The Name's Buchanan

The Name's Buchanan by Jonas Ward
Published by Gold Medal 1956

William Ard, creator of hardboiled protagonists Timothy Dane and Lou Largo, wrote his best known character under the pseudonym Jonas Ward. The Name’s Buchanan is the first book in the titular character’s series. Unlike Ard’s detectives Buchanan is far from hardboiled. He’s an open, honest and friendly guy. He’s slow to rile, but extremely deadly with guns or fists if pushed.

The story involves Buchanan returning from Mexico where he’s been working as a hired gun. Unfortunately for him, his first stop upon returning to the states is Agrytown, a corrupt little burg owned and operated by Simon Agry. Buchanan’s arrival in town coincides with that of Juan del Cuervo, the son of a wealthy Mexican family from just across the border. He has come to Agrytown seeking revenge for the rape of his sister by Agry’s good-for-nothing son. Things get complicated from there, and nothing goes exactly as expected, either for the reader or the characters.

 The story, full of double and triple crosses among the villains, plays out more like a crime story than a traditional western, with Buchanan stumbling into the middle of an already tense situation and escalating it simply by being present. The book comes in at a slim 152 pages, but it’s packed with characters, each with their own agenda, and never feels rushed. In fact, the multiple characters are so richly rendered that at times Buchanan risks becoming a guest star in his own book. Ultimately this only feels like a flaw because Buchanan so interesting the reader wants more. But Ard is in full control of his narrative, and the multiple plot threads come together in a surprising but satisfying way.  

The Only Girl in the Game

The Only Girl in the Game by John D. MacDonald
Published by Gold Medal 1960

This behind-the-scenes drama set in a Las Vegas casino could have easily become soapy melodrama in a lesser writer’s hands, but here is turned into a tense and absorbing tale of love and greed.

Though filled with a large number of characters, each with their own story, the central narrative involves hotel manager Hugh Darren, entertainer Betty Dawson, and oil-rich Texan Homer Galloway and their conflict with casino manager Max Hanes. Hugh and Betty are involved, but their relationship is threatened by the controlling and underhanded tactics of Hanes. Galloway has returned to the casino determined to win back the small fortune that he lost on his last visit, putting him at odds with Hanes as well. The various narrative strands circle and bump into each other until braiding together for a brutal finale.

 If the plot sounds standard the execution is anything but. MacDonald increases the tension gradually by backing his characters slowly into their individual corners. And then he goes and breaks your heart a little.

This is the good stuff. MacDonald’s prose is gorgeous and his dialogue sings. This is the first of his novels I’ve read, and I’m kicking myself for waiting so long. But in the plus column, since he was a prolific author I now have a whole new list of books to look forward to.

The TellTale Tart

The TellTale Tart by Peter Duncan 

Publisher: Gold Medal 1961

More slamming-door hijinks than mystery, The TellTale Tart is an odd duck. It begins when photographer Pete Farrell, along with writer Laura Ames, arrive on the private island of famous novelist John Hope Hamilton. Pete and Laura are initially there to write a feature article on Hamilton, but soon begin investigating the recent death of his secretary. A death the locals suspect was murder.

Despite the investigatory angle, this isn’t a detective novel, or even much of a mystery. The characters occasionally look for a missing journal that contains the answers they need, but the rest of the time is spent with Pete trying, and mostly failing, to get laid.The first-person POV is the saving grace of this slight tale. Self-deprecating and making humorous hay out of his sexual frustration, Pete is a fun narrator and it’s his voice that makes TheTellTale Tart a comic romp instead of a limp mystery.

 The story is preoccupied with sex without ever being overly explicit, all description is of the a-nod-is-as-good-as-a-wink variety.

Peter Duncan was a pseudonym for B.M. Atkinson, who apparently only wrote two books under the Duncan name. Other than a parenting book (What Dr. Spock Didn’t Tell Us) it appears Atkinson mostly wrote short fiction under his own name, some of which can be found online.