Enter Samuel Dashiell Hammett ..
The year is 1921 and Sam, war veteran and current Pinkerton operative
is involved in the investigation of Virginia Rappe's death...supposedly by
Fatty Arbuckle ( as host of a wild San Franciscan party)

Doing an audio, I was a little taken back by the street talk of the time and
needed to be attentive to changes in scene (characters often "sounded" similar)
............it was however, a pleasure to meet the hard boiled crime writer in his earlier years. ( )

Enjoyed this very much, far exceeded expectations. The mood was excellent; this story felt like La-SF early 1920's throughout. The story was very interesting and stayed close enough to real events to read like true crime. This is real noir, without slipping into the now cliched lines of Chandler and Hammett. As you read how the trial plays out, you get a sense of justice during those days, and then give thanks for the fairer system we have evolved to - or have we.....? There are no heroes here, and while the last few chapters lead to the inevitable conclusion they did in real life, there is a slam-bam ending relaying an event I had not heard of before, one that just like the Arbuckle story, remains a mystery to this day. ( )

This hardboiled historical mystery is based on the three real life and highly publicized manslaughter trials of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, one of the highest paid silent film stars in the early days of Hollywood.

It's 1921 and prohibition had been enacted a year earlier when Arbuckle throws a wild party full of bootlegged liquor and broads on Labor Day weekend at San Francisco's deluxe St Francis Hotel. Virginia Rappe, a washed up bit actress, crashes the party with some friends and ends up drunk, seriously ill, and half naked in Roscoe's room. A few days later she's dead and the media, lead by William Randolph Hearst's newspapers, sensationalize the story claiming Arbuckle's immense bulk crushed the girl. Arbuckle is accused of rape by Miss Rappe's friend Mrs. Delmont and witnesses begin to conveniently disappear. Whipped into a frenzy by the media's allegations the public convict Arbuckle long before the trial begins.

Enter stage left, the Pinkerton Detective Sam Hammett, later known as Dashiell, hired to dig up the goods on Miss Rappe and the rest of the party goers who all seem to have some kind of ulterior motive. The Police have an agenda as well and it isn't about uncovering the truth. Littered with a cast of Hollywood characters from Charlie Chaplin to Marian Davies the story is captivating and Atkins's grasp of the vernacular bring fact and fiction together into a wonderfully gritty tale. Gumshoes, girls, greed, and graft make for the perfect noir novel. ( )

History Pick - '09 April ( )