Archived Mystery Review: JOHN FARR – The Deadly Combo.

JOHN FARR – The Deadly Combo. Ace Double D-301, paperback original; 1st printing, 1959. Published back-to-back with Murder Isn’t Funny, by J. Harvey Bond (reviewed here). Mac Stewart us only a cop in a prowl car, but when the body of Dandy Mullens is found, the captain gives Mac the freedom he needs to bring the killer in. Dandy was a great musician, once upon a time, and Mac was a friend, even when the other man fell upon hard times. The first half of this story has a beat, the beat of the city, the jazz clubs, the midnight hours, the strippers — the beat of the street. The second half does not match the first half, and the solution to the mystery is as rushed as an obligation unfelt. — Reprinted from Mystery.File.5, May 1988.