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CORPSE THAT WALKED
When Steve Barnes embarked on a relaxing holiday to Nantucket Island the last thing he expected was to become ensnared in a frightening and puzzling murder mystery.His host and the former professor-come-sleuth Dr Ira Cobb was enlisted by the Chief of Police to use his research skills to crack the most incredible phenomenon yet – a corpse that walked.Together, Barnes and Cobb surreptitiously investigate the private lives of the Nantucket Islanders and attempt to untangle the web of lies, adultery and jealousies behind the peaceful façade of golf and local community life.But with violence spreading and the murder count climbing, the two acting-detectives begin to despair of their few clues and seeming lack of progress.Will Dr. Cobb’s merciless instinct track down the murderer?The clock is ticking…‘The Corpse That Walked’ is a perfect gem of a murder puzzle set against the rich and colourful backdrop of Nantucket Island.“Agatha Christie fans will love this one ...starring the professor-detective Dr. Ira Cobb. A unique character.” - Writer’s NewsletterRoy Winsor wrote for many radio serials and is most famous for creating long-running soap operas such as ‘Search for Tomorrow’, ‘The Secret Storm’, ‘Another Life’ and ‘Love of Life’. He was the author of three mystery ‘The Corpse That Walked’ which won the "Edgar" from the Mystery Writers Association of America in 1975, ‘Three Motives for Murder’, and ‘Always Lock Your Bedroom Door’.Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
- GenresMystery
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Roy Winsor
8 booksRoy Winsor wrote for several soap operas on radio and TV. He produced the radio version of Have Gun Will Travel.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 4, 2022
What a great find!
I have many reading guides at home, that help me choose books. “100 Best” type of thing - “100 Best Crime & Mystery Books”, “100 Great Detectives”, and even a book that’s a big blast of previous lists, collected in one volume. A list of lists.
Many of these books have side-bars and even more extensive bonus material that only adds to the amount of titles one could sample from the past, and a common tactic to fill out reading guides for Crime novels is a cold inclusion of past award winners or nominees. So, I’m talking about Edgar Winners, or maybe Gold and Silver Dagger Winners, plus runners-up. I really enjoy picking, and ordering, these old, often unknown to me, novels, if the price and availability aren’t all “Ooga Booga!” - “Run! Run for the pills! Sorry, hills!”
I seem to have gravitated to Nominees (Winners, now and then, but that would be boring and obvious as the routine) of the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. If you choose to do this, like me, you may find disappointment and a lot of crap. Crap reads. Yeah, crap reads - and as far as what got nominated for awards in oh let’s just start with the 1970s and 1980s, and I’m often left wondering: “what the hell were they thinking??!!”. The books that count as Crime novels, rather than the focus being on a whodunit or puzzle, seem to be simplistic or draggy, maybe a revenge theme in ham-fisted style, or a criminal underworld novel that fails to shock anymore. Then there are the books that are just poorly written. Then there are the 1970s paperbacks that smell like someone’s basement, more specifically someone’s forgotten basement basket of mouldy grubby laundry. Okay, that’s a side issue, and more of my personal complaint when it comes to books I’m probably lucky to acquire in reasonable shape at all, even if they smell like a wet dog slept on them for many years.
But, by far the worst thing, to my mind, about paperback Crime and Mystery fiction from the 1970s and 1980s, award winner/nominee or not, is the description, depiction, or mentions of gays, blacks, or Jews. Cancel Culture would have a Bury this in a Field Day. It’s pretty bad, what was acceptable. It has slowed me down when it comes to this particular reading project, but occasionally I still pick a random novel from the Best Original Paperback Edgar Award Dogshit slush pile, prepare some liverwurst for a palate-cleansing snack, and also prepare for the worst.
The latest news: The Corpse That Walked is bloody good. And the liverwurst I can’t comment on, because I actually don’t eat liverwurst when I read - it was just a set-up for a not very amusing play on words. I ate potato chips. They were good.
I’m gonna be honest, though…gays were mentioned twice in this book. I guess it had to happen; it’s hard to escape, in the heart of the 1970s Mystery scene - some kind of disparagement, quick or not. Quick, thankfully, in this case. In my humble opinion, a few Nantucketers in the novel making a few remarks about one of their neighbours, or talking shocked that gay marriages could take place in a church, did not ruin the entire book. I wish these little thorns in the experience were not in the book at all - they are never relevant to anything that goes on and could just as easily have been left out entirely - but that’s it, that was the sum total of that sort of stuff, and the book left it behind. And believe me, I’ve seen when it riddles the entire novel, and truly makes one wonder how a certain book could be the acceptable norm in promoting hate, and then get nominated for an Award.
So, with all of that peeled irritatingly off my chest, let me try and emphasize what I liked about this book. The Mystery content is solid, as are the two main, amateur, sleuths. The cover of my not-that-mouldy-smelling copy blurbs “Agatha Christie fans will love this one!”. Possibly, possibly - although, in terms of trying to lump this in successfully with any British stuff, I might be inclined to say if Two-Way Murder, by Lorac, is the particular assemblage of clues, late night mischief, road mishaps, catty chatter, red herrings and clever alibi sparklies you enjoy most, then The Corpse That Walked would make a worthy double-bill, even though it moves to Nantucket. Incidentally, I loved all the island-life detail - quahog chowder, beaches and a lighthouse, tourists versus islanders, and the salty gossip of a small wet town. The story moves wonderfully, but the author knows how to slather on lively description of this former nexus of whaling, now hotels and golf resorts.
Agatha Christie comparisons aside, this reminded me more of the Nero Wolfe novels, or Erle Stanley Gardner’s whodunits - in fact, the amateur dick duo here get compared to Perry Mason and Paul Drake, as well as Holmes and Watson, on at least two separate occasions when a few suspects jokingly put the clue-seekers in their place. But, as usual in these cases - and although Romano the cop is a terrific supporting character who avoids some standard cliches - it’s a good thing the amateurs are around to sort out what is a clever mystery.
I have many reading guides at home, that help me choose books. “100 Best” type of thing - “100 Best Crime & Mystery Books”, “100 Great Detectives”, and even a book that’s a big blast of previous lists, collected in one volume. A list of lists.
Many of these books have side-bars and even more extensive bonus material that only adds to the amount of titles one could sample from the past, and a common tactic to fill out reading guides for Crime novels is a cold inclusion of past award winners or nominees. So, I’m talking about Edgar Winners, or maybe Gold and Silver Dagger Winners, plus runners-up. I really enjoy picking, and ordering, these old, often unknown to me, novels, if the price and availability aren’t all “Ooga Booga!” - “Run! Run for the pills! Sorry, hills!”
I seem to have gravitated to Nominees (Winners, now and then, but that would be boring and obvious as the routine) of the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. If you choose to do this, like me, you may find disappointment and a lot of crap. Crap reads. Yeah, crap reads - and as far as what got nominated for awards in oh let’s just start with the 1970s and 1980s, and I’m often left wondering: “what the hell were they thinking??!!”. The books that count as Crime novels, rather than the focus being on a whodunit or puzzle, seem to be simplistic or draggy, maybe a revenge theme in ham-fisted style, or a criminal underworld novel that fails to shock anymore. Then there are the books that are just poorly written. Then there are the 1970s paperbacks that smell like someone’s basement, more specifically someone’s forgotten basement basket of mouldy grubby laundry. Okay, that’s a side issue, and more of my personal complaint when it comes to books I’m probably lucky to acquire in reasonable shape at all, even if they smell like a wet dog slept on them for many years.
But, by far the worst thing, to my mind, about paperback Crime and Mystery fiction from the 1970s and 1980s, award winner/nominee or not, is the description, depiction, or mentions of gays, blacks, or Jews. Cancel Culture would have a Bury this in a Field Day. It’s pretty bad, what was acceptable. It has slowed me down when it comes to this particular reading project, but occasionally I still pick a random novel from the Best Original Paperback Edgar Award Dogshit slush pile, prepare some liverwurst for a palate-cleansing snack, and also prepare for the worst.
The latest news: The Corpse That Walked is bloody good. And the liverwurst I can’t comment on, because I actually don’t eat liverwurst when I read - it was just a set-up for a not very amusing play on words. I ate potato chips. They were good.
I’m gonna be honest, though…gays were mentioned twice in this book. I guess it had to happen; it’s hard to escape, in the heart of the 1970s Mystery scene - some kind of disparagement, quick or not. Quick, thankfully, in this case. In my humble opinion, a few Nantucketers in the novel making a few remarks about one of their neighbours, or talking shocked that gay marriages could take place in a church, did not ruin the entire book. I wish these little thorns in the experience were not in the book at all - they are never relevant to anything that goes on and could just as easily have been left out entirely - but that’s it, that was the sum total of that sort of stuff, and the book left it behind. And believe me, I’ve seen when it riddles the entire novel, and truly makes one wonder how a certain book could be the acceptable norm in promoting hate, and then get nominated for an Award.
So, with all of that peeled irritatingly off my chest, let me try and emphasize what I liked about this book. The Mystery content is solid, as are the two main, amateur, sleuths. The cover of my not-that-mouldy-smelling copy blurbs “Agatha Christie fans will love this one!”. Possibly, possibly - although, in terms of trying to lump this in successfully with any British stuff, I might be inclined to say if Two-Way Murder, by Lorac, is the particular assemblage of clues, late night mischief, road mishaps, catty chatter, red herrings and clever alibi sparklies you enjoy most, then The Corpse That Walked would make a worthy double-bill, even though it moves to Nantucket. Incidentally, I loved all the island-life detail - quahog chowder, beaches and a lighthouse, tourists versus islanders, and the salty gossip of a small wet town. The story moves wonderfully, but the author knows how to slather on lively description of this former nexus of whaling, now hotels and golf resorts.
Agatha Christie comparisons aside, this reminded me more of the Nero Wolfe novels, or Erle Stanley Gardner’s whodunits - in fact, the amateur dick duo here get compared to Perry Mason and Paul Drake, as well as Holmes and Watson, on at least two separate occasions when a few suspects jokingly put the clue-seekers in their place. But, as usual in these cases - and although Romano the cop is a terrific supporting character who avoids some standard cliches - it’s a good thing the amateurs are around to sort out what is a clever mystery.
Want to Read
October 20, 2019Synopsis: Steve Barnes was on holiday on Nantucket Island with his host, former professor-come-sleuth Dr. Ira Cobb. Murder also showed up.
March 27, 2022
Repetitive, sordid, and trying much too hard to be high-brow. Skip it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews