Book Review: The Mouse in the Mountain by Norbert Davis

The Mouse in the Mountain
Norbert Davis
The Rue Morgue Press, 2001
ISBN 0915230410
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor

Originally published in 1943, this first entry in the Doan and Carstairs series is unexpected in the world of the hardboiled PI novel. As the new publishers explained in their foreword, Norbert Davis introduced humor into this subgenre at a time when authors and readers took their hardboiled mysteries seriously.

Doan, a California private investigator who seems to operate somewhere on the edge of the law, has gone to Mexico to meet with a fugitive.  Accompanying him is Carstairs, an enormous Great Dane, “won” by Doan in a crap game. The truth is, Carstairs calls the shots and no one argues with him, including Doan.

Doan and Carstairs take a rickety tour bus to Los Altos, a remote mountain village. Along with them is a motley collection of other guests from their hotel, including naive teacher Janet, rich girl Patricia, her gigolo, Gregor, her maid, Maria, and the Henshaws with their dreadful son Mortimer. Janet is in search of romance and adventure and is fascinated with the story of Cortez’s associate, Lt. Emile Perona.

After a nail-biting journey, they arrive in Los Altos and land right in the middle of a gunfight between police and bad guy Garcia. More bodies begin to appear, including some of the hotel tourists. Doan seems to be in the thick of all of it and is the nemesis of the military secret police, headed up by Captain Emile Perona, descendant of Janet’s hero. Why are the secret police in Los Altos? Is there a connection between the gunfight and the murders of the hotel guests? Will Carstairs put the fear of death into the horrible Mortimer?

Davis does indeed inject humor into this classic PI story, so much so as to be almost farcical. For those mystery readers who don’t generally like hardboiled, this is the ideal exception and you’ll be looking forward to reading the next in the series.  If you have any difficulty finding it, go directly to the re-publisher, Rue Morgue Press.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, 2001.  Slightly revised 2010.
Review first published on murderexpress.net in 2001.

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June 28, 2010  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews, My Reviews

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