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Alan Grofield #2
The Dame
Donald E. Westlake is one of the greats of crime fiction. Under the pseudonym Richard Stark, he wrote twenty-four fast-paced, hardboiled novels featuring Parker, a shrewd career criminal with a talent for heists. Using the same nom de plume, Westlake also completed a separate series in the Parker universe, starring Alan Grofield, an occasional colleague of Parker. While he shares events and characters with several Parker novels, Grofield is less calculating and more hot-blooded than Parker; think fewer guns, more dames.
Not that there isn’t violence and adventure aplenty. . The Dame finds Grofield in Puerto Rico protecting a rich, demanding woman in her isolated jungle villa, and reluctantly assuming the role of detective. A rare Westlake take on a whodunit, The Dame features a cast of colorful characters and a suspenseful—and memorable—climax.
With a new foreword by Sarah Weinman that situates the Grofield series within Westlake’s work as a whole, this novel is an exciting addition to any crime fiction fan’s library.
Not that there isn’t violence and adventure aplenty. . The Dame finds Grofield in Puerto Rico protecting a rich, demanding woman in her isolated jungle villa, and reluctantly assuming the role of detective. A rare Westlake take on a whodunit, The Dame features a cast of colorful characters and a suspenseful—and memorable—climax.
With a new foreword by Sarah Weinman that situates the Grofield series within Westlake’s work as a whole, this novel is an exciting addition to any crime fiction fan’s library.
183 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
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277 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
July 18, 2016
Alan Grofield first appeared as a character in Richard Stark's excellent series about Parker, the tough-as-nails heist man. Grofield, whose day job was as an actor in small, regional theater groups, moonlighted as a very competent thief. Parker could always depend on Grofield when the two worked together, and Grofield was one of the very few members of the crew that Parker (and the reader) knew would never be the one who screwed things up.
Stark (Donald Westlake) ultimately liked the character well enough to give him four books of his own. This is the second of the Grofield novels, first published in 1969. Grofield is much more relaxed than his more famous (or infamous) counterpart. In twenty-five novels, Parker probably never cracked a single smile. But Grofield is a very witty guy, which sometimes gets him into trouble, and he will often use humor in an attempt to defuse a tricky situation. One could never imagine Parker doing that; he'd be much more likely to get out of trouble by smashing a sledgehammer into some guy's forehead.
As a result, the Grofield books are a bit lighter than the Parker novels, but they're certainly very enjoyable in their own right. In this case, Grofield and Parker have just finished heisting the profits of a casino, and Grofield finds himself in Matamoros, Mexico, enjoying the company of a delightful young woman before heading home to his wife. He receives a message asking him to go to Puerto Rico as a favor to a friend to help out a woman in distress.
Curious, Grofield flies to Puerto Rico and meets the woman and her several houseguests at an isolated mansion out in the countryside. Grofield and the lady immediately annoy each other and he decides not to take the job. However, before he can leave someone in the house is murdered. It's clear that the killer must have either been a guest or a member of the staff, and Grofield is everyone's number one suspect.
As is usual in a case like this, the only way Grofield can save himself is to find the real guilty party. This is, in some ways, a variation on the old English manor murder mystery, and in that case, of course, someone like Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot would produce the solution and save the day. Happily, neither Miss Marple nor the famous Belgian are among the guests and so the task falls to Grofield whose approach to the problem is a lot more fun.
Readers who have enjoyed the Parker series will doubtless like this book as well and will be grateful to the University of Chicago Press for resurrecting this and two of the other Grofield books. (The fourth, Lemons Never Lie, was recently republished as part of the Hard Case Crime series.) Who could not love a book that contains a paragraph like the following:
"Eva Milford was an overwound mainspring. Her hairdo was so tight and rigid it looked as though it had been set by the Spanish Inquisition. Her torso didn't look girdled, it looked petrified, like an old forest. Her dark-brown suit and fussy coral blouse made her look like the mean old broad in the steno pool, and her face was as shut up as a bank on Sunday."
Priceless...
Stark (Donald Westlake) ultimately liked the character well enough to give him four books of his own. This is the second of the Grofield novels, first published in 1969. Grofield is much more relaxed than his more famous (or infamous) counterpart. In twenty-five novels, Parker probably never cracked a single smile. But Grofield is a very witty guy, which sometimes gets him into trouble, and he will often use humor in an attempt to defuse a tricky situation. One could never imagine Parker doing that; he'd be much more likely to get out of trouble by smashing a sledgehammer into some guy's forehead.
As a result, the Grofield books are a bit lighter than the Parker novels, but they're certainly very enjoyable in their own right. In this case, Grofield and Parker have just finished heisting the profits of a casino, and Grofield finds himself in Matamoros, Mexico, enjoying the company of a delightful young woman before heading home to his wife. He receives a message asking him to go to Puerto Rico as a favor to a friend to help out a woman in distress.
Curious, Grofield flies to Puerto Rico and meets the woman and her several houseguests at an isolated mansion out in the countryside. Grofield and the lady immediately annoy each other and he decides not to take the job. However, before he can leave someone in the house is murdered. It's clear that the killer must have either been a guest or a member of the staff, and Grofield is everyone's number one suspect.
As is usual in a case like this, the only way Grofield can save himself is to find the real guilty party. This is, in some ways, a variation on the old English manor murder mystery, and in that case, of course, someone like Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot would produce the solution and save the day. Happily, neither Miss Marple nor the famous Belgian are among the guests and so the task falls to Grofield whose approach to the problem is a lot more fun.
Readers who have enjoyed the Parker series will doubtless like this book as well and will be grateful to the University of Chicago Press for resurrecting this and two of the other Grofield books. (The fourth, Lemons Never Lie, was recently republished as part of the Hard Case Crime series.) Who could not love a book that contains a paragraph like the following:
"Eva Milford was an overwound mainspring. Her hairdo was so tight and rigid it looked as though it had been set by the Spanish Inquisition. Her torso didn't look girdled, it looked petrified, like an old forest. Her dark-brown suit and fussy coral blouse made her look like the mean old broad in the steno pool, and her face was as shut up as a bank on Sunday."
Priceless...
October 9, 2022
The Dame is the second of four Alan Grofield novels by Donald Westlake's alter ego, Richard Stark. There are four Grofield novels in all, The Damsel, the Dame, The Blackbird, and Lemons Never Lie.
Grofield was a minor character in a couple of Parker novels (specifically the Handle). The Parker series consists of 24 novels about a tough-as-nails thief. Grofield is also a thief, but a different kind of character.
Grofield lives in a small midwestern town and his first love is acting. He runs a small community theater with his wife, but makes no money at it, supporting his acting profession with heists, sometimes with Parker. Grofield is humorous and always has some light banter, making him quite a bit different than Parker.
In this book, Grofield starts out for home after the events in "The Damsel," but receives airline tickets and a mysterious client in Puerto Rico. Sending Elly (the damsel in distress) back to his wife with the suitcase full of money (perhaps not his wisest idea as Elly was more than just a messenger), Grofield heads to San Juan. Once there, Grofield finds himself stuck in the middle of a nasty divorce between a mobster and his randy wife. This trip was quite different from what Grofield bargained for and, despite his best efforts, he can't get out of Dodge.
While there are plenty of fight scenes and car chases, the bulk of the story involves a classical murder whodunit where the murder could only have been committed by one of the dozen or so people staying in the house. Although Grofield is blamed, he plays Inspector Poirot questioning each of a cast of strange characters who were there on the night it happened.
It is a smoothly written story that reads quickly and is an enjoyable read. While this plot may not blow the reader away, something about Westlake's writing makes you keep reading until the end.
This is your weekend in the Poconos murder mystery, but in San Juan and, well, there's also mobsters and tough guys running around. In this book, Grofield isn't the most professional criminal. In fact, he's held up, taken prisoner, and blackmailed. And he really doesn't even want to be there. No, he wants to click his heels three times and say I want to go home.
What is compelling about this story besides the exotic setting? Perhaps
the odd assortment of characters? The mobster's wife with the twenty five year old body and the voice "somewhat older than that, a little rough, a little too used to late hours and neat whiskey and chainsmoking." The cryptic lawyer and his middle aged wife "in a dark suit too heavy for the climate, her mouth down-turned in what seemed to be a permanent expression of disapproval." An African businessman with a sort of maroon pillbox on his head. A lovely girl of twenty-something with long ash-blonde hair and eyes looking past you "as a doe might look at the first hunter of Autumn." "You couldn't find enough blood in her veins to make a scab." Her brother with a weak face and a petulant attitude. Of course, it could have been (and probably was ) Mr. Green in the library with the candlestick.
Grofield was a minor character in a couple of Parker novels (specifically the Handle). The Parker series consists of 24 novels about a tough-as-nails thief. Grofield is also a thief, but a different kind of character.
Grofield lives in a small midwestern town and his first love is acting. He runs a small community theater with his wife, but makes no money at it, supporting his acting profession with heists, sometimes with Parker. Grofield is humorous and always has some light banter, making him quite a bit different than Parker.
In this book, Grofield starts out for home after the events in "The Damsel," but receives airline tickets and a mysterious client in Puerto Rico. Sending Elly (the damsel in distress) back to his wife with the suitcase full of money (perhaps not his wisest idea as Elly was more than just a messenger), Grofield heads to San Juan. Once there, Grofield finds himself stuck in the middle of a nasty divorce between a mobster and his randy wife. This trip was quite different from what Grofield bargained for and, despite his best efforts, he can't get out of Dodge.
While there are plenty of fight scenes and car chases, the bulk of the story involves a classical murder whodunit where the murder could only have been committed by one of the dozen or so people staying in the house. Although Grofield is blamed, he plays Inspector Poirot questioning each of a cast of strange characters who were there on the night it happened.
It is a smoothly written story that reads quickly and is an enjoyable read. While this plot may not blow the reader away, something about Westlake's writing makes you keep reading until the end.
This is your weekend in the Poconos murder mystery, but in San Juan and, well, there's also mobsters and tough guys running around. In this book, Grofield isn't the most professional criminal. In fact, he's held up, taken prisoner, and blackmailed. And he really doesn't even want to be there. No, he wants to click his heels three times and say I want to go home.
What is compelling about this story besides the exotic setting? Perhaps
the odd assortment of characters? The mobster's wife with the twenty five year old body and the voice "somewhat older than that, a little rough, a little too used to late hours and neat whiskey and chainsmoking." The cryptic lawyer and his middle aged wife "in a dark suit too heavy for the climate, her mouth down-turned in what seemed to be a permanent expression of disapproval." An African businessman with a sort of maroon pillbox on his head. A lovely girl of twenty-something with long ash-blonde hair and eyes looking past you "as a doe might look at the first hunter of Autumn." "You couldn't find enough blood in her veins to make a scab." Her brother with a weak face and a petulant attitude. Of course, it could have been (and probably was ) Mr. Green in the library with the candlestick.
June 14, 2020
The second in the four book Alan Grofield series by Richard Stark, that is a spin-off of Stark's Parker series featuring a struggling midwestern actor supporting himself by doing heists with Parker. This one follows The Damsel, where Parker gets involved with a young woman after he is recuperating from a gunshot wound in Mexico City. In this one, for some inscrutable reason (I mean, he has plenty of money after the Texas casino heist) Grofield accepts a plane ticket to San Juan from a woman who wants to hire him as a body guard.
The woman is rude to him, he's not the body guard type, so leaves, but soon after that the woman is found dead and her estranged mobster husband kidnaps him, thinking him responsible for her death. Well, one of the people staying on the second floor had to do it, and hubby begins an investigation. So Grofield, a thief, a lifelong criminal, is reluctantly put in the position of Most Likely Culprit who has to help find the one whodunnit. And escape for a time with A Dame so we can also escape from the Closed Set/Manor mystery that would seem to owe something to Agatha Christie so the Grofield and Any Female banter and sexual liason that we are hoping for can take place.
Don't read these unless you read some Parker featuring Grofield, such as The Handle, but the reason I bump this up from 2.5 stars to three is that Grofield is clever and funny and this guy Stark is writing it. Even when he is not at his best, he is still better than most. You can read it in maybe three hours, though I listened to it on walks and liked the reading of it just fine.
The plot is even less interesting and surprising than The Damsel, but plot is not what you read these particular novels for; it's character, Grofield.
The woman is rude to him, he's not the body guard type, so leaves, but soon after that the woman is found dead and her estranged mobster husband kidnaps him, thinking him responsible for her death. Well, one of the people staying on the second floor had to do it, and hubby begins an investigation. So Grofield, a thief, a lifelong criminal, is reluctantly put in the position of Most Likely Culprit who has to help find the one whodunnit. And escape for a time with A Dame so we can also escape from the Closed Set/Manor mystery that would seem to owe something to Agatha Christie so the Grofield and Any Female banter and sexual liason that we are hoping for can take place.
Don't read these unless you read some Parker featuring Grofield, such as The Handle, but the reason I bump this up from 2.5 stars to three is that Grofield is clever and funny and this guy Stark is writing it. Even when he is not at his best, he is still better than most. You can read it in maybe three hours, though I listened to it on walks and liked the reading of it just fine.
The plot is even less interesting and surprising than The Damsel, but plot is not what you read these particular novels for; it's character, Grofield.
October 3, 2016
This takes place not long after the island heist in The Handle* & follows Grofield on a fun adventure on Jamaica. The central issue is a who-done-it murder, not something Grofield would normally care about, except the victim's husband is sure that he's it. Interesting characters in tough situations help throw wrenches into the works as Grofield struggles to get free. Great scenery & I loved the way he describes the sudden downpours of the rainy season. He had to have been there.
Very well read, as usual. Somehow I seem to have missed reading the first of this series & started with the 4th & still don't have the 3d. I'm still missing a few Parker novels in audio, too. I definitely need to correct this & then redo the entire series in order.
* The publishing chronology puts it later. The first Grofield book, The Dame was published right after The Handle & then came 2 Parker novels (The Rare Coin Score & The Green Eagle Score) which seems like too much time, but I'm not familiar enough with the series to be sure of the exact chronology.
Very well read, as usual. Somehow I seem to have missed reading the first of this series & started with the 4th & still don't have the 3d. I'm still missing a few Parker novels in audio, too. I definitely need to correct this & then redo the entire series in order.
* The publishing chronology puts it later. The first Grofield book, The Dame was published right after The Handle & then came 2 Parker novels (The Rare Coin Score & The Green Eagle Score) which seems like too much time, but I'm not familiar enough with the series to be sure of the exact chronology.
November 26, 2024
From 1969
When the Dame begins, Alan Grofield is still in Mexico and still with Ellie, the “damsel” from the last novel. But he sends her back to America and, again, goes deeper into South America or Central, jungles and winding roads. At an estate with a murder mystery, Alan goes on the run with a different seductive girl.
When the Dame begins, Alan Grofield is still in Mexico and still with Ellie, the “damsel” from the last novel. But he sends her back to America and, again, goes deeper into South America or Central, jungles and winding roads. At an estate with a murder mystery, Alan goes on the run with a different seductive girl.
May 9, 2021
★ ★ ★ 1/2
Alan Grofield, in his second adventure after spinning out of the world of Parker, seems to get no rest. The Dame takes place right after The Damsel, which closely follows The Handle, where he was seriously injured. He would have been wise to go home, not only because he was flush with money but because accepting an invitation for work without quite knowing what the job might be would require the kind of curiosity that would make Parker scoff. Perhaps that’s why Grofield seems a more layered character then Parker. Of course the style of their adventures also contributes. Parker stories are about the job and getting away clean and plowing through anybody in the way. Grofield interacts more with those around him. So getting stranded in an isolated villa in a Puerto Rico jungle only works with Grofield. And in all honesty, even then it’s not a great set-up. It works only because Donald Westlake’s sure professional hand makes it work. Not as quick as Parker adventures, lighter than the previous Grofield outing and, as always, entertaining.
Alan Grofield, in his second adventure after spinning out of the world of Parker, seems to get no rest. The Dame takes place right after The Damsel, which closely follows The Handle, where he was seriously injured. He would have been wise to go home, not only because he was flush with money but because accepting an invitation for work without quite knowing what the job might be would require the kind of curiosity that would make Parker scoff. Perhaps that’s why Grofield seems a more layered character then Parker. Of course the style of their adventures also contributes. Parker stories are about the job and getting away clean and plowing through anybody in the way. Grofield interacts more with those around him. So getting stranded in an isolated villa in a Puerto Rico jungle only works with Grofield. And in all honesty, even then it’s not a great set-up. It works only because Donald Westlake’s sure professional hand makes it work. Not as quick as Parker adventures, lighter than the previous Grofield outing and, as always, entertaining.
February 26, 2020
Enjoyable, as expected.
September 25, 2018
This took me a long time to get into, but not very long to read once I did. In other words, I was reading it too slowly, then I was reading it too quickly.
I believe even among Stark aficionados, this particular outing is not held in the highest regard.
I personally liked both The Damsel and The Blackbird much better.
Now, here is a sample of Westlake/Stark's ultra-dry humor, although it is a spoiler, and, if not crude, let's say salacious (it may be all in my dirty mind):
I believe even among Stark aficionados, this particular outing is not held in the highest regard.
I personally liked both The Damsel and The Blackbird much better.
Now, here is a sample of Westlake/Stark's ultra-dry humor, although it is a spoiler, and, if not crude, let's say salacious (it may be all in my dirty mind):
October 9, 2015
What is this??? Another book about Grofield .... Hell Yeah!
One problem though. While Grofield is an interesting supporting character in the Parker series (he provides humor in contrast to the cool calculations of Parker like a Martin and Lewis for criminals), his stand alone series seems to fall a little flat.
The first book was fun and cool but the story seemed rushed. This second entry felt like Westlake had a deadline to meet, stayed up all night drinking Folgers instant with his Microsoft Word opened up for the manuscript and the Wikipedia pages about Puerto Rico and whodunit mysteries minimized on his desktop. Westlake borrows a lot from Christie, Chandler, and MacDonald while the signature Stark narrative is barely visible.
Grofield does have some good one liners and there are exciting chase sequences. It is a very quick read and worthwhile to the diehard Stark fan, but be prepared to be mildly disappointed.
Caution!!!!!! If this is your first experience with a Richard Stark book, do yourself a favor and put this one down, grab a copy of The Hunter, and start from the beginning. You will wind up here quicker than you think and will be rewarded for it. If you make it this far it is safe to say you have become one of the diehards and your time will not be wasted reading The Dame.
One problem though. While Grofield is an interesting supporting character in the Parker series (he provides humor in contrast to the cool calculations of Parker like a Martin and Lewis for criminals), his stand alone series seems to fall a little flat.
The first book was fun and cool but the story seemed rushed. This second entry felt like Westlake had a deadline to meet, stayed up all night drinking Folgers instant with his Microsoft Word opened up for the manuscript and the Wikipedia pages about Puerto Rico and whodunit mysteries minimized on his desktop. Westlake borrows a lot from Christie, Chandler, and MacDonald while the signature Stark narrative is barely visible.
Grofield does have some good one liners and there are exciting chase sequences. It is a very quick read and worthwhile to the diehard Stark fan, but be prepared to be mildly disappointed.
Caution!!!!!! If this is your first experience with a Richard Stark book, do yourself a favor and put this one down, grab a copy of The Hunter, and start from the beginning. You will wind up here quicker than you think and will be rewarded for it. If you make it this far it is safe to say you have become one of the diehards and your time will not be wasted reading The Dame.
August 2, 2021
Grofield solves a Murder Mystery
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (May 2013) of the Macmillan paperback original (1969)
Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of the prolific crime author Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who wrote over 100 books. The Stark pseudonym was used primarily for the Parker novels and their spinoff series, the Grofield novels. The Parkers are a hardboiled noir series but the Grofields have more of a lighter touch, often with humorous banter.
In The Dame, Alan Grofield travels to Puerto Rico on the promise of a possible job. He travels to an isolated house and discovers that the proposal is to act as a bodyguard for a woman whom he finds to be unpleasant and he turns the job down. There is a ragtag group of hangers-on at the house and during the evening, the woman is murdered. Her husband, a gangster, and his cronies show up and they consider Grofield to be the prime suspect. Grofield has to solve the crime in order to save his own life.
This was light comic crime fiction which was heavy on the banter. The solution to the crime really wasn't evident based on the evidence presented so it wasn't the sort of mystery where the reader has any chance of figuring it out. Grofield seems to just pull the solution out of thin air.
Narrator R.C. Bray does a good job in all voices in this audiobook edition.
The 4 Grofield books are all available for free on Audible Plus.
Trivia and Links
There is a brief plot summary of The Dame and of all the Parker & Grofield books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Although The Dame's 2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition shares the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2012 reprint, it does not include the Foreword by author Sarah Weinman.
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (May 2013) of the Macmillan paperback original (1969)
Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of the prolific crime author Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), who wrote over 100 books. The Stark pseudonym was used primarily for the Parker novels and their spinoff series, the Grofield novels. The Parkers are a hardboiled noir series but the Grofields have more of a lighter touch, often with humorous banter.
In The Dame, Alan Grofield travels to Puerto Rico on the promise of a possible job. He travels to an isolated house and discovers that the proposal is to act as a bodyguard for a woman whom he finds to be unpleasant and he turns the job down. There is a ragtag group of hangers-on at the house and during the evening, the woman is murdered. Her husband, a gangster, and his cronies show up and they consider Grofield to be the prime suspect. Grofield has to solve the crime in order to save his own life.
This was light comic crime fiction which was heavy on the banter. The solution to the crime really wasn't evident based on the evidence presented so it wasn't the sort of mystery where the reader has any chance of figuring it out. Grofield seems to just pull the solution out of thin air.
Narrator R.C. Bray does a good job in all voices in this audiobook edition.
The 4 Grofield books are all available for free on Audible Plus.
Trivia and Links
There is a brief plot summary of The Dame and of all the Parker & Grofield books and adaptations at The Violent World of Parker website.
Although The Dame's 2013 Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition shares the same cover art as the University of Chicago Press 2012 reprint, it does not include the Foreword by author Sarah Weinman.
August 30, 2019
Before Missing in Action 2: The Beginning there was The Dame. Once again I am reminded of Loren D. Estleman's intro to Fer-De-Lance by Rex Stout. The difficulty of reading a series when there is no number system and the reader jumps right into the rapids.
The beauty of Stark/Westlake is that the books can be read in any order with a minimum of confusion simply because they are just so damned entertaining. The Dame (1969) is no exception to this rule. The Dame is the origin story of Alan Grofield not in the boring biographical sense but in the pulp fiction DC, EC and Marvel Comics style. Alan Grofield is an actor with principles... he believes that the theater is his true calling and refuses to sell his soul to the Hollywood set of movies and TV. So the actor becomes an amateur thief and succeeds in becoming a professional thief.
The best way to read the series is how you want... but with Comeback as with many of the earlier novels the previous novels are mentioned. The reading order I suggest is:
The Hunter [1962].
The Man with the Getaway Face [1963].
The Outfit [1963].
The Mourner [1963].
The Score [1964]. The first appearance of Actor/Thief Alan Grofield
The Jugger [1965].
The Seventh [1966].
The Handle [1966]. Alan Grofield returns as part of Parker's heist crew
The Damsel [1967]. Sequel to The Handle; tells what happens to Grofield when he & Parker split up at the end of The Handle.
The Dame [1969].
The Rare Coin Score [1967].
The Green Eagle Score [1967].
The Black Ice Score [1968].
The Sour Lemon Score [1969].
Deadly Edge [1971].
Slayground [1971]. The first chapter is shared with The Blackbird and explains why the storylines deviate
The Blackbird [1969]. The sequel to Slayground explains what happens to Grofield after he & Parker part ways in Chapter One of Slayground
Plunder Squad [1972].
Lemons Never Lie [1971].
Butcher's Moon [1974]. The last appearance of Alan Grofield? Start of 20 year hiatus for Parker.
Comeback [1997].
Backflash [1998].
Flashfire [2000].
Firebreak [2001].
Breakout [2002].
Nobody Runs Forever [2004].
Ask the Parrot [2008].
Dirty Money [2008]
The Dame is a sequel prequel or pre-sequel or a disruption in the Space-Time Continuum of the Parker-Verse or the Grofield-Verse or the Multi-Parker-Grofield-Verse. Oh F#@&-it!.
The Dame continues on where the Damsel left off with the added flashback info of how the actor Grofield becomes the thieving-actor Grofield.
The beauty of Stark/Westlake is that the books can be read in any order with a minimum of confusion simply because they are just so damned entertaining. The Dame (1969) is no exception to this rule. The Dame is the origin story of Alan Grofield not in the boring biographical sense but in the pulp fiction DC, EC and Marvel Comics style. Alan Grofield is an actor with principles... he believes that the theater is his true calling and refuses to sell his soul to the Hollywood set of movies and TV. So the actor becomes an amateur thief and succeeds in becoming a professional thief.
The best way to read the series is how you want... but with Comeback as with many of the earlier novels the previous novels are mentioned. The reading order I suggest is:
The Hunter [1962].
The Man with the Getaway Face [1963].
The Outfit [1963].
The Mourner [1963].
The Score [1964]. The first appearance of Actor/Thief Alan Grofield
The Jugger [1965].
The Seventh [1966].
The Handle [1966]. Alan Grofield returns as part of Parker's heist crew
The Damsel [1967]. Sequel to The Handle; tells what happens to Grofield when he & Parker split up at the end of The Handle.
The Dame [1969].
The Rare Coin Score [1967].
The Green Eagle Score [1967].
The Black Ice Score [1968].
The Sour Lemon Score [1969].
Deadly Edge [1971].
Slayground [1971]. The first chapter is shared with The Blackbird and explains why the storylines deviate
The Blackbird [1969]. The sequel to Slayground explains what happens to Grofield after he & Parker part ways in Chapter One of Slayground
Plunder Squad [1972].
Lemons Never Lie [1971].
Butcher's Moon [1974]. The last appearance of Alan Grofield? Start of 20 year hiatus for Parker.
Comeback [1997].
Backflash [1998].
Flashfire [2000].
Firebreak [2001].
Breakout [2002].
Nobody Runs Forever [2004].
Ask the Parrot [2008].
Dirty Money [2008]
The Dame is a sequel prequel or pre-sequel or a disruption in the Space-Time Continuum of the Parker-Verse or the Grofield-Verse or the Multi-Parker-Grofield-Verse. Oh F#@&-it!.
The Dame continues on where the Damsel left off with the added flashback info of how the actor Grofield becomes the thieving-actor Grofield.
July 9, 2025
Our favorite criminal slash actor Alan Grofield is called to Puerto Rico for a money-making opportunity he doesn't know anything about. His curiosity gets the best of him and he makes the trip before finding out "The Dame" (1969) is just some spoiled rich lady who wants him to accompany her as a boy-toy bodyguard around the fancier spots in PR while she is getting a divorce from her mobbed up husband.
Where the prior Grofield caper "The Damsel" (my review #656) was awash with 60's-era latin american political intrigue that fell flat for this reader, "The Dame" trades that for a funny and spirited classic whodunit mixed with a cross-Caribbean island chase. Grofield is accused of murder and then starts trading lines with the various players in this case as if it were one of his theater productions, a situation that we'd never find his pal Parker having anything to do with.
Verdict: A fun murder, mystery, and gangster caper in late-sixties Puerto Rico starring a humorous bad guy and the girl who tags along.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
Where the prior Grofield caper "The Damsel" (my review #656) was awash with 60's-era latin american political intrigue that fell flat for this reader, "The Dame" trades that for a funny and spirited classic whodunit mixed with a cross-Caribbean island chase. Grofield is accused of murder and then starts trading lines with the various players in this case as if it were one of his theater productions, a situation that we'd never find his pal Parker having anything to do with.
Verdict: A fun murder, mystery, and gangster caper in late-sixties Puerto Rico starring a humorous bad guy and the girl who tags along.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
July 16, 2019
I don't think I've ever read a murder mystery where the person trying to solve it doesn't even care who did it. This was a great read and one I accidentally picked up before the Damsel, but by the time I realized my mistake, I didn't care. The Dame is a page turner and Stark gets you up to speed pretty quick.
Don't expect the same sort of thing you'd get in a Parker novel, but I'd suggest reading a bunch of those first before sinking into a Grofield. The contrast between the men is a joy to read.
Now excuse me I'm going to go back and read the Damsel.
Don't expect the same sort of thing you'd get in a Parker novel, but I'd suggest reading a bunch of those first before sinking into a Grofield. The contrast between the men is a joy to read.
Now excuse me I'm going to go back and read the Damsel.
December 11, 2024
Enjoyable mystery from the writer of the Parker novels. I'm always impressed with Stark/Westlake's impressive gift for language, and this book didn't fail in that respect. Grofield is an entertaining cad, or "bastard" as he is often called in the book. The book feels like it would have been as fun to write as it was to read, and I will definitely continue with the next two Grofield books.
June 27, 2024
It's not a long ride but a fun one as Grofield finds his way into more trouble--this time in Puerto Rico. It's less serious than the Parker books but more serious than some of Westlake's other books.
Read
August 12, 20242.5
September 5, 2025
I didn't think this was as compelling and gritty as i was expecting from this author. i was a little less than pleased. It was average and not the story i was hoping for.
August 6, 2025
On one hand, it’s fun to see Richard Stark get to play around and experiment outside the standard Parker novel formula with these Grofield spin-off books (this one is a murder mystery, for example). On the other hand, Grofield is still a lot less interesting than Parker as a protagonist and this book has one of the most egregious men-writing-women female leads I’ve read from Stark so far.
April 14, 2012
This one is a whodunit and Grofield is the detective ferreting out the killer. He has to as he's the prime suspect and the husband of the dead woman is a hood from the States.
Grofield is about to leave mexico after the events of the first novel in the series, THE DAMSEL, when he gets a message from the Central American General, ruler of a small country, whose life he saved offering him a job. Nothing more than that and a plane ticket to San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as directions from the airport.
He arrives only to be accosted by two armed men and a dog, searched, then led to a house hidden among the trees. The woman he meets is Mrs. Belle Danamoto and a more arrogant woman Grofield has never ran into. She seems to want to do things at her pace, not discuss what she wants, until he finally says no deal and walks out.
Driving from the estate, at the first stop sign, things start to go downhill. A man with a gun jumps into the car and forces him to drive out into the country, turn into a path more than a road to a deserted shack where he's forced out and the man drives off in his rented car.
A carjacking?
Before he can figure out what to do another car, a Mercedes, pulls in, two men jumping out and questioning him. Why did he meet mrs. Danamoto? What did they decide?
He had no answers and they finally left, telling him to leave Puerto Rico immediately. He was willing but for two things. He was on foot and he was pissed off.
Eventually he gets back into town, finds the house, and sneaks in, only to be grabbed by the bodyguard. He finally learns what's going on when Mrs. Donamoto explains she was divorcing her husband and needed a bodyguard for public appearances. Her house guard was a bit rough looking, a hood type.
Again Grofield refuses, but it's too late to get a plane out tonight, so he agrees to stay the night, then be driven to the airport by Mrs. Donamoto's lawyer.
The scream that wakes him up during the night comes from the sister of Mrs. Donamoto's new fiance, the fifteen years her junior fiance. Mrs. Donamoto was dead, strangled with a piece of wire.
Grofield's next bad news was the the bodyguard still worked for the woman's husband and he was to be held until the man got there. The hood arrives with more men and he plans to kill Grofield, he still loved his wife and he knew she would eventually come back, until Grofield throws a seed of doubt into his mind.
Thus begins the interrogations. If the real killer, if there is one, is not produced, Grofield still gets killed.
Guards had been placed at the bottom of the staircase. In the bedrooms of the second floor, besides Mrs. Donamoto and Grofield, five other people had slept. One of them had to be the killer.
The lawyer and his wife, the fiance and his sister, and an African politician fishing for investments for his emerging company(it kind of put me in mind as an early version of one of those Nigerian internet scams.
Another fine novel from Stark(Westlake). Grofield, while a contemporary of Parker, is less violent, though he will kill if necessary.
Grofield is about to leave mexico after the events of the first novel in the series, THE DAMSEL, when he gets a message from the Central American General, ruler of a small country, whose life he saved offering him a job. Nothing more than that and a plane ticket to San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as directions from the airport.
He arrives only to be accosted by two armed men and a dog, searched, then led to a house hidden among the trees. The woman he meets is Mrs. Belle Danamoto and a more arrogant woman Grofield has never ran into. She seems to want to do things at her pace, not discuss what she wants, until he finally says no deal and walks out.
Driving from the estate, at the first stop sign, things start to go downhill. A man with a gun jumps into the car and forces him to drive out into the country, turn into a path more than a road to a deserted shack where he's forced out and the man drives off in his rented car.
A carjacking?
Before he can figure out what to do another car, a Mercedes, pulls in, two men jumping out and questioning him. Why did he meet mrs. Danamoto? What did they decide?
He had no answers and they finally left, telling him to leave Puerto Rico immediately. He was willing but for two things. He was on foot and he was pissed off.
Eventually he gets back into town, finds the house, and sneaks in, only to be grabbed by the bodyguard. He finally learns what's going on when Mrs. Donamoto explains she was divorcing her husband and needed a bodyguard for public appearances. Her house guard was a bit rough looking, a hood type.
Again Grofield refuses, but it's too late to get a plane out tonight, so he agrees to stay the night, then be driven to the airport by Mrs. Donamoto's lawyer.
The scream that wakes him up during the night comes from the sister of Mrs. Donamoto's new fiance, the fifteen years her junior fiance. Mrs. Donamoto was dead, strangled with a piece of wire.
Grofield's next bad news was the the bodyguard still worked for the woman's husband and he was to be held until the man got there. The hood arrives with more men and he plans to kill Grofield, he still loved his wife and he knew she would eventually come back, until Grofield throws a seed of doubt into his mind.
Thus begins the interrogations. If the real killer, if there is one, is not produced, Grofield still gets killed.
Guards had been placed at the bottom of the staircase. In the bedrooms of the second floor, besides Mrs. Donamoto and Grofield, five other people had slept. One of them had to be the killer.
The lawyer and his wife, the fiance and his sister, and an African politician fishing for investments for his emerging company(it kind of put me in mind as an early version of one of those Nigerian internet scams.
Another fine novel from Stark(Westlake). Grofield, while a contemporary of Parker, is less violent, though he will kill if necessary.
June 6, 2019
Part time actor and robber Alan Grofield gets involved in another fun caper in Puerto Rico. Listened to the audio version which was well read by R. C. Bray.
September 28, 2024
Content warning:
Dislikes: None!
Likes:
Alan Grofield. He’s a witty and intuitive con-artist. He also appears to be completely unflappable as he was never intimidated, even when guns were being pointed at him.
Patricia. She seems timid and plain at first, but there’s a lot more to her than meets the eye. She’s brave, sweet and has the best morals of all the characters here.
Patricia and Grofield as a couple. I wasn’t expecting a romance in this murder mystery, but I’m not complaining because they were so cute together.
Marba. He’s the most kindhearted and genuine politician ever. If only he were real *sigh* I want the man for president.
The interviews conducted by B.G. and Grofield were fascinating. I had so much fun trying to find clues in what everyone was saying.
The car chases. There were multiple and they were all exhilarating :)
Dislikes: None!
Likes:
Alan Grofield. He’s a witty and intuitive con-artist. He also appears to be completely unflappable as he was never intimidated, even when guns were being pointed at him.
Patricia. She seems timid and plain at first, but there’s a lot more to her than meets the eye. She’s brave, sweet and has the best morals of all the characters here.
Patricia and Grofield as a couple. I wasn’t expecting a romance in this murder mystery, but I’m not complaining because they were so cute together.
“What I should do is kick you out, tie you up and leave you in the closet.”
“Why don’t you?”
He shrugged. “I’m a sucker, I suppose.”
Marba. He’s the most kindhearted and genuine politician ever. If only he were real *sigh* I want the man for president.
The interviews conducted by B.G. and Grofield were fascinating. I had so much fun trying to find clues in what everyone was saying.
The car chases. There were multiple and they were all exhilarating :)
July 17, 2018
The Parker books are excellent. This series is pretty weak. The first one, The Damsel, was good enough to read while eating lunch, although it was still pretty thin soup. This one is just awful. Grofield Is meant to come off as raffish or rakish, but he’s just annoying. He keeps making little comments throughout the whole book that Westlake must’ve imagined would be amusing, but the effect is that they make Grofield sound like one of those people at work that have to make a lame joke about everything. The plot is supposed to be a whodunit, but it’s really a whocares? I’ve read that the third one is better, but it will take a lot to get me to read it. And I hate saying this, because I get such enjoyment from the Parker books.
December 18, 2012
#2 in the Alan Grofield series. Like his sometime partner Parker, Grofield is a crook. He has a money losing small theater in Indiana and resorts to illegal activities to foot the bills.
Alan Grofield receives a note from Gen. Pozos suggesting a profitable venture in Puerto Rico. The job turns out to be bodyguard for the estranged wife of a mobster. She winds up dead in a "manor house" setting. The mobster shows up and prepares to kill Grofield, who everyone agrees is the murderer. But someone is lying and Grofield is short on time to find who it is.
Alan Grofield receives a note from Gen. Pozos suggesting a profitable venture in Puerto Rico. The job turns out to be bodyguard for the estranged wife of a mobster. She winds up dead in a "manor house" setting. The mobster shows up and prepares to kill Grofield, who everyone agrees is the murderer. But someone is lying and Grofield is short on time to find who it is.
July 14, 2016
A very easy, but also ultimately pointless read. The flimsiest of plot contrivances takes Grofield from Mexico (at the end of The Damsel) to Puerto Rico eventually for him to be accused of murder and having to play cat and mouse with his mobster captors while magically figuring out who the real killer is.
Please.
Hopefully the next (also the last) two Grofield books are better and more entertaining.
Please.
Hopefully the next (also the last) two Grofield books are better and more entertaining.
December 14, 2012
This is a lightweight little novel starring Alan Grofield in his own limited series by Richard Stark. While the character is amusing, the plot is practically non-existant, a mere whodunit set in Puerto Rico. Of the Grofield series so far, The Blackbird is the best. But nothing tops the Parker series.
January 26, 2011
Richard Stark writes an Agatha Christie novel, starring Grofield.
December 15, 2016
"Grofield, not knowing what it was all about, got off the plane and walked through the sun into the main terminal buiding."
November 23, 2024
Four stars for plotting--maybe the quintessential Grofield narrative structure, where he (immediately after the events of The Damsel) ends up in Puerto Rico under somewhat mysterious pretenses, gets trapped in what feels both like a parody and a reference to a classic country-house mystery, and also gets to drop some bons mots along the way, particularly in that standard Grofield-novel meta way where he and the reader understand everyone involved to be playing a character. And also some resourceful escaping, and knowing use of adventure-novel standard bits.
But wow, ugly treatment of women here. Sarah Weinman's intro, standard in the U. Chicago Press Grofield books, notes that this novel in particular hits unpleasant misogynistic notes. The main female character is the classic frigid spinster who gets warmed by Grofield's touch, but not before a really crude little bit about her past abortion at the age of 17, which I can't imagine a writer who knew anyone who'd gone through, or even contemplated, that process could write--and worse, later she thanks Grofield for shaking her up in a way she needed. Sure, Jan. But every one of the three female characters here is characterized in the most unpleasant and mean-spirited way, including her appearance, personality, and general sexual appetite. Yecch. I don't think the other Grofield novels are this bad, but...yeah, this one is just markedly cruel and goes out of its way to be nasty.
But wow, ugly treatment of women here. Sarah Weinman's intro, standard in the U. Chicago Press Grofield books, notes that this novel in particular hits unpleasant misogynistic notes. The main female character is the classic frigid spinster who gets warmed by Grofield's touch, but not before a really crude little bit about her past abortion at the age of 17, which I can't imagine a writer who knew anyone who'd gone through, or even contemplated, that process could write--and worse, later she thanks Grofield for shaking her up in a way she needed. Sure, Jan. But every one of the three female characters here is characterized in the most unpleasant and mean-spirited way, including her appearance, personality, and general sexual appetite. Yecch. I don't think the other Grofield novels are this bad, but...yeah, this one is just markedly cruel and goes out of its way to be nasty.
February 11, 2020
4.5 stars The second Grofiled novel is miles above the first, with Stark/Westlake finally fully embracing the humor of the character. I felt like the first novel found Stark struggling to straddle the line between the grim world of Parker and the lighter realm of Grofield, whereas this second novel was pretty much a Westlake novel with Stark’s pseudonym attached. The writing is reminiscent of the classic droll humor found in Chandler’s Marlowe novels or Hammett’s Nick Charles character. And this is a classic detective narrative, which is a departure from Stark’s usual caper/heist narrative and fits Grofield’s character a little better than the previous political intrigue plot of The Damsel. Although the “whodunit” reveal isn’t all that surprising (we know there are only five possibilities, and only two are really credible), the reader tends to agree with Grofield when he announces near the end that the whodunit doesn’t really matter to him. This is the case with the novel itself, as the reader is carried along by the crackling dialogue, amusing characters, and pure charisma of Grofield. It’s a highly enjoyable read.
May 19, 2025
Our “hero” Alan Grofield accepts a job as a favor from a previous client. However, upon his arrival, he discovers that he is to be a bodyguard to a woman whom he dislikes and refuses the job. Tragically, things take a turn for the worse when the woman is found dead, and Alan becomes the immediate suspect. The rest of the story revolves around his desperate attempts to clear his name and escape the clutches of murder charges.
This wasn’t where he belonged. He wasn’t a loner; he worked with a string. If he was acting, there was the rest of the cast working with him, and if he was on a robbery it was always with a group, working to a prearranged plan. This was an unusual experience for him, working as a solo and having to ad-lib his part, and so far he didn’t think much of his performance. He’d managed to accomplish nothing but make things steadily worse for himself, like a man tap dancing in quicksand.
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