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Bodies Are Where You Find Them
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October 2012 - Bodies are Where You Find Them
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Michael, Anti-Hero
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rated it 3 stars
Sep 30, 2012 07:47PM
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I'm having a hell of a time finding this one that isn't completely prohibitive in price - although abebooks.com does have a few options (the cheapest being $30-$40). Where were you able to find your copy? I've had this one on my to-read list for a while and haven't had much luck in used book stores.
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I decided to give this one a miss. I'm ebook-only for the near future.
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I got my copy through Alibris (www.alibris.com). There are currently four copies for <$22. Not that cheap, but less than $30.
No bodies, no books. I'm still looking :)
I found a copy on eBay for $7. It has not arrived yet, but I was danged happy to find any kind of copy for under $10. In general I'm really amazed at how much money the Bret Halliday paperbacks are bringing, not just first editions, but any copy. The pulp covers, which are great, must be in demand.
I think a lot of sellers just think "old book = valuable."It's a problem perhaps compounded by the fact that a lot of paperback reprints don't give any information about the date they were reprinted or which printing they are.
For instance, the paperback copy of Bodies Are Where You Find Them I bought just says "Copyright MCMXLI, by Davis Dresser. Reprinted by arrangement with the author."
According to a bibliography I found online, it's a reprint from February 1953, which seems about right.
A lot of online sellers don't really seem to know anything about books or publishing. I once bought a paperback copy of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale online. It arrived in much worse condition than the seller had described, and when I complained to him he justified the price by telling me it was "a collectible from 1953." But the back cover of the reprint had Ian Fleming's death date as part of his bio: 1964. So it clearly was not from 1953.
My came in today..ordered from Amazon Sunday..a 65 cent Dell original ...paid @ $20...
Unfortunately, I'm out on this one too - just not cost-effective given what I've been able to find. Looking forward to the next read!
I managed to purchase a copy through Amazon.co.uk but by the time it gets to France it will have cost €22. Still I believe that it will have been worth it!
Well Alberto, you certainly did better than me with the euros!
I don't know where you guys are finding these - the best I've still been able to find is $35 CAD.
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Kelly, I looked across several sites and it's on Waterstones UK at €24.32 from a company Slategray, CA. I found an incredibly priced book at $185.46 on Barnes and Noble! I've just gone back onto Waterstones and it is not available! I tried...
Going to skip this one - got November's likely winner from the library already though.
Just been advised by Amazon that my copy will arrive October 24!
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Sometimes they deliver earlier than promised.
My copy of November's book arrived yesterday.
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I found mine in the $1 bargain bin in some secondhand shop and squeeled in delight. Hopefully I will have returned from Europe in time to read it and join in the discussion.
I will start this week...hope I have good things to say about it.
Tfitoby wrote: "I found mine in the $1 bargain bin in some secondhand shop and squeeled in delight. Hopefully I will have returned from Europe in time to read it and join in the discussion."Have you considered side work as occasional guest bidder on Storage Wars? :D. I have feelings of envy going on, must eat comfort food now, lol.
Alberto, I've seen Time to Kill and a number of the other Mike Shayne movies with Lloyd Nolan. I like Lloyd Nolan a lot, although he's much more breezy and jokey than the Michael Shayne of the novels, who's much bigger and meaner and tougher.But if you don't mind the character being played a little differently, the Lloyd Nolan Shayne movies are really fun mystery programmers. I've seen five or six of them, and I think The Man Who Wouldn't Die is my favorite.
After Nolan left the role, P.R.C. (a poverty row studio) made a bunch with Hugh Beaumont (a.k.a. Ward Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver), but I haven't seen any of those.
They did that with most of Lloyd Nolan's Michael Shayne movies.The first one was based on the second Michael Shayne novel "The Private Practice of Michael Shayne," but after that they were all from other sources, or original scripts. "Dressed to Kill" was based on Richard Burke's novel "Death Takes No Bows," for instance.
So far this story is holding my interest and I'm feeling Shayne's vibe. The mystery yet to be revealed.
Jeffrey wrote: "In general I'm really amazed at how much money the Bret Halliday paperbacks are..."Whenever I go antiquing and I find them at a good price, I snap them up because they do get pretty expensive. The cheapest I've ever found them is $3 apiece, which is still a lot considering their age and the fact that some people sell paperbacks at $1 for a big brown paper bag for them.
I definitely didn't vote for this choice because as much as I'd like to read it and as much as I love Brett Halliday, I knew finding this title would be too hard.
Adam wrote: "I like Lloyd Nolan a lot, although he's much more breezy and jokey than the Michael Shayne of the novels, who's much bigger and meaner and tougher.
I love Lloyd Nolan in those films. He was really brilliant. I bought the Michael Shayne vol 1 DVD. Now if only they'd release a vol 2.
My book is evidently going to arrive 22 October!
Cyndi wrote: "Tfitoby wrote: "I found mine in the $1 bargain bin in some secondhand shop and squeeled in delight. Hopefully I will have returned from Europe in time to read it and join in the discussion."Have ..."
I've heard of Storage Wars, people finding rare things in abandoned storage units? I'm there! Although I wouldn't want to sell all the pretty books.
Adam wrote: "They did that with most of Lloyd Nolan's Michael Shayne movies.The first one was based on the second Michael Shayne novel "The Private Practice of Michael Shayne," but after that they were all fr..."
That's really bizarre. Especially as there were a lot of Mike Shayne books to use.
It was a different time, Tfitoby. Nerds who cared about that kind of thing really didn't exist.
Ok, so this Mike Shayne is cool, smooth and weathered by his profession. This turned out to be better than I expected...gave it four stars...3.5 for the tale and its twists and .5 for the suprise of my enjoyment. Will probably try other Mike Shayne tales. On to November...my book arrived today :)!
Cyndi wrote: "Ok, so this Mike Shayne is cool, smooth and weathered by his profession. This turned out to be better than I expected...gave it four stars...3.5 for the tale and its twists and .5 for the suprise ..."Cyndi, be careful, at a certain point the "Brett Halliday" name was "franchised" and the novels were never quite the same by most accounts.
It's good to know you enjoyed it though.
Nobody has mentioned the movie that this inspired either, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang anyone?
I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang when it came out and so far I see no similarities. Maybe a few plot elements? But the tone, humor, characters, and situations are so completely different.I do remember a scene in the film in which Michelle Monaghan finds a stash of series pulps at a party in the Hollywood Hills and gets lost in them. Were those specifically Brett Halliday novels or was that scene just an allusion to them? I can't remember now...
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OK, I think I answered my own question. There's a still of her reading one of those paperbacks here: http://randommovieclub.blogspot.com/2007/02/kisskissbangbang2.html. It sure looks like a Mike Shayne paperback, but according to the blog they're called the "Jonny Gossomer" series.
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The Best Laid Man
Sally Died Singing
You Wouldn't Like To Live There
Vein Attempt
The Callous Cut
Little Girl Lust
The Lonely Black Widow
Kill The Big Ones First
A Corpse In Every Garage
Man can Bleed on Me
Give Us This Day Our Daily Red?
Die Job
How strange. I didn't expect it to be extremely close to the source material but considering Halliday has a full credit as opposed to the "suggested by" acknowledgement that other novels have received from Hollywood I would have expected some resemblance. I shall see for myself soon enough I guess.
It's a fun movie, but if you're looking for similarities to the source material, I'm going to give you the same advice Jack Nicholson gets at the end of Chinatown."Forget it, Tfitoby, it's Shane Black."
Hi Alberto,re: 3 - I've read a couple of Michael Shayne novels that were published before Bodies Are Where You Find Them, but none that were published later. According to the Thrilling Detective's Mike Shayne page (http://www.thrillingdetective.com/shaynemike.html), Phyllis Brighton is killed in the novel Blood on the Black Market, which came out a couple of years after Bodies Are Where You Find Them. Her death doesn't surprise me. In this novel at least, Davis Dresser seems to have no idea what to do with her, and literally ships her off at the beginning so she won't interfere with the story he wants to tell.
It's kind of a shame. Mike Shayne and his wife didn't need to be a crime-solving duo like Nick and Nora Charles, but so many private detective characters are single men that it would have been interesting to have one whose marriage played a role in the stories.
re: 4 - Lloyd Nolan doesn't really fit the role the way it's written in the novels, but his films are great anyway. If one were to have made a more faithful-to-the-books series of Michael Shayne films, Van Heflin would have been a great choice.
I'm currently listening to the 1948 syndicated radio show The New Adventures of Michael Shayne, so I'm not picturing him as any one particular actor, but every time he has dialogue I hear Jeff Chandler's voice.
Well my book has just turned up. It's in large print (ghastly!) and from Dundas Public Library (Ontario, Canada - can someone confirm?) and there's a stamp stating "Discard - Hamilton Public Library". So what does that tell you?
I don't think that a husband and wife team would have worked in these books. Michael Shayne is too much of a tough guy to partner with a woman. The radio show of Michael Shayne is a whole lot of fun. I'd rate it second to the Richard Diamond series which is also a lot of fun.
Started the book yesterday. Good fun and quick to read!
Alberto, I must admit to having a soft spot for those Weekend at Bernies films (yes even the sequel) and I get the reference already after only a few pages. I do however (after 30%) see the resemblence in terms of crime plot - Corbin Bernsen as Harlan Dexter is essentially the Stallings character for example?
I've read a later Mike Shayne (pre-ghost-written) and it is essentially the same broad stroke plotting. As Adam said his wife was already killed off but he did have his own equivalent of the Mike Hammer/Velda relationship going on with his secretary if I remember correctly.
OK finished, enjoyed it as much as the previous Shayne that I've read. They don't seem to be incredible works of noir literature like you might expect from Jim Thompson but they sure are a lot of fun in a no holds barred PI kicking ass and wise cracking across town kind of way.And yep the plot was definitely used by Shane Black in the movie. Makes me appreciate the film even more infact, thanks to the clever use of this book.
This was the first Brett Halliday book that I read. Picked it up in a bookstore in Maryland many years ago. One of the first books that I bought. Have to say it's still one of his best books. Is this the next book everyone is reading? I really like Mike Shayne books. You might want to check out this blog by James Reasoner. He wrote Mike Shayne books also. http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/201...
Ronhummer wrote: "This was the first Brett Halliday book that I read. Picked it up in a bookstore in Maryland many years ago. One of the first books that I bought. Have to say it's still one of his best books. I..."Hey Ronhummer it was Octobers pick for book group, the readers choice for november is the excellent He Died With His Eyes Open if you feel like joining us.
And of course I finally found a copy for a reasonable price, and October is well over. Ah well!
Kelly wrote: "And of course I finally found a copy for a reasonable price, and October is well over. Ah well!"We're still here to discuss your experience Kelly, I hope you still bought it.
