Review: Gunman's Bluff

Gunman's Bluff by Edgar Wallace
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another rip-roaring pulp story from Wallace. It's littered with moments where the author used pure coincidence to get characters together in the right place for the plot to happen, as was common at the time, but at the same time it has a bit more complexity than the typical thud-and-blunder thriller, and I'm inclined to almost forgive the coincidences as a result.

A young couple who have known each other most of their lives are engaged, in that rather passionless way that young couples from the wealthier echelons of British society seemed to get engaged between the wars. Her brother commits suicide in despair at his debts, and the note he leaves seems to implicate her wealthy fiancé as a contributing factor for giving him bad investment advice and then not helping him when he lost everything. This breaks up the relationship immediately after the wedding, much to the delight of the late brother's friend, a confidence trickster who has designs on the woman, and the groom disappears.

Meanwhile, the groom has helped - or attempted, ineffectually, to help - a criminal dobbed in by the con man, who's afraid of him and wants him out of circulation. The criminal, the gunman of the title, is grateful for the gesture, and goes out of his way to a tremendous extent to help in return when everything turns bad for his would-be rescuer.

It turns very bad indeed, and the poor fellow has a rough time of it, while we learn more about the criminal machinations that are going on and also see the young woman go through an emotional journey, the gunman attempting to reform, and a jovial middle-aged police detective keeping an eye on everything that's going on and dispensing keenly judged advice. Along the way there's plenty of varied action and suspense, thrillingly told in the Mighty Wallace Manner.

I think I'm safe in saying that if you enjoy Edgar Wallace at all, you'll enjoy this one.

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