Un penny vermiglio per Masao Masuto

Masao Masuto #2

by E.V. Cunningham

Si chiama Masao Masuto, è un detective giapponese della polizia di Beverly Hills. Ama le rose, è un asso del karate e un seguace del buddismo Zen. Il suo lavoro lo fa con intelligenza, con caustico umorismo e con la forza, se necessario. Non applica sempre la legge alla lettera, ma segue sopratutto un suo codice di giustizia. e si dà il caso che sia anche un genio nel risolvere i misteri più complicati.
In questo romanzo, il primo di una serie che lo avrà come protagonista, Masao viene incaricato di ispezionare la casa di un produttore cinematografico messa a soqquadro da ignoti che però non vi hanno rubato niente. L'inchiesta è appena iniziata, quando Masuto si trova a dover investigare anche su un assassinio: quello di un commerciante di francobolli. Poche ore dopo, un altro delitto: l'assistente del commerciante viene torturato e ucciso nel proprio appartamento.
Nascosto nel letto della vittima, si trova uno dei più rari e preziosi francobolli del mondo, che vale quasi mezzo milione di dollari.

Genres: Mystery, Detective, Crime

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

EV Cunningham is a pseudonym used by author: Howard Fast, and under that name he wrote 21 mystery novels plus two others, one under his own name and one using another pseudonym Walter Ericson.

He was educated at George Washington High School, graduating in 1931. He attended the National Academy of Design in New York before serving with the Office of War Information between 1942 and 1943 and the Army Film Project in 1944.

He became war correspondent in the Far East for 'Esquire' and 'Coronet' magazines in 1945. And after the war he taught at Indiana University, Bloomington, in the summer of 1947, a year in which he was imprisoned for contempt of Congress, concerning his communistic views.

He became the owner of the Blue Heron Press in New York in 1952, a position he held until 1957. And he was the founder of the World Peace Movement and a member of the World Peace Council from 1950 to 1955 and was later a member of the Fellowship for Reconciliation. In 1952 he was an American Labour Party candidate for Congress for the 23rd District of New York.

He received a great many awards between 1933 and 1967.

He married Bette Cohen in 1937 and they had one son and one daughter.

Under his own name he wrote 35 works of fiction plus a variety of history and critical works, short stories, plays and a screenplay, 'The Hessian' (1971) plus a book of verse with William Gropper.

He died died at his home in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, on 12 March 2003.

Gerry Wolstenholme
March 2022

Reviews

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming detective story. Howard Fast was a prolific writer across many genres. I had not realized that he also wrote a series of detective novels under the EV Cunningham pen name that have been recently re-issued under his real name by Open Road Media (bless them.) They feature a tenacious Nisei detective, Masao Matsui. For those who don’t know, Nisei was a term invented to describe those of Japanese heritage born in the United States. (Don’t get me started on the inherent xenophobia of these kinds of designations.)

As you might have guessed, the case involves a stamp and the murder of a stamp dealer. The murders escalate and the provenance of the stamp and its effect on a twelve-year-old become important, not to mention Buchenwald. Matsui, head of the Beverly Hills homicide squad, is a treat to watch as he interacts with his colleagues and boss employing the “kill ‘em with kindness” technique. Little action, well, except for the three chain-wielding motorcyclists, just good dialogue and intriguing plot.

For those who care about such things (I find them endlessly fascinating, including Lawrence Block’s creation Keller’s passion for stamps) the one-penny orange was first issued in 1847 in Mauritius and is one of the rarest of all stamps. The history is quite interesting. You can find more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauriti....

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second Masao Masuto mystery and my first introduction to the Zen detective working on the Beverly Hills police force. The story opens with Masuto checking out a suspected robbery at the Beverly Hills mansion of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Briggs. When the couple returned from the funeral of Ellen Briggs's mother, they found the house ransacked. But upon closer inspection it seemed that absolutely nothing was taken. Masuto's boss knows that he likes odd little mysteries, so he tells the detective that he can take look if he wants even though "there's nothing in it." Masuto has barely begun interviewing the couple when a call comes through directing him to the shop of Ivan Gaycheck, a prominent stamp dealer. Once again there's been a break-in, but apparently no robbery. But this time there is a murder. Gaycheck has been killed by a .22-caliber bullet.

The deeper Masuto digs, the more he suspects a connection between the two non-robberies. And when he hears about the existence of an extremely rare stamp--the 1947 one-penny orange--he becomes even more certain. The trail leads him to the shadow of Nazi Germany and the Buchenwald concentration camp and winds up with him in a face-off with three bicycle-chain-wielding thugs. But did they kill Gaycheck? And what happened to the famous stamp?

An interesting look at Beverly Hills in the 1970s and at a first-generation Japanese man making his way at that time. I found the historical ties to WWII interesting and well-played--especially since this was written well before the current WWII historical mystery explosion (at least it seems like an explosion to me--I see them everywhere). The plot neatly ties the modern murders to the historical background and I thought the wrap-up was a nice touch--Masuto has echoes of Holmes and Poirot serving out their own brand of justice. Fortunately, his Zen background allows him to conveniently ignore the law he serves. ★★★ and 1/2. [rounded up here]

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second experience reading one of Cunningham's Masao Masuto stories and I think it is definitely a case of "more is more." I enjoyed the first one in a kind of pleasant, "keep me out of mischief" kind of way. . . but, this book interested me much more. The reader is learning what makes Masao Masuto "tick" and his strength of character, intelligence, and self-possession is really intriguing.

I will definitely continue reading the other books in the series because I enjoy the protagonist so much.

[John R. Goyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another volume in the series, and much the same feel as the first - a good thing in this case. Some history on early life in California, and race relations, but mostly good entertainment with a most interesting detective. He seems to fall in love every case, but still be faithful to his stay at home wife.

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Beverly Hills, the character of Masao Masuto introduces readers to an ethnic detective, Nisei in this case, and a mystery focused on Jewish history using the old device of a rare stamp that made me think of Robert Graves' Antigua Penny Puce.

I enjoyed the descriptions of Los Angeles with the emphasis on the multicultural population of the area.

[Jill H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye rolling dialog. Maybe it would have been ok back in 1970’s but the stereotypes, sexism, etc. were too much. Ok murder mystery. But too many details left out in order to make any sort of educated guesses.

[Richard Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprise ending! Never would have guessed it. Has an engaging way of writing with some nice humor used throughout. Excellent read.

[Frank Settineri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite a departure from Howard Fast's style; I believe it ridicules authors who write murder mystery stories.

[Martin Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My pursuit of books about philately led me to my new favorite writer, Howard Fast.

The "One-Penny Orange" in the title of this mystery novel is an extremely rare and valuable postage stamp. Beverly Hills police detective Masao Masuto is assigned to investigate a break-in where nothing appears to have taken or even touched; and almost immediately thereafter, a stamp dealer is killed, but none of the expensive items in his shop are missing or tampered with. What's going on here?

Leave it to Masuto, the Nisei Zen Buddhist whose leaps of intuition and brilliance at deduction can always be counted on to pull disparate parts of a thorny puzzle together. This story leads Masuto to consult with a relative who knows about old stamps, an Israeli Nazi hunter, and--my favorite character--an actress who was married to a wealthy movie mogul. All contribute to the solution of the mystery, and to the splendid ambience of this excellent book, which marked my introduction to Fast's seven-volume cycle of Masuto books.

It's an engaging, entertaining, and thoroughly satsifying story, quite well told.

I should note that this Kindle edition of The Case of the One-Penny Orange includes a detailed biography of Howard Fast, well-documented with lots of photos. (Indeed, all of the new Kindle editions of Fast's books have this feature.) The bio is well worth reading, providing great background on the life and career of this remarkable, prolific American author.

[Spiegel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Copiado do meu registro no Bookcrossing de 2007.

Eu sei que não dá para esperar que os livros da coleção Mistério sejam profundos, mas parece meio estranho um assassinato de um nazista investigado por um nisei não tocar no envolvimento do Japão e dos Estados Unidos na Segunda Guerra.

[K. Counihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Hard-Boiled Mystery

There is a murder, caused by the robbery of a rare stamp. The police detective assigned the case doggedly chases down the thief. A sort of clean Mike Hammer novel. I really liked this book a lot.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be dammed. Just read that this was written by Howard Fast, who wrote Citizen Tom Paine and a book on Zen I read. I'll be dammed.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book at a tiny book store by chance and bought it for 1€. Finished it in 2.5 hours. I love anything which is related to Japan and crime, so the book was the perfect combination for me. :)