Mystery Review: The Blackbirder is as much a spy-thriller as a mystery, and exhibits much of what Dorothy B. Hughes (1904-93) did so well in her crime stories. Slowly but constantly building suspense, creating tension till the reader wants to put the book in the icebox. A cinematic style that is watched as much as read. Written during and about the Second World War, the war years milieu is essential and inescapable. The Blackbirder gives a vivid sense of what life was like on the home front in America. The fear and abhorrence of the Nazis is visceral (an odd commentary on current events): "There was hatred to feed her mind. Hatred of the evil that had been loosed by a beast in an iniquitous land. Hatred of war." The story is in almost constant motion as our fearful protagonist travels from New York to Santa Fe with flashbacks to Havana and Paris. She's tough as nails though she doesn't know it, she's never sure she can make it through but is never afraid to try (similar to Hughes' slightly less-able heroine in The So Blue Marble). She perseveres. She persists. Somewhat hardboiled, a little noir, plenty of paranoia -- menace is anywhere and everywhere and no one can be trusted. The Blackbirder is not my favorite nor her best, but then again she's set the bar unfairly high in writing several of my favorites. It's good entertainment and a worthy testament to Hughes' talents. Unfortunately, the book is so full of typos (due to format copying?) that occasionally the reader doesn't know if a line contains an adventuresome turn of phrase or it's merely that some letters are missing. [3½★]
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