The Pearl Harbor Murders

Rating:
Summary: Competent mystery, very good atmospherics
Review: I'm of mixed minds about this whole trend of taking famous real-world people and turning them into murder-solving detectives. From a writer's standpoint, I can see why such an idea would be tempting -- not only do you get a "character" pre-invented, as it were, but you also, as author Max Allan Collins admits to doing in his acknowledgements, can write about people you particularly admire or are interested in. Much the same reasoning applies, I suppose, to readers of these kinds of stories. If you, too, are a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs, seeing him and his son investigate a murder might be a very compelling read.

Myself, I'm more a student of the Pearl Harbor attack, and I read this mystery in part for the story itself, but mostly to see how the author wove the true-life events of late 1941 into his story. And the answer is, pretty well (of course, he's had some practice at this, having written several other disaster-based murder mysteries as well).

The crime-solving part of the story is a fairly standard follow-the-clues/unravel-the-secrets tale, and if it had been set in Dubuque in 1974, I don't think I would have given it more than three stars. But it's the way the tale is woven into the larger historical context of the Pearl Harbor attack (and it's not giving away any plot secrets to say that the attack ends up being part of the story) that's most interesting to me, and the author pulled it off quite well. True-life events, like the Mori "flowers in bloom" radiotelephone message (which may or may not have been in code), or a front-porch meeting between Colonel Kendall Fielder and General Walter Short on the evening of December 6, are drafted into service as part of this story. Author Collins credits his researcher, and lists in his acknowledgements many of the key titles in Pearl Harbor historiography, including the Prange trilogy. I second that commendation, because the factual scaffolding on which this story hangs seems pretty solid to me. Collins also does a nice job with the general "atmospherics" of late-1941 Honolulu.

On the whole, the setting and the real-world history involved elevate the workmanlike mystery quite a bit. And if you happen to be a Burroughs fan, so much the better.

Rating:
Summary: Fanciful spin on history
Review: Like the other murder mysteries in the historical series, this one tells a nifty little Who-Dunit...but somehow the fact that it occurs amid the tragedy of Pearl Harbor makes it all distasteful. Perhaps in another 20 years enough time will have passed to separate the reader from the humanity of the actual events. Then again, I hope not.

Rating:
Summary: Fanciful spin on history
Review: Max Allan Collins is a master. He starts with a fragment of history -- the fact that Edgar Rice Burroughs (author of the Tarzan of the Apes and John Carter of Mars yarns) was at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, and witnessed the attack -- and blends history and mystery in equal parts to present an ultimately satisfactory dective-styled procedural novel. He styles the book much like Burroughs did his, alternating points of view with each chapter and building to the climax we all see coming.

Collins leavens the tale with observations about Burroughs' career, personal and family life, and other tidbits Burroughs fans will find engaging.

An excellent novel, well worth the investment of a couple of afternoons in an easy chair.

Rating:
Summary: Edgar Rice Burroughs solves murders at Pearl Harbor
Review: Max Allan Collins is a master. He starts with a fragment of history -- the fact that Edgar Rice Burroughs (author of the Tarzan of the Apes and John Carter of Mars yarns) was at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, and witnessed the attack -- and blends history and mystery in equal parts to present an ultimately satisfactory dective-styled procedural novel. He styles the book much like Burroughs did his, alternating points of view with each chapter and building to the climax we all see coming.

Collins leavens the tale with observations about Burroughs' career, personal and family life, and other tidbits Burroughs fans will find engaging.

An excellent novel, well worth the investment of a couple of afternoons in an easy chair.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting background overcomes ordinary plot
Review: Most of the time when I read a mystery I don't really care about the mystery part. I mean, how many ways can you solve a crime, when literally thousands of mysteries have been written in recorded history. This one is no different. We get a murder, and someone is found standing over the body with blood on his hands. As this happens fairly early in the book, we can now eliminate ol' bloody hands as the suspect.
So what I look for is what kind of story is woven around what is usually the same old thing. In the case of a historical novel, I want to get a feeling for what people are thinking at the time. The fact that this one takes place a day or two before the Pearl Harbor invasion seems like a great situation. I liked it a bit, but still have a lot of problems with it.
First, as mentioned above, the story is very ordinary. Yes, you know when somebody has blood on their hands early in the story, he's probably not the murderer. But there were also predictable things that deal with what I was interested in, which was the historical events surrounding the story. First, we have both German and Japanese characters. As we are at war with them, or about to be, what a surprise that virtually all of them are unpleasant characters. Also, we get to see the time-worn tactic of having those in authority insist nothing bad is going to happen, just so we the reader can smirk and wait for them to be told "I told you so". I'm sure these situations occurred, but it trivializes an important event.
The part I dislike the most however, is why we need to have a celebrity enter the story as an amateur detective. I love Larry McMurtry novels, but hate it when he puts real-life characters in fictional settings. And I don't like it here. I don't care that the author had the writer of Tarzan as one of his boyhood heroes, and find this device only makes it more unbelievable.
So why three stars? Well, we DO get a decent glimpse into life in Hawaii around World War II. Those younger people that believe they invented sex can see that libidos ran very high in those days (and any other time, for that matter). And with the definate threat that the hunky guys might be blown to pieces at any time in war, the ladies were no doubt a lot more accomodating than you might think in that time. Think about that the next time you see your grandmother, or even your mother.
And the author does a good job of describing the actual attack. This, to me, is the meat of the story. The fact that it came when people were least prepared for it (early Sunday morning). The fact the people at first assumed it was a military exercise. And the quick sobering up that all of a sudden made America a little more grown up. This just about overcomes the "main" plot that is little more, if not less, than a TV detective story.

Rating:
Summary: fabulous historical mystery
Review: On December 5, 1941, most Americans living on Hawaii knows that war with Japan is imminent, but they feel the islands are safe from an external attack. Most of the residences are more concerned with the loyalties of the local Japanese-American population, which is a third of the island and are afraid they will sabotage things on the islands.

Edgar Rice Burroughs and his adult son Hully enjoy their time together on Oahu. Ed agrees to arrange a meeting between Amerasian singer Pearl Harada and Army Intelligence Chief, Colonel Kendell Fielder. Pearl needs to persuade Kendell that she loves his son and wants his blessing for them to marry. The next morning, a scream awakens Ed who runs outside to see the corpse of Pearl. Unable to resist investigating her death, Ed begins making inquiries. He wonders if one of Pearl's string of ex-lovers killed her, Bill's outraged dad murdered her, or as the evidence begins to mount someone silenced her because she learned something about the event that is to occur the very next day?

Max Allan Collins is known for his award winning historical mysteries, especially those starring a famous author during a real life disaster. The current author-driven tale, THE PEARL HARBOR MURDERS, is an absolutely excellent blending of history and fiction into a powerful tale. Mr. Collins paints a picture of the islands just before and during the Japanese air attack while also providing a close look at the legendary writer. One day, a future author will star Mr. Collins solving a mystery while writing one of his fabulous novels for he has earned it with his achievements.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Interesting setting, so-so mystery
Review: Setting a murder mystery in Pearl Harbor, just prior to the Japanese attack makes this an interesting read. The bits of history are fascinating and compensate for the rather pedestrian plot. Combining fictional and historical figures works well as they seamlessly combine, but the basic problem is the mystery is no mystery. The plot moves along at a good clip; but it leads to a foregone conclusion. Using Edgar Rice Burroughs as the detective fits in with the actual events, but it seems almost an afterthought, and is merely another hook to get readers interested. Not a bad little page turner, but nothing else.