Book Review: Case File: FBI by Mildred & Gordon Gordon, as “The Gordons”
When FBI agent Zack Stewart is murdered, it’s a sure bet that it’s connected to one of the cases he was working. So it’s up to his old partner John “Rip” Ripley to take over the cases and figure out which one was deadly. Is it the extortionist threatening the life of widow Jean Martel’s daughter? Is it trigger-happy bank robber Joe Walpo, the FBI’s Most Wanted? Or the sinister gangsters behind a car theft ring, of which hard luck teen Rick Angelino is the only member behind bars? Rip and his new partner Greggson “Sherlock” Barker must sift through the clues and red herrings to discover the truth in each case, and the identity of the killer!
The Gordons were a wife and husband writing team that put out several exciting mystery novels. This one’s a “procedural” with our FBI agents interviewing suspects and witnesses, sending clues to labs to analyze, making elaborate plans so they can minimize casualties when confronting possible killers, and so forth. As the story goes on, the agents learn of some surprising connections between the cases. But which connections are real, and which just more red herrings?
The emotional throughline is the Jean Martel case. She’s a recent widow who got a handsome insurance settlement which she’s hoping to put her daughter through school with. (Her day job pays decently enough for daily expenses.) But someone knows she has that money, and is willing to threaten little Vicki’s life to get it. Every man around her is a possible suspect, and they all come across a little creepy. There’s only so much the FBI can do with the limited evidence they have.
Rip does have his own emotions, but he has to bury them under a professional exterior, and most of the suspects and witnesses have no idea what his interior life is like.
It’s the 1950s, and this is reflected in both the technology available and social attitudes. (A fair amount of the FBI’s workload is “loyalty checks”, but they’re irrelevant to the main plot, and the FBI is treated as wholly the good guys.)
The writing is clear and builds suspense in the right places, and the mystery aspect works well.
Content note: Some ethnic prejudice. One of the suspects is a man who’s trying to woo Jean; he forces a kiss on her and while he eventually takes “no” for an answer, he can’t entirely hide his anger about it. Some readers may find the romanticization of saintly blind girl Julie grating.
Overall, a worthy read for procedural fans, if you can find a copy. You’ll probably have better luck locating the movie made from it, which has the much better title of “Down Three Dark Streets.”
