Back around my freshman year in high school, I discovered the detective fiction of Dashiell Hammett-- which led me in turn to Raymond Chandler and the other writers of the
Black Mask hardboiled school. Unfortunately, aside from Hammett and Chandler, it was hard to find much more from that period outside of a few anthologies that occasionally popped up at Sattler's Bookstore (where I sought my paperback fix). Most of the more contemporary mystery writers I checked out, like the various MacDonalds (Ross, John and Gregory) of various spellings, just didn't quite reach the heights I expected after reading Hammett and Chandler. But then I stumbled across a book called
Ask the Right Question by Michael Z. Lewin, which for some reason really hit the spot.
Make no mistake: I'm not arguing that Lewin's series of Albert Samson novels were really in the same literary ballpark as Hammett or Chandler. What I liked about them is that they adopted the broad framework of those classics-- starting with the somewhat seedy but good-hearted P.I. as the hero-- and transplanted it to the heartland city of Indianapolis, where Samson's work often took on an aura of the mundane. In other words, I discovered that I really didn't so much want more of the same, but was ready to see somebody turn the conventions of the genre upside down. Actually, Lewin didn't really take it too far-- his stories were hardly post-modern deconstructions. But they were totally entertaining.
The reason why I'm bringing this up here and now is that I just discovered that a new Albert Samson mystery came out about five years ago and I somehow missed it (I stopped looking for Lewin's stuff when he moved to England and started writing what, to my eyes, were just old style drawing room mysteries). As far as I knew,
Called by a Panther from 1991 was the end of the line. But an idle Amazon search uncovered
Eye Opener and I ordered it immediately (heck, it was only 75 cents plus shipping used). I'm looking forward to revisiting the world of Albert Samson after close to twenty years, and I'll be sure to write up a review. In the meantime, let me recommend the other novels in the series:
Ask the Right Question,
The Way We Die Now,
The Silent Salesman,
The Enemies Within,
Missing Woman,
Out of Season, and
Called By a Panther. Good stuff all.
Back around my freshman year in high school, I discovered the detective fiction of Dashiell Hammett-- which led me in turn to Raymond Chandler and the other writers of the Black Mask hardboiled school. Unfortunately, aside from Hammett and Chandler, it was hard to find much more from that period outside of a few anthologies that occasionally popped up at Sattler's Bookstore (where I sought my paperback fix). Most of the more contemporary mystery writers I checked out, like the various MacDonalds (Ross, John and Gregory) of various spellings, just didn't quite reach the heights I expected after reading Hammett and Chandler. But then I stumbled across a book called Ask the Right Question by Michael Z. Lewin, which for some reason really hit the spot. 
Make no mistake: I'm not arguing that Lewin's series of Albert Samson novels were really in the same literary ballpark as Hammett or Chandler. What I liked about them is that they adopted the broad framework of those classics-- starting with the somewhat seedy but good-hearted P.I. as the hero-- and transplanted it to the heartland city of Indianapolis, where Samson's work often took on an aura of the mundane. In other words, I discovered that I really didn't so much want more of the same, but was ready to see somebody turn the conventions of the genre upside down. Actually, Lewin didn't really take it too far-- his stories were hardly post-modern deconstructions. But they were totally entertaining. 
The reason why I'm bringing this up here and now is that I just discovered that a new Albert Samson mystery came out about five years ago and I somehow missed it (I stopped looking for Lewin's stuff when he moved to England and started writing what, to my eyes, were just old style drawing room mysteries). As far as I knew, Called by a Panther from 1991 was the end of the line. But an idle Amazon search uncovered Eye Opener and I ordered it immediately (heck, it was only 75 cents plus shipping used). I'm looking forward to revisiting the world of Albert Samson after close to twenty years, and I'll be sure to write up a review. In the meantime, let me recommend the other novels in the series: Ask the Right Question, The Way We Die Now, The Silent Salesman, The Enemies Within, Missing Woman, Out of Season, and Called By a Panther. Good stuff all.
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