Book Review: ‘The Twenty-Year Death’

Author: Ariel S. Winter

Publisher: Titan Books, Hard Case Crime

Plot: In 1931, small town France, a dead prisoner is found in a gutter during a storm and proves to be the tip of a long reaching murder conspiracy. In 1941 a Hollywood beauty grows increasingly paranoid about an alleged stalker, leading to the studio bringing in a hard boiled private eye to protect her. Then in 1951 a failed writer finds himself is an increasingly snowballing crime.

Review: This debut feature from Winter looks like one hefty tome clocking in at 670 pages. The reality is that The Twenty-Year Death is three stand alone novels, each one set in a different decade and each mimicking the style of a prominent crime writer of that era. ‘Malvineau Prison’ is in the style of Georges Simenon, introducing Chief Inspector Pellater as a stand-in for Simenon’s trade-mark character Inspector Maigret. ‘The Falling Star’ echoes the gritty and deep seated elements of Raymond Chandler’s classic noir. The final piece, ‘Police at the Funeral’, is in a similar vein to Jim Thompson’s more psychological themed crime fiction complete with an unreliable narrator.

Taken as a collection of stand alone stories the three tales are certainly entertaining. Each one perfectly encapsulates the style of the writer to whom the author is paying tribute and fans of the genre will enjoy seeing how the tropes of the revered writers are utilized by a talented new author. What makes it stand out from the sea of crime fiction that dominates the market is how well the three stories interconnect. The first ‘novel’ is from the perspective of Pelletera and among the large cast of characters is American author Shem Rosenkrantz and his young bride Clotilde. Ten years on our new narrator P.I. Dennis Foster meets the couple – now as a Hollywood screenwriter and a famous actress. The final story features Shem Rosenkrantz in the role of protagonist having gotten himself in more trouble that he can handle.

Although seemingly gimmicky the concept adds more to the three stories that it initially appears. We learn about Rosenkrantz from the point of view of two different figures, and it doesn’t initially appear as though he’s going to play a major role. His motivations and personality remain something of a mystery especially when given the contrast between his behaviour in the first two stories. It’s only in ‘Police at the Funeral’ that the man is revealed and his complexities laid bare.

The Twenty-Year Death is a great read. The second tale doesn’t quite keep pace with the others because the narrator isn’t as well defined, fitting a P.I. typecast with few other defining features. Regardless the mysteries that form the central plot for each are engaging stories and the action moves rapidly. With the exception of the rather plain Foster in the central story the characters are engaging and realistic. Fans and non-fans of the genre alike will enjoy watching the hard-boiled noir novels unfold.