Sally’s in the Alley (1943) by Norbert Davis

I read the first book in the series, The Mouse in the Mountain (1943) back in 2021. Today’s title is the follow-up case. The Saturday Review of Literature described the goings on in this book as ‘wacky’ and summed it up as ‘good and rowdy’. Whilst Anthony Boucher, reviewing for The San Franscico Chronicles, wrote: ‘It’s slick, funny and fast as a good roller-coaster ride […] If you take comedy with your thrills, this is your dish.’

Synopsis

‘Doan, a chubby, wisecracking private eye, and Carstairs, a Great Dane so huge he ought to be considered a new species, follow a trail of mayhem and confusion from Hollywood to the Mojave Desert town of Heliotrope, a place so thoroughly offensive that neither California nor Nevada will admit that it lies within its borders. It’s 1943 and Doan is persuaded by government agents to sweet-talk the location of a valuable ore deposit out of an old desert rat with a mad-on for the government. But first they have to deal with a number of other equally odd characters, including film star Susan Sally, the very lovely and very wacky Harriet Hathaway, who’s about to become a WAAC, Doc Gravelmeyer, the sinister local medico who also doubles as an undertaker, and Mr. Blue, a man of mystery who claims he doesn’t even know there’s a war going on. There’s plenty of action, including a wild chase through Hollywood studio backlots, and even more laughs, before Carstairs finally gets his man.’

Overall Thoughts

I think this is a mystery which you enjoy for its central duo – Doan and Carstairs, a private eye and his Great Dane. The opening supports this as it amusingly depicts their relationship, in which Carstairs is portrayed as a canine snob who looks down upon Doan and his choice of companions. The power balance between them is interesting as they don’t have your standard dog and pet owner relationship. For example, Doan is only allowed one drink of alcohol before meals otherwise Carstairs gets mad at him (and you don’t want a dog that size getting annoyed at you!). However, Doan works around this rule by asking for four shots to be poured into one glass. Carstairs is allowed to be clever but not over-anthropomorphised. Nevertheless, he is not hard done by as Doan ensures he gets human grade steak to eat (although Doan forces the butcher to sell it to him at dog meat prices, which was cheaper and did not require rationing coupons). The subsequent cooking process for this meal is elaborate, involving English tea biscuits and liver oil. But this all feeds into Carstairs pedigree image. Carstairs definitely earns his keep though, saving Doan’s bacon on multiple occasions.

As heralded by the contemporary reviews I mentioned earlier, the plot of this book is mad, and you just have to accept that Doan’s agency has randomly loaned him out to the government and that their instructions to him are surprisingly vague in some respects. What cranks the barmy rating up on this novel is the way the characters are working against each other. Their separate plans create havoc in someone else’s plans and then that person’s response causes further chaos. Doan is very much in the middle of this, starting from chapter 3 when he finds a corpse in the boot of the car he has been given. He has a creative approach to extricating himself from incriminating situations, yet he keeps you on side as you wonder he is trying to set him up.

The blurb suggests that the bulk of the action will take place in Heliotrope, but Doan’s time is quite short there, before he returns back to Hollywood and beyond. I think rapid movement between locations did not help to consolidate the plot and there is not much sense of place, although Doan’s time in Heliotrope provides much scope for highlighting the different ways the officials and police are corrupt, ranging from medical misconduct and draft dodging to encouraging youngsters to commit crimes to ensure the need for the police.

In comparison to the first book in the series I think I was less keen on the secondary characters in Sally’s in the Alley. The hitchhiker Harriet Hathaway is an unappealing female stereotype, and her intense patriotism shows her in an unflattering light. When Doan and the reader first meet her, she is off to join the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps). She was abandoned by her previous driver, whom she felt was lacking in patriotism:

“It was beastly! This person offered me a ride in Masterville. He was wearing dark glasses and I detest people with weak vision, but I accepted. I was willing to accept any means of transportation to get to my post of duty as rapidly as possible.”

[…]

“But to go back to this horrible person who gave me a ride. He was a slacker. He admitted it!”

“How interesting,” said Doan.

“Interesting! It’s criminal! If only I knew his name I’d report him. I asked him what he was doing to serve his country in this emergency and he said, ‘Nothing.’ I asked him what he intended to do in the future and he said, ‘Less.’ Have you ever heard of anything like that?”

It is surprising that Doan does not also ditch her! She doesn’t really add much to the overall plot. In keeping with the barmy plot, the villains of the piece are rather random. I think what saves this book is that it does not outstay its welcome (coming in at under 130 pages) and that it does not try to pretend to be a whodunnit. It is very much an invitation to go on a bonkers adventure and enjoy the ride. This story is not a patch on the first title in the series, but I still had fun with this easy read.

Rating: 3.75/5