It's always good news when books from the past are returned to print. Detour has two new editions, one from O'Bryan House and the other from Blackmask. The latter version, which is the one I bought, is less expensive but suffers from weak proof reading and peculiar layout. And, strangely, it has no copyright notice. The film adaptation of the novel, incidentally, is more famous than the book. [Jacket image courtesy of ReadInk, Los Angeles, California.]
Detour: An Extraordinary Tale by Martin M. Goldsmith. Macauley Co. (1939), 248 pp.
Penniless musician Alex Roth is hitchhiking west to reunite with his girlfriend, Sue Harvey, who's trying to break into the movies. He's picked up by a well-heeled guy in a fancy convertible who is going all the way to Los Angeles. Alex is enjoying his good luck until a rain squall hits in the western Arizona desert. As Alex is trying to get the top up, his companion tumbles out of the car, hits his head, and dies. Alex considers stopping but worries that the highway patrol won't believe the death was accidental. Meanwhile, Sue, who has no idea that he is coming, is assaying the meaning of an unpleasant sexual encounter she's just had with an unemployed actor.
This is one of those ordinary-guys-gets-into-trouble novels that are often associated with James M. Cain. Alex Roth, however, the first-person narrator for most of the story, is different from Cain's protagonists in a couple ways. First, he is not a tough guy. He bemoans his bad luck, has ready rationalizations for his actions, and sometimes even seems to be apologizing to the reader. In addition, he doesn't have the book to himself. Sue Harvey also has a tale to tell. In alternating chapters she explains her own dubious behavior. She's a paragon of inconsistency but at least takes responsibility for what she does. The connection between the two stories may puzzle readers. Even so, the narrative moves swiftly and remains entertaining.