Review of 'Let Me Kill You, Sweetheart! (Special Bonus Edition)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This was my introduction to the work of Fletcher Flora, an author I was totally unfamiliar with until I came across his stories in [b:The Suspense Novel MEGAPACK TM: 4 Great Suspense Novels|25976807|The Suspense Novel MEGAPACK TM 4 Great Suspense Novels|Elisabeth Sanxay Holding|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437830181s/25976807.jpg|45886305]. [a:Bill Pronzini|22880|Bill Pronzini|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1289049116p2/22880.jpg] is a big fan of Flora.
"In the first place, they were all determined, each for his own reasons, to marry the same girl;
In the second place, and in spite of the first, they all went to bed with Avis Pisano, who was extremely enthusiastic about making love;
In the third place, they were all called Curly at times by people who knew them well.
In addition to these significant things which these three young men of Rutherford had in common, there was another significant thing, which they did not have in common. One of them had murdered Avis Pisano."
There are chapters …
This was my introduction to the work of Fletcher Flora, an author I was totally unfamiliar with until I came across his stories in [b:The Suspense Novel MEGAPACK TM: 4 Great Suspense Novels|25976807|The Suspense Novel MEGAPACK TM 4 Great Suspense Novels|Elisabeth Sanxay Holding|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437830181s/25976807.jpg|45886305]. [a:Bill Pronzini|22880|Bill Pronzini|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1289049116p2/22880.jpg] is a big fan of Flora.
"In the first place, they were all determined, each for his own reasons, to marry the same girl;
In the second place, and in spite of the first, they all went to bed with Avis Pisano, who was extremely enthusiastic about making love;
In the third place, they were all called Curly at times by people who knew them well.
In addition to these significant things which these three young men of Rutherford had in common, there was another significant thing, which they did not have in common. One of them had murdered Avis Pisano."
There are chapters in the viewpoint of each man - Guy Butler, a physically and emotionally scarred World War II veteran; Ellis Kuder, a charming psychopath; and Rex Tye, a narcissistic mama's boy - in addition to chapters in the viewpoint of "Curly," the nickname given to the killer. There are also chapters from the perspective of Purvy Stubbs (seriously), who turns out to be an important witness, and Lauren Haig, the girl that Guy, Ellis, and Rex all want.
The coincidences are a bit much. All three live in the same town, all three are in love (more or less) with the same woman, etc. - it staggers belief. Also, aside from possibly Purvy and the sheriff - and maybe Lauren - the characters are simply not likable. I did not understand why Lauren would get involved with any of them, especially Ellis, who sounds like a budding serial killer. Purvy's story is depressing - you can just see him waiting out his life literally watching trains go by. He and Avis strike me as the kind of people who never really know happiness.
The story is redeemed, though, at the end when the chase is on for the killer. This part of the book is done extremely well and the suspense is nonstop. The killer is not revealed until literally the last page, which is also very well done.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The plot strikes me as gimmicky, but the story was suspenseful and the reveal of the murderer was original. I may try another of Flora's books to see if I agree with Bill Pronzini:
"Flora had remarkable range, successfully producing everything from hardboiled tales to police procedurals to straightforward whodunits to light whimsy to mainstream fiction."