Doan & Carstairs Mysteries, Book One: Holocaust House ($.99 Mystery Classics) Reviews
Doan & Carstairs Mysteries, Book One: Holocaust House ($.99 Mystery Classics)
In this pulp classic, the detective duo must protect a young heiress from looming danger. A snappy, hard-boiled treat featuring one of mystery’s most loved duos — the rumpled detective Doan & his canine companion, Carstairs.
Rating: 
(out of 6 reviews)
List Price: $ 0.99
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Tags: $.99, Book, Carstairs, Classics, Doan, Holocaust, House, Mysteries, Mystery, Reviews
September 4th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Review by Tucker Andersen for Doan & Carstairs Mysteries, Book One: Holocaust House ($.99 Mystery Classics)
Rating:
This is a short story first published in 1940 as a two part serial in the pulp fiction magazine Argosy. The author later decided to develop the characters in three novellas which have also been adapted to the Kindle. This is a very quick read, and thus since it is so inexpensive I recommend that anyone who is interested in the genre and plans to read the subsequently published books( which I rate highly) should read it first.
The main character in this book is the detective Doan, and unfortunately his huge Great Dane Carstairs makes only a cameo introductory appearance. Fortunately, in the subsequent stories Carstairs plays an integral role and adds immeasurably to the reader’s enjoyment. Doan’s unimpressive appearance leads his adversaries to underestimate his (and Carstairs’) skill and intelligence, and in this introduction to his character the author has not yet fully developed Doan’s skills. However, it is still a typical pulp fiction story concerning a hard boiled detective except for the fact that as the author developed the characters over the series he injected much more humor than was usual for that era.
After an interesting introduction to the series’ characters in the first few chapters, Doan is tasked to protect a young heiress about to receive her inheritance. He travels to a wilderness resort cabin, and becomes isolated there with a strange cast of characters while a blizzard rages outside. However, murders occur, misdirection abounds, and of course he eventually untangles the web of deceit, earning his keep and rescuing a damsel in distress.. As in all short stories of this type, the prose is spare and the character development minimal. But a fast pace keeps the reader’s interest.
Unfortunately, the author Norbert Davis is not as well known as other pulp fiction writers of the period for three reasons. First, his stories encompassed a wide array of genres, so he never built a reputation as a practitioner of specific type (e.g. detective, SF, etc.) . Second, his detective stories included a strain of humor which was highly unusual for the period, a hard boiled detective story was not supposed to be funny. Third, he committed suicide at age 40, supposedly after he had been diagnosed with cancer. Thus, his potential literary legacy was truncated. However, among his peers he was regarded as in a class with the best writers of the era, including Hammett and McDonald. He graduated from Stanford with a law degree, but never took the bar exam – choosing instead to pursue a career which he had already established by being published while still in college, usually being paid at the going rate of a penny a word. Hopefully, the advent of ebooks and specialized small presses will allow many more potential fans to enjoy his works and be delighted by Carstairs’ collaborations with Doan.
Also, after reading this short story you can decide if you agree with me that the author’s choice of title was very clever due to the multiple images invoked.
Tucker Andersen 6/4/2010
September 4th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Review by Stanley Kreubert for Doan & Carstairs Mysteries, Book One: Holocaust House ($.99 Mystery Classics)
Rating:
The Doan & Carstairs mysteries are a rare gem. Well written and just the right amount of humor. Books, two, three and four in this series are better books than this first one. This first one is good though, but the others are better. Formatting looks and works great on my Kindle. All links work too…
September 4th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Review by jrv for Doan & Carstairs Mysteries, Book One: Holocaust House ($.99 Mystery Classics)
Rating:
great pulp fiction. enjoyable, fun read. reminds me of the old detective magazines no longer in print. well written, good descriptive passages. definately not a book or even a novella – more a long short story – but still worth the read.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Review by Chicory for Doan & Carstairs Mysteries, Book One: Holocaust House ($.99 Mystery Classics)
Rating:
Carstairs doesn’t really appear much. Okay story, but only one interesting character, and the hero shot him and his dogs. Still, enough potential that I may try one more.
No woman sleuths here. hard boiled short story mystery are appropriate terms
September 4th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Review by L.W.Smith for Doan & Carstairs Mysteries, Book One: Holocaust House ($.99 Mystery Classics)
Rating:
I am absolutely in love with these two. What a great read — witty, sarcastic, clever. I was reading in a Starbucks and laughing out loud. A lady stopped by to ask what I was reading that tickled me so much. Hopefully, Norbert Davis has another convert! The mystery elements were good, as were the action and personal interactions. SO glad I discovered Doan and Carstairs! I’ve already downloaded the other three books. What a pity Mr. Davis didn’t live long enough to bring us more.