Price’s DEVILS IN PARADISE is steeped in mystery.
Donald Dreiland, a pulp magazine editor, seeks help with an investigation into the disappearance of his assistant. Kit, a private eye working for Comfort and Company Private Investigators, takes on the case. But the assistant has something valuable, a book, so they say, another mystery Kit must unravel. Nothing appears as they’re on the surface. For one, Marlene isn’t your everyday assistant, and there are other people interested in the book, besides Donald. Moreover, the Russians are involved, and it’s 1946.A.D. Price’s DEVILS IN PARADISE is steeped in mystery. What is in the missing book, and why does Marlene matter so much? Where are they, even? The answers always seem just a page away, yet the deeper you read, the more questions surface. New characters emerge, each raising fresh intrigue about their role in the larger story. Stanley’s run-in with a Mr. Laddie, for instance, escalates into a confrontation that leaves you wondering how his thread will eventually weave back into the investigation.I liked and followed Kit. Marlene and her predicaments, especially after encountering her for the first time, made me turn the page. Even so, the book’s plot risks being classified as complex and dragging. There are multiple characters, all telling their stories in a third-person point of view, except for Marlene, who speaks in first person. Also, there are stories within the main story: THE TRAIL OF THE TRAITOR A Novella By Dale Rind. The plot itself doesn’t restrict itself to the investigation. Instead, a lot happens in between.In conclusion, fans of investigation novels should give this book a try.