#273 The Sign of the Potent Pills- Dashiell Hammett
This reads more like a British parlor game of who-dun-it
rather than the hard-boiled detective stories Hammett is known for, but it is
an entertaining one. Mr. Trate is a young detective summoned to a house full of
awaiting people. He does not know why is has been asked there and neither do
we. As he stands in the room listening to its inhabitants talk vaguely talk
about what has happened, he is occasionally brought into the mix. His 11 day
career causes him to be poked at relentlessly:
-“Go ahead young fellow…detect something for the lady.”
-“I hope you ain’t going to be too hard on us young fellow.”
-“I’m gonna smack that punk yet.”
Intrigue, fires, gun-play, and a bit of a twist ending
(although a convoluted one), makes for a fun read. The piece did suffer
a bit of an identity crisis. What turned out as more of a farce, at first had
a bit of a spooky mood, with descriptions like:
-“In front of the house a high grilled gate interrupted the
black fence. It was a gate designed for shutting people out rather than
admitting, a gate wrought in lines as uninviting as the upright sharp pickets.”
-“Opaque blinds and heavy curtains hid the windows. A
glittering chandelier lighted the room. From the farther end a dozen faces
looked at Trate with indefinite expectancy.”
Notable Passage: “I think it’s wonderful…to be able to make
plans that go through successfully no matter how much everybody tries to spoil
them from the beginning.”
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