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Rocky Rockwell #3
A Shot of Murder
A grotesque, diabolical old doctor with a terrifying hypodermic needle that packs a special wallop... A barrel-shaped man of mystery with dark glasses and darker motives, involving the fate of nations... A beautiful brunette with soft, creamy skin and a lovely pearl-handled revolver, out to "get her man" in an unlovely way... You'll meet them all in A SHOT OF MURDER, a tale of mystery and mayhem which begins in Paris and ends in a strange mountain sanitorium where weird experiments are tried on human minds.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
About the author
Jack Iams
20 books2 followersSamuel Harvey Iams, Jr. was born on November 15, 1910 in Maryland. Iams began his writing career in American and British journalism. Adopting the pseudonym Jack Iams, he proceeded to publish his own books. Iams is best known for his mysteries, including Death Draws the Line, and his crime novels featuring the character Rocky Rockwell. He passed away in January of 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 22, 2011
Reporters and newly-weds Rocky and Jane see a chance to get a European honeymoon when a local man's nightclub singer fiancee disappears in post-war Poland. (This was published originally in 1950.) But instead Rocky--who speaks only English and a few words of French--finds himself in big trouble in Poland, not sure at all who can be trusted. Fortunately, the paper's society editor Mrs. Pickett happens to be in Paris on her vacation, and she isn't about to let something bad happen to a fellow Buckeye.
April 6, 2019
This is the third and sort-of final entry in Jack Iams' series about Stanley Rockwell, known as Rocky, city editor of an Ohio newspaper. The earlier volumes are Do Not Murder Before Christmas and What Rhymes with Murder? I say "sort of final" because there is a fourth book, A Corpse of the Old School, that evidently is not about Rockwell but about his colleague, society editor for the same newspaper, Mrs. Pickett.
The first two books in the series were comic mysteries; this one is a comic thriller. Rockwell and his new wife have decided to combine a honeymoon that includes an ocean voyage and time in Europe with an investigation into the disappearance in Poland of a nightclub singer who is the fiancée of a celebrated local athlete. They travel on a Polish ship, where sinister things immediately begin to occur.
In Europe Rocky encounters a small doctor with a large head, a most unfriendly man who turns out to be a Polish general, a femme fatale of uncertain allegiance, a peculiarly naive American pediatrician, helpful folks from American embassies, and the ever-brave and resourceful Mrs. Pickett. He overcomes obstacles, not always quite believably.
Rocky's wife Jane is a very engaging character in the first book of the series, less so in the second book, and not around much in this one. In both the second volume and this one, a glamorous young woman enters Rocky's life. In this one, Griselde Miratour is considerably more intriguing than Jane.
Mrs. Pickett deserves at least a paragraph to herself. Rocky is the central character in the first three books of the series, but I am not surprised that Mrs. Pickett became the solo star of the next one. I note from an online obituary of Iams that one of his children became a newspaper society column reporter; somehow this seems absolutely appropriate.
The thriller aspects of the book work well. Rocky never knows whom he can trust and neither does the reader. The humorous aspects are even better. There is an early scene with Rocky and the diminutive doctor in which people keep arriving, including one falling through the skylight, which combines facets of the film The Maltese Falcon with the stateroom scene from the Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera.
The uncredited picture on the dust jacket of the 1950 William Morrow & Company edition shows Griselde and the man who is later revealed to be a Polish general in an encounter on a train. She looks suitably French; he looks suitably nasty.
From the information I have been able to find, Iams wrote thirteen books. (There is some confusion because at least two of the books were published under two different titles.) Not all of them are crime stories. I have liked all of the ones that I have read, definitely including the fine, funny A Shot of Murder.
The first two books in the series were comic mysteries; this one is a comic thriller. Rockwell and his new wife have decided to combine a honeymoon that includes an ocean voyage and time in Europe with an investigation into the disappearance in Poland of a nightclub singer who is the fiancée of a celebrated local athlete. They travel on a Polish ship, where sinister things immediately begin to occur.
In Europe Rocky encounters a small doctor with a large head, a most unfriendly man who turns out to be a Polish general, a femme fatale of uncertain allegiance, a peculiarly naive American pediatrician, helpful folks from American embassies, and the ever-brave and resourceful Mrs. Pickett. He overcomes obstacles, not always quite believably.
Rocky's wife Jane is a very engaging character in the first book of the series, less so in the second book, and not around much in this one. In both the second volume and this one, a glamorous young woman enters Rocky's life. In this one, Griselde Miratour is considerably more intriguing than Jane.
Mrs. Pickett deserves at least a paragraph to herself. Rocky is the central character in the first three books of the series, but I am not surprised that Mrs. Pickett became the solo star of the next one. I note from an online obituary of Iams that one of his children became a newspaper society column reporter; somehow this seems absolutely appropriate.
The thriller aspects of the book work well. Rocky never knows whom he can trust and neither does the reader. The humorous aspects are even better. There is an early scene with Rocky and the diminutive doctor in which people keep arriving, including one falling through the skylight, which combines facets of the film The Maltese Falcon with the stateroom scene from the Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera.
The uncredited picture on the dust jacket of the 1950 William Morrow & Company edition shows Griselde and the man who is later revealed to be a Polish general in an encounter on a train. She looks suitably French; he looks suitably nasty.
From the information I have been able to find, Iams wrote thirteen books. (There is some confusion because at least two of the books were published under two different titles.) Not all of them are crime stories. I have liked all of the ones that I have read, definitely including the fine, funny A Shot of Murder.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews