Back in the early '60s when I was reading espionage fiction by the 'barrow-load, I read a lot of Victor Canning's novels in paperback editions. His work was always smooth and satisfactory, and I enjoyed the books a great deal. I thought about them not long ago while reading the short stories in a new Crippen & Landru collection titled The Minerva Club, and I'll get around to reviewing that one soon.
Anyway, reading the stories reminded me of how much I liked the novels, so I looked through the accumulation for one of them. I ran across Doubled in Diamonds, which features a private-eye named Rex Carver. It begins like a typical p.i. story, with Carver being asked to locate a missing heir, which should be a simple matter. It's not. Carver finds himself investigating the theft of a multi-million-dollar diamond theft, which in turn invoves him with a pair of beautiful Chinese spies, drugs, and a beautiful blonde. After that, things get a lot more complicated.
No matter how complicated the case, however, Carver's urbane narration carries the story forward with smooth assurance. There are no explosions or car chases, but there's plenty of suspense and good writing.
Canning was one of those writers who could do just about anything and do it well, but as of now, most of his work is out of print in the U. S. Probably in England, too, and that's a shame. All his forgotten novels are worth a look, and if you run across one, read it and see if you don't agree.
If you've seen Transporter 1 or Transporter 2, you've pretty much seen Transporter 3. The stunts this time around are possibly even dumber, as are a few other things, and Jason Statham might take off his shirt a few more times, but it's the same thing: fast driving, physics-defying derring-do, and a really dumb plot.
If I've counted correctly, this is the 17th Daisy Dalrymple novel, but it's the first one I've read. The setting is the 1920s. Daisy and her husband, Alec Fletcher, a Scotland Yard detective, are moving to a house inherited from Fletcher's great-uncle. Since their family is getting larger (new twins), they're happy to have more space. They meet the new neighbors (they like the Jessups but not the Bennetts), and things are going well until the parlor maid and the family dog happen upon a dead body in the bushes. (Apparently it's usually Daisy who stumbles upon the corpses, and Dunn has some fun with her call to the Yard.) 
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of 1984. Rumor has it that Big Brother is still watching.
This YA book isn't billed as a "Young Spenser" novel, but it might as well be. It isn't billed as a semi-autobiographical novel, either, but it might as well be. I mean, the two main characters are "Bobby" and "Joanie," after all.
