The title character in Stanley Crawford’s “Gascoyne” is one of the most charming figures in recent American mystery fiction.
Corrupt, but with an air of innocence, Gascoyne devotes as much time to investigating a crime as to wheeling and dealing. He has a finger in every pie, which is no easy task since his hands are usually occupied by his mobile phone and the steering wheel of his car.
Like Columbo’s raincoat, the big 1955 Nash that Gascoyne drives – and practically lives in – is a prop that propels, literally, Crawford’s narrative.
“Gascoyne” was first published in 1966 and had long been out of print. Its reissue was inspired by Overlook Press’ publication of a new novel by Crawford, “Petroleum Man,” in early 2005.
“Gascoyne” takes place on the freeways of Southern California, which prove to be a very appropriate setting.
The plot concerns a the murder of Gascoyne’s business associate, which is announced on the first page even though the future victim is still alive. Gascoyne gets a call informing him that “Rufus Roughah has just been shot between the eyes out in his country digs.” The investigator soon learns that although Roughah isn’t dead yet, everybody who knows him wishes he were.
That includes Marge, Gascoyne’s weary partner. When she hears that Roughah has been shot, she remarks, “Are they going to make tomorrow a holiday?”
Every character Gascoyne investigates had reason to kill Roughah, from Police Commissioner O’Mallollolly to the victim’s widow, and from his chauffeur to a suspect who goes around disguised as a giant tree sloth.
Crawford shows his mastery of the genre by making both the plot and the characters, bizarre as they are, seem plausible.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
