find out just who is the criminal class in San Diego. The plan seemed a doable and possibly a great chance to clean up the city and to ruin the chances of the mob moving in. What could possibly go wrong? Let me count the ways. . .

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, tense plotting. Every chapter brings a new problem or twist to the story. Undercover as a mobster with the clock ticking. Great read.

[Hugh Heinsohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining hard boiled story. Great settings and characters. A bit pat but I might read more of the Wade Miller books.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “Murder Charge,” the plot set-up is so goofy that most readers will figure the writers can’t pull this one off. The idea is just too cute to work. Harry Blue, an old time syndicate guy from back East has come to provincial San Diego to organize the vice activity. The syndicate has for too long sat on the San Diego sidelines without a piece of the action.

But when Harry comes to town and that day gets shot in the street, Lieutenant Clapp and the local FBI liaison notice that Harry Blue and private eye Max Thursday bear an uncanny resemblance except Harry could grow a mustache and part his hair the other way. Why not send Thursday undercover and replace Harry for a few days and maybe blow the lid off the whole operation?

Harry is barely prepared and has little clue what’s going on or who Harry has spoken to so Thursday ad libs it. The police protection can’t be used when the syndicate in Los Angeles sends a bruiser of their own to protect Harry, Fletch, who takes whatever Harry (or Thursday posing as Harry) literally and becomes a one man wrecking crew. And that’s before Harry’s real but barely out of high school wife appears and nearly blows Thursday’s cover.

There are no end to the awkward situations Thursday finds himself in, swimming against the current on his own and being double crossed at every opportunity. And, for kicks, the parties who tried to take Harry off the board are still gunning for him (or for Thursday pretending to be Harry). And, if those parties ever get wind that Thursday is not really Harry, Thursday himself will be a target.

‘Wade Miller” did a great job with this one, offering a hard boiled but slightly offbeat darkly ironic crime story.