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Lemmy Caution #2
La môme Vert-de-gris
English & French Edition
In the second Lemmy Caution novel, the FBI man is sent by his bosses to Casablanca to investigate the disappearance of two million dollars, which have seemingly vanished into thin air. There he meets Carlotta de la Rue, the eponymous Poison Ivy, whose character is based on a true-life femme fatale nightclub singer.
Lemmy soon uncovers a gang of gold smugglers, whose boss might be Rudy Saltierra, Carlotta's boyfriend. She, in turn, may or may not be on Lemmy's side ...
In the second Lemmy Caution novel, the FBI man is sent by his bosses to Casablanca to investigate the disappearance of two million dollars, which have seemingly vanished into thin air. There he meets Carlotta de la Rue, the eponymous Poison Ivy, whose character is based on a true-life femme fatale nightclub singer.
Lemmy soon uncovers a gang of gold smugglers, whose boss might be Rudy Saltierra, Carlotta's boyfriend. She, in turn, may or may not be on Lemmy's side ...
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
2 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Peter Cheyney
138 books31 followersBorn Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney, he trained as a lawyer before getting tired of legal office work and joining the Army. He fought at the second Battle of the Somme in World War I and was wounded but when he returned to England he wrote songs, poems and short stories for various newspapers and magazines and used many pseudonyms.
He also turned his hand to journalism, was a newspaper editor and also owned a detective agency, Cheyney Research Investigations.
His first published novel was This Man Is Dangerous and this began his prolific novel writing career. Thereafter he averaged two mystery novels a year with his best known characters being Slim Callaghan and Lemmy Caution and he became one of the best known and most successful of British crime novelists. His success also brought with it financial rewards and he was recognised as one of the richest authors of the time.
There have been many film versions of his works, which helped spread his popularity, particularly to the United States.
His life-style, one of hard-living, much like his characters, and hard work eventually took their toll and he died at age 55. He was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.
Michael Harrison published a biography in 1954 entitled Peter Cheyney Prince of Hokum and there have been a number of biographical essays over the years.
Gerry Wolstenholme
December 2010
He also turned his hand to journalism, was a newspaper editor and also owned a detective agency, Cheyney Research Investigations.
His first published novel was This Man Is Dangerous and this began his prolific novel writing career. Thereafter he averaged two mystery novels a year with his best known characters being Slim Callaghan and Lemmy Caution and he became one of the best known and most successful of British crime novelists. His success also brought with it financial rewards and he was recognised as one of the richest authors of the time.
There have been many film versions of his works, which helped spread his popularity, particularly to the United States.
His life-style, one of hard-living, much like his characters, and hard work eventually took their toll and he died at age 55. He was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.
Michael Harrison published a biography in 1954 entitled Peter Cheyney Prince of Hokum and there have been a number of biographical essays over the years.
Gerry Wolstenholme
December 2010
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 10, 2019
Carlotta!! What a "dame"! In many ways she is the true hero, heroine of this work. Another fascinating lady we have come to expect from the adventures of Lemmy Caution; Lemmy at work and play! Lemmy of course basks in consummate fashion in the company of such intriguing women. The sleuth is as tough as nails himself, but even so this time around, the type of ruthless degenerates and cutthroats he has to deal with boggles the mind. Lemmy negotiates the dark contours painstakingly, grins and jests in abundance. And is it a tough assignation! He even finds himself at sea (literarily) with a merry mob of unconscionable gangsters only too happy to slit the throat of the shining light of the FBI... And through it all, the enigmatic Carlotta slithers and tantalizes, a veritable "tough Mama " . Lemmy has his usual breaks, not least whilst in the ship where the crooks want to dump him in and out of the cavernous waters (seal act) But they decide that, for some time anyway, he can help them with "wireless messages" on board. Which indicates how old this work - and the reviewer - is. Carlotta remains tough till the very end, when she flatly declares to Lemmy that she ain't the type of woman who faints... And then promptly faints on cue! An engrossing story which many modern readers might find old-fashioned - and zany!
April 3, 2019
Poison Ivy (Lemmy Caution #2) by Peter Cheyne y
Peter Cheyney was recommended to me as a writer mainly for his writing - a humorous first person narrator with an informal irreverential style. While I found them humorous, must say the action was also good and often an interesting twist towards the end though his works are more action thrillers than whodunnits.
Poison Ivy is the third one by this author that I am reading. This one I felt somehow was not that humorous as the previous two. But the crime was very interesting. Lemmy caution gets a brief that criminals are attempting a heist of a gold bullion shipment from the US to the UK. Before his contact can tell him anything else, he gets bumped off. From there, Caution makes his way through a mixture of detection and on ground action to crack the case. While reading it felt like there was going to be lot of loose ends. But it was interesting how the author manages to tie it all up neatly in the end. Not all surprises were really surprises. But at least one of them really caught me off guard. And that was the one that tied the loose ends.
The pace is quite good and makes an engaging light read.
Peter Cheyney was recommended to me as a writer mainly for his writing - a humorous first person narrator with an informal irreverential style. While I found them humorous, must say the action was also good and often an interesting twist towards the end though his works are more action thrillers than whodunnits.
Poison Ivy is the third one by this author that I am reading. This one I felt somehow was not that humorous as the previous two. But the crime was very interesting. Lemmy caution gets a brief that criminals are attempting a heist of a gold bullion shipment from the US to the UK. Before his contact can tell him anything else, he gets bumped off. From there, Caution makes his way through a mixture of detection and on ground action to crack the case. While reading it felt like there was going to be lot of loose ends. But it was interesting how the author manages to tie it all up neatly in the end. Not all surprises were really surprises. But at least one of them really caught me off guard. And that was the one that tied the loose ends.
The pace is quite good and makes an engaging light read.
August 17, 2010
Lemmy Caution, American "G" man, is the creation of Peter Cheyney, a British writer who made a bundle with his ersatz hardboiled writing. The plot of Poison Ivy, the second Caution novel, deals with the mob's attempt to rob a bullion shipment headed from New York to England, but the main thing readers (especially American readers) are likely to remember after finishing this book is Caution's over-the-top, unintentionally parodic (at least I think it's unintentional) narrative voice. As a literary creation, Caution is so bad that he is almost entertaining. I can imagine someone wanting to read a second Caution novel, but I can't imagine someone wanting to read a third.
May 14, 2025
Pour sa deuxième affaire, l'agent du FBI Lemmy Caution se rend à New York, où il divague entre boîte de nuits et hôtels. Alors qu'il est censé glaner quelques informations de la part d'un collègue, ce dernier se fait froidement assassiner dans une boîte de nuit. À quelques pas de là, dans l'ombre, on tire sur un régulier du club qui en savait trop.
C'est le premier roman de Cheyney que je lis, et je dois admettre que j'ai d'abord été très impressionné. le vocabulaire, qui se veut celui d'un homme simple qui aime donner des coups et lancer des piques mais qui n'a pas vraiment eu d'éducation, est magnifiquement utilisé et facile d'accès, ce qui rend la lecture agréable, mais surtout très drôle. Les tournures de phrase et les répliques cinglantes de l'agent Caution m'ont fait sourire à plusieurs reprises, et je me suis pris à plutôt apprécier ces échanges simplets mais claquants.
Pour le reste, le mystère initial, celui du double-meurtre, et sa résolution, ont tout de suite happé mon intérêt. J'étais clairement plongé dans le début du livre. Malgré cela, le reste du roman est un peu terne, répétitif, et l'intrigue des lingots d'or franchement ennuyante. Toutefois, les surprises restent nombreuses et inattendues.
C'est le premier roman de Cheyney que je lis, et je dois admettre que j'ai d'abord été très impressionné. le vocabulaire, qui se veut celui d'un homme simple qui aime donner des coups et lancer des piques mais qui n'a pas vraiment eu d'éducation, est magnifiquement utilisé et facile d'accès, ce qui rend la lecture agréable, mais surtout très drôle. Les tournures de phrase et les répliques cinglantes de l'agent Caution m'ont fait sourire à plusieurs reprises, et je me suis pris à plutôt apprécier ces échanges simplets mais claquants.
Pour le reste, le mystère initial, celui du double-meurtre, et sa résolution, ont tout de suite happé mon intérêt. J'étais clairement plongé dans le début du livre. Malgré cela, le reste du roman est un peu terne, répétitif, et l'intrigue des lingots d'or franchement ennuyante. Toutefois, les surprises restent nombreuses et inattendues.
May 3, 2021
Good gangster stuff. Lemmy Caution, G-man fights crooks both sides of the Atlantic. Would make a good action movie.
May 9, 2018
Another good Lemmy Caution detective/hard boiled story and "it's stick a foot" that I like them. It's still strange for me to read Lemmy's adventure as I first encounter him in the french B-series movies. That familiarity with the character made me enjoy these stories more than the average person I guess. That notwithstanding, Peter Cheney work's is some very good detective story with many twist-and-turn, gumshoeing, fistfight, gunfight and swell Dames. The writing style is archaic (written in the 30s) and the fake American slang narration (the author is British) from the main character can get tedious, but if you don't like that, then "I reckon" there is no point in reading Lemmy's adventures.
September 9, 2011
Siihen nähden kuinka arvostettu ja suosittu Cheyneyn Lemmy Caution on, niin kyllä ne ovat huonoja.
March 1, 2021
It took me a while to get into this story. But once I was there a lot of unexpected stuff happened. It was an enjoyable read. I liked it more than I would think because I have a hard time reading first person narrator stories.
November 16, 2024
Lemmy Caution has begun to bore me. More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews