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Dancing in the Trap
The stationary was tinted pink, pulpy like craft paper and smelled better than anything had a right to. It was blackmail penned in letters so long and smooth, they could have haled a cab. Since leaving the merchant marines, Mickey Fairfax has eked out a living renting dinghies to scuttle around Boston Harbor. Though lately, time between clients is lengthening faster than he can tighten his belt. When a wealthy new acquaintance offers him money to travel to Paris to pay a blackmailer, Mickey accepts. But, when he discovers he's given the money to the wrong woman, he'll tangle with a pugilistic gangsters, a hop-headed hotel boy, a sultry stage siren, and the French police to figure out who she is.
With a heavy nod to detective noir greats like Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, and Mickey Spillane comes a fast-talking, not-so hard-boiled hero, taken off the streets he's wise to, and plunged into a strange land, where he's trying to do the right thing, even if it's for the wrong reason.
With a heavy nod to detective noir greats like Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, and Mickey Spillane comes a fast-talking, not-so hard-boiled hero, taken off the streets he's wise to, and plunged into a strange land, where he's trying to do the right thing, even if it's for the wrong reason.
248 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2020
2 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
James Whelpley
4 books6 followersI grew up in central Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a bachelor's in English. I studied early western American lit, and Greek and Roman classics. From there I collected jobs, working nights in hotels and bars, hanging billboards, driving an armored car, and even working as a police dispatcher. I went back to school at 29 and earned two more bachelors and a doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine from Parker University. I published my first novel, Dancing in the Trap just in time for COVID-19 to shut the world down. The sequel, Tenerife, was just published in Feb of 2022. I'm heavily influenced by detective noir heavyweights Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald, but also list Kurt Vonnegut Jr, John Updike, and Tom Waits.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 30, 2022
Thanks for the recommendation
I read this based on an Instagram recommendation. Excellent read. If you enjoy a good mystery with an amateur investigator you’ll enjoy this read.
I read this based on an Instagram recommendation. Excellent read. If you enjoy a good mystery with an amateur investigator you’ll enjoy this read.
June 13, 2022
The author very graciously sent me a copy for my reading enjoyment, and enjoy I did. He posed it as a crime noir novel, and I wasn’t really sure if I had read anything even in the same league, but I was willing to give it a try.
The story is first person and follows a merchant marine turned reluctant investigator (he’s really not, but he hasn’t figured that out yet). He is characterized in the general noir style—witty, dark, perhaps morally questionable, pessimistic as ever—but done in such a way that it reads as true and is refreshing along the way. The secondary characters are all done exceptionally well as well, all of their traits and choices lined up perfectly for me.
As it is a crime novel, and the first person perspective is not a detective, or one that follows around the detective, I did have some trouble drawing the lines between some conclusions. But hey, I am very used to reading Agatha Christie at this point. That is not this. Nor is it trying to be. There are certainly still twists and turns as you’d wait for in any kind of novel of its kind, and they worked for me.
The author really does a great job with personality. The story here really reads as Mickey Fairfax. In many ways, I assume the author’s voice has simply come out as Mickey’s, and I love when that reads as genuine.
Absolutely worth your time, effort, and money to read this book.
The story is first person and follows a merchant marine turned reluctant investigator (he’s really not, but he hasn’t figured that out yet). He is characterized in the general noir style—witty, dark, perhaps morally questionable, pessimistic as ever—but done in such a way that it reads as true and is refreshing along the way. The secondary characters are all done exceptionally well as well, all of their traits and choices lined up perfectly for me.
As it is a crime novel, and the first person perspective is not a detective, or one that follows around the detective, I did have some trouble drawing the lines between some conclusions. But hey, I am very used to reading Agatha Christie at this point. That is not this. Nor is it trying to be. There are certainly still twists and turns as you’d wait for in any kind of novel of its kind, and they worked for me.
The author really does a great job with personality. The story here really reads as Mickey Fairfax. In many ways, I assume the author’s voice has simply come out as Mickey’s, and I love when that reads as genuine.
Absolutely worth your time, effort, and money to read this book.
January 31, 2022
This was my debut novel. I love the old hard boiled masters like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Ross MacDonald, but I wanted to do something a little different. Phillip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Lew Archer were so immersed and identified with their respective cities, that I wanted to take my her, Mickey Fairfax, off the streets he knows and drop him in the middle of a place where he doesn't know the cops, the streets, or even the language.
Dancing in the Trap takes Mickey Fairfax to the streets of Paris to deliver a blackmail payment for a wealthy acquaintance. But when he discovers he's given the money to the wrong woman, and the right woman turns up dead, both the Paris police and a hive of gangsters think he knows something about it.
Dancing in the Trap takes Mickey Fairfax to the streets of Paris to deliver a blackmail payment for a wealthy acquaintance. But when he discovers he's given the money to the wrong woman, and the right woman turns up dead, both the Paris police and a hive of gangsters think he knows something about it.
February 9, 2022
Dancing in the Trap by James Whelpley is the perfect type of hard-boiled crime mystery book that I can't seem to find enough of. Following Mickey Fairfax as he mistakenly pays off the wrong lady to make a stranger's blackmail disappear, he ends up in a whirlwind of chaos as he attempts to uncover the truth of the blackmail, the identity of the lady, and just how he ended up in an ever -devolving situation.
James Whelpley's writing style is just phenomenal. It is terse, quick, and snappy--which is exactly what I think of when I think "noir". The quick wit of the writing style never misses a beat as he weaves these fabulous presentations even the most basic of actions and situations. I seriously couldn't get enough of the way Mickey just comes into the noir role with his perfectly timed humor and quick quippy thoughts. Not only is Mickey brilliantly written but the secondary characters are just as vibrant from their perfectly described personalities and traits. Add on an excellently executed storyline, with all the twists and turns you want to find in a crime novel and this book is perfection.
James Whelpley's writing style is just phenomenal. It is terse, quick, and snappy--which is exactly what I think of when I think "noir". The quick wit of the writing style never misses a beat as he weaves these fabulous presentations even the most basic of actions and situations. I seriously couldn't get enough of the way Mickey just comes into the noir role with his perfectly timed humor and quick quippy thoughts. Not only is Mickey brilliantly written but the secondary characters are just as vibrant from their perfectly described personalities and traits. Add on an excellently executed storyline, with all the twists and turns you want to find in a crime novel and this book is perfection.
March 1, 2024
Dancing in the Trap is a solid addition to the PI catalogue that feels as if it was written decades earlier.
Mickey Fairfax is a former merchant marine who makes his living on the Boston harbour, renting boats to people wanting to get out on the water.
When wealthy businessman Andrew Grey introduces Mickey to Sam Dile, Mickey wonders why. Turns out Dile is being blackmailed and he wants Mickey to head to Paris and make the payment.
Early on I felt like Dancing in the Trap was trying to find itself. The writing and dialogue are excellent, but I didn’t feel like the motivation for Mickey to take the job was strong enough.
Once in Paris, though, Mickey starts to reveal himself and I was hooked. He’s lonely, a man adrift, someone looking for that person or job that will fill the vacancy inside.
The investigation is another strong point, as is the array of unique and interesting characters. Mickey never fills the void, but he does find a mysterious American woman, Parisian gangsters, and murder.
Mickey Fairfax is a former merchant marine who makes his living on the Boston harbour, renting boats to people wanting to get out on the water.
When wealthy businessman Andrew Grey introduces Mickey to Sam Dile, Mickey wonders why. Turns out Dile is being blackmailed and he wants Mickey to head to Paris and make the payment.
Early on I felt like Dancing in the Trap was trying to find itself. The writing and dialogue are excellent, but I didn’t feel like the motivation for Mickey to take the job was strong enough.
Once in Paris, though, Mickey starts to reveal himself and I was hooked. He’s lonely, a man adrift, someone looking for that person or job that will fill the vacancy inside.
The investigation is another strong point, as is the array of unique and interesting characters. Mickey never fills the void, but he does find a mysterious American woman, Parisian gangsters, and murder.
January 3, 2022
Mickey Fairfax thinks the hand-off he's about to make to the blackmailer is going to be a piece of cake. Mickey waits by the subway for a woman with red flowers in her hair as instructed. However, things take a turn for the worse when he realizes he's given the money to the wrong woman. James Whelpley paints such descriptive events of Mickey's adventures throughout the streets of Paris. I felt I was right next to Mickey as he was fighting off crazy gangsters trying to find out the identity of the real blackmailer and who the woman was that he gave the money to. This is a twisty, suspenseful, and wild ride with lots of French words I didn't know and had to look up. Loved James Whelpley's style of writing. I've never read a book like this before!
November 25, 2021
Fans of the crime genre will devour this fast-paced, gritty tale of blackmail gone gruesomely awry. Whelpley's gut-punch writing style pays homage to Ross MacDonald, Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy and other classic crime writers, while distinctly carving out his own turf. The author tosses off great lines—often humorous—with a nonchalance that comes only from natural talent. If I could cut stars in half, I'd rate it 4.5.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews