From crime to crime

In his introduction to this collection of “armchair mysteries”, Dennis Palumbo traces the history of such mysteries back to Edgar Allan Poe. As steeped in tradition as this genre might be, these twelve tales are all thoroughly up to date, taking place largely in a contemporary domestic setting. From Crime to Crime is based on Palumbo’s own experiences with his friends, who all used to meet together at the author’s home in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles. In those days they all reckoned that they were pretty smart, but that was a fairly long time ago… Though Palumbo does change a few of the professions (but, most notably, not his own), most of the dialogue and interactions between the characters are fictional. Palumbo describes his core characters as ‘reasonably successful baby boomers,’ who regularly meet at ‘weekly Sunday afternoon bull sessions’. These meetings, of what they dubbed the ‘Smart Guys Marching Society’, allow them the chance to explore what’s been happening around them during the past week, freeing them up to solve murders and to resolve quandaries that they encounter in their daily lives. In brief, From Crime to Crime proves that group thinking really works! In what could easily be rewritten as dinner theater pieces, all the mysteries that form the larger part of this collection of short stories are described in dialogue that takes place between Mark (‘an Intelligence officer turned journalist’), Fred (‘a lawyer by trade, but philosopher by avocation’), Bill (‘a long-time actor and theater director’), and the narrator himself (‘a psycho-therapist, with years of handling conflicts’). However, the fun (and solving) really starts when Uncle Isaac joins the group. As the stories unfold, so do the characters transform into our close associates, with whom we eagerly embark on the next crime-solving spree. Palumbo’s straightforward narration, which is largely presented in the form of lively repartee that takes place between the five main characters, suits the unfolding of the crimes that have taken place within their eye- or earshot. Despite their conversation clearly being that of experts in their own divergent fields, it is highly accessible to the average reader. The references to leading psychologists (such as Jung) and film directors (such as Hitchcock and Tarantino) serve to add spice and context to the dialogue. The focus throughout these stories is on the unraveling of the mysteries. Although the meetings start with a humorou

שנה

2008

שפה

English

הוצאה

Tallfellow Press

מהדורות

2

עמודים

288

ISBN

9781931290609

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata