Tip on a Dead Crab

Shifty Lou Anderson #1

by William Murray

Shifty Anderson, a magician on vacation, and Jay Fox, an obsessive race handicapper, get involved in a horse-race scam at California's Del Mar racetrack. This book has a lot of style and the horse racing scenes seem authentic.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

William Murray was an American fiction editor and staff writer at The New Yorker for more than thirty years. He wrote a series of mystery novels set in the world of horse racing, many featuring Shifty Lou Anderson, a professional magician and horseplayer. Among his many contributions to The New Yorker was the magazine's "Letters from Italy" of which he was the sole author. The majority of his later years were spent living in Del Mar, California, "exactly 3.2 miles from the finish line" of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Murray died in March 2005 at age 78. Just prior to his death, Murray had completed a book about Chicago's Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.

Reviews

[Ernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

“dead crab” is shorthand for “sure thing” in this racetrack intrigue set mostly at Del Mar, with forays to Las Vegas and L.A. on page 82, the term is elucidated in an anecdote revealing the universality of the human urge to place bets on animals, and its fundamental ghastliness. this pervasive quality of tawdriness redeems the author’s clunky phrasing, lack of dramatic sense, and inability to settle on a genre. an undertow of existential crisis incrementally displaces the initial comic bromance until around page 82 tedious exposition gives way to action.

the narrator’s nickname is Shifty but he never lives up to it, being the straight man in a cast of characters copied from Damon Runyan, 50s Noir, and the 60s-70s Vegas-mafia-showbiz continuum. Shifty, who’s a freelance magician, has a buddy who makes his living interpreting the Racing Form, with whom he shares an apartment in Del Mar during racing season. they both fall for the same femme fatale, who is a stereotype that drives the intrigue and brings out the dismaying sexism of characters and author alike.

DEAD CRAB’s strength is its well-observed race track details and its resolve to in no way glamorize the proceedings. jockeys, trainers, owners, gamblers — all are corrupted by the game. only the horses are innocent, admirable for their talent, beauty, and heart. the urge to gamble, the need for money, hubris, deceitfulness, but above all vanity — aka human weakness drives this tightly plotted melodrama that could have used a sleeker, swifter, more thoroughbred style. this is the first book in a series that might get better as it goes along.

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good mystery for those who like horse racing and gambling. There are things going on that the narrator doesn't understand or like, and when he finds out that there is cheating occurring, it is not only too late to stop it, but also there are other tragic happenings.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

First in a five-book immersion in Murray's mysteries set in a horse-racing milieu. Good enough to read another one. I like horse racing, so figure that in, too.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care for this book. It was mostly about horse racing. I would have liked more mystery and less about betting on the horse races.

[Paul Wilner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great racetrack book that's about a lot more than racing. Another New Yorker writer with a pitch-perfect ear for people, places and the human heart.

[Pam]

06/20/08 rec via bookmooch

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Debut horse racing mystery that focuses on the bettors who are always on the look out for the sure thing.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Tip on a Dead Crab" - written by William Murray and published in 1984 by Viking Press. A mediocre mystery featuring betting on horse races.