World Famous Comics: Fools Rush In: A Sam McCain Mystery (Sam McCain Mysteries)
Fools Rush In: A Sam McCain Mystery (Sam McCain Mysteries)
By: Ed Gorman Publisher: Pegasus Books Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Pegasus Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 336 Publication Date: March 01, 2007
"Sam McCain is the kind of hero any small town could take to its heart."-Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
In America's heartland, Sam seeks justice for a black college student who's found dead in a car trunk at the drive-in, while thousands gather in the nation's capital for the March on Washington with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
FOOLS RUSH IN by Ed Gorman It was the winter of 2002 that I discovered Ed Gorman's Sam McCain series--I found a copy of WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW?, the third novel in the series, at Borders one afternoon. I read it, loved it, and quickly went on an expedition to find the first two novels in the series. Since then there have been four additional Sam McCain novels and one novella. I've read each of them at least once, and I just read the most recent addition to the series: FOOLS RUSH IN.
It's 1963. The civil rights movement is charging across the country. The townspeople of Black River Falls, Iowa are concerned about the tumultuous changes that are happening across the country, but their town has been insulated from the turmoil until a young black man is murdered. His name is David Leeds, and he is a motivated, attractive, and well-liked young man who is attending University in Cedar Rapids, and scandalously dating the daughter of a local Senator.
Sam is again heralded into action by Judge Whitney--the last of the gentrified Whitney family who came to Black River Falls in the 1860s after a disagreement with the Treasury department sent them running from the East coast. He is ordered to find out who killed David Leeds and stop Cliff Sykes, the incompetent local Sheriff, from fouling the investigation. Sam quickly finds himself in a mystery that goes beyond mere racism--he does discover plenty of hate, but he also finds corruption, blackmail, fear, and even a little love.
FOOLS RUSH IN is darker than the previous entries in the series. We find Sam in a new world--the beautiful Pamela Forrest is gone, Mary has returned to her husband and Sam feels himself getting a little older. His father is ill and his world is changing. He is still a wiseacre, philosopher, pulp reader, part-time lawyer, and part-time private eye, but the world is changing around him. Or maybe better said, he is losing his youth and his vision of the world is changing.
The mystery is top-notch. Mr. Gorman gives enough false leads to keep the reader guessing at what is happening, and when the climax arrived I was surprised by who did what, and why. I enjoyed FOOLS RUSH IN a whole lot. It is a worthy addition to one of the better private eye series still being produced, and I hope--oh how I hope!--there is another story or two still waiting to see print. But if there isn't, FOOLS RUSH IN isn't a bad title to go out with.
Ben Boulden, Gravetapping
terrific civil rights era whodunit In June 1963 in suburban Black River Falls, Iowa, Judge Esme Anne Whitney assigns attorney and private investigator Sam McCain to end the shenanigans of a blackmailer who may derail the reelection of white Senator Williams, whose daughter is seeing a Negro David Leeds. Sam goes to the cabin of the extortionist photographer Richie Neville only to find him dead from two close-up shots to his face and nearby also killed is Leeds.
The American heartland has not been directly impacted by the civil rights movement that has the Freedom Riders all over the south and the nation listening to Negro demands for equality in DC. In Iowa, Sam quickly realizes just below the surface of calm lies plenty of anger and resentment as a black male does not date a white female. However, he also sees another scenario possible as Sam finds wads of money and photos of other victims; he ponders whether one chose to make remittance by murdering the blackmailer with the Negro being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The police want him to stay out of their case although he expects some sort of whitewashing of the truth.
Sam's seventh song titled civil rights era mystery (see BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO and EVERYBODY'S SOMEBODY'S FOOL) is a terrific whodunit. However, it is the small town relatively serene Iowa backdrop that enables the audience to witness the demands for freedom in 1960s America; this seemingly out of the way from the prime civil rights focus allows readers to understand the scope of the movement. Ed Gorman once again combines a fine murder investigation with a touch of nostalgia inside of the grand scale of the local, regional, and national freedom marches that changed America.
Harriet Klausner
The seventh Sam McCain adventure Set against the backdrop of civil rights leader Martin Luther King's impending March on Washington, Fools Rush In finds lawyer/PI Sam McCain investigating the murders of suspected blackmailer Richie Neville and one of his alleged victims, David Leeds. Found together in a wooded area near Neville's studio, the two men are connected by some photos that Neville threatened to release to the press, photos of law student Leeds, a charismatic young black man, pursuing a romance with Lucy Williams, daughter of conservative white Senator Lloyd Williams (this being Black River Falls, Iowa, circa June 1963, the pictures are certain to negatively impact the staid Republican Senator's quest for reelection). McCain doggedly pursues the truth, discovering that his home town is even more insular and bigoted than he previously imagined.
Ed Gorman's seventh Sam McCain adventure (each installment bears the name of a popular period song as its title) displays all the positive attributes its predecessors possessed, namely Gorman's stripped down, not-a-word-wasted prose, his deft plotting, and his dead on characterization (all reasons why he's won the Shamus, the Spur, and the International Fiction Writers awards for his significant contributions to genre fiction). As with previous adventures, Gorman marries these attributes with subtle commentary on the social mores and historical figures of the era, providing a mirror which, while certainly reflective of the past, also provides a telling perspective on problems and issues which still face (plague?) us today.
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