Gumshoe

by Neville Smith

'He looked like the kind of guy your mother would like to marry your sister. If you had a mother. If you had a sister.'. So begins the story of Eddie Ginley - a Liverpool bingo caller, who dreams of being Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and recording 'Blue Suede Shoes'. And when Eddie sets himself up as a private eye, those dreams start coming true - only they're not dreams, they're nightmares.

Genres: Crime

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Peter Thew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A screenplay that became a film and eventually a book. Smith's hero, Eddie is a comic in a seedy 1960s Liverpool nightclub who imagines himself as a modern-day Sam Spade. So he places an ad in the local newspaper- and his world comes tumbling down. It's great fun and Smith includes a range of good one-liners in the best gumshoe tradition.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired by his love for Raymond Chandler, Eddie Ginsley puts an advert in the newspaper as a private detective for hire. In reality he is a comedian on the dole. Then he receives a call for a job, and intrigue, danger, and hilarity ensue.

[Paddyspub · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. A down on the luck comic places an ad in the paper to be a private eye and gets more than he bargained for. Several times in this book I laughed out loud from what Ginley said. Good book.

[A.D. Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim tome, but highly entertaining. Set in Liverpool, it captures the grey, dirty feel of the city in the 1970s - together with the humour and pathos that is an essential part of Liverpool's Irish heritage.