Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown - Available

The Fabulous Clipjoint

by Fredric Brown
ebook
2 of 3 copies available
Borrow Read a sample Read a sample
2 of 3 copies available
Fredric Brown's The Fabulous Clipjoint comes from a now-vanished world of crime fiction that once satisfied the same appetites in the audience that are now fed by television programming. Neatly crafted and loaded with atmosphere and humor, The Fabulous Clipjoint, published in 1947, follows the exploits of an unlikely pair of amateur sleuths -- a teenaged boy and his uncle, who follows the carnival -- in solving a disturbing murder. The victim is a drunk, who seems to have gotten rolled and winds up lying dead in an alley. A cop discovers the body, and a routine inquiry turns up nothing more than sad and pitiful evidence -- another blasted life that ends in another random murder. But the victim has a son, 18-year-old Ed Hunter, who is not willing to let his father's death be dismissed so quickly. He has no one to help him, so he turns to the only person he can trust, his Uncle Ambrose, a carny he has not seen in years. Ambrose agrees to help Ed, and the two set out on a most unlikely murder investigation. It takes them down dark and abandoned Chicago streets, confronting a gallery of unsavory characters in the underworld, armed only with a crazy kind of courage and an ever-growing determination to discover the truth. The Fabulous Clipjoint was Fredric Brown's first full-length novel, though its assured skill comes from the author's experience in turning out hundreds of detective stories for magazines in the 1930s and 1940s. Ed and Ambrose are an couple of offbeat heroes, foolish enough to get themselves in extraordinary situations. Brown creates a rollicking world for them to explore, filled with vivid characters and plenty of danger -- a sleek, suspenseful read.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    January 29, 2002

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780795303722

    • PDF ebook

      • ISBN: 9780795303722
      • File size: 784 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 20, 2021
      Brown’s solid debut, which won the 1948 Best First Novel Edgar Award, offers a gritty riff on the plot of Hamlet. In Chicago, 19-year-old Ed Hunter works as an apprentice Linotype printer with his father, Wallace, who remarried after Ed’s mother died. When Wallace is beaten to death by a robber who leaves his corpse in an alley, Ed is devastated. Skeptical the cops will invest meaningful resources in the case, Ed reaches out to his Uncle Ambrose, a carny he hasn’t seen for a decade. Ambrose agrees to help, and the duo begin looking for motives beyond larceny for the killing. Their premise that Wallace wasn’t the victim of a random encounter leads them to consider the possible guilt of Ed’s stepmother, who’s unusually placid about her loss. Ed encounters more violence as he starts transitioning to adulthood under Ambrose’s guidance. Brown (1906–1972) firmly grounds his plot and characters in reality. Readers will be inspired to seek out the author’s sequels to this worthy entry in the American Mystery Classics series.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • PDF ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading