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Hue and Cry
The author’s first mystery.
Thomas B. Dewey wrote four novels featuring Singer Batts, bibliophile and hotel owner. Singer prefers the company of his books and an occasional foray into the Lonely Hearts Club world. But he keeps getting embroiled in murders!
The Boston Herald called the first book “well paced and lively,” and The Saturday Review called it, “lively, lurid, and outspoken.” Author Dorothy Hughes said: “It’s murder and mayhem and hold onto your hats. Amusing and amazing.”
Thomas B. Dewey wrote four novels featuring Singer Batts, bibliophile and hotel owner. Singer prefers the company of his books and an occasional foray into the Lonely Hearts Club world. But he keeps getting embroiled in murders!
The Boston Herald called the first book “well paced and lively,” and The Saturday Review called it, “lively, lurid, and outspoken.” Author Dorothy Hughes said: “It’s murder and mayhem and hold onto your hats. Amusing and amazing.”
First published January 1, 1944
12 people want to read
About the author
Thomas B. Dewey
85 books8 followersThomas Blanchard Dewey was an American author of hardboiled crime novels. He created two series of novels: the first one features Mac, a private investigator from Chicago, the second features Pete Schofield.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 18, 2020
Dewey kicks off the Singer Batts series with a superior '40s style mystery, introducing an effective four-fisted Holmes/Watson team investigating a well-paced pair of murders that manages to work in marijuana and sex without making a total cheese fest of things. Recommended.
September 11, 2024
You don't have to be crazy to live in Preston, but it helps.
Say it for him, this author had a unique resume. He started out as a teacher, then went into editing. Worked for the State Department during WWII, then was an L.A. ad-man for a while. Wrote full-time for twenty years, then finished up as an assistant professor of English at Arizona State University. I'd never heard of him, but he was a popular writer of hard-boiled mysteries in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's. Some critics say he bridged the gap between Chandler and Hammett and the more modern P.I.s like Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer.
He created several detectives - amateur and pro - but the eccentric Singer Batts was his first. This book was published in 1944 and was followed by three more with the same recurring characters. I got all four for a quarter each and I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this one and how much I'm looking forward to the others.
Preston is a tiny Midwestern burg. One of its roads leads to Detroit and "The City" where some of the action takes place sounds like Chicago. I'd say it's a safe bet that Preston is in Indiana, where this author was born in 1915. Preston is not so much "sleepy" as narcoleptic.
It has one hotel, a couple of restaurants, lots of retired farmers with nothing to do, an over-worked, elderly doctor, and a soft-hearted town marshall. When Marshall Haley brings a couple of drunk, combative teens to the Hotel Preston to sleep it off, the plot kicks into high gear.
The Hotel Preston is owned by Singer Batts, who inherited it along with a fortune from his late father. Batts is a shy bachelor who loves old books and requires little or no food or sleep. He wants to live quietly at his hotel, immersed in his books and his research into historic crimes, but he keeps getting pulled into modern mysteries that baffle the police. His uncanny ability to figure out who-dun-it surprises everyone, including himself.
The narrator is Joe Spinder, manager of the Hotel Preston. While everyone else in Preston has been there for generations, Spinder was a hobo who drifted in during the Great Depression and was hired by Singer Batts. They are odd, but devoted, friends. Batts is sheltered, genteel, well-educated, and almost innocent. Spinder is a tough man with plenty of experience of the seamy side of life. He runs the hotel with a small crew of weird incompetents, but they have so few guests it usually doesn't matter.
The teens who were supposed to be locked up for the night disappear and the loony cleaner finds a body the next morning. Marion Mason was young, beautiful, and full of life. She was an excellent teacher of Latin, but her over-active social life made the City Fathers nervous and her contract wasn't renewed. Turns out she was even livelier than they knew and had a BIG problem of her own.
The ruthless, ambitious D.A. from a nearby town is in charge of the investigation. Weaver resents Singer Batts' unexpected talent for solving crimes, but can't refuse his help. He's lazy and not-too-bright and having someone else do his job for him is simply too tempting to say no to.
Soon there's another murder and the trail leads to "The City" and to some dangerous mob guys. Weaver has gotten impatient and arrested an innocent man, so Singer Batts and loyal side-kick Joe Spinder must put their lives at risk to find the real murderer. Or is that plural?
WWII is never mentioned, but "times are difficult for everyone" and local men are joining the army, while others are carrying draft enrollment cards. Gas and tires are almost impossible to get, which complicates matters for a couple of amateur detectives who need to get around to talk to suspects and witnesses.
It's a quirky, humorous book and both Singer Batts and Joe Spinder are likable characters. The bit players are well-drawn and Dewey does a fine job of showing a tiny town where everyone THINKS they know everything about their neighbors, but don't always.
Any eighty-year-old book dates, but some things never change. Men and women are still jealous of their romantic partners. Parents are still protective of their children and sometimes totally unaware of what those kids get up to. Criminals making a lot of money are prepared to get rough to protect their incomes. I stumbled onto this series, but I like it. It's not great literature, but it's a fast, fun read.
Say it for him, this author had a unique resume. He started out as a teacher, then went into editing. Worked for the State Department during WWII, then was an L.A. ad-man for a while. Wrote full-time for twenty years, then finished up as an assistant professor of English at Arizona State University. I'd never heard of him, but he was a popular writer of hard-boiled mysteries in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's. Some critics say he bridged the gap between Chandler and Hammett and the more modern P.I.s like Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer.
He created several detectives - amateur and pro - but the eccentric Singer Batts was his first. This book was published in 1944 and was followed by three more with the same recurring characters. I got all four for a quarter each and I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this one and how much I'm looking forward to the others.
Preston is a tiny Midwestern burg. One of its roads leads to Detroit and "The City" where some of the action takes place sounds like Chicago. I'd say it's a safe bet that Preston is in Indiana, where this author was born in 1915. Preston is not so much "sleepy" as narcoleptic.
It has one hotel, a couple of restaurants, lots of retired farmers with nothing to do, an over-worked, elderly doctor, and a soft-hearted town marshall. When Marshall Haley brings a couple of drunk, combative teens to the Hotel Preston to sleep it off, the plot kicks into high gear.
The Hotel Preston is owned by Singer Batts, who inherited it along with a fortune from his late father. Batts is a shy bachelor who loves old books and requires little or no food or sleep. He wants to live quietly at his hotel, immersed in his books and his research into historic crimes, but he keeps getting pulled into modern mysteries that baffle the police. His uncanny ability to figure out who-dun-it surprises everyone, including himself.
The narrator is Joe Spinder, manager of the Hotel Preston. While everyone else in Preston has been there for generations, Spinder was a hobo who drifted in during the Great Depression and was hired by Singer Batts. They are odd, but devoted, friends. Batts is sheltered, genteel, well-educated, and almost innocent. Spinder is a tough man with plenty of experience of the seamy side of life. He runs the hotel with a small crew of weird incompetents, but they have so few guests it usually doesn't matter.
The teens who were supposed to be locked up for the night disappear and the loony cleaner finds a body the next morning. Marion Mason was young, beautiful, and full of life. She was an excellent teacher of Latin, but her over-active social life made the City Fathers nervous and her contract wasn't renewed. Turns out she was even livelier than they knew and had a BIG problem of her own.
The ruthless, ambitious D.A. from a nearby town is in charge of the investigation. Weaver resents Singer Batts' unexpected talent for solving crimes, but can't refuse his help. He's lazy and not-too-bright and having someone else do his job for him is simply too tempting to say no to.
Soon there's another murder and the trail leads to "The City" and to some dangerous mob guys. Weaver has gotten impatient and arrested an innocent man, so Singer Batts and loyal side-kick Joe Spinder must put their lives at risk to find the real murderer. Or is that plural?
WWII is never mentioned, but "times are difficult for everyone" and local men are joining the army, while others are carrying draft enrollment cards. Gas and tires are almost impossible to get, which complicates matters for a couple of amateur detectives who need to get around to talk to suspects and witnesses.
It's a quirky, humorous book and both Singer Batts and Joe Spinder are likable characters. The bit players are well-drawn and Dewey does a fine job of showing a tiny town where everyone THINKS they know everything about their neighbors, but don't always.
Any eighty-year-old book dates, but some things never change. Men and women are still jealous of their romantic partners. Parents are still protective of their children and sometimes totally unaware of what those kids get up to. Criminals making a lot of money are prepared to get rough to protect their incomes. I stumbled onto this series, but I like it. It's not great literature, but it's a fast, fun read.
July 1, 2022
This novel was entertaining as hell.
January 2, 2009
This is a neat book. We have a pair of heros. Theya re sort of like Rex Stout’s Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe.
The genius hotel owner reluctantly solves crime while his manager does the legwork and narrates the story.
The genius hotel owner reluctantly solves crime while his manager does the legwork and narrates the story.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews