Always Kill A Stranger by Robert L. Fish (1967)
Fish is a writer I had never heard of before so this book was a shot in the dark. It was part of a series set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the homicide detective Jose da Silva and his American embassy (read: CIA) buddy, Wilson.
Overall, not a bad story about an assassin working in the city during an OAS conference and the detectives matched up against him. The politics were muddled and the plotting was, at times, too neat. Like the Bangkok book discussed earlier, it is still enjoyable to read a standard plot set in an exotic location.
Robert L. Fish Bio:
Robert Fish is the Edgar-award winning author of over 30 novels and countless short stories. He was born in Ohio in 1912 and studied mechanical engineering at Case University. While working as an engineer in Brazil, Fish wrote his first short story, which was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. His experiences in Brazil also provided some of the key details for his first novel, The Fugitive. Unrelated to the popular television show and movie of that name, The Fugitive features a concentration camp survivor who travels to Brazil incognito in the early 1960's to infiltrate a burgeoning Nazi-revivalist movement. The novel won Mr. Fish an Edgar for Best First Mystery. His book Mute Witness, reprinted as Bullitt, was turned into a movie starring Steve McQueen.
Robert Fish died in 1981 in Connecticut.
Mount Benson Report
3 comments:
Wow. Total synchronicituous weirdness. Bernice and I just watched Bullitt on Monday night and during the credits, I missed the name of the author of Mute Witness. I actually said out loud, "who was the author? I guess I'll check it out on the IMDB." Thanks for posting that. I'll keep an eye out for him. I always like to see semi-succesful authors from that period get a screenplay and a movie. It's like a big testimonial to all the writing they've done.
Thats so cool. I had no idea that it was his book that had been made into Bullitt. Is that movie worth renting?
Oh, most definitely. It looks great. San Francisco in the '60s. Has a great car chase (considered one of the greatest by many). Steve McQueen is always trying to keep it real and this movie was one of his most succesful at that. Rent it.
Post a Comment