A CRIME WRITER IN CHANGING TIMES: LIONEL WHITE'S THE CRIMSHAW MEMORANDUM & HIJACK

Stark House Press continues to reprint more works of heistmanster Lionel White. whose books were as precise and well executed as the robberies he often wrote about . The two books in the latest omnibus were written in the latter part of his career. In one White pursues a different kind of crime story than what he was known for and he puts spin on his usual formula with the other.

The Crimshaw Memorandum starts out as a police procedural and goes into noir. Richard Martingale, an inspector in a coastal town, is asked by his superior to work up an official report for an insurance investigator dealing with a $150,000 claim with a a man lost at sea, Harry Crimshaw. it appears to be an up and up death on the surface, but Martingale gets an odd feeling when he interviews Crimshaw's wife, Marguerite, who is indifferent to the loss of her philandering loser husband. More emotional is the his boss at the used car lot Harry worked, Loring Compton. It becomes more suspicious as the insurance agent gets a beating that puts hm in the hospital. As Martingale looks deeper into the claim and begins to learn of a criminal scheme, he falls for Marguerite. Soon, there are those out there who will do what hey have to from having Martingale uncover their crime.

White's direct procedural style of writing works better for the story than you think. His depiction of police work and the interaction between cops is reminiscent of Ed McBain with a touch of White's cynicism. It helps established Lr.. Martingale as a professional, putting that part of him on the edge when he falls for Marguerite. With few suspects, it less a whodunnit as a what happened and how was it done? It's like he took one of his planned crimes we usually watch his criminals execute and have someone from the outside piecing together it's dissected elements The answers Martingale finds out put both his physical and emotional life at risk as it comes to his last line Martingale narrates it at a low volume, but it speaks eloquently to the heart.

Hijack's premise and set up promise more or less to be what we associate with Lionel White. The first chapter introduces us to a flight crew of a passenger jet with a L.A. to Denver. We get a sense of their histories , relationships, and tensions. Right after, we meet the passengers who include a right-right evangelist, proto-type for Paris Hilton, aging French entertainer, alcoholic, a meek little man with a briefcase of cash he stole from the ban he works at, a defecting Russian scientist, and his CIA handler. The plane also secretly carries millions in old bills collected to be incinerated. Clued into that is a a group, mainly of Vietnam veterans, lead by a man calling himself Duke, who take over the plane to get the dough.

The main part of the plan involves landing the plane at a desert compound they've erected with nowhere to go for a hundred miles. Dude's plan moves seamlessly with no killing like he wants up until they get the crew and passengers into a their quarters. Then, what Dude refers to as the unpredictable "Human Factor' enters throwing it off as it often does in White heists. It begins when the embezzler tries to take off with his money and kicks off chaos and escalating violence.

With its airlineful of different people in a dramatic situation, it feels like White used his heist formula to case after the success of the previous years bestseller, Airport by Arthur Hailey. White puts his darker take on it. As tensions build, partly due to threats of rape on the female hostages, tensions a breakdowns occur in each group. Several flashbacks are used to reveal the history of each character and well as move and build suspense. Because the nature of the ensemble there are more female characters, some of his strongest, that play pivotal roles in the story. That element possibly helps move the book into an ending that has White's usual nihilistic plot, yet has a tone of more hope and romanticism in tone.

Both The Crimshaw Memorandum and Hijack demonstrates how Lionel White, a commercial writer, dealt with a chasing market. He adapted by knowing how he uses the skills he has into exploring new ways of storytelling. I'm not sure how well his pay out as, but he produced two entertaining books with more heart than you expect from him.