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Twenty Plus Two
Twenty Plus Two (Ulverscroft Large Print
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
About the author
Frank Gruber
158 books19 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Frank Gruber was an enormously prolific author of pulp fiction. A stalwart contributor to Black Mask magazine, he also wrote novels, producing as many as four a year during the 1940s. His best-known character was Oliver Quade, “the Human Encyclopedia,” whose adventures were collected in Brass Knuckles (1966), and will soon be republished in ebook format as Oliver Quade, the Human Encyclopedia,featuring brand-new material, from MysteriousPress.com, Open Road Integrated Media, and Black Mask magazine.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Frank Gruber was an enormously prolific author of pulp fiction. A stalwart contributor to Black Mask magazine, he also wrote novels, producing as many as four a year during the 1940s. His best-known character was Oliver Quade, “the Human Encyclopedia,” whose adventures were collected in Brass Knuckles (1966), and will soon be republished in ebook format as Oliver Quade, the Human Encyclopedia,featuring brand-new material, from MysteriousPress.com, Open Road Integrated Media, and Black Mask magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 16, 2026
“Twenty Plus Two” is a sort of quiet unassuming novel that packs quite a punch by the end. Gruber, who is credited with some seventy or so novels in all, as much westerns as crime fiction, offers up a novel that doesn’t quite follow standard formulas and it ends up being solid noir crime.
Tom Alder is the lead character, once a promising law student in 1941. That career and the romance he had with Linda all fell apart as the world was consumed by war. Linda sent him a Dear John letter and married some other guy. Alder got wounded in the war and never quite recovered in the heart over the next 22 years. He never returned to law and, instead, created a career finding missing heirs and pocketing a share of the inheritances. He worked when he found something interesting and didn’t when he wasn’t interested.
Alder finds it interesting when a fan club president is murdered in Hollywood for no apparent reason and definitely not robbery. He finds clippings in her apartment of a 22-year old missing person’s case: one that had been a big deal in the papers: fifteen-year-old Doris Delaney who never made it home from school. Alder likes putting together clues and mysteries and decides he needs to poke into these odd strands.
Alder accidentally runs into Linda after all these years at a restaurant in Hollywood. She’s surprised at his career, finding it unfathomable, but quickly puts on the full court press to win him back decades too late.
Alder criss-crosses the country, poking into troubles left behind years ago, acting like a private investigator sans the license and followed by an odd character who wants to engage his services.
The clues seem meaningless, but Alder doesn’t believe in coincidences and eventually starts to add things together.
Tom Alder is the lead character, once a promising law student in 1941. That career and the romance he had with Linda all fell apart as the world was consumed by war. Linda sent him a Dear John letter and married some other guy. Alder got wounded in the war and never quite recovered in the heart over the next 22 years. He never returned to law and, instead, created a career finding missing heirs and pocketing a share of the inheritances. He worked when he found something interesting and didn’t when he wasn’t interested.
Alder finds it interesting when a fan club president is murdered in Hollywood for no apparent reason and definitely not robbery. He finds clippings in her apartment of a 22-year old missing person’s case: one that had been a big deal in the papers: fifteen-year-old Doris Delaney who never made it home from school. Alder likes putting together clues and mysteries and decides he needs to poke into these odd strands.
Alder accidentally runs into Linda after all these years at a restaurant in Hollywood. She’s surprised at his career, finding it unfathomable, but quickly puts on the full court press to win him back decades too late.
Alder criss-crosses the country, poking into troubles left behind years ago, acting like a private investigator sans the license and followed by an odd character who wants to engage his services.
The clues seem meaningless, but Alder doesn’t believe in coincidences and eventually starts to add things together.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A complex whodunit penned by pulp master Frank Gruber. Movie stars outsource their fan mail intercourse. Some to PR firms, some to indie operators like Julia Joliet. Not a likely candidate for murder; but in this case, the exception. Gruber’s inventive investigator is an heir loss expert. You lost ‘em, Tom Alder’ll find ‘em. And that means a surprise inheritance for the heir and likewise a healthy commission for Alder. When he starts detangling the Joliet mess, he teases out heartthrob Leroy Dane, a Hollywood pretty boy with a felonious history buried under his matinee sheen.
Unlike his era’s typical PI impoverishment, Alder is flush with cash and resources, so when the trail leads to the Big Apple or even Chi-town, he’s aloft in a New York minute. The deepening mystery is enough to keep readers’ propelled, but Gruber throws in an unexpected visit to Alder’s private abode by none other than Jacques Pleschette, a conman of Shamus-Award-worthy character. A bro begging for the silver screen. (And incidentally, played by Jacques Aubuchon in Joseph M. Newman’s adaptation of the novel—produced by Gruber himself!
Although Joliet never appears animate, Gruber provides plenty of mysterious women and romantic moments to engage Alder’s reserve, including Doris Delaney, Nikki Collinson, and Linda Foster. A pulp fiction masterpiece, Gruber delivers an enthralling, tangled mystery sure to please.
Unlike his era’s typical PI impoverishment, Alder is flush with cash and resources, so when the trail leads to the Big Apple or even Chi-town, he’s aloft in a New York minute. The deepening mystery is enough to keep readers’ propelled, but Gruber throws in an unexpected visit to Alder’s private abode by none other than Jacques Pleschette, a conman of Shamus-Award-worthy character. A bro begging for the silver screen. (And incidentally, played by Jacques Aubuchon in Joseph M. Newman’s adaptation of the novel—produced by Gruber himself!
Although Joliet never appears animate, Gruber provides plenty of mysterious women and romantic moments to engage Alder’s reserve, including Doris Delaney, Nikki Collinson, and Linda Foster. A pulp fiction masterpiece, Gruber delivers an enthralling, tangled mystery sure to please.
July 24, 2009
One of my favorite mysteries. It is a classic detective-centered mystery involving murder, a missing heiress, and invincible integrity. Frank Gruber was best known as a western writer, but this book had perfect voice in the mystery noir genre.
July 11, 2026
An intelligent, finely crafted noir.
Tom Alder finds heirs. When someone dies and leaves money and possessions to distant relatives, he's the one that gets hired to find the long lost nephews and cousins. It's a fascinating idea for a job and Alder is a great investigator and always finds his man/woman. But this story is not about finding an heir. Instead Alder is seeking answers to a murder that he believes is related to a missing person report from 22 years ago.
I really enjoyed this. I've never read Gruber before. I know he is mostly known for westerns and writing television scripts, but if this book is any indication about his talent for crafting a story, I'm going to seek out more by this guy. The story was smart, had interesting characters, and a pretty good mystery at its heart. The ending might be a little too neatly tied up, but I'll be dipped if it wasn't some white-knuckle reading during the last 30 pages. I certainly did not close the book unsatisfied.
Tom Alder finds heirs. When someone dies and leaves money and possessions to distant relatives, he's the one that gets hired to find the long lost nephews and cousins. It's a fascinating idea for a job and Alder is a great investigator and always finds his man/woman. But this story is not about finding an heir. Instead Alder is seeking answers to a murder that he believes is related to a missing person report from 22 years ago.
I really enjoyed this. I've never read Gruber before. I know he is mostly known for westerns and writing television scripts, but if this book is any indication about his talent for crafting a story, I'm going to seek out more by this guy. The story was smart, had interesting characters, and a pretty good mystery at its heart. The ending might be a little too neatly tied up, but I'll be dipped if it wasn't some white-knuckle reading during the last 30 pages. I certainly did not close the book unsatisfied.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews