Гарольд Иннис — новинки

Carl Wilcox really does try to stay out of trouble - he's had enough of it over the years - but the times being what they are, the choice isn't always his. For now, though, he's taken a job painting signs for the town of Hope, South Dakota. It beats hanging around his folk's hotel in Corden and gives him the chance to earn an honest dollar. Then, late one July day, the McGillacuddy kid rides up on his bike and tells him that there's a body in the sandpit outside of town. Nothing about the death was natural. Everyone knew Felton Edwards, but there didn't seem to be many who liked him, except for some of the women. And while the local police were willing to let matters just go their own way - without any help from Carl - the mayor had a different idea. It seems that Edwards left town about fifteen years ago and his last known location was Edenberg, but before he left, he'd had his way with some of the women in town, never giving any thought to whether they were married. Now, if Carl would just do some investigating on the mayor's behalf, well, there just might be some other work available around town. One of the first things Carl discovers in Edenberg is that Felton Edwards's reputation was deserved. The second thing he discovers is another body - and another warning to steer clear of doing any investigating on his own. Still, most of the people Carl will have to talk to are women, and there was the promise of more work . . . There were lots of people with cause to kill the man who was taller than God, but only one of them did it. There were also some people taking potshots at Carl Wilcox. But a puzzle or a fight just broke up the tedium of a long summer day. . . .

Harold Adams's series of mysteries about small-town South Dakota during the Great Depression are like the work of another great artist of that period--the photographer Walker Evans, who captured in black and white every grain and pore of the façades and faces he saw. Carl Wilcox--the rebellious son of a hotel owner who makes his living as a sign painter and occasional detective--is Adams's camera, recording in sharp, spare, and often pungent language the misdeeds of his fellows.
This time, Wilcox is finishing up a painting job in the town of Jonesville when the local pastor offers him $100 to find the man who raped and strangled his young niece. A frustrated bible teacher and a slick traveling salesman are the likely suspects, but the police have no evidence against either. In his comfortably offhand way, Wilcox sits and talks with all sorts of people, soaking up impressions and possible leads with apparently aimless ease. He also finds time to pursue another of his interests--romancing attractive and available women, in this case the town librarian, another character so quickly brought to life by Adams that you'll swear you've seen her picture in an old album. Other fine Wilcox outings include The Ditched Blonde, The Man Who Was Taller Than God, and A Way with Widows. --Dick Adler