Review: Beagle Scented Murder - Frank Gruber

I enjoyed that Frank Gruber novel I read a couple of weeks ago so much that I wanted to read something else by him. It’s unusual that I revisit an author so quickly, but it happens. I picked up BEAGLE SCENTED MURDER, published originally in hardcover by Rinehart in 1946 and reprinted in paperback in 1973 by Belmont Tower under the title MARKET FOR MURDER. Neither of those titles really fit the book, in my opinion, but as for the novel itself . . . man, I loved it.

This is the second of three books in a short series featuring Los Angeles private detective Otis Beagle and his assistant, Joe Peel. Beagle and Peel are, to put mildly, somewhat shady. They’re not above bending the law to promote cases they can take, such as in this novel where Peel approaches a previous client, a man who was a victim of the ol’ badger game, and convinces him that he needs the agency’s services again. Beagle and Peel are just looking for a fast buck, of course, but what they get instead are a couple of murders, trouble with the law, and violent encounters with various gangsters. Joe Peel gets knocked out twice. Otis Beagle gets taken for a ride. Naturally, there are several good-looking dames involved, too.

This is exactly the sort of book I grew up reading and loving, and it reminds me of two other series that are long-time favorites. The pairing of Otis Beagle and Joe Peel is very reminiscent of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, but even more so of Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. The writing isn’t as good as Rex Stout, and the plotting isn’t as complex as Erle Stanley Gardner, but BEAGLE SCENTED MURDER comes close in both respects. The main difference is that this book is written in third person rather than first, but other than that, Joe Peel really reminds me of Donald Lam. He does nearly all the heavy lifting in solving this case, despite the fact that Otis Beagle owns the agency.

Another thing I enjoyed about this novel is that part of the plot revolves around a rare dime novel. Now, I’m not much of a dime novel reader and I don’t collect them at all, but I know enough about them to know that Gruber was very familiar with the subject. I didn’t spot any mistakes, and the various comments about collectors put a smile on my face more than once.

In case you can’t tell, I had an absolutely great time reading this book. It’s not in print, and copies of the hardback seem to be pretty uncommon. You can find the paperback, and it’s only moderately expensive. If you ever run across either edition, I’d say grab it. And if you already have a copy on your shelves and haven’t read it yet, I give it a very high recommendation. I’m going to have to read the other two books in the series soon.