Iams, Jack - What Rhymes With Murder? (1950)

Jack Iams' What Rhymes With Murder? (1950) is an intuitionist detective novel. In the intuitionist tradition, it has an amateur detective, and a solution developed by the detective through pure thinking. Many of its basic approaches recall those of Ngaio Marsh. The tone of sophisticated social comedy resembles Marsh, as does the witty, verbally adroit dialogue. The subject - a prestigious but badly behaved literary figure swooping down on a bunch of ordinary people in a remote location, followed by comic pandemonium breaking loose, reminds one of such Marsh books as Colour Scheme (1943). Also Marsh like: the way the murder takes place in the middle of a social event.

There are also structural features in the novel that recall Marsh. There is a disconnect between the sections of the novel. The first third describes the events leading up to the murder. These are leisurely paced, and not too detection oriented. They are full of social satire, dealing with a wide variety of issues affecting 1950's America. After the murder, the final two thirds of the novel are an almost pure detective story. Most of this later section book looks at formal patterns of the puzzle plot. There is only a little bit about the social issues of the first third. This architecture is fairly similar to those in Ngaio Marsh's books, which begin with social comedy, then move on to a serious investigation after the murder.

The puzzle plot and detection also recall Marsh's techniques. There is much concern about the movements of the characters around the crime scene, which is architecturally described. The crime is constantly seen from new perspectives, as various witnesses describe their participation in the key events of the murder. There are sometimes surprising revelations about events we have already seen. This recalls such Marsh books as Death in a White Tie (1938), which repeatedly revisits key events of the story, suggesting new insight and significance to the events. A favorite Marsh theme is also involved in the revelation of the killer, but I cannot be more specific without giving away the solution.

The characters in Iams' book are less sophisticated than in Marsh's writings, deliberately so, probably. We see a cross section of American business people, some refined, some average, some sleazy. All of them have a much more earthy tone that Marsh's theater people. The comedy is much more raucous, as well. There are some hoods in this novel, and some occasional rough stuff, but this seems more a desire to add some variety to the book, than the result of any deep affinity between Iams and the hard-boiled school.

Ngaio Marsh shares many features in common with the Van Dine school, and Iams' novel can certainly be seen as a representative of the Van Dine tradition, or rather its 1940's descendants such as the Lockridges. Like most of the Van Dine school, there is a socially sophisticated setting among people with a creative profession - in this case newspaper reporting. The amateur detectives have a generally friendly relationship with the police - the reporter hero is old friends with the Inspector in charge. This too resembles Van Dine and company. Also in the Van Dine school tradition: the liberal politics and social commentary.

Iams emerged at a time when many Americans thought of Intuitionism as the equal to the detective story itself. Most of the most popular detective story writers in the USA were intuitionists.

What Rhymes With Murder? is hardly a perfect detective novel. It moves slowly before Iams gets to the murder. Coincidence is over employed in the plotting, with too many independent events going on at once. Nor does the book rise to an Agatha Christie level of brilliance. However, the clever plot twists and the witty writing have real appeal.

One can see some similarities between What Rhymes With Murder? and A Shot of Murder. Both have many scenes in hotels and on trains. Iams, who apparently spent much time on the road as a reporter, finds such settings congenial to his imagination. People are always moving from one room or train compartment to another, often at night or in early morning. There are elements here of French farce; there are also intricate patterns built up, that play a role in the mystery and adventure plots of the books. There are also many scenes set in hospitals in both books, focusing on the patients much more than the doctors. Hospitals, like hotels, clubs and trains, are places where people live and sleep, but which are not really their permanent homes.

In both books the detective heroes are often dealing with people much more powerful than themselves. The intransigence of these rich goofballs makes for both comedy, and the motive engines of the story. Both novels contain powerful men, who neglect their wives or girl friends, often with drastic consequences. Women play a prominent role in both books; we are remote from the men-only world of many hard-boiled writers. Rich men in the books tend to have henchmen, low brow types who carry out their dirty work. Crime in both books tends to be gun oriented. Both books contain representatives of the US State Department, presented sympathetically, but with much comedy. They tend to represent a bright spot, powerful people who come to the aid of the heroes. The two books also contain a plot reversal. What Rhymes With Murder? deals with a European Communist and his entourage who descend on the Riverside, Ohio home of the detectives; A Shot of Murder sends the detectives on the road, to visit the home of some European Communists in Poland.

See also http://moonlight-detective.blogspot.com/2011/09/obituary-for-poet.html .