Classic Mysteries

Talking Classics at the Conference

The 42nd Bouchercon mystery conference got off to an auspicious start this morning - at least for me - with a panel discussion about classics in crime and mystery fiction. You know, the kind of books we talk about here.

The panel of authors - from the left, Scott Phillips, Andrew Grant, Matthew C. Funk, Bruce DeSilva, Carl Brookins and moderator Jason Pinter - had some interesting conversations about what constitutes  a "classic" and some ideas about which of today's authors might eventually be considered classics over the long haul. Among their suggestions: Robert Parker, particularly for his early Spenser books; Richard Prather; Dennis Lehane, mostly for "Mystic River"; Michael Connelly for his first Harry Bosch book; Marcia Muller and Sara Peretsky.

Among the points up for discussion: does a book need to be a commercial success to become a classic? Can a crime novel be literature (someone raised the example ofGeorges Simenon for some of his non-Maigret novels).

Interesting points to consider, at the start of 3 1/2 days of Bouchercon panels.  

Bouchercon

I'm off to Bouchercon, which will be happening from Thursday through Sunday in St. Louis. Named for the late author and critic Anthony Boucher, the conference will bring together an enormous number of both mystery readers and mystery writers and generally benefits both groups. It all culminates in the annual Anthony Awards, which will be presented on Sunday. I'll try to file some reports over the course of the weekend. If any of you are planning to be there, please let me know and we'll try to meet up.

"The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid"

The police hate him. The prohibition-era crooks, gangsters and bootleggers in his city hate him. He's certainly a crook - though an elegant one, in his patent leather mask, gloves and shoes. And somehow his crimes usually wind up with justice being served. He's the Patent Leather Kid, the creation of Erle Stanley Gardner, an author far better known as the creator of Perry Mason.

The Kid only appeared in thirteen stories, all of them published between 1932 and 1934 in a "pulp" magazine called Detective Fiction Weekly. Now, thanks to Crippen & Landru, all of the stories have been gathered together and reprinted as "The Exploits of the Patent Leather Kid." The collection, edited and with an introduction by mystery author Bill Pronzini, is the subject of this week's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, which you may hear by clicking here.

These stories are great fun and thoroughly entertaining. They tend to follow a formula: the Kid (who, in "real life," is disguised as an apparently lazy, overly-rich socialite) hears of some injustice - usually someone falsely accused of a crime by the Kid's enemy, Inspector Brame. So the Kid comes up with an ingenious plot which usually profits both the Kid and the unjustly accused person, leaves the real "bad guys" either dead or incarcerated, and further infuriates Brame, who hates the Kid for making the cops appear inept and crooked.

The plots are usually fairly complex, but they all follow that basic pattern, and "good," as represented by the Kid, always triumphs. In that, of course, he shares both outlook and outcome with Perry Mason, who was every bit as troublesome to the police and the legal establishment as the Kid is to the police and the gangs. This volume is another in the series of "Lost Classics" which Crippen & Landru have been republishing. If you enjoy vintage crime, these short stories will certainly please you.

"Charlie Chan Carries On"

A group of American travelers, on a leisurely tour around the world in the early 1930s late 1920s, is having a very pleasant trip - if you don't mind the occasional murder. A detective from Scotland Yard, trying to follow the string of crimes from London to the Riviera to Calcutta, is shot and gravely wounded when the tour gets to Honolulu. As he is carried off to the hospital, he manages to say to his friend, a Honolulu police inspector, "Carry on, Charlie."

Which is exactly what Charlie Chan does in Charlie Chan Carries On," the fifth of six novels about the marvelous Chinese-American detective, written by Earl Derr Biggers. It's the subject of today's Classic Mysteries podcast review, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

 If you don't know Charlie Chan - or if you only know him from the many movies about him that were made in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s - here's a chance to meet a remarkably able and intelligent detective. It's also a chance to revisit a time, not so very long ago, when a luxurious trip around the world took months, mostly by ship and train.

Is the character of Charlie Chan something of a caricature, as some Asian-American groups have said? I think that may be true of some of the movies (particularly the later ones), but I don't think it's true of the books. Biggers set out to make his detective a very well-rounded and sympathetic character; the steps Charlie follows to solve this case are brilliantly planned and executed. If you enjoy vintage mysteries with what were, at the time, unusual and exotic settings, the Charlie Chan books are very much worth your attention.

 [UPDATED to change "early 1930s" to "late 1920s" - the book was published in 1930]