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Mike Shayne #7
Murder Wears a Mummer's Mask
At a Colorado theatre festival, Mike Shayne investigates a miner’s murder
Private inspector Mike Shayne and his young bride, Phyllis, have escaped Miami for a badly needed vacation, taking in a theatre festival in the picturesque mountains of Colorado. Once a year, this cozy little town is overrun by actors, playwrights, directors, and aficionados, all of whom are as interested in cocktail parties as they are in what happens onstage. After a tiring day, Mike and Phyllis are having drinks in the hotel bar when they hear a woman scream. Her name is Nora Carson, and she is visibly shaken.
After ten long years, Nora believes she has just seen her father, an eccentric old prospector, standing right outside the hotel window. She chases after him, but by the time she reaches him, it is too late. Hours after making his big strike, Nora’s father is dead—and it’s up to Mike Shayne to discover who snuffed him out.
Private inspector Mike Shayne and his young bride, Phyllis, have escaped Miami for a badly needed vacation, taking in a theatre festival in the picturesque mountains of Colorado. Once a year, this cozy little town is overrun by actors, playwrights, directors, and aficionados, all of whom are as interested in cocktail parties as they are in what happens onstage. After a tiring day, Mike and Phyllis are having drinks in the hotel bar when they hear a woman scream. Her name is Nora Carson, and she is visibly shaken.
After ten long years, Nora believes she has just seen her father, an eccentric old prospector, standing right outside the hotel window. She chases after him, but by the time she reaches him, it is too late. Hours after making his big strike, Nora’s father is dead—and it’s up to Mike Shayne to discover who snuffed him out.
- GenresMystery
196 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1943
About the author
Brett Halliday
539 books64 followersAKA David Dresser
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 - February 4, 1977), primary pen name of Davis Dresser, was an American mystery writer, best known for the long-lived series of Mike Shayne novels he wrote, and later commissioned others to write. Dresser wrote non-series mysteries, westerns and romances under the names
Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, and Anderson Wayne.
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 - February 4, 1977), primary pen name of Davis Dresser, was an American mystery writer, best known for the long-lived series of Mike Shayne novels he wrote, and later commissioned others to write. Dresser wrote non-series mysteries, westerns and romances under the names
Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, and Anderson Wayne.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 11, 2013
Mike Shayne is on vacation in Central City, CO., and gets asked to help solve a murder in the mining town. The rough and tumble red-head, that has that habit of pulling on his ear in deep thought, is a good character for this pulp from the 40's. Since Colorado is where I call home, and Central City is just west of Denver in the foothills, this was more fun for me, with the towns and landmarks mentioned, when it was still a mining town back then.
April 12, 2020
I realize it was published in 1943, and I read it through to see whodunit, but the extremely patronizing tenor of the main character towards the women characters ruined the story for me.
January 4, 2021
A new year and I start each with a Mike Shayne novel. I initially read this about 20 years ago. I had a vague recollection of the book, but no review here. I had marked it read.
I had also marked the novel with 2 of five stars. At the time, years ago, I must have remembered the book that way. Here, I update and add review....
David Dresser, the actual name of the writer of this novel, lived in Colorado. Yet he set his Mike Shayne character in Dade County, Florida, running around solving crimes through dozens of novels. Early on Dresser pulled Shayne from Miami and dropped him in Colorado and New Orleans for a few novels. Shayne fans wondered if this was to be permanent and Dresser's writing pointed to this possibly being the case. Yet, Shayne always returned to Miami Beach.
Here, Shayne is in Colorado for vacation and murder is served. Unlike the Miami Shayne novels where Shayne bulls his way from here and there, here Dresser creates more complexity and a deeper story.
The characters are very well done. Love the nod to the the never well defined past of Shayne. The settings are a best done involving structures and less so involving the natural areas. Dresser also writes as Peter Field of western tales. I've found him lacking in similar atmosphere there, too.
As usual, it's very hard to figure the conclusion. Dresser is excellent at constructing a mystery hard to figure. After reading the conclusion, much seemed so obvious and yet well spread among the many pages.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of ten points.
I had also marked the novel with 2 of five stars. At the time, years ago, I must have remembered the book that way. Here, I update and add review....
David Dresser, the actual name of the writer of this novel, lived in Colorado. Yet he set his Mike Shayne character in Dade County, Florida, running around solving crimes through dozens of novels. Early on Dresser pulled Shayne from Miami and dropped him in Colorado and New Orleans for a few novels. Shayne fans wondered if this was to be permanent and Dresser's writing pointed to this possibly being the case. Yet, Shayne always returned to Miami Beach.
Here, Shayne is in Colorado for vacation and murder is served. Unlike the Miami Shayne novels where Shayne bulls his way from here and there, here Dresser creates more complexity and a deeper story.
The characters are very well done. Love the nod to the the never well defined past of Shayne. The settings are a best done involving structures and less so involving the natural areas. Dresser also writes as Peter Field of western tales. I've found him lacking in similar atmosphere there, too.
As usual, it's very hard to figure the conclusion. Dresser is excellent at constructing a mystery hard to figure. After reading the conclusion, much seemed so obvious and yet well spread among the many pages.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of ten points.
April 21, 2025
Mike Shayne má dovolenou a s manželkou právě navštívil zapadlé zlatokopecké městečko. Seznámí se i s mladou herečkou – která si najednou všimne, že oknem kavárny kouká dovnitř její dávno ztracený otec. Shayne vyrazí za ním, ale když ho dostihne, je otec už mrtvý. Zabitý. Kdo zabil starého potrhlého zlatokopa, těsně poté, co se ukázalo, kým ve skutečnosti je?
Už jsem o knížkách Bretta Hallidaye psal… je to trochu atypická drsná škola. Jednak není psaná v ich-formě a tudíž tu absentují ironické komentáře, a jednak (aspoň, co jsem četl), tu téměř absentuje jakákoliv akce a rvačky. Dokonce tady hrdinu po celou dobu ani jednou nikdo nešvihne klackem po hlavě, aby se pak probudil vedle mrtvoly. Ono je to vlastně spíš klasická anglická detektivka, jen se soukromým očkem. Dokonce je tu i scéna, kdy hrdina všechny podezřelé sezve na jedno místo, aby odhalil viníka.
A tady je asi hlavní klad Bretta Hallidaye a důvod, proč ho číst. Kromě zajímavého rozjezdu je tu i inteligentní vyústění. Jak se o něm zmínil Shane Black: „Byla to doba, kdy byli autoři detektivek chytřejší než jejich čtenáři.“
Jo, to byly krásné časy.
Už jsem o knížkách Bretta Hallidaye psal… je to trochu atypická drsná škola. Jednak není psaná v ich-formě a tudíž tu absentují ironické komentáře, a jednak (aspoň, co jsem četl), tu téměř absentuje jakákoliv akce a rvačky. Dokonce tady hrdinu po celou dobu ani jednou nikdo nešvihne klackem po hlavě, aby se pak probudil vedle mrtvoly. Ono je to vlastně spíš klasická anglická detektivka, jen se soukromým očkem. Dokonce je tu i scéna, kdy hrdina všechny podezřelé sezve na jedno místo, aby odhalil viníka.
A tady je asi hlavní klad Bretta Hallidaye a důvod, proč ho číst. Kromě zajímavého rozjezdu je tu i inteligentní vyústění. Jak se o něm zmínil Shane Black: „Byla to doba, kdy byli autoři detektivek chytřejší než jejich čtenáři.“
Jo, to byly krásné časy.
February 24, 2025
Nothing very special.
August 13, 2016
I've been on a marathon crime fiction reading session. For the most part I've been reading either new authors or the lesser works of some of the pulp masters. I had a hankering to read one of the more generic, mass produced, men's pulps from the height of the era, and this is it.
Brett Halliday is one of nine pen names for Davis Dresser. Dresser had a different pen name for each of the genres he worked in, crime, mystery, western and even romance. He is one of the hackiest hacks who ever hacked a hack. By which I mean, the purpose of writing for him was primarily a paycheck and he turned out novels by the dozen. This is not to imply that he was an incompetent writer, indeed he was an enviable craftsman in many ways. The low rating is entirely for the over the top, ultra formulaic content. There is no crime fiction trope that doesn't make an appearance, no stereotype that doesn't have a part to play. The book is a ridiculous amount of fun, but it is also painfully baaaaad.
The front page tease gives a good example of what's in store:
I'm on vacation when I meet this gorgeous trick with a head of golden hair that's worth half of Fort Knox. Her old man has found a mine worth the other half. Putting them together she stacks up as a lucky girl. Then she disappears. With her looks, and her old man's loot, I figure she's a diamond-studded candidate for the morgue. That makes her my dish. After all, murder and blondes are my business.
bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha
Brett Halliday is one of nine pen names for Davis Dresser. Dresser had a different pen name for each of the genres he worked in, crime, mystery, western and even romance. He is one of the hackiest hacks who ever hacked a hack. By which I mean, the purpose of writing for him was primarily a paycheck and he turned out novels by the dozen. This is not to imply that he was an incompetent writer, indeed he was an enviable craftsman in many ways. The low rating is entirely for the over the top, ultra formulaic content. There is no crime fiction trope that doesn't make an appearance, no stereotype that doesn't have a part to play. The book is a ridiculous amount of fun, but it is also painfully baaaaad.
The front page tease gives a good example of what's in store:
I'm on vacation when I meet this gorgeous trick with a head of golden hair that's worth half of Fort Knox. Her old man has found a mine worth the other half. Putting them together she stacks up as a lucky girl. Then she disappears. With her looks, and her old man's loot, I figure she's a diamond-studded candidate for the morgue. That makes her my dish. After all, murder and blondes are my business.
bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha
January 29, 2017
My second time through this Mike Shane mystery and it's more a clever mystery than the regular hard boiled Shayne type adventure. This is one of the few Shayne books where he is married to wife Phyllis. It was rare for the hard boiled loner type private eye to be married. So, once again author Brett Halliday gives us something different both in plot and characterization.
February 27, 2020
Who Killed the Prospecter?
While on vacation Mike Shayne gets involved in a local case. An actress claims to have seen her long missing father, runs after him, and finds him dead. She asks Shayne to find his killer, but, before long, she is murdered, too. Can Mike solve the case? Which of the many suspects did it? Read it, and find out. You'll be glad you did!
While on vacation Mike Shayne gets involved in a local case. An actress claims to have seen her long missing father, runs after him, and finds him dead. She asks Shayne to find his killer, but, before long, she is murdered, too. Can Mike solve the case? Which of the many suspects did it? Read it, and find out. You'll be glad you did!
December 24, 2020
The Colorado Vacation Caper
Mike and the wife escape Miami for a scenic vacation in the Colorado mountains. Murder and investigating of course are also needed when an actress is found dead. This was a very good read.
Mike and the wife escape Miami for a scenic vacation in the Colorado mountains. Murder and investigating of course are also needed when an actress is found dead. This was a very good read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews