Have a Change of Scene

Tom Lepski #8

by James Hadley Chase

Larry Carr is a diamond expert in need of a break. So when his psychiatrist suggests he has a change of scene, he jumps at the opportunity to move to Luceville, a struggling industrial town, and become a social worker. This, he thinks, will give him all the rest he needs.

But soon he runs into Rhea Morgan, a ruthless, vicious thief who also happens to be extremely attractive. He falls headlong into the criminal world and embarks upon a thrilling, rapid and dastardly adventure ...

Genres: Novels, British Literature, Mystery, Fiction, Noir, Crime

183 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1973

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

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chase’s 1973 thriller, Have a Change Of Scene, is at its root, a caper-gone-wrong story, but before you even get to the caper part of it, there’s a lot of ground to cover. The story starts with Larry Carr, Paradise City diamond salesman to the rich and famous losing his fiancé in a horrendous automobile accident. The solution the doctor orders is a change of Scene to a downtrodden industrial city where Carr finds himself volunteering to help a social worker in between facing off with a gang of juvenile delinquents. And, then, he’s struck like lightning with out of control lust for a redheaded temptress of the first order.

Then again, all that introductory storyline is a lot of extra weight unnecessary to the overall plot. It’s a scheme whereby Carr shoots for the stars in an effort to obtain riches he now wants much too badly. And what follows is a robbery gone off the rails. The caper gone wrong is so obvious from the start although it doesn’t go wrong in all the obvious ways that one would suspect.

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chase is one of the classics, but this book is not among his best. The characters are dull and not-necessarily unpleasant, Luceville too dirty, Rhea and her brother too poor-minded. Larry is not the smartest and kindest person, as he betrayed Sidney and after that loses his guts. His robbing plans, after he had fallen in love with a whore are stupid and so his pitfull end. The writing technique gives some value to the book, otherwise...

[Ionuț Anastasiu · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stele.
Unul dintre romanele slabe ale lui James Hadley Chase, în care nimic nu este pe deplin convingător: nici intriga, nici eroul principal, nici femeia fatală, nici măcar ideea schimbării de decor ca formă de terapie (nu mă refer neapărat la idee în general, ci la modul în care este transpusă în carte) etc. Într-un cuvânt, romanul nu are nimic memorabil și lectura poate fi considerată în linii mari ca fiind lipsită de satisfacții. Dacă ar fi să fac o paralelă, aș spune că Schimbare de decor este pentru James Hadley Chase ceea ce este Muntele familiei Gray pentru John Grisham: nu neapărat cel mai slab roman (din păcate, ambii scriitori au produs cărți și mai slabe, dar, din fericire, și cărți excelente), însă cu siguranță intră în topul celor mai slabe.
Lawrence Carr, 38 de ani, este unul dintre cei mai mari experți în diamante din opulentul oraș ficțional Paradise City: "Oraşul acesta, unde magazinele, prăvălioarele, galeriile de artă, cele de bijuterii se bat în lux, este locul preferat al miliardarilor, snobilor, băieţilor de bani gata, vedetelor de cinema, ca şi al tuturor celor ce se dau în vânt să-şi afişeze bogăţia". Din nefericire, soția lui a murit într-un accident auto și reputatul psihanalist care-l consultă pe Larry îi recomandă să plece pentru o perioadă din oraș și să se ducă în Luceville, un oraș industrial, plin de praf, de sărăcie și de bande de infractori. Tot ceea ce urmează să facă Larry odată plecat din Paradise City este complet neverosimil. Lectură plăcută!

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Larry Carr is one of James Hadley Chase's least interesting heroes. In a story that simply drags for the first two thirds of the book, Larry's motivations seem downright laughable. Chase doesn't do anything, in my eyes, to get you involved in any of the people who pop up irregularly throughout. He has tried to step back into some of his earlier work with psychological novels, but Have a Change of Scene just seems forced, going through the motions. Even the cameo appearances by Steve Harmas and Lipski disappoint. Harmas only steps on stage for a minute or two. And Lipski holds all the attention a ghost might, before leaving the narrative entirely. JHC was really lazy with this one.

[Mehvish Irshad · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating: 2.5 Stars

Opening Sentence: It didn't begin to show until a month after the crash.

I really like James Hadley Chase books. I am not familiar with a lot of writers from his time obviously, but I am a fan of the vibe and sense of the time he gives in his writing.
Have a Change of Scene is a story of Larry Carr, a wealthy and successful jewelry salesman in Paradise City who loses his fiance in a car crash one night. After the trauma, the sense of loss and emotional pain disrupts his mental state leaving him bitter and angry. He is advised to have a change of scene and spend some time doing welfare work in a treacherous little town that soon turns his world upside down. He finds himself scared, and angry, and dangerous and testing his courage in ways that were unthinkable to him before.
This book was a little disappointing to me. I am a big Chase fan and I know his knack for spinning thrilling tales and gangster-style action adventures. This however fell a LITTLE short of the mark. Maybe because it lacked the punch I have gotten so used to in Chase novels. It could also have something to do with the fact that I didn't find myself rooting for the protagonist at any given time. I didn't find myself rooting for anyone at all in fact, and that kind of had me wishing that everything would just go wrong. Now I don't want to be the type to give anything away. So I'll just say I was hoping for a little more thrill than the one this ride offered.
Still I am enough of a James Hadley Chase reader to know that this was a rare miss in a truckload of hits that he's delivered. This is still a fun read to pass some time with.

No favorite lines or quotes to take away from this one.

[Desislava · Rating 5 out of 5]

I quite liked the book. But it is all the books from Chase that I am impressed with. He is a good story teller and he has a great sense of humour/

[Kakha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad that James Chase has written many such great books, where the action takes place in the famous fictional resort, chic Paradise City, and I am also especially pleased that quite many of the author's works feature the beloved detective of the Paradise City police, Tom Lepsky. He is smart, cunning, he has a subtle sense of humor and he can be extremely persistent and purposeful when it comes to investigating a crime. In general, it was always very strongly felt that Tom Lepski was evidently a favorite of Chase.
In this magnificent book, the reader will once again plunge into the amazing, sometimes tense, and sometimes very dangerous life of the glorious Paradise City and, in addition to Tom Lepsky, will meet with the equally famous hero of several of Chase's novels, with Steve Harmas.

[Mark Vickers · Rating 4 out of 5]

What another brilliant masterpiece from the greatest thriller writer of all time about a gem dealer that needs a change of scene, that's exactly what he got when taking on employment as a charity worker and meets the beautiful, dangerous Rhea Morgan......

[Theopista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I real like James Chase books, they teach me a lot

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larry Carr, a reputable diamond expert, has tragedy enter his life when his fiance is killed in a horrific car accident.

He becomes slightly unhinged and is recommended by a psychiatrist to take up some unpaid work as a welfare worker to sort his head out and put his tragedy in proportion. With this change of scene, Larry becomes further unhinged and a spiral of poor decisions begins.

At 190 pages it's a fast and sweet thriller like most of Hadley Chase's books, I found it to be an enjoyable tale that was rather humorous at times in terms of Carr's bumbling criminal enterprises. There is some dated language regarding the gay characters in the book (homo, pansy, etc) however this is more a reflection of the era it was written than an prejudices on behalf of the author I felt.

Overall, a good little thriller.

[Atanas Dimitrov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minor spoiler alert
An explosive start.
The protagonist goes from riches to rags in a manner of a few pages which serves as a well-crafted prelude. The premise of the story is his embarking on a change of scenery undertaking a job in a different town, which quickly goes tits up.
All good and gripping and entertaining thus far.
The protagonist progressively loses control of both the situation and himself, however, and more importantly the writer loses his grip on the character. His motivations spiral ever so slightly out of control and out of the realm of believability, therefore hurting the story. It just felt off key.
And that’s a feeling that becomes especially pronounced towards the end with its somewhat chaotic and forgettable ending.
A good toilet read nonetheless.

[Costea Constantin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poza mea însoţea articolul în care se spunea că fusesem, în decursul ultimilor cinci ani, colaboratorul lui Fremlin. Eram prezentat ca unul dintre cei mai mari experţi în diamante, din lume. Cum Fremlin îmi lăsase prin testament cea mai mare parte a enormei sale averi, eram în prezent principalul asociat al casei Luce & Fremlin. Reporterul mersese pe fir până la logodna mea – Doamne, ce departe mi se părea acel moment – relata despre moartea lui Judy, explicând motivul pentru care plecasem la Luceville, sfătuit de un celebru psihiatru, doctorul Melish, în încercarea de a schimba complet decorul şi mediul. Acolo, lucrasem voluntar la o operă de asistenţă socială, după care mă întorsesem la Paradise City. Datorită morţii lui Fremlin, deveneam urmaşul său, moştenindu-i averea care se ridica la câteva milioane de dolari. Am citit articolul de mai multe ori, străbătut de un fior care-mi îngheţa măduva în oase. Oare să fi ajuns el în mâna celor doi Morgan? Şi dacă da, care să fie reacţia lor? Timp de câteva minute am rămas paralizat de teamă, după care mi-am revenit.

[Jeanett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love James Hadley Chase Im still looking for some of them

[Vasanth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book .. Short n Sweet

[Al-amin Zanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I bought this kind of pistol to my son for xmas"

[Suby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrible are the ways of men!

[Meera Srikant · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first, and quite interesting.

[Namitha Varma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this was a thriller all right. I had my heart in my throat more than half of the time.

[Aruna Sathish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the usual Chase thriller. Little disappointed.

[Salihu · Rating 4 out of 5]

you can have a change but you never know what you will meet at the new scene.