Tuesday, 6 August 2019

POISON IVY. By Peter Cheyney






Carlotta!! What a "dame"! In many ways she is the true hero, heroine of this work. Another fascinating lady we have come to expect from the adventures of Lemmy Caution; Lemmy at work and play! 

Lemmy of course basks in consummate fashion in the company of such intriguing women. The sleuth is as tough as nails himself, but even so this time around, the type of ruthless degenerates and cutthroats he has to deal with boggles the mind. Lemmy negotiates the dark contours painstakingly, grins and jests in abundance. 

And is it a tough assignation! He even finds himself at sea (literarily) with a merry mob of unconscionable gangsters only too happy to slit the throat of the shining light of the FBI... And through it all, the enigmatic Carlotta slithers and tantalizes, a veritable "tough Mama". 

Lemmy has his usual breaks, not least whilst in the ship where the crooks want to dump him in and out of the cavernous waters (seal act) But they decide that, for some time anyway, he can help them with "wireless messages" on board. Which indicates how old this work - and the reviewer - is. 

Carlotta remains tough till the very end, when she flatly declares to Lemmy that she ain't the type of woman who faints... And then promptly faints on cue! An engrossing story which many modern readers might find old-fashioned - and zany!
-         - “Eric”

3 comments:

  1. An interesting writer of yore no doubt; unknown to so many nowadays - more reason why we must keep the legacy of writers alive, especially in Africa here.

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  2. An old work of fiction - and I guess even writers in western world were not politically correct then, and just expressed whatever when it came to women

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  3. Very funny protagonist, the wisecracking Lemmy

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