THE CHASED AND THE UNCHASTE

    It happened occasionally that fictional series detectives from other parts of the country would take a case in Hollywood. Thomas B. Dewey (1915 - 1981) had featured Mac, the protagonist of The Chased and the Unchaste, in a half-dozen novels, mostly set in Chicago, before sending him west. (I’m not actually sure of this, since Dewey’s Every Bet’s a Sure Thing [1953] opens on a train for California.) Dewey wrote more than two dozen mystery stories altogether, beginning in the 1940s and ending in the 1970s.

    The Chased and the Unchaste by Thomas B. Dewey. Random House (1959), 185 pp.
    Mac, the Chicago detective, goes to Hollywood at the request of film producer Julian Porter. Someone has sent Porter a note threatening to kidnap his adorable young daughter, Linda. Mac’s job is to protect the girl and find the culprit. He moves into Porter’s house and begins looking for potential kidnappers. Many are on the list: Porter’s gorgeous but unhappy wife, Carol; his dedicated business manager, Bernie Wolf; his disgruntled ex-wife, Gen Richards and her boxer brother, Paulie; his housekeeper, Louise Reilly, once an actress, and her wannabe writer son, Garwood; Linda’s spinsterish governess, Alice Rummel; and some of the household help.
    As mystery stories go, this one does not quite make the grade. Mac is pretty tough, all right, but less than exciting. He doesn’t make wisecracks, he doesn’t objectify women, and he’s violent only when necessary. In short he’s a sensible guy - - appropriate to hire but not so much fun to read about. The novel’s structure is routine. Suspects are presented one by one; eventually Mac finds the right one. Most important of all, the story’s premise doesn’t really make sense. Kidnappers rely on surprise. They don’t send warning notes. The book has several well-written scenes of menace (though the one that opens the story seems irrelevant). Otherwise, it’s a disappointment.