“No Pockets in a Shroud” is the fourth novella featuring Richard Deming’s private eye character Manville Moon. It was published originally in the January 1949 issue of the iconic pulp BLACK MASK, a magazine long past its glory days by that time but still publishing plenty of good hardboiled detective fiction. “No Pockets in a Shroud” is a fine example of that.
Moon, who operates in an unnamed Midwestern city, is a World War II vet who
lost his right leg from the knee down to a shell blast in Europe. He gets
around pretty well on an artificial leg, though, and other than not being able
to run very fast anymore, his injury doesn’t really hamper him. He’s still
plenty tough and smart and still attracts the ladies, even though he describes
himself as ugly.
As this case opens, Moon is approached by two competing mobsters, each of them
determined to control the city’s gambling. Open warfare between them is
looming, and each man wants to hire Moon to be on his side if that happens.
Moon isn’t having any of it. The last thing he wants is to get caught in the
middle of a gang war. Then one of the mobsters surprises him by trying to hire
him in advance to investigate a murder. Whose murder, Moon wants to know? Turns
out, the mobster thinks somebody is trying to kill him, and if the would-be
murderer succeeds, he wants Moon to bring the killer to justice.
Well, before you know it, there’s a murder, of course . . . but it’s the other
mobster who winds up dead, and Moon is up to his neck in the case, anyway.
Also, naturally, while trying to sort out the truth, he has to deal with
several beautiful women, including the wives and mistresses of the two rival
gangsters. There’s also a hopped-up young gunman with an itch to ventilate
Moon. All of it is hectic and breathless and a heck of a lot of fun to read for
somebody who grew up on this stuff like I did.
As in the previous Manville Moon yarns, the murder is pretty complicated, but
Deming puts it all together very well and all the clues are there, leading to a
satisfying conclusion. Moon is a very likable protagonist. There’s one bit of
business that’s so old it had long white whiskers on it even in 1949, and its
stereotypical nature takes away a little from the story, but not enough to
cause a real problem. I had a great time reading “No Pockets in a Shroud”, and
if you’re a private eye fan, there’s a very good chance you’ll enjoy it, too.
There’s an inexpensive e-book version available on Amazon if you don’t have the
pulp.
By the way, the title has nothing to do with the story, and I have to wonder if
some editor at Popular Publications was responsible for it. They retitled many
of the stories published in their Western pulps and I imagine the same was true
in their detective pulps. Anyway, it’s a good title, relevant or not, so I’m
fine with it.
3 comments:
Horace McCoy used NO POCKETS IN A SHROUD as the title of his 1937 novel about a crusading newspaper reporter in Dallas. I have a dim memory that it was also attached to an episode from one of the TV private eye series -- CANNON? -- in the early '70s.
I just bought the ebook of the McCoy novel. I haven't read much by him, but I've liked everything I've read.
Re: The McCoy NO POCKETS: It's not McCoy's best, and it has dated badly, but I like everything about McCoy - existentialist, beaten-down desperate characters who are one step from from a meaningless end -- and this is worth a read.
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