After Midnight

After Midnight by Helen Nielsen, published in 1967, begins in the most hardboiled fashion. In fact, there are countless hardboiled novels that begin with the protagonist waking up after a night of drinking and other debauchery only to find the bloody body of a beautiful blonde, redhead, etc, in their bed and no answers nearby as to what happened. Often even the protagonist is not sure if he did it, but all the clues scream in one direction.

The difference here is that the person who wakes up confused after a night of drinking is a woman, Wanda Warren to be precise, and the bloody corpse at the kitchen was her husband. What's more they fought all night after Wanda was found in a seaside bar in a booth with three sailors, indulging in show more drink after drink with her laughter ringing out above all other noise. She was a go-go girl in a glass cage shaking it every weekend evening when they met and her husband came from big money.

The story then morphs into a legal drama with society attorney and Bon vivant Simon Drake offering his services and, against all belief, fighting to prove his lovely client's innocence.
The story may not be as heavy on the action as others in the crime fiction arena, but it is an excellent mystery that takes the reader on a legal and investigative journey as Drake explores one clue after another. The cast of characters is quite good including a retired admiral who lived on a yacht, a proper nurse who took long walks and quotes poetry, Drake's confidant Hannah, and an ambitious district attorney.

It was an compelling read that couldn't be put down and was really enjoyable. show less

Marriage ends in murder: when the husband is found stabbed to death and his wife passed out drunk in the bedroom with the murder weapon on the other pillow, naturally she is the prime suspect. Gadabout lawyer Simon takes on the case when he notices the widow's -- shall we say, wiles -- and sets out to prove her innocence.

I picked this novel up on the cheap for the Amazon Kindle because I had read one of Nielsen's stories anthologized in Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives. Overall, I thought this was a rather weak and cliched story with no true surprises. Although Nielsen's mouthpiece character does make a case at one point that women should be viewed as people, there were far too many cliches about women littering the story to suit me, show more and the overly quick romance between the protagonist and his client was rather distasteful. show less