I came across the books by Tucker Coe in a jumble sale; I bought two of them, ‘Wax Apple’ and ‘A Jade in Aries’ which were both published in 1970. I bought them because of the covers – sounds a bit ridiculous, but I just found the covers intriguing, and pretty soon found the novels intriguing too.
I learned here were other books by Tucker Coe, all about an American detective called Mitch Tobin; before the start of the first book, Tobin had let his partner down and felt responsible for his death, because he had left him alone when he should have been on duty with him, left him alone so he could be with his girlfriend. What was worse, Tobin was married so he felt he had betrayed his partner and his wife and son. The novels involve Tobin being reluctantly drawn into investigating mysteries which for various reasons the police won’t touch.
I started reading these novels in the days before the internet and it was only much later that I discovered that Tucker Coe was a pseudonym for Donald Westlake. Westlake who was born in 1933 was a prolific writer who had numerous nom-de-plumes. He wrote over a hundred books, mostly crime fiction, but some comedy, some science-fiction and some non-fiction. I haven’t read any of his other books, for no real reason, I just haven’t.
For many years I enjoyed re-reading the Tobin books, they seemed so different from other American detective fiction; however, I gradually became a little fed up with the character of Tobin, who seemed so self-pitying and immersed in his guilt. The novels which were written over forty years go, also seemed dated somehow, and less believable… and in the end, feeling quite regretful, I donated them to the charity shop, where I hope someone else bought them and enjoyed them as much as I did the first half-dozen times I read them!
Here is a really good article about the Tucker Coe books:
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/non_fiction/e006.html
Lois Elsden 