In a Lonely Place
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4.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
'The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect' Daily Telegraph
Los Angeles, the late 1940's. A serial killer stalks the foggy streets at night ...
Dix Steele, a former fighter pilot, moved to L.A. after the war, looking for a new life. But the city is gripped by fear of a murderer in its midst. Dix, however, is not scared. And when he bumps into his old friend Brub, now a detective on the trail of the culprit, he is excited to follow the police's progress. A dark and terrible truth is revealed, in a noir novel like no other.
Customer Reviews
Classic noir doesn’t come much better
4.5 stars
Author
American mystery author and literary critic (1904–1993). Started out as a poet before finding her forte in hardboiled prose. Published 14 novels in all. The best known are In a Lonely Place (1947) and Ride the Pink Horse (1946). Both were made into successful films, the former starring Humphrey Bogart in what has been described as one of his greatest roles. In the early fifties, Hughes largely stopped writing fiction, and focussed on criticism, for which she won an Edgar Award. In 1978, she received a Grand Master Award for literary achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Plot
The setting is Los Angeles, post-World War 2. Dix Steele is an air force veteran with a chip on his shoulder. Several chips, in fact. He believes life owes him, and is happy to exploit others to “feather his own nest.” By exploit, I mean kill. He’s not well disposed towards women either. Since he hit town, there’s been a series of young women murdered by “the LA strangler,” who does his best work each new moon. He’s careful, and the police are making little progress. One of those policemen is an old Air Force buddy, from whom our boy extracts information on the progress they are making, or not making. Things are moving along nicely for Dix when, wouldn’t you know it, he falls for a gal he wants to marry, not kill. She’s got issues of her own, as well as finely tuned “mantannae.” Things go downhill for him.
Prose
As good as, if not better, than anything Raymond Chandler ever wrote, if you like that sort of thing. (Disclaimer: I do.)
Characters
The author brings her unpleasant protagonist, in particular, alive, and develops key members of the supporting cast well. The femme fatale remains mysterious, as femme fatales worth their salt must.
Bottom line
Classic noir doesn’t come much better