The Eighth Circle by
Stanley Ellin
pbk out January 04
(Orion)
at £6.99
Another in the Orion Crime Masterworks series. Of course, it's the Eighth
Circle of Hell from Dante's Inferno. Ellin gives us a free translation describing the
inhabitants of the eighth circle ending with the words 'and thieves, the pimps and
grafters, and all such scum.' So it is that Ellin leads us through the low-life of New
York from illegal bookies' runners, through gutter press reporters, to police on the
take, and politicians on the make. He also shows us the other side of the coin.
Society lawyers with altruism in their hearts, and private detectives striving to keep
honest in this world of corruption.
Murray Kirk has inherited his agency from old Frank Conmy, and tries to live
up to his ideals of sticking to the facts. In fact he has inherited several filing cabinets
full of facts, some of which the gutter press are willing pay for. When Kirk is asked
to act for Arnold Lundeen, a young police officer accused of taking a bribe, he at first
refuses. It's obvious the man is guilty. But when he meets Ruth Vincent, the officer's
beautiful fiancée, he reluctantly agrees to take on the case along with inexperienced
and unworldly society lawyer Ralph Harlingen. His motives are not exactly pure.
Having fallen for Ruth, he is even more keen to prove Lundeen guilty, so he can gain
the girl. As he digs into the underworld of bookie Ira Miller and his boss George
Wykoff, all paths lead to Lundeen's guilt. But Kirk still can't convince Ruth of the
fact. Then he finds that for a crucial twenty minutes prior to a suspicious collar
Lundeen was with a low-life marries floozie by the name of Helene. Does he tell
Ruth? Mind you, Kirk has secrets of his own, seeing as how he has an on-going
dalliance with gay (in the old sense of the word) divorcée, Didi Donaldson.
Yes, the cast of fifties pulp are all here. Hard-boiled assistant DA, society
lawyer, stunningly beautiful broad, negligée-clad dame, and hard-working private eye
with protective and severe older woman secretary. But this is not pulp, this is quality
writing centred on character not plot. In fact, the plot is relatively low-key for a crime
story, revolving around the arrest of a bookie's runner. There is the revelation of a
murder at the end, but that's only a means to an end. You could almost say this is
really a love story centred in the love triangle of Murray Kirk, Ruth Vincent and
Arnold Lundeen. But don't say that too loud, Ellin's hard-boiled creation Murray
Kirk may just rip your head off.
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
The Eighth Circle by
Stanley Ellin
