What do you think?
Rate this book
Stanley Hastings #2
Murder
When Stanley Hastings, a chivalrous gentleman but mediocre detective, agrees to help prostitute Pamela Berringer free herself from her pimp, Stanley winds up as the number one suspect in a murder investigation
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
9 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 29, 2012
Thoroughly enjoyable. Hall has a great sense of humor which shows through while still upholding the time-honored tradition of the private eye. Highly recommended.
September 2, 2019
Great who done it. Couldn't wait for ending. Looking forward to reading next book, by the author.
May 16, 2015
Stanley Hastings is a hoot. This actor/writer/private detective wannabe has failed at just about everything he's tried in life, but with a stay-at-home wife and son to support, he keeps plugging away, trying to earn enough to stay ahead of the debt collectors.
His most steady job is that of sign-up interviewer with an ambulance-chasing law firm. His assignment is to meet with potential clients who have been injured, interview them about what happened, get them to sign a commitment form, and take it all back to his employer, Richard Rosenberg, for a decision about whether he will take the case. His job takes him all over New York, but in this entry to the series, it seems to take him mostly to Harlem, to some very sketchy neighborhoods where he is constantly afraid of being beaten up.
This book was originally published in 1987 and it seems very dated in many ways, in its attitudes but particularly in technology. Stanley carries a beeper by which the law firm pages him when they have someone for him to interview. Then he has to search around for a pay phone where he can call in and find out what the assignment is. By now, that seems almost stone age in its concept.
This time, however, Stanley gets to put his private detective skills to work on behalf of a friend of his wife's. The woman is the mother of one of their son's schoolmates and part of their school carpool. She is in a real mess. She had agreed to help a former friend from college days who had asked her to take her place in an escort service one day because the woman had to go out of town to visit her dying mother. She kept the date for her and ended up being raped and then blackmailed and forced into prostitution. Her pimp has starred her in some porn films, some with her knowledge and some without, and now she is in so deep that she can't get out.
Enter white knight Stanley Hastings.
Stanley goes to see the pimp at his apartment in Harlem and finds him dead with a carving knife stuck in his back. Thinking fast, he calls a friend and has him call the law firm, pretending to be the dead man, and feigning an injury for which he wants the firm to represent him in litigation. The secretary beeps Stanley and sends him to the man's apartment. Now that he has an excuse for being there, he feels he can legitimately call the police and report the death. Smart Stanley!
Unfortunately, the sergeant who is sent to investigate is one who remembers Stanley from a previous case that he had interfered in just a few months before. He is understandably suspicious and Stanley goes high up on his list of possible murder suspects.
After being exhaustively interviewed by the police, Stanley continues to bumble around, trying to help out his client but also trying to clear his name. Those are two ends which may prove mutually exclusive.
Living by his wits and practicing some of his acting skills while dealing with the bad guys, Stanley does manage to extricate himself and his carpool-mate in the end but not before exposing us to many examples of the Hastings quick and inventive humor. Or at least what passes for humor.
That humor is very broad and over-the-top and sometimes downright annoying, but, on the whole, this proved to be a quick and fun read. I think I'll probably be returning to this series from time to time when I want something light that doesn't tax the brain.
His most steady job is that of sign-up interviewer with an ambulance-chasing law firm. His assignment is to meet with potential clients who have been injured, interview them about what happened, get them to sign a commitment form, and take it all back to his employer, Richard Rosenberg, for a decision about whether he will take the case. His job takes him all over New York, but in this entry to the series, it seems to take him mostly to Harlem, to some very sketchy neighborhoods where he is constantly afraid of being beaten up.
This book was originally published in 1987 and it seems very dated in many ways, in its attitudes but particularly in technology. Stanley carries a beeper by which the law firm pages him when they have someone for him to interview. Then he has to search around for a pay phone where he can call in and find out what the assignment is. By now, that seems almost stone age in its concept.
This time, however, Stanley gets to put his private detective skills to work on behalf of a friend of his wife's. The woman is the mother of one of their son's schoolmates and part of their school carpool. She is in a real mess. She had agreed to help a former friend from college days who had asked her to take her place in an escort service one day because the woman had to go out of town to visit her dying mother. She kept the date for her and ended up being raped and then blackmailed and forced into prostitution. Her pimp has starred her in some porn films, some with her knowledge and some without, and now she is in so deep that she can't get out.
Enter white knight Stanley Hastings.
Stanley goes to see the pimp at his apartment in Harlem and finds him dead with a carving knife stuck in his back. Thinking fast, he calls a friend and has him call the law firm, pretending to be the dead man, and feigning an injury for which he wants the firm to represent him in litigation. The secretary beeps Stanley and sends him to the man's apartment. Now that he has an excuse for being there, he feels he can legitimately call the police and report the death. Smart Stanley!
Unfortunately, the sergeant who is sent to investigate is one who remembers Stanley from a previous case that he had interfered in just a few months before. He is understandably suspicious and Stanley goes high up on his list of possible murder suspects.
After being exhaustively interviewed by the police, Stanley continues to bumble around, trying to help out his client but also trying to clear his name. Those are two ends which may prove mutually exclusive.
Living by his wits and practicing some of his acting skills while dealing with the bad guys, Stanley does manage to extricate himself and his carpool-mate in the end but not before exposing us to many examples of the Hastings quick and inventive humor. Or at least what passes for humor.
That humor is very broad and over-the-top and sometimes downright annoying, but, on the whole, this proved to be a quick and fun read. I think I'll probably be returning to this series from time to time when I want something light that doesn't tax the brain.
February 9, 2011
OK. So I started off a fan... But, in all fairness, I really thought this series would mature. Sadly, it hasn't. The character is endearing in book one and by book two I was still willing to give it another shot on the off chance that the humor would become more consistent, the mysteries more engaging, and the characters more sophisticated. Stay tuned...
June 11, 2018
Fun book. I loved the "gifted amateur"
Actually, Parnell Hall is one of my favorite authors. I am familiar with this Stanley Hastings series, his Puzzle Lady series, and Steve Winslow. Each series has a unique personality and it's own flow. The books are a fun read and very entertaining. They aren't perhaps great literature or fonts of great knowledge, but they are great reads.
Actually, Parnell Hall is one of my favorite authors. I am familiar with this Stanley Hastings series, his Puzzle Lady series, and Steve Winslow. Each series has a unique personality and it's own flow. The books are a fun read and very entertaining. They aren't perhaps great literature or fonts of great knowledge, but they are great reads.
October 24, 2017
Just like the first one.
February 3, 2019
No interest in pursuing this series.
June 22, 2013
another good one!
his wifes friend who has a son the same age as his came to him to help her
she first claimed she 'helped' a friend out by being a escort one night when the friend wasnt able to. turned out she was a call girl in a hotel with a pimp who threatened to blackmail her to her husband
she wanted the tapes back
he didnt want to get involved but after his last 'case' where the guy got killed when he didnt do anything he thought he would look into it
he went to the pimps apt and found it ransacked and the pimp dead with a knife in his back
he called his friend the thief and had him make a call to the office so it looked like he was there on a accident case
then he could call the cops to report it which he did
but the girl in the office got the address wrong, the cop picked up on it. it was the same cop who suspected he was involved in the last case when he came up with the bullet he 'found' in a parking lot linking to the murder
so the cop told him he was a suspect and wanted him to clear it up which he did
he figured out who did it, even got the fingerprints on the beer bottle for the cops.
one girl did get killed, she was a witness and he felt bad about it
he also had the tapes which had a congressman on it and blackmailed him for money for a accident case they couldnt win and gave the money to the deserving mom.
i thought he was very brave to go in the bar
cant wait to get the next book!
his wifes friend who has a son the same age as his came to him to help her
she first claimed she 'helped' a friend out by being a escort one night when the friend wasnt able to. turned out she was a call girl in a hotel with a pimp who threatened to blackmail her to her husband
she wanted the tapes back
he didnt want to get involved but after his last 'case' where the guy got killed when he didnt do anything he thought he would look into it
he went to the pimps apt and found it ransacked and the pimp dead with a knife in his back
he called his friend the thief and had him make a call to the office so it looked like he was there on a accident case
then he could call the cops to report it which he did
but the girl in the office got the address wrong, the cop picked up on it. it was the same cop who suspected he was involved in the last case when he came up with the bullet he 'found' in a parking lot linking to the murder
so the cop told him he was a suspect and wanted him to clear it up which he did
he figured out who did it, even got the fingerprints on the beer bottle for the cops.
one girl did get killed, she was a witness and he felt bad about it
he also had the tapes which had a congressman on it and blackmailed him for money for a accident case they couldnt win and gave the money to the deserving mom.
i thought he was very brave to go in the bar
cant wait to get the next book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2014
Stanley Hastings is a Private Investigator. Not the sort from TV or books — he doesn't really do much more than take photographs for an ambulance-chasing law-firm of the cracked sidewalks people have tripped on. His wife, however, is sure he could be a real PI, and asks him to help the mother of one of their son's schoolmates, who has gotten herself into a mess. She had worked once as a high-end escort, but ended up being blackmailed and forced into prostitution.
Stanley has no idea how to handle something like this, but decides he should at least go see the blackmailer… only to find him dead. Now he really has no clue what to do. He can't call the police, or they'll want to know why he was there, which will mean giving up his client. So he comes up with an elaborate plan… which then promptly unravels, leaving him the prime suspect in the murder. His only way out is to find out who the real murderer was.
It's all very similar to the Bernie Rhodenbarr series, though Hall isn't quite in the same tier as Lawrence Block. The whole thing is very over-the-top, but it's quick, fun read. ★★★
Stanley has no idea how to handle something like this, but decides he should at least go see the blackmailer… only to find him dead. Now he really has no clue what to do. He can't call the police, or they'll want to know why he was there, which will mean giving up his client. So he comes up with an elaborate plan… which then promptly unravels, leaving him the prime suspect in the murder. His only way out is to find out who the real murderer was.
It's all very similar to the Bernie Rhodenbarr series, though Hall isn't quite in the same tier as Lawrence Block. The whole thing is very over-the-top, but it's quick, fun read. ★★★
June 26, 2025
This series hits a sweet spot for me. I love humor, a good mystery, and a character that I can root for. My favorite series, by far, is Block's "Burglar" series. But Stanley Hastings is my close second. I hate not reading series in order, and my local library doesn't have the entire set, but these were so good I just read what they had. Now that we are shut-ins and I have more time to read, I've finally begun to access books online and this was the first I purchased. It did not disappoint. Stanley, a well-meaning, bumbling ambulance chaser gets in over his head but figures out how to save himself and his client. It is the same formula in pretty much each book, but the characters and voice are EXCELLENT. Please keep them coming, Mr. Hall!
And for others who enjoy this, please point me in the direction of other series that I would like!
And for others who enjoy this, please point me in the direction of other series that I would like!
August 20, 2013
This second volume in Parnell Hall's Stanley Hastings detective series is every bit as good as the stellar original. With a witty, self-deprecating protagonist (who, amazingly, has a home life and is personally undamaged) and an intricate clockwork plot (although the ending does feel a bit rushed) you really can't ask for a more entertaining read. Since I came late to this long-running series I anticipate more reading pleasure ahead.
November 13, 2013
Unwilling ambulance-chasing PI Stanley Hastings (he would rather be a writer) gets handed a simple black-mail case by his wife, which quickly turns to murder, and he is the primary suspect.
Another light crime novel, this has a breezy tone that flows logically from beginning to end. Wouldn't have minded if the main character's actual life played into the narration, such as his home life or career interests, but this had my interest enough that I would like to read more in the series.
Another light crime novel, this has a breezy tone that flows logically from beginning to end. Wouldn't have minded if the main character's actual life played into the narration, such as his home life or career interests, but this had my interest enough that I would like to read more in the series.
September 27, 2010
second one in series. still amusing despite being a bit outdated (plot twists that rely on having to find a pay phone to respond to beeper).
September 14, 2014
Love his self deprecating writing style. Always an easy, enjoyable read.
May 16, 2015
Second book in the Stanley Hastings - private detectives series. Fast paced and enjoyable writing. I will continue this series.
Read
March 1, 2016to-read
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews