The Man Who Was Taller Than God - Softcover

Adams, Harold

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802775543 ISBN 13: 9780802775542

Publisher: Walker & Co, 1998

Synopsis

The Mayor of Hope, South Dakota, commissions Carl Wilcox to investigate the suspicious murder of a ladies' man from a neighboring town, and the sleuth proceeds to investigate despite the killer's warnings, which come in the form of more dead bodies

About this title

Review

Felton Edwards may have been "taller than God," but when his long frame turns up in Hope, South Dakota's sandpit, he's just deader than dirt. While none of the locals are surprised that the womanizing Edwards finally got his face blown off, they do wonder why Hope's less-than-favorite son is back in town after 15 years away--even if it's in the form of a corpse. Lucky for Hope (and this being the Great Depression, luck's been hard to come by), Carl Wilcox, the region's ace crime-solving hobo, just happens to be in town doing a little sign painting. Anxious to protect the town's peaceful reputation and somewhat suspicious of his sheriff's motives, Hope's mayor persuades the High Plains drifter to stick his oft-broken nose into Edwards's past--and, preferably, to ferret out a killer of the nonresident variety. As Wilcox follows Edwards's trail through the Depression-ravaged region, he discovers a string of bitter lovers, cuckolded husbands, and disgruntled business partners, none of them too broken up that the state's tallest man has been rendered permanently prone.

Ninth in the Carl Wilcox Mystery series, The Man Who Was Taller Than God stands as Harold Adams's most successful employment of his durable character and formula, and received the 1993 Shamus Award in recognition. Between rolling cigarettes and ingratiating his way into numerous free meals, Wilcox narrates his shambling search for Edwards's killer in a laconic yet playful voice. If the book's plot occasionally lacks urgency, Wilcox's likeable storytelling charms the reader through any slow spots. --Shane Farmer

From Publishers Weekly

For more than a decade, Carl Wilcox, Adams's Depression-era hero (last seen in The Naked Liar ) has solved cases involving murders and other misdeeds in small South Dakota towns. Having progressed from usual suspect (because of his convict background) to ersatz PI without losing any of his ne'er-do-well charm, Carl is again painting signs, this time in Hope, near his hometown of Corden. After a youngster discovers the murdered body of Felton Edwards, a local known for inveterate womanizing and big-money scheming, Hope's mayor asks Carl to investigate. Stolidly tracing suspects in Hope ("around Corden we just called it Hopeless") and nearby Edenberg, Carl encounters the usual complement of beautiful women, including a stunning redhead who proves crucial to the solution. Though unexceptional in plot and presentation, this is comfortable, competent and pleasantly nostalgic crime fiction.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Walker & Co
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802775543
• ISBN 13: 9780802775542
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 168