Called By A Panther

Albert Samson #8

by Michael Z. Lewin

Midwest detective Albert Samson, rather off the wall and full of acerbic comments, slides into apparent crass materialism when he stages a mystery murder for a wealthy woman's guests. Back at his office, a group of disguised women, who plant disconnected bombs for environmentalist publicity, pay him to locate a stolen bomb. No one wants anyone hurt, and Samson, not particularly macho, hates confrontation. . .

Genres: Mystery

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Michael Zinn Lewin is an American writer of mystery fiction perhaps best known for his series about Albert Samson, a distinctly low-keyed, non-hardboiled private detective who plies his trade in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lewin himself grew up in Indianapolis, but after graduating from Harvard and living for a few years in New York City, has lived in England for the last 40 years. Much of his fiction continues to be set in Indianapolis, including a secondary series about Leroy Powder, a policeman who frequently appears in the Samson novels, generally in a semi-confrontational manner.

Another series, however, is set in Bath, England, where Lewin now lives. This features the Lunghis who run their detective agency as a family business. So far there are three novels and nine short stories about them.

Lewin has also written a number of stand-alone novels. Some have been set in Indianapolis and others elsewhere. His latest novel, Confessions of a Discontented Deity, is even set partly in Heaven. A satire, it breaks from Lewin's history of genre fiction.

Lewin is the son of Leonard C. Lewin, author of the 1967 bestselling satire The Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.

Reviews

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Z. Lewin's interestingly named Called By A Panther gets its name from a piece of Ogden Nash verse: "If called by a panther / don't anther."

Private detective Albert Samson is contacted by a group of eco-terrorists called the Scum Front. The Scum Front specializes in placing fully functional bombs in prominent buildings around Indianapolis. The bombs are functional except for a little piece is left unconnected along with a note that indicates that they are completely aware how to make the bomb operational. Then, they call a local cable TV station and get lots of publicity for their cause. The police are at a loss, but they are really irritated when they get a call about a bomb and there is no bomb.

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2013/...

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart-breaking crime fiction with Albert Samson - one of the great private eyes in this genre - up against it and, as ever, out of his depth.

I cannot recommend this series highly enough to fans of hard-boiled fiction. But, be warned, if you like happy endings this is not for you. Like the very best of hard-boiled crime, Michael Lewin is uncompromising in his commitment to the story.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's call it 2.5 stars. Read a few weeks after "The Way We Die Now" and was disappointed in this one . . . in retrospect, probably my least liked Albert Samson book. Not much plot to this . . . all character, and the character is good, but not what I expected.

This was the eighth (of nine) in the Albert Samson series, so maybe Lewin was running down.