THE CLEAR CASE

Edd’s 1947-set thriller features a gumshoe who could step right into the brogans of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade.

Into Mel Gance’s San Francisco office sidles Miss Cecilia Le Cleur, who had “all the curves of Lombard Street with no stop signs in sight.” The Le Cleurs are very rich, but her father, August, was found shot to death in his study, and her brother, Stephan, has disappeared. This is not the first tragedy to strike the family; years ago her mother and sister perished in a Paris hotel fire. Can Gance find her father’s killer and her missing brother? And is Cecilia a grieving orphan or a femme fatale—or a bit of both? August Le Cleur, a hotel developer, seemed like an upright businessman, but he had a weakness: He wanted to play on the wild side. He was connected to an illegal casino and to a gangster named Rolland Zaslow; their friendship had soured. In the tradition of the genre, Gance has a formidable sidekick, his secretary, Grace “Ace” Springfield, whose skills include more than typing and filing. Then there's cabbie Daphne Markos, who can crack wise and lose a tail on a moment’s notice (“You’re the boss, applesauce”). Of course, Mel winds up half in love with Cecilia, against all his better instincts. After many twists, turns, and red herrings, the real villain is finally exposed. Some readers may guess the ending intuitively, though the finer points may be lost despite Mel’s explications. The author is clearly having fun: She has written a legitimate whodunit but also a sendup of the genre. It’s an engrossing cable car ride, back in the world of Hammett and Chandler, with a world-weary shamus, cigarettes and fedoras, elegant and mysterious clients, and the fog always rolling in (this ain’t Fresno). Perhaps Edd will send Mel and Ace on more adventures…that would be just swell.

A competently constructed period thriller with all the trappings.