301 pages. "I Owe Them One" (afterword), author's capsule bio.
I'm a big fan of the author's Quarry crime series, but this was my first time reading one of his Nathan Heller detective/crime novels.
I gather that the basic premise of the Nathan Heller series is to take an historic crime or event and fictionalize it, inserting private detective Heller into the story, but keeping the historic details and real-life characters as much as possible.
The novel is divided into two 'books'. The first, Kansas City Shuffle, is set in 1953, when a wealthy Cadillac dealer's young son is kidnapped from school. The father decides to pay the exorbitant ransom, tells the FBI to stay out of it, and asks his old friend Nathan Heller to bring his son home. Heller's underworld contacts lead him to a cab company that's become aware of a stranger in town spending freely and dragging around a footlocker…
The second book, St. Louis Blues, takes place in 1958. The kidnapping has long been solved, but some powerful people – newsman Drew Pearson, rackets investigator Robert F. Kennedy, and union boss Jimmy Hoffa – want to know what happened to the missing half of the ransom money. Heller finds himself revisiting people and places from five years ago, antagonizing dangerous foes, and learning more about how the pieces all fit together.
Being familiar with the Quarry novels, which are shorter and more action-oriented, I was interested to see how the author successfully changed his style for a traditional detective yarn. In both series, however, the author delights in bringing up historic locations of yesteryear (such as the notorious Coral Court Motel).
I was also impressed that the author treated the kidnapping of a child as the repulsive crime that it is.
I also enjoyed the afterword, where the author explains a few liberties he had to take with the source material, and talks more history.
Can you game it? It might inspire a Pulp campaign, though you would need to add more action to make it suitable for the tabletop. However, there is one notable fight scene in which Heller is jumped by four crooked cabbies after midnight and dragged into a garage, where the author reminds us that weapons are where you find them!
I recommend this novel as a fun read for those who would enjoy a hard-boiled detective story mixed into a crime case out of history.
Reviewed by 
Editor in Chief Bill 
.