The Missing Man

Rating:
Summary: From an underrated mystery master
Review: Waughs books were written in the 40's and 50's, for the most part, and are largely now forgotten. This is unfortunate. He invented the police procedural, with THE MISSING MAN being one of those from a small-town Connecticut police department headed by Fellows. This one has the usual splendid ending, after a methodical chase for a clever murderer/con man. Waugh never cuts through the more humdrum procedures of the police in favor of tough-guy glitz and plot-cheating; nor does he make it boring as one follows along Fellows' methodical tracking to a satisfying, well-earned, ending. This novel, modest yet crafted with care, is one reason that Waugh belongs in the canon of American mystery writers.

Rating:
Summary: From an underrated mystery master
Review: Waughs books were written in the 40's and 50's, for the most part, and are largely now forgotten. This is unfortunate. He invented the police procedural, with THE MISSING MAN being one of those from a small-town Connecticut police department headed by Fellows. This one has the usual splendid ending, after a methodical chase for a clever murderer/con man. Waugh never cuts through the more humdrum procedures of the police in favor of tough-guy glitz and plot-cheating; nor does he make it boring as one follows along Fellows' methodical tracking to a satisfying, well-earned, ending. This novel, modest yet crafted with care, is one reason that Waugh belongs in the canon of American mystery writers.