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It's 1951, and Brian Kane is a private investigator who does most of his work for the Hollywood studios. He's on retainer for Regal Pictures and is asked to figure out who is blackmailing Hanna Mills, who is the girlfriend of the studio head, Robert Clarke. For some reason, Mills and Clarke are totally unwilling to provide Kane with any information at all about why Hanna might be the target of a blackmailer. So he pretty much has to start at Square One when conducting the investigation, a situation which didn't really seem credible. Why would Clarke even bring Kane into the picture if they were going to cover the lens? Be that as it may, Kane probes Hanna's background and the people that she associates with. He uncovers a link that goes back to the time of the Nazi regime in Europe. Several of the people associated with Hanna are vaguely connected to some sort of pornographic endeavor which may be what Clarke and Mills are hoping will not be broadcast to the present-day media. When there is a murder on the set of a western, Brian begins to unravel the missing links. Assisting Brian in the investigation is his long-time girlfriend, Kitty. Kitty is a high-priced call girl and nymphomaniac. Unlike the first book in the series, The Big Switch, Brian and Kitty's relationship begins to achieve some depth beyond passionate sexual encounters. In fact, Kane seems to be moving toward controlling his libidinous urges which led to him sleeping with any woman he met and more or less being faithful to Kitty. He probably would not put it that way, as he tends to rationalize what they mean to each other. In my mind, this was a very welcome development. The Deal Killer is a noir tale that is faithful to its setting. There is a texture to the narrative that keeps the reader firmly rooted in the 1950s, through various references to products and people of the day. I found the plot of the book to be rather weak but did enjoy the growth of the characters. When Bludis puts a strong plot with these newly interesting characters, he's going to have a boffo book on his hands.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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