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A Stone Around Her Neck/End Of A Big Wheel
TO KNOW HER IS TO FEAR HER
She was a lovely girl with dark hair and violet eyes and a bathing suit that left little to the imagination. The only trouble was, she was dead. And had been for some time before she was fished out of the Gulf, a cement block tied to her at the end of a rope.
Private Investigator Nathan Hawk soon amassed more clues than thorns on a rose bush, but none of them pointed the way to the murderer. Hawk followed the maze in bafflement, knowing that at any minute the end of the rope might wind up around his own neck.
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EVEN THE GOVERNOR WAS SCARED...
Joeboy Jablonsky had fought and shouted and clawed his way to the top of the Wheelman's Union. Now his body was quiet at last, floating in a swimming pool with two neat round holes in his chest. Port Jefferson found itself with the biggest murder case in its history, and the job was given to Lieutenant Kelly Connell.
There were plenty of motives, for the old union leader had plenty of enemies. There was Jimmy Brown, the new head of the union, whom Joeboy had treated like a shoeshine boy. There was Governor Lasswell, whom Joeboy had double-crossed. And there were the thousands of union men whose dues had built Joeboy's luxurious mansion.
As Connell slowly narrowed down the list of suspects, it became obvious that whoever had killed would kill again - and this time the bullets would be aimed at Kelly Connell.
She was a lovely girl with dark hair and violet eyes and a bathing suit that left little to the imagination. The only trouble was, she was dead. And had been for some time before she was fished out of the Gulf, a cement block tied to her at the end of a rope.
Private Investigator Nathan Hawk soon amassed more clues than thorns on a rose bush, but none of them pointed the way to the murderer. Hawk followed the maze in bafflement, knowing that at any minute the end of the rope might wind up around his own neck.
---------------------------------------------------------
EVEN THE GOVERNOR WAS SCARED...
Joeboy Jablonsky had fought and shouted and clawed his way to the top of the Wheelman's Union. Now his body was quiet at last, floating in a swimming pool with two neat round holes in his chest. Port Jefferson found itself with the biggest murder case in its history, and the job was given to Lieutenant Kelly Connell.
There were plenty of motives, for the old union leader had plenty of enemies. There was Jimmy Brown, the new head of the union, whom Joeboy had treated like a shoeshine boy. There was Governor Lasswell, whom Joeboy had double-crossed. And there were the thousands of union men whose dues had built Joeboy's luxurious mansion.
As Connell slowly narrowed down the list of suspects, it became obvious that whoever had killed would kill again - and this time the bullets would be aimed at Kelly Connell.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 20, 2023
A Stone Around Her Neck:
Private detective Nathan Hawk is asked by the local police to look into a murder. The unidentifed woman was found with $800 in horse race betting tickets on her. Hawk occasionally plays the horses and thus knows the territory.
It's a bit of a weak reason for the cops simply deciding not to bother investigating a murder themselves, but what follows is a well-constructed hard-boiled tale. The plot progresses logically, with Hawk gradually uncovering information. A scene in which a couple of hired thugs take him prisoner aboard a boat is wonderful--Hawk has to stage an escape while he's seasick. This gives the scene a unique and fun feel.
So a good plot and interesting characters add up to a solid hard-boiled novel.
End of a Big Wheel:
Homicide detective Kelly Connell is tasked with finding the killer of an important labor leader. There's no shortage of people who wanted the guy dead, but the trick is attaching not just motive--but means and opportunity--to a suspect. This is complicated by political pressure (the labor union wields a lot of power) and the basic dishonesty of many of those involved. Also, Kelly falls in love with the dead man's secretary, who also owned the gun used by the killer. This complicates his life even more.
As is the case in many short novels, the hero and the girl fall quickly in love primarily because the story requires them to do so, without any realistic reason for this happening. But aside from that, the story is intriguing. The main character is the Standard-Issue "Tough Detective Who Doesn't Always Play By The Rules," but he still manages to carry the story forward effectively. This is a fast, fun read.
Private detective Nathan Hawk is asked by the local police to look into a murder. The unidentifed woman was found with $800 in horse race betting tickets on her. Hawk occasionally plays the horses and thus knows the territory.
It's a bit of a weak reason for the cops simply deciding not to bother investigating a murder themselves, but what follows is a well-constructed hard-boiled tale. The plot progresses logically, with Hawk gradually uncovering information. A scene in which a couple of hired thugs take him prisoner aboard a boat is wonderful--Hawk has to stage an escape while he's seasick. This gives the scene a unique and fun feel.
So a good plot and interesting characters add up to a solid hard-boiled novel.
End of a Big Wheel:
Homicide detective Kelly Connell is tasked with finding the killer of an important labor leader. There's no shortage of people who wanted the guy dead, but the trick is attaching not just motive--but means and opportunity--to a suspect. This is complicated by political pressure (the labor union wields a lot of power) and the basic dishonesty of many of those involved. Also, Kelly falls in love with the dead man's secretary, who also owned the gun used by the killer. This complicates his life even more.
As is the case in many short novels, the hero and the girl fall quickly in love primarily because the story requires them to do so, without any realistic reason for this happening. But aside from that, the story is intriguing. The main character is the Standard-Issue "Tough Detective Who Doesn't Always Play By The Rules," but he still manages to carry the story forward effectively. This is a fast, fun read.
July 22, 2016
A nice double novel.
In End of a Big Wheel, a union poo-bah/gangster is killed, and a policeman tries to solve the mystery. There's a great many suspects, one of whom is the blond secretary the detective is falling for.
A Stone Around Her Neck is a Pi novel set in Florida. A woman is discovered in the bay, with $800 worth of horse race ticket receipts down her front. PI Nathan Hawk tries to find out who killed her in a town that isn't quite wide open.
Not bad. The mysteries are different enough from each other to give you more bang for your buck.
In End of a Big Wheel, a union poo-bah/gangster is killed, and a policeman tries to solve the mystery. There's a great many suspects, one of whom is the blond secretary the detective is falling for.
A Stone Around Her Neck is a Pi novel set in Florida. A woman is discovered in the bay, with $800 worth of horse race ticket receipts down her front. PI Nathan Hawk tries to find out who killed her in a town that isn't quite wide open.
Not bad. The mysteries are different enough from each other to give you more bang for your buck.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews