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John Marshall Tanner #7
Book Case
When publisher Bryce Chatterton acquires a manuscript brimming with sex, money, and scandal, he is certain he has a hit on his hands, but he must depend on private detective Tanner to find out who wrote this novel based on facts that could expose San Francisco's most well-kept secrets
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
12 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Greenleaf
32 books27 followersStephen Greenleaf got a B.A. from Carlton College in 1964 and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkely in 1967. Stephen Greenleaf served in the United States Army from 1967 through 1969, and was also admitted to the California Bar during that period, with subsequent numerous legal positions.
Stephen Greenleaf studied creative writing at the University of Iowa in 1978 and 1979, (the Iowa Writers Workshop) with the subsequent publication of his first Tanner novel in 1979. Mr. Greenleaf has written fourteen John Marshall Tanner books to date, with his latest being Ellipse. All the novels are situated in San Fransico, and Stephen Greenleaf also lives in northern California with his wife Ann.
Series:
* John Marshall Tanner Mystery
Stephen Greenleaf studied creative writing at the University of Iowa in 1978 and 1979, (the Iowa Writers Workshop) with the subsequent publication of his first Tanner novel in 1979. Mr. Greenleaf has written fourteen John Marshall Tanner books to date, with his latest being Ellipse. All the novels are situated in San Fransico, and Stephen Greenleaf also lives in northern California with his wife Ann.
Series:
* John Marshall Tanner Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 16, 2016
I picked this up at a mystery bookstore because, I suppose, of the intriguing cover art, which promised an interesting read. It turned out to be a nicely written mystery featuring low-key San Francisco private eye John Marshall Tanner. Greenleaf's style is literate and occasionally amusing, but still within the confines of the genre. He is a fine prose stylist and does a good job of blending in high and low aspects of American culture. He does have to be considered a suspense writer for the educated - rarely does he really descend to street level, and he prefers the interesting plot twist to the bullet in the guts.
There are a lot of good plot twists in this intriguing tale. An anonymous manuscript arrives at a small publishing house, and it seems to have much potential. The only problem is that it concerns what may have been a real life incident concerning a teacher who was falsely accused of molesting a student at S.F.'s top private high school. The book suggests that this guy was railroaded out for unknown reasons by the school's big shots. Tanner investigates and discovers such an incident, and sets out to find its apparent victim, the teacher who may have written the book.
SPOILER ALERT
Clever twists and turns arrive along the way. My favorite scene consists of the P.I. adopting the persona of a hick trucker as he tries to get some information out of some art gallery employees. The ending is very interesting and complex, as things turn out to be only partially what they seem - everything is somehow skewed and a little different from what would be expected. The only weakness is the premise that a school board and administration would cheat and kill to get its students into top colleges.
Tanner himself is not too interesting; he is pretty much a blank, as are a good number of fictional private eyes. But he seems a little blanker than most, which makes his brilliant flash insights at the end seem a little surprising. Some of the supporting cast is pretty interesting, but the strength here is good plotting. Greenleaf also devotes a lot of time to describing the San Francisco locale - this book is very much grounded in its location - yet does not really succeed in capturing its flavor and communicating it to an outsider.
There are a lot of good plot twists in this intriguing tale. An anonymous manuscript arrives at a small publishing house, and it seems to have much potential. The only problem is that it concerns what may have been a real life incident concerning a teacher who was falsely accused of molesting a student at S.F.'s top private high school. The book suggests that this guy was railroaded out for unknown reasons by the school's big shots. Tanner investigates and discovers such an incident, and sets out to find its apparent victim, the teacher who may have written the book.
SPOILER ALERT
Clever twists and turns arrive along the way. My favorite scene consists of the P.I. adopting the persona of a hick trucker as he tries to get some information out of some art gallery employees. The ending is very interesting and complex, as things turn out to be only partially what they seem - everything is somehow skewed and a little different from what would be expected. The only weakness is the premise that a school board and administration would cheat and kill to get its students into top colleges.
Tanner himself is not too interesting; he is pretty much a blank, as are a good number of fictional private eyes. But he seems a little blanker than most, which makes his brilliant flash insights at the end seem a little surprising. Some of the supporting cast is pretty interesting, but the strength here is good plotting. Greenleaf also devotes a lot of time to describing the San Francisco locale - this book is very much grounded in its location - yet does not really succeed in capturing its flavor and communicating it to an outsider.
September 26, 2019
Why oh Why did Stephen Greenleaf stop writing. I love these books so much.
March 17, 2014
The first sentence of this book, describes me to a tee: “I’m not certain whether the affliction originates in genetic disinclination or environmentally induced aversion, but I've always been more a recluse than a celebrant.” Exactly.
Marsh is hired by Bryce to help save Periwinkle Press. Bryce received a manuscript, one that he thinks is truly magnificent. He wants Marsh to read it and then find out who wrote it. What makes it interesting and tricky is that the novel, about a man falsely convicted of sexual harassment and abuse, is unfinished and in the missing section promises to reveal who the false accuser was and what revenge he intends to extract. Of course, the best way to track down the author is to assume the book is non-fiction, but that could raise issues of libel. But then, if the book is a novel, libel could also be a problem for the publisher since all it takes is one person to come in and proclaim that s/he thought the protagonist was someone in particular for libel law to become an issue. Apparently if you disguise a person’s identity by having them do several nefarious things, and someone still recognizes the individual, then you could be guilty of defamation since the portrayal wasn’t accurate enough!
The trail leads Marsh into a corrupt world of influence, private schools, and hidden agendas. Again, the positive comparison to Ross MacDonald is warranted. I remain astonished that Greenleaf never attained similar stature. Greenleaf does exhibit a strong sense of moral outrage at the disparities of life in San Francisco during the late eighties (the book was published in 1991.) “...the gap in both assets and attitudes between the rich and poor has become cavernous, the America that allows businessmen to coin money in the name of junk bonds and stock options yet requires the poor, illiterate woman to fill out a six-page form to qualify for food to feed her children, the America whose poor contribute a higher portion of their income to charity than the rich, the America whose best and brightest are no longer rewarded for creating things of value but for selling off our resources to foreign companies, the America whose politicians want to force everyone to pledge allegiance to the flag while hundreds of thousands of men whose allegiance to that flag included bravery and bloodshed must find shelter in doorways and subway tunnels and abandoned sewer pipes.”
The beginning of each chapter has a paragraph or two from this "great" novel, Homage to Hammurabi," as well as longer passages within the novel, a tricky conceit since it's supposed to be the next great American novel and, for my money, doesn't appear to be so.
Greenleaf’s books are filled with righteous anger; this one especially so. Great read. On to the next one.
Marsh is hired by Bryce to help save Periwinkle Press. Bryce received a manuscript, one that he thinks is truly magnificent. He wants Marsh to read it and then find out who wrote it. What makes it interesting and tricky is that the novel, about a man falsely convicted of sexual harassment and abuse, is unfinished and in the missing section promises to reveal who the false accuser was and what revenge he intends to extract. Of course, the best way to track down the author is to assume the book is non-fiction, but that could raise issues of libel. But then, if the book is a novel, libel could also be a problem for the publisher since all it takes is one person to come in and proclaim that s/he thought the protagonist was someone in particular for libel law to become an issue. Apparently if you disguise a person’s identity by having them do several nefarious things, and someone still recognizes the individual, then you could be guilty of defamation since the portrayal wasn’t accurate enough!
The trail leads Marsh into a corrupt world of influence, private schools, and hidden agendas. Again, the positive comparison to Ross MacDonald is warranted. I remain astonished that Greenleaf never attained similar stature. Greenleaf does exhibit a strong sense of moral outrage at the disparities of life in San Francisco during the late eighties (the book was published in 1991.) “...the gap in both assets and attitudes between the rich and poor has become cavernous, the America that allows businessmen to coin money in the name of junk bonds and stock options yet requires the poor, illiterate woman to fill out a six-page form to qualify for food to feed her children, the America whose poor contribute a higher portion of their income to charity than the rich, the America whose best and brightest are no longer rewarded for creating things of value but for selling off our resources to foreign companies, the America whose politicians want to force everyone to pledge allegiance to the flag while hundreds of thousands of men whose allegiance to that flag included bravery and bloodshed must find shelter in doorways and subway tunnels and abandoned sewer pipes.”
The beginning of each chapter has a paragraph or two from this "great" novel, Homage to Hammurabi," as well as longer passages within the novel, a tricky conceit since it's supposed to be the next great American novel and, for my money, doesn't appear to be so.
Greenleaf’s books are filled with righteous anger; this one especially so. Great read. On to the next one.
September 24, 2021
PROTAGONIST: PI John Marshall Tanner
SERIES: #7
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Bryce Chatterton, a friend of PI John Marshall Tanner, runs a small publishing business. He has just received a partial anonymous manuscript that is so mesmerizing that he feels it will save his floundering business. He asks Tanner to try to find the author so that he can make a deal for the book. The investigation leads to a sexual harassment charge made at a ritzy private school that led to a professor going to prison. Greenleaf is a good writer, but I have to say that the sections quoting the book were rather boring.
SERIES: #7
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Bryce Chatterton, a friend of PI John Marshall Tanner, runs a small publishing business. He has just received a partial anonymous manuscript that is so mesmerizing that he feels it will save his floundering business. He asks Tanner to try to find the author so that he can make a deal for the book. The investigation leads to a sexual harassment charge made at a ritzy private school that led to a professor going to prison. Greenleaf is a good writer, but I have to say that the sections quoting the book were rather boring.
October 11, 2022
I really like this book for a personal reason. The story is set in San Francisco just after the '89 quake. I was living in San Francisco at the same time. Greenleaf gets everything just right, from the local celebraties to the restaurants to the weather. I read this book shortly after it was published and I was impressed then about how accurate it was. This time through it was a trip down memory lane.
Besides getting the setting right, the story is good, lots of plot twists and a satisfying ending.
Besides getting the setting right, the story is good, lots of plot twists and a satisfying ending.
October 9, 2019
3 1/2 stars. The literate writing style grabs you from the first sentence. Just superb writing. An intelligent, intriguing and involved story which although very well done, got a little too complex by the end. And, I felt the lead character, the PI, figured everything out just a little too quickly after his investigation led him in a completely different direction throughout most of the book. Then, the big twist. A worthy read nonetheless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2012
I read this book in high school, back in the days when I chose my books by wandering through the public library and selecting covers I couldn't ignore. I don't remember too much about the story contained within, but the cover of this one still haunts me.
July 18, 2018
Like to give it 4 1/2. Just a great writer. Interesting plots. Real live people. Just great
October 3, 2020
Another really good one
December 21, 2021
This guy has written a bunch of books and I've never really liked any til this one. The story is just fascinating.
March 24, 2024
Halfway through one of my favorite series...... that I will re-read in the future.
April 16, 2014
It actually didn't play out the way I thought it was going to, and I was pleasantly thrown. I also really liked all the literature talk. Not a bad buy at all for the fifty cents I spent on it at the book fair.
January 1, 2015
I rank this firmly in the middle of the pack of the Tanner series but give Greenleaf credit for a mostly original premise. Book Case is built around a publishing house mystery that could be seen a loose inspiration for Rowling/Galbraith's The Silkworm.
September 19, 2010
Not a great book, but I was compelled to finish it. Lots of juicy bits about publishing industry.
November 30, 2015
I thought it was a pleasant read. I really connected with the main character, and enjoyed piecing together the clues Greenleaf leaves through out the chapters.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews