Black Mail

Johnny Black #2

by Neville Steed

Another from a winner of the John Creasey Memorial Award. In the 1930s young librarian Lucy Merrydew is about to marry into the wealthy Bolsover family when she receives a threatening letteraccompanied by a severed finger. Private detective Johnny Black's enquiries to find out who is behind this blackest of mail takes him firstly to Buckfast Hall, the Bolsover family seat, a seethingbroth of intrigue and emotions. When a body is found floating in the river, the emphasis shifts dramatically, and Black finds himself up to his neck in murder most foul.

Genres: Mystery, Historical

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Pseudonym of Norman Keith Sharam. He worked in advertising before setting up his own advertising agency. After six years he sold the business to become a novelist. He lives in Devon with his wife Kate Sharam.

Reviews

[Malvika Jaswal · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second and final installment in the John Black series, John is presented with that most frustrating of crimes – blackmail. John’s girlfriend/almost fiancé, Tracy, is off on a boating holiday with some family friends and he is left to solve this mystery pretty much on his own. Well, almost. There is his trusted new assistant, Babs, and his good friends, Bobby and Ashley (?), to lend him helping hands in his hair-raising endeavors. Bearing in mind the fact that he is relatively new to the job, it was fun to see that he made some very obvious and glaring gaffes in his pursuit of finding out the truth for his client.

His client is one of those women, so often described in Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie novels who will always attract male attention by projecting the ‘damsel in distress’ image, both knowingly and unknowingly. Frankly, I thought she was extremely smart in an underhanded sort of way. Lucy Merridew approaches Johnny to find a blackmailer who sent her a human finger with the blackmail note. She is engaged to marry a really wealthy fellow and does not want his family to know about such sordid matters. Johnny must first find out what it is that she has hidden in her past that she can be blackmailed about since the lady isn’t telling.

In sequel to the first Johnny Black novel, this one continues to hold on to that well-loved English humour in its prose and the delicate handling of violent and rough matters in true Agatha Christie fashion. As for all the talk about cars – well I think it adds a little something to the book for sure. How else would I ever have known about a car called LaSalle? And it is a truly beautiful thing after all. I wish I could have ‘LaSalled’ my way from one place to another.

The plot does seem to be inordinately convoluted at times (this being a major flaw in this book - the effort to make things unnecessarily complex), with threads that seem to be pulling the reader in all possible directions until they magically come together in the end, but altogether they make for an interesting read. So, all’s well that ends well.

I enjoyed this book in a lazy, Sunday read kind of fashion – the perfect description of a cosy mystery. Although, to be perfectly honest, probably a little less that the prequel. I really love all the permanent characters the author has created and often the mystery seems superfluous to the interactions and the camaraderie that exists between all of them. Babs is so obviously in love with Johnny and I am not really sure about Tracy being his soulmate, but since the author never wrote a third or fourth installment, I guess we will never know.

[Rick Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

At one point, Johnny Black notes that he could not explain everything to another character "Because it would take all day". Perhaps Mr. Steed should have taken some of this advice. The plot is good, the characters excellent, but the cogitation, cogitation, cogitation...This would be a five star excellent mystery had it been one hundred to one hundred seventy-seven or so pages shorter.

[The Inked Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was contacted by a lovely lady from Endeavour Press asking me if I would have liked an e-book copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and of course, I said yes. So thank you Endeavour Press for your generosity and I apologise for the delay in posting this review.

Now, down to the book.
This book is a crime novel, the second in series, centering around the adventures of a private investigator, Johnny Black.
Unfortunately, I didn't read the first book (called Black Eye) and if I am not mistaken this book is quite "dated" and it's now being re-printed by Endeavour Press. Reading it you can definitely tell that this book has some years on its shoulders but that is not a fault, on the contrary, it reminded me of old tv shows like "Columbo" or "Murder, She Wrote".
I would say it is a cozy mystery/crime novel that runs smooth and doesn't last long. It took me ages to read it just because I am so not fond of e-books and it takes me a lot longer to read them than a physical book.

The writing was really good, funny and witty and the main character, Johnny Black is very likable and down to heart. Also, the typical British landscaping and living style of the characters are quickly and yet well described. The humor is also a very typical "English humor" if I say so myself and if you find it to your liking, you will have some nice laughs while reading this book.

I didn't guess in advance who the culprit was and I didn't see the end coming, which is always a good thing, in my opinion, when reading a crime novel.

Said that, my enjoyment of this book was, somehow, limited.
Some of it is without doubt linked to the fact that I despise so much reading an e-book instead of a physical copy.
Overall it was a very solid, and yet no more, than a 3 stars book for me. I cannot exactly pinpoint what I didn't like about this book but I also can't find anything that I loved or moments that really kept me engaged.

I am sure, many people who like this genre will really enjoy this book. It has all the elements to be very entertaining.
So, in this case, I will have to say that the three stars rating is honestly due to my personal tastes, which tend to prefer more "complex" crime/ thriller novel instead of cozy mystery.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Endeavour Press for a review copy of Black Mail, which, having recently read and enjoyed Die-Cast, I was eager to try out. Set in 1937, I think, it follows the adventures of PI Johnny Black as he tries to uncover first a blackmailer then a murderer. He is asked by Lucy Merrydew to find whoever is sending her severed thumbs and blackmailing notes. She cannot go to the police in case her rich fiancé, Charles Bolsover, finds out and breaks the engagement. As Johnny noses around his attention falls on one of the Bolsover gardeners, Spiller who is promptly murdered. It's all go after that.
The plot is suitably convoluted and I had several theories before the denouement, some partly correct, some way off beam. In my mind that makes Black Mail a good read because it keeps you guessing. I wasn't so keen on the period setting, I don't think anyone actually said spiffing but it all seems a bit overdone and not very convincing and I certainly can't be bothered with all the descriptions of cars - I'm sure they fit the period but so what?, they add nothing to the plot.
The main characters are all very pleasant and middle to upper class, in fact the whole novel is a very pleasant read with a certain innocence we don't see much of nowadays (it was written in 1990).
If you are looking for a cozy read with a less than obvious plot then Black Mail will suit nicely.

[Crittermom · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first experience with Neville Steed was reading one of his cozies, Die-Cast.  As I enjoyed that novel immensely, I decided to try Black Mail.  Unlike Die-Cast, Black Mail is not strictly a cozy, blending in some pulp/noir elements.  The main character, Johnny Black is a private detective in 1937 Britain.  A former pilot, Johnny has charm, wit, and a number of helpful friends.  

Like many noir novels, Black Mail starts with a beautiful damsel-in-distress approaching the Black Eye Detective Agency.  Lucy Merrydew has received a gruesome blackmail note along with a severed finger.  She begs for discretion because she doesn't want her rich fiancé's family to know.  Of course she isn't telling the whole truth.  Murder of course follows on the footsteps of blackmail, and Johnny is drawn into the complex workings of the Bolsover family.  Johnny is good at finding skeletons in closets, but someone may want to put him off the scent permanently.

Like many cozies there is minimal violence.  The main focus is on character. There is also a good bit of humor woven throughout Black Mail, which serves to lighten the novel.

If you like your detective fiction light, without the violence and grit of noir novels, Black Mail is a great choice.  It's clever, character driven plot and limited violence make it appropriate for mystery lovers of all ages.

5/5

I received a copy of Black Mail from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just as good as the first one in the series, and sadly, I couldn't find any others in the series by the author (They were written 10 or so years ago). This book is well written, has great characters and funny, twisty plot; such a fun romp through pre-WWII England.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to Agatha Christie fans, period pieces, suspense/mysteries.

*I'd like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the late 1930's and ex-pilot Johnny Black has set up a private detective company when Boots librarian Lucy Merrydew employs him to find out who is trying to blackmail her. As she is engaged to Charles Bolsover, the heir to a wealthy estate she wants everything to be kept quiet. But then blackmail leads to murder.
An enjoyable read
A NetGalley book