Dance With the Dead

Shell Scott #21

by Richard S. Prather

This case couldn't have been more up Shell Scott's alley. Twelve naked, luscious beauties, one for each month of the year, were Scott's next assignment. They were called the "Wow" pinup girls and, man, were they wow! Scott's find four freckles. Four freckles located on one of these tomatoes' tushies. That was the only clue Scott had to help him solve this murder. But not to worry, it's the perfect mixture of business and pleasure for Shell Scott, P.I.

Genres: Mystery

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Richard Scott Prather was an American mystery novelist, best known for creating the "Shell Scott" series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms David Knight and Douglas Ring.

Prather was born in Santa Ana, California. He served in the United States Merchant Marine during World War II. In 1945 year he married Tina Hager and began working as a civilian chief clerk of surplus property at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. He left that job to become a full-time writer in 1949. The first Shell Scott mystery, 'Case of the Vanishing Beauty' was published in 1950. It would be the start of a long series that numbered more than three dozen titles featuring the Shell Scott character.

Prather had a disagreement with his publisher in the 1970s and sued them in 1975. He gave up writing for several years and grew avocados. However in 1986 he returned with 'The Amber Effect'. Prather's final book, 'Shellshock', was published in hardcover in 1987 by Tor Books.

At the time of his death in 2007, he had completed his final Shell Scott Mystery novel, 'The Death Gods'. It was published October 2011 by Pendleton Artists.

Prather served twice on the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America. Additionally Prather received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 1986.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dance With the Dead

Dance With the Dead (1960) is a book where Prather goes all in with crowd-pleasing campy tricks. For one thing, the goofy plot revolves around a Hugh Hefner type, Webley Alden, who produces Wow magazine with each calendar month features a fully-exposed centerfold. He engages Scott because he secretly married one of the centerfolds and she was kidnapped from Honolulu on their wedding night. Unfortunately, before Scott can get to work on the case, Alden’s night ends prematurely and the only clue is a photo of someone who was probably his bride, but from the rear and she has four freckles on her “fanny.” Naturally Scott has no choice but to track down each calendar girl from Miss January through Miss December and somehow manage to see if they have four freckles in a strategic spot. Looking at the retouched centerfold photos wouldn’t help because the freckles would’ve been airbrushed out.

The other gimmick Prather uses is he has Scott fly to Honolulu where he has dinner with one of the calendar girls in a treehouse at Don the Beachcomber’s. But, as luck would have it, just as things are getting hot and heavy, Scott tumbles out if the treehouse, bangs his head, and loses all memory. Not knowing who he is doesn’t stop Scott who takes on a whole heap of bad guys.

Look, Prather meant for his readers to have fun with his books and this one fits squarely into that category. It’s not a nihilistic enterprise where he stumbles down the mean streets snarling at anyone who can’t see his serious everything is. Rather, it’s a hoot, a visual hoot that’s all set up from the get go.

[Ryan O'Pray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardboiled crime comedy by an author prolific in his own craft. The narrator is the defining character from start to end, but too often felt overlarge for me: the non-stop puns and asides too much for my audience.
Don’t get me wrong - the language throughout the book is lush and, to use the parlance of its narration, ‘exotic’.
However it is also trapped in time - the hyperbole not enough to dilute potential for misogynistic readings.
On the flipside to this is the way that hyperbole and rich vocabulary creates a picture of luxury life in the emerging 1960s: to use parlance of the novel (again), settings and events are kaleidoscopic, noisy and fun. It’s an enjoyable trip through time!
This is actually the reason I will most remember the book: at one point the protagonist’s investigation takes him on a trip to Hawaii. The whole section is described so vividly and joyfully it almost feels like encountering high quality travel writing.
It is unfortunate the promise and flashes of brilliance are weighed down by (what could be argued) a commercial bent, and the uncontrollable whims of fashion, but perhaps the bizarre delirious episode near the end of the book (where the title gets its name) could be viewed as a totem of the author’s narrative power over his genre, in a modern reading.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know I read this about 20 years ago. I recall reading the Banyan Tree scenes more than once, as if my life was being disrupted and I had to keep going back to it. That part of the book I recall very well. The disruption gives me a good idea when I read this. The rest of the book I couldn't really remember.

The story is a retelling of earlier and later tales. This one with a trip to Hawaii. The actual mystery is different. It all seems simple at first and then complications produce wonders to what seemed an obvious ending. Prather seems to get over his head a bit and writes his way out not as smoothly as it could have been.
Still, the ending is satisfying.

Bottom line: i recommend this book. 6 out of ten points.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was looking for. Not the crisp writing of Hammett or Chandler. But not action packed like a Ross MacDonald. Not even cultural interest like Walter Mosley. Just meh.