Edsel (Detroit Crime Series #4) - Hardcover

Estleman, Loren D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892965525 ISBN 13: 9780892965526

Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1995

Synopsis

The Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of the acclaimed Detroit Trilogy returns with a hard-hitting tale of power-hungry executives, self-righteous union bosses, ruthless mobsters, and the biggest flop ever to roll off a Motor City assembly line.

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Reviews

Three decades of Detroit history provide settings for Estleman's acclaimed Amos Walker mysteries, including Whiskey River. Again conjuring up the Motor City of the 1950s, the author chronicles the second career of ex-journalist Connie Minor, who is signed up by Ford Motor Company to promote Henry Ford II's still secret dreamcar, named after Ford's much loved (by him) and much hurt (by the autocratic Henry I) father, Edsel. Connie isn't sure that he likes either the car's name or its design, particularly the grille. He's also confused about his lovelife, held by his acerbic, longtime affection for Agnes but also drawn to spunky, younger Janet, a Ford secretary who is the kind of girl to help a man forget advancing years and a diabetic condition. Hired to sell "eleven million E-cars," Estleman's likable hero must also find out who set up the hit on a union boss and to figure out how Ford's designs become public knowledge so quickly. The narrative may linger too long on the size of a lapel or the color of a car interior or living room (both usually bilious), but Estleman's affection for the time and place are impossible to resist. This tale may not be as much fun as a Walker caper, but its quieter pleasures are as rewarding.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Has-been Detroit journalist Connie Minor is hand-picked by Henry Ford II to create the promotional campaign for his top-secret brainchild-the Edsel. On the strength of his reputation for clever turns of phrase and keeping confidences, Minor is catapulted from a nothing job in a small ad house to a window office on mahogany row near the legendary Henry. He's scarcely settled in when he gets caught between Walter Reuther and a Communist-hunting local politician who blackmails him into tapping his old underworld contacts for leads on a plot to kill Reuther. Bouncing from the mob to the union to the boardroom, Minor not only uncovers the murder plan but a stealthy scheme to sabotage the Edsel as well. Would the car have bombed even if it hadn't looked so weird? Estleman, who is equally as masterful with thrillers (Motown, LJ 6/15/91) as with Westerns (City of Widows, LJ 3/15/94), has crafted a swiftly entertaining story of Detroit in the 1950s with all the panache of a Raymond Chandler and a keen eye for historical detail. Highly recommended for all public libraries.
Susan Clifford, Hughes Aircraft Co. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Connie Minor had once been the newspaperman of choice for Detroit's elite. Then came the Depression, the Big War, and suddenly Connie was a hack ad writer for a hack agency. Then, in the fifties, the call comes from Ford. Someone remembered Connie as a guy who could keep a secret, and Ford had a secret project that needed an ad man. No one is supposed to know what Connie is working on, but too many do, and those who don't think Connie is either a spy from management or an operator from the competition. Eventually, the unions are on his tail, and when UAW honcho Walter Reuther is the target of an assassination attempt, Connie renews his contacts with the Mob, hoping to find out who and why. Estleman, best known for his Amos Walker detective novels, has created a memorable character in Connie Minor. He's a dinosaur, born in the last decade of the nineteenth century, when horses ruled. Though he's sharp enough to survive, Connie can't prosper in the world in which he finds himself. The clothes, the music, and most of all, the people are alien. He doesn't fit; he's a human Edsel. Wes Lukowsky

Edition details

• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892965525
• ISBN 13: 9780892965526
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 291