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Doan & Carstairs #1
탐정은 진실을 말하지 않는다
Doan & Carstairs Series
Humor, Pulp, Mystery/Detective, Post-1930
Doan is a detective and Carstairs his enormous canine companion (don't call him a "pet"), and in this first hard-boiled adventure they travel to Mexico, along with an heiress, a revolutionary, an artist, and more than a few mysteries.
All ebook formats.
Humor, Pulp, Mystery/Detective, Post-1930
Doan is a detective and Carstairs his enormous canine companion (don't call him a "pet"), and in this first hard-boiled adventure they travel to Mexico, along with an heiress, a revolutionary, an artist, and more than a few mysteries.
All ebook formats.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1943
58 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Norbert Davis
121 books17 followersNorbert Davis (1909–1949) was studying law at Stanford University when he began selling stories to pulp magazines, where he found enough success that he never bothered taking the bar exam. His best-known characters are Doan and Carstairs—a private eye team made up of a man and a thoroughly clever Great Dane.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 12, 2018
I read this following the advice of Ludwig Wittgenstein, considered the most influential philosopher of the 20th century, who wrote to a friend in 1948:
No other novel has received this kind of praise from Wittgenstein (he says there's "perhaps two"; but he never mentioned the other). Indeed, it is a pity that Wittgenstein didn't write to Davis in the end: Davis killed himself the next year, in 1949, perhaps doubting his talent. Anyway! That was a tragic introduction for a short novel that is anything but tragic.
Set in a picturesque Mexican village during the Second World War, "The Mouse in the Mountain" tells the story of a group of mostly American tourists trying to survive the combined forces of crime, love, history, politics, culture shock, natural disasters, tourist traps, the Mexican army, art collectors, a trigger-happy detective, and the most incredibly monstrous dog: the lovely Carstairs.
The characters are numerous and charismatic, if a little cliché. Davis manages to bring these people (and the dog) to life vividly, in spite of the brevity of this fast-paced and eventful novel; the reader is never confused as to who is who. The descriptions (of characters, events, landscapes) are evocative and entertaining. But Davis is best at dialogue (which makes up about half of the novel), for instance:
“Friend,” said Henshaw, “... I’m in the plumbing business — ‘Better Bathrooms for a Better America.’ What’s your line?”
“Crime,” Doan told him.
“You mean you’re a public enemy?” Henshaw asked, interested.
“There have been rumors to that effect,” Doan said. “But I claim I’m a private detective.”
This is not one of these books that will change your life. But it will transport you in a peculiar and colorful universe, in the company of a hilariously deadpan narrator.
This is also not a book that will illuminate Wittgenstein's philosophy. It is easy to see why Wittgenstein liked it - Davis is an expert in creative semantic/pragmatic misdirections, usually leading to a joke. Wittgenstein, a philosopher who paid close attention to language, must have appreciated that. But for the most part, he must have simply enjoyed the escapism afforded by the novel.
* Then published under the title "Rendezvous with fear".
For, though, as you know, I’ve read hundreds of stories that amused me and that I liked reading, I think I’ve only read two perhaps that I’d call good stuff, and Davis’s [The Mouse in the Mountain*] is one of them. (...) It may sound crazy, but when I recently re-read the story I liked it again so much that I thought I’d really like to write to the author and thank him. If this is nuts don’t be surprised, for so am I.
No other novel has received this kind of praise from Wittgenstein (he says there's "perhaps two"; but he never mentioned the other). Indeed, it is a pity that Wittgenstein didn't write to Davis in the end: Davis killed himself the next year, in 1949, perhaps doubting his talent. Anyway! That was a tragic introduction for a short novel that is anything but tragic.
Set in a picturesque Mexican village during the Second World War, "The Mouse in the Mountain" tells the story of a group of mostly American tourists trying to survive the combined forces of crime, love, history, politics, culture shock, natural disasters, tourist traps, the Mexican army, art collectors, a trigger-happy detective, and the most incredibly monstrous dog: the lovely Carstairs.
The characters are numerous and charismatic, if a little cliché. Davis manages to bring these people (and the dog) to life vividly, in spite of the brevity of this fast-paced and eventful novel; the reader is never confused as to who is who. The descriptions (of characters, events, landscapes) are evocative and entertaining. But Davis is best at dialogue (which makes up about half of the novel), for instance:
“Friend,” said Henshaw, “... I’m in the plumbing business — ‘Better Bathrooms for a Better America.’ What’s your line?”
“Crime,” Doan told him.
“You mean you’re a public enemy?” Henshaw asked, interested.
“There have been rumors to that effect,” Doan said. “But I claim I’m a private detective.”
This is not one of these books that will change your life. But it will transport you in a peculiar and colorful universe, in the company of a hilariously deadpan narrator.
This is also not a book that will illuminate Wittgenstein's philosophy. It is easy to see why Wittgenstein liked it - Davis is an expert in creative semantic/pragmatic misdirections, usually leading to a joke. Wittgenstein, a philosopher who paid close attention to language, must have appreciated that. But for the most part, he must have simply enjoyed the escapism afforded by the novel.
* Then published under the title "Rendezvous with fear".
May 28, 2014
Review To Follow:
This book is a slim little 150 page novel (if you can call it that; used to call things like this "novelettes") written by the master of a kind of breezy hardboiled detective tale, Norbert Davis- the creator of the unforgettable "Max Latin".
The novels sleuths are a pair of unlikely partners. Doan is described as " ...short and a little on the plump side... [with] a chubby, pink face and a smile as innocent and appealing as a baby's. He looked like a very nice, pleasant sort of person, and on rare occasions he was."
Carstairs –Doan’s partner- is described as “…a fawn-colored Great Dane whom Doan had won in a crap game, and who is Doan’s superior in every way imaginable. Carstairs was so big he could hardly be called a dog. He was new sort of species. Carstairs doesn’t like many people but he’ll bend the rules for a pretty girl…”
It’s all light-hearted fun until Doan fatally shoots a couple of characters and Carstairs bares his fangs, emits sinister growls or sits down on someone who annoys him.
This case involves the duo traveling by tour bus up a perilous mountain road to a tiny village in a remote area of Mexico. Doan’s agency (Severn International Detectives) has sent Doan & Carstairs below the border to convince a missing fugitive that it might be healthier for him to stay out of the United States for a while longer.
Meanwhile, bandits abound, the Mexican army is in pursuit, and since this is set during World War II all possible elements of intrigue & skullduggery combine with enough homicides to keep the reader guessing and turning pages as quickly as necessary.
The novel features numerous memorable action sequences, colorful characters: buffoons, brigands, beautiful dames, at least two harridans, a red-headed male child to rival the most ill-mannered heathen brat in literature, several murders, and one earthquake.
I really enjoyed this quick little read and recommend it highly.
Norbert Davis was one of the best writers the Pulp-era ever produced.
Raymond Chandler and John D. McDonald were fans with Chandler being one of Norbert Davis' greatest supporters and a personal champion.
October 22, 2025
Equal parts hard boiled detective novel, adventure novel, Zapata western, and comedy this has the distinction of being recommended by Ludwig Wittgenstein who thought it was the best detective novel he had read. Its sense of humor and labyrinthine absurdism reminded me of Douglas Adams.
April 10, 2024
Would say 3.5 stars. First book by this author for me. It is certainly campy at times with a lot of smart-a** commentary. However, once things get going- various layers are peeled back and there is a mystery going on; and, it is fairly intricate. There are people who are what they seem and those are not what they seem and some- who are they?
Group of tourists with various intentions travel to Los Altos Mexico and find themselves in a whole lot of confusion. Doan and Carstairs the Great Dane (I would really have loved to have a bit more action with Carstairs) have a job to do and they really are trying to do it. As for the rest of the characters- many start off two-dimensional but the quick wit dialogue belies that. I found myself casting this mystery and have decided that either Bob Hope should have played Doan, or maybe Lou Abbot. This is an author who would have done well writing movies; sadly, that was not to be.
The intro/bio of the author shows off off beat he was for the time, and how his life ended.
Group of tourists with various intentions travel to Los Altos Mexico and find themselves in a whole lot of confusion. Doan and Carstairs the Great Dane (I would really have loved to have a bit more action with Carstairs) have a job to do and they really are trying to do it. As for the rest of the characters- many start off two-dimensional but the quick wit dialogue belies that. I found myself casting this mystery and have decided that either Bob Hope should have played Doan, or maybe Lou Abbot. This is an author who would have done well writing movies; sadly, that was not to be.
The intro/bio of the author shows off off beat he was for the time, and how his life ended.
April 26, 2022
The first of the Doan and Carstairs mysteries--Doan is a private investigator and Carstairs is his partner. Carstairs is also a very larger Great Dane. Doan has been sent to Mexico to track down a corrupt ex-policeman by the name of Eldridge. Eldridge is threatening to return to America and rat out the equally corrupt officials who have been getting along quite nicely in his absence. Our private investigator says he's been hired to make sure Eldridge stays put. So he and Carstairs plan to hop on a tourist bus headed to Los Altos.
Luckily for him, a wealthy young woman by the name of Patricia Van Osdel also wanted to go to Los Altos. For you see, the bus is the only way for tourists to get there and the bus service was going to be cancelled--but American dollars in large quantities can change plans. The only question is, why was Patricia so set on visiting the out-of-the-way village in the mountains? Along for the ride is Patricia's maid and her "companion" Greg, the Henshaw family--harassed father, loud and overly coting mother, and bratty son, and Janet Martin, a teacher playing hooky on her first real vacation adventure.
The group runs straight into murder and mayhem. There are dangerous banditos running about the town. There are hidden caches of weapons. There is an earthquake that shakes more than the ground. There are rattlesnakes. And Patricia Van Osdel manages to get herself murdered. Doan must try to complete his mission, avoid being put in jail by secret policeman who doesn't trust him, keep Janet from getting into difficulties, and solve several murders before he and Carstairs may return safely to the United States.
This is a wacky, sortof hard-boiled crime novel. Though Doan seems a little too short and round to be a hard-boiled private eye. A screwball private eye tale with lots of action and plenty of fast-talking on the part of Doan. Norbert Davis paired up his private eye with an animal long before it was cool and pulls it off without making Carstairs too cutesy (as if a Great Dane the size of a Shetland pony could be cutesy). The interactions between the two are funny and realistic....I can just see Carstairs harrumphing over some of Doan's shenanigans. The dialogue is funny and witty and it's worth the price of admission just to take the bus tour with Bartolome the tour guide. Bartolome will tell you exactly when something is magnificent--"please admire this bit now" and "do not waste the astonishment" on those trivial fantastic scenes over there. And Davis takes you from one loony character to another and it all fits so nice and snugly in this lovely vintage mystery.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
Luckily for him, a wealthy young woman by the name of Patricia Van Osdel also wanted to go to Los Altos. For you see, the bus is the only way for tourists to get there and the bus service was going to be cancelled--but American dollars in large quantities can change plans. The only question is, why was Patricia so set on visiting the out-of-the-way village in the mountains? Along for the ride is Patricia's maid and her "companion" Greg, the Henshaw family--harassed father, loud and overly coting mother, and bratty son, and Janet Martin, a teacher playing hooky on her first real vacation adventure.
The group runs straight into murder and mayhem. There are dangerous banditos running about the town. There are hidden caches of weapons. There is an earthquake that shakes more than the ground. There are rattlesnakes. And Patricia Van Osdel manages to get herself murdered. Doan must try to complete his mission, avoid being put in jail by secret policeman who doesn't trust him, keep Janet from getting into difficulties, and solve several murders before he and Carstairs may return safely to the United States.
This is a wacky, sortof hard-boiled crime novel. Though Doan seems a little too short and round to be a hard-boiled private eye. A screwball private eye tale with lots of action and plenty of fast-talking on the part of Doan. Norbert Davis paired up his private eye with an animal long before it was cool and pulls it off without making Carstairs too cutesy (as if a Great Dane the size of a Shetland pony could be cutesy). The interactions between the two are funny and realistic....I can just see Carstairs harrumphing over some of Doan's shenanigans. The dialogue is funny and witty and it's worth the price of admission just to take the bus tour with Bartolome the tour guide. Bartolome will tell you exactly when something is magnificent--"please admire this bit now" and "do not waste the astonishment" on those trivial fantastic scenes over there. And Davis takes you from one loony character to another and it all fits so nice and snugly in this lovely vintage mystery.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
July 13, 2012
Honestly, I picked up The Mouse In The Mountain because I was planning on writing a short story in a harboiled style and I wanted to brush up on the slang. Davis's diction proved not to be nearly as quirky as, say, Chandler's; the book is located in time more by what transpires than by the prose. Furthermore, Doan himself, although the private detective of the story, is not really the protagonist in any exclusive sense. The hypothetical camera of the narrative moves fluidly between him and Janet Martin - a schoolteacher on a mission to see the places she had only read about - and occasionally settles on someone else entirely. Rather than being a story about one man solving a mystery, it is a story about an event much broader in scope than any single person moving through it.
To be a little more specific, although I'd like to avoid spoilers, it follows the adventures of a bus full of tourists on a visit to a remote town in Mexico. The cast includes, in addition to Doan, his dog Carstairs, and the aforementioned Janet Martin: Mr. and Mrs. Henshaw, a middle class pair from the suburbs; Mortimer, their unpleasant son; the rich heiress Patricia Von Osdale; her gigolo Greg; and her maid Maria. To no one's surprise, all of these folks have their own agendas. I am always a fan of the ensemble cast, and I enjoyed learning what brought them all on this trip, whether those motives be sinister or purely entertaining. Janet especially proved to be a much more interesting character than I had anticipated, having significantly more agency than one might expect from a woman in a detective story; without having any talents which seemed incongruous to her backstory, she solved large portions of the mystery well before Doan.
In terms of craftsmanship, the tale is structurally sound: all of the many plot threads are deftly woven together, each scene fits neatly into the overall story, and nothing is left egregiously unresolved. I was certainly entertained enough to keep turning the pages. It isn't an edge-of-your-seat thriller, and the climax is neither especially precipitous nor breathtaking, but The Mouse in the Mountain is a good, solid read with a satisfying conclusion - and it can be finished in one or two sittings.
To be a little more specific, although I'd like to avoid spoilers, it follows the adventures of a bus full of tourists on a visit to a remote town in Mexico. The cast includes, in addition to Doan, his dog Carstairs, and the aforementioned Janet Martin: Mr. and Mrs. Henshaw, a middle class pair from the suburbs; Mortimer, their unpleasant son; the rich heiress Patricia Von Osdale; her gigolo Greg; and her maid Maria. To no one's surprise, all of these folks have their own agendas. I am always a fan of the ensemble cast, and I enjoyed learning what brought them all on this trip, whether those motives be sinister or purely entertaining. Janet especially proved to be a much more interesting character than I had anticipated, having significantly more agency than one might expect from a woman in a detective story; without having any talents which seemed incongruous to her backstory, she solved large portions of the mystery well before Doan.
In terms of craftsmanship, the tale is structurally sound: all of the many plot threads are deftly woven together, each scene fits neatly into the overall story, and nothing is left egregiously unresolved. I was certainly entertained enough to keep turning the pages. It isn't an edge-of-your-seat thriller, and the climax is neither especially precipitous nor breathtaking, but The Mouse in the Mountain is a good, solid read with a satisfying conclusion - and it can be finished in one or two sittings.
July 6, 2013
I am actually reading a book that contains four of the five Doan & Carstairs mysteries. The Mouse in the Mountain is the second of the stories therein. These are a great combination of hard-boiled and humorous, which may be typified by the fact that Doan is the toughest private detective around but is short, round, and mild-looking while Carstairs is his Great Dane who is a character in his own right (but without talking or any other goofy attributes ... and he's hard-boiled in his own way). Got it either free or for super-cheap from Amazon for my Kindle. Highly enjoyable.
This book takes Doan & Carstairs to a new level with a multi-layered plot that is told from the heroine's point of view. This had only a couple of predictable points and neither of them mattered much. I don't know how Davis managed to combine P.G. Wodehouse comic plotlines with Raymond Chandler-esque noir levels of violence and motive, but he does it perfectly. How has this author been overlooked? Clearly he is going to have to be reintroduced through Forgotten Classics.
===================
2ND READING - Forgotten Classics podcast
===================
The wonderful thing about this being out of copyright is that I can read it on my podcast. As is so often the case, I am enjoying it in a whole new way now that I am reading it aloud.
This book takes Doan & Carstairs to a new level with a multi-layered plot that is told from the heroine's point of view. This had only a couple of predictable points and neither of them mattered much. I don't know how Davis managed to combine P.G. Wodehouse comic plotlines with Raymond Chandler-esque noir levels of violence and motive, but he does it perfectly. How has this author been overlooked? Clearly he is going to have to be reintroduced through Forgotten Classics.
In this adventure, the duo travel to Mexico during World War 2, along with an heiress, a revolutionary, an artist, and more than a few mysteries. Complex characters and good, sometimes surreal humor.
===================
2ND READING - Forgotten Classics podcast
===================
The wonderful thing about this being out of copyright is that I can read it on my podcast. As is so often the case, I am enjoying it in a whole new way now that I am reading it aloud.
April 27, 2013
This series is crazy. It reminds me of old 40s movies, and I enjoy visualizing the action. Carstairs is great. When a little boy is being totally obnoxious, Carstairs puts him in his place with a few fake chomps. The characters in this story were better developed than in the last story I read from this writer. I must recommend this book. It's light, it's fun, and it's well written.
January 14, 2022
I read this book because Wittgenstein enjoyed it. It is wonderfully irreverent and humorously points out that meaning is indeed in context and while things are hidden, they are not bullet proof.
July 15, 2013
Another Doan and Carstaris mystery narrated by Julie D at Forgotten Classics. A solid mystery that keeps you guessing along with memorable characters. The interplay with the private detective and his dog Carstairs is often rather funny but they is a lot going on in this detective mind than is on the surface. I enjoyed the story and did not guess the conclusion. The only thing that put me off slightly was there was just a little too much use of coincidence to set up part of the story.
January 27, 2011
Mix a little Janet Evanovich with Micky Spillane, toss in a generous helping of Marmaduke (or Scooby Doo if you prefer) and you've got a good idea of a Doan and Carstairs mystery. Funny sometimes to the point of ridiculous, but blunt and fast moving with an unexpected ending generally describe this series by Norbert Davis. This is the second of the four of five available mysteries.
Read
October 20, 2013Listening on the Forgotten Classics podcast.
April 19, 2021
Extremely entertaining.
More here:
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...
More here:
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...
October 12, 2024
An unusual and entertaining work that blends fantasy-fiction, adventure, mystery and humor. The book was published in 1943 and is set in a small city in a mountainous region of Mexico. Much of the text reads like a parody of the PI adventure-mysteries of the 1940s or a novelized version of the Saturday afternoon matinees popular in movie theatres before the advent of television - and still shown Saturday mornings on TCM. It's a light, fast moving read, that is driven along by an earthquake, chaos, assaults, shootouts and a few murders. The dialogue is fairly snappy, with lots of witticisms, one liners and humorous commentary. I especially enjoyed the Mexican comments on American tourists and the American educational system. The plot is action driven with a number of twists, turns, convolutions and possible dead-ends. All of which are unravelled and explained by the PI protagonist in the final chapter. In summary, an easy, enjoyable read with quite a few chuckles, served up in the style of the 1940s.
May 13, 2017
Norbert Davis is known for mixing humor with hard-boiled mysteries. In THE MOUSE IN THE MOUNTAIN Davis introduces us to the bibulous detective Doan and his gigantic canine pal Carstairs, who disapproves of drinking. Some of the humor is similar in spirit to Thorne Smith, which has not aged well, and to Rex Stout, who has aged tremendously. But this really is a noir, and one with laughs. Doan appears to be an amoral , violent type, a little like The Continental Op; he does not miss many tricks. This was, if you'll pardon the expression, a romp. Gunrunners, mad artists, an heiress, an enigmatic film director, a pompous federale, a gorgeous teacher seeking the romance of old Mexico, and enough stereotypes to warm the heart of our 45th president, all converge with an earthquake in a small Mexican town. With Doan and the imperious Carstairs digging up facts and shenanigans. A treat.
November 28, 2018
The Mexican trip
Another great tongue in cheek similar in vibe to Sam Spade that covers a trip to Mexico. Carstairs is at his best, doing as little as possible but to the greatest effect. Whilst our hero gets into one scrape after another but his almost MacGyver like skills let him live to see another day.
A sightseeing trip to a little town in Mexico has our intrepid hero taking on crooks, the Mexican force, some American tourists (including a small boy that's destined to become a name on the FBI's most wanted list), an earthquake and a forger. Watch as he and Carstairs do as little as possible whilst ending up with all the "baddies" caught or dead and with a substantial payoff to boot.
Another great tongue in cheek similar in vibe to Sam Spade that covers a trip to Mexico. Carstairs is at his best, doing as little as possible but to the greatest effect. Whilst our hero gets into one scrape after another but his almost MacGyver like skills let him live to see another day.
A sightseeing trip to a little town in Mexico has our intrepid hero taking on crooks, the Mexican force, some American tourists (including a small boy that's destined to become a name on the FBI's most wanted list), an earthquake and a forger. Watch as he and Carstairs do as little as possible whilst ending up with all the "baddies" caught or dead and with a substantial payoff to boot.
September 18, 2019
By a whisker, this is the best of the three short novels featuring Doan and Carstairs written by prolific pulp-author, Norbert Davis.
Doan is a short, plump, private detective and Carstairs is a very substantial Great Dane. Neither should be underestimated as to ability, shrewdness and intelligence.
The writing is sharp and funny, with good descriptive passages and some neat characterisation. The plot is fantastic and proceeds at a headlong pace, with lots of twists and turns. It is unfailingly entertaining.
A great find. Highly recommended.
Doan is a short, plump, private detective and Carstairs is a very substantial Great Dane. Neither should be underestimated as to ability, shrewdness and intelligence.
The writing is sharp and funny, with good descriptive passages and some neat characterisation. The plot is fantastic and proceeds at a headlong pace, with lots of twists and turns. It is unfailingly entertaining.
A great find. Highly recommended.
August 12, 2022
Pretty good plenty happened
October 5, 2023
RK KINDLE
May 21, 2021
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
April 16, 2012
The Mouse in the Mountain
Norbert Davis
The Rue Morgue Press, 2001
ISBN 0915230410
Trade Paperback
Originally published in 1943, this first entry in the Doan and Carstairs series is unexpected in the world of the hardboiled PI novel. As the new publishers explained in their foreword, Norbert Davis introduced humor into this subgenre at a time when authors and readers took their hardboiled mysteries seriously.
Doan, a California private investigator who seems to operate somewhere on the edge of the law, has gone to Mexico to meet with a fugitive. Accompanying him is Carstairs, an enormous Great Dane, “won” by Doan in a crap game. The truth is, Carstairs calls the shots and no one argues with him, including Doan.
Doan and Carstairs take a rickety tour bus to Los Altos, a remote mountain village. Along with them is a motley collection of other guests from their hotel, including naive teacher Janet, rich girl Patricia, her gigolo, Gregor, her maid, Maria, and the Henshaws with their dreadful son Mortimer. Janet is in search of romance and adventure and is fascinated with the story of Cortez’s associate, Lt. Emile Perona.
After a nail-biting journey, they arrive in Los Altos and land right in the middle of a gunfight between police and bad guy Garcia. More bodies begin to appear, including some of the hotel tourists. Doan seems to be in the thick of all of it and is the nemesis of the military secret police, headed up by Captain Emile Perona, descendant of Janet’s hero. Why are the secret police in Los Altos? Is there a connection between the gunfight and the murders of the hotel guests? Will Carstairs put the fear of death into the horrible Mortimer?
Davis does indeed inject humor into this classic PI story, so much so as to be almost farcical. For those mystery readers who don’t generally like hardboiled, this is the ideal exception and you’ll be looking forward to reading the next in the series. If you have any difficulty finding it, go directly to the re-publisher, Rue Morgue Press.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, 2001. Slightly revised 2010.
Review first published on murderexpress.net in 2001.
Norbert Davis
The Rue Morgue Press, 2001
ISBN 0915230410
Trade Paperback
Originally published in 1943, this first entry in the Doan and Carstairs series is unexpected in the world of the hardboiled PI novel. As the new publishers explained in their foreword, Norbert Davis introduced humor into this subgenre at a time when authors and readers took their hardboiled mysteries seriously.
Doan, a California private investigator who seems to operate somewhere on the edge of the law, has gone to Mexico to meet with a fugitive. Accompanying him is Carstairs, an enormous Great Dane, “won” by Doan in a crap game. The truth is, Carstairs calls the shots and no one argues with him, including Doan.
Doan and Carstairs take a rickety tour bus to Los Altos, a remote mountain village. Along with them is a motley collection of other guests from their hotel, including naive teacher Janet, rich girl Patricia, her gigolo, Gregor, her maid, Maria, and the Henshaws with their dreadful son Mortimer. Janet is in search of romance and adventure and is fascinated with the story of Cortez’s associate, Lt. Emile Perona.
After a nail-biting journey, they arrive in Los Altos and land right in the middle of a gunfight between police and bad guy Garcia. More bodies begin to appear, including some of the hotel tourists. Doan seems to be in the thick of all of it and is the nemesis of the military secret police, headed up by Captain Emile Perona, descendant of Janet’s hero. Why are the secret police in Los Altos? Is there a connection between the gunfight and the murders of the hotel guests? Will Carstairs put the fear of death into the horrible Mortimer?
Davis does indeed inject humor into this classic PI story, so much so as to be almost farcical. For those mystery readers who don’t generally like hardboiled, this is the ideal exception and you’ll be looking forward to reading the next in the series. If you have any difficulty finding it, go directly to the re-publisher, Rue Morgue Press.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, 2001. Slightly revised 2010.
Review first published on murderexpress.net in 2001.
September 24, 2015
It was morning, and the sun was gleaning and grinning generously, regardless of earthquakes, murders, or even Hitler.
Very fun little book about a laconic, fat, unassuming detective named Doan, paired up with an enormous, but mostly aloof dog with the wonderfully absurd name Carstairs, and their little adventure in Mexico. It's not really "hard-boiled", for that the dialogue and humor is too absurd - it would, however, work very well as a stage-play. Some people do get murdered, some get shot. At times it's more like Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" (as when Doan describes how he makes his money), at other times it dabbles in hard-boiled (unassuming strangers are found to hide some deadly weaponry). Sadly the ending pans out exactly as expected, and overall there's nothing "new" here.
I originally found this in Monk's biography of Wittgenstein with the note that it was Wittgenstein's favorite fiction book. As with so many books, it's hard to tell from afar why someone loves a book. Sometimes a book finds you at exactly the right moment, and others won't understand. I still love Rosendorfer's Great Solo For Anton and as far as I know it's forgotten and out of print, interesting to no-one.
"Mr. Doan," Janet said, worried, "are you sure you feel alright?"
"Marvelous," Doan answered.
"Well, I've never had much experience with intoxicants. I've never seen anyone just sit down and- and get drunk."
"Stick around, kid," Doan told her. "Stick around."
July 26, 2014
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
June 21, 2015
PROTAGONIST: Doan, PI, and Carstairs, Great Dane
SETTING: Los Altos, Mexico
SERIES: #1 of 3
RATING: 4.0
WHY: Written in 1943, Mouse is a comic hardboiled mystery featuring overweight PI Doan and his partner, Carstairs, a huge Great Dane dog. Along with a tourist group, they go to the village of Los Altos, Mexico, which is subsequently cut off from the world by an earthquake. There's lots of foul play going on. Doan isn't exactly ethical. There's quite a bit of comic relief, first in the form of the tour bus driver and later the head policeman, Capt. Emile Perone. Amusing dialogue and surprisingly contemporary.
SETTING: Los Altos, Mexico
SERIES: #1 of 3
RATING: 4.0
WHY: Written in 1943, Mouse is a comic hardboiled mystery featuring overweight PI Doan and his partner, Carstairs, a huge Great Dane dog. Along with a tourist group, they go to the village of Los Altos, Mexico, which is subsequently cut off from the world by an earthquake. There's lots of foul play going on. Doan isn't exactly ethical. There's quite a bit of comic relief, first in the form of the tour bus driver and later the head policeman, Capt. Emile Perone. Amusing dialogue and surprisingly contemporary.
May 28, 2010
This is the second book in the Doan and Carstairs series. The first "book" is actually a short story and this a very short novel. Doan is a private detective and Carstairs is his Great Dane. I didn't care for the first one very much but wanted to give the series a chance. Nope, it's just not doing it for me. Once again Carstairs, although a title character, just doesn't do much. Definitely underused. The plot is pretty lame and the humor just not humorous enough. I won't be reading any more in the series.
September 13, 2011
Brisk, airy writing style. Set in Mexico around WWII. Private detective Doan owns a Great Dane named Carstairs. The dog, while always present, doesn't do a whole lot other than to provide comic relief.
I figured out the killer (unusual for me) before the end of the book so perhaps this isn't the best whodunit.
At some point I'll likely read the sequels.
I figured out the killer (unusual for me) before the end of the book so perhaps this isn't the best whodunit.
At some point I'll likely read the sequels.
November 19, 2014
Detective Doan and Carstairs are the perfect duo. They both have exceptional talents useful in the situations in which they find themselves. I like feisty Janet, Inspector Perone and the other characters in the little mountain town of Los Altos. Without Janet's interest in reading the bad guys would not have been so readily found. Love the humor.
April 9, 2013
Enjoyable, fast moving, mostly lighthearted detective story. I read it in about a day and enjoyed it very much. I found out that there are two more novels and a few short stories with the same characters that I will also try to read. It's a shame that the author died young.
July 13, 2013
Fun read! (Well, listen, via Julie Davis' "Forgotten Classics" podcast.) I found the heroine's love interest to be annoyingly chauvinistic, and I felt sorry that she ended up with such a rude boyfriend. Doan and Carstairs, however, were fabulous fun!
May 22, 2019
I read all three of these back to back to back. It combines the hard boiled detective and humor. Carstairst the dog is the main character and the detective Doan a close second.
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