| Revision as of 17:15, 3 October 2005 editCenedi (talk | contribs)2,659 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 09:31, 4 October 2005 edit undoCenedi (talk | contribs)2,659 editsmNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| '''Sheriff Joe Bain''' is the protagonist of a short series, prematurely abandoned, of crime-investigation mysteries by the American author ], better known for his ] novels. The series as published comprises ''The Fox Valley Murders'' (1966) and ''The Pleasant Grove Murders'' (1967); for an unfinished third novel see later in this entry. The milieu for the books is San Rodrigo County, a fictitious precinct in rural ], the state Vance has lived in for most of his life. The central character is the policeman Joe Bain, who during the first novel runs for county ] in succession to his corrupt and lackadaisical boss, Sheriff ‘Cooch’ Cuchinello. Though the murder mystery in each novel is plotted with Vance’s customary ingenuity, the real pleasure in these books is the spare, unembellished style (compared to the Baroque prose of his SF fantasies, Vance’s earth-bound thrillers cultivate a deadpan narrative idiom), the light touch of Vance's habitually pervasive ], the minute and affectionate observation of rural and small-town California, and the interaction of a rich gallery of characters. Bain is a widower with a demanding mother and teenage daughter. Typically for a Vance protagonist he is good at his job, sparing of speech, generally amiable and not very impressible; and is surrounded by characters more flamboyant, ambitious, egotistical and (in their own estimation) much cleverer than he. Though the narrative approach is generally ‘realistic’, lacking the fantastic invention of Vance’s SF, he occasionally teases the boundaries of the ‘detective novel’ genre, as with the character of Luna with whom Bain has a mild flirtation in ''The Pleasant Grove Murders'': a ] real estate agent who claims to be really a visitor from the planet Andromeda, with which she communicates by means of a number of bowls of water filled to various levels. | '''Sheriff Joe Bain''' is the protagonist of a short series, prematurely abandoned, of crime-investigation mysteries by the American author ], better known for his ] novels. The series as published comprises ''The Fox Valley Murders'' (1966) and ''The Pleasant Grove Murders'' (1967); for an unfinished third novel see later in this entry. The milieu for the books is San Rodrigo County, a fictitious precinct in rural ], the state Vance has lived in for most of his life. The central character is the policeman Joe Bain, who during the first novel runs for county ] in succession to his corrupt and lackadaisical boss, Sheriff ‘Cooch’ Cuchinello. Though the murder mystery in each novel is plotted with Vance’s customary ingenuity, the real pleasure in these books is the spare, unembellished style (compared to the Baroque prose of his SF fantasies, Vance’s earth-bound thrillers cultivate a deadpan narrative idiom), the light touch of Vance's habitually pervasive ], the minute and affectionate observation of rural and small-town California, and the interaction of a rich gallery of characters. Bain is a widower with a demanding mother and teenage daughter. Typically for a Vance protagonist he is good at his job, sparing of speech, generally amiable and not very impressible; and is surrounded by characters more flamboyant, ambitious, egotistical and (in their own estimation) much cleverer than he. Though the narrative approach is generally ‘realistic’, lacking the fantastic invention of Vance’s SF, he occasionally teases the boundaries of the ‘detective novel’ genre, as with the character of Luna with whom Bain has a mild flirtation in ''The Pleasant Grove Murders'': a ] real estate agent who claims to be really a visitor from the planet Andromeda, with which she communicates by means of a number of bowls of water filled to various levels. | ||
| Vance seems to have planned an extended series of Joe Bain novels, and was fairly well advanced on a third one before he decided to pack it in. Photocopies of a typescript draft of ''The Genesee Slough Murders'' have circulated among collectors over the years. The entire story, including the solution of the crime, is extant in outline, and some early chapters are fairly fully drafted, though obviously lacking a final polish. A version of the draft was published in ''The Work of Jack Vance. An Annotated Bibliography & Guide'' by Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke (San Bernadino, CAL, 1994). |
Vance seems to have planned an extended series of Joe Bain novels, and was fairly well advanced on a third one before he decided to pack it in. Photocopies of a typescript draft of ''The Genesee Slough Murders'' have circulated among collectors over the years. The entire story, including the solution of the crime, is extant in outline, and some early chapters are fairly fully drafted, though obviously lacking a final polish. A version of the draft was published in ''The Work of Jack Vance. An Annotated Bibliography & Guide'' by Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke (San Bernadino, CAL, 1994). | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 09:31, 4 October 2005
Sheriff Joe Bain is the protagonist of a short series, prematurely abandoned, of crime-investigation mysteries by the American author Jack Vance, better known for his science fiction novels. The series as published comprises The Fox Valley Murders (1966) and The Pleasant Grove Murders (1967); for an unfinished third novel see later in this entry. The milieu for the books is San Rodrigo County, a fictitious precinct in rural California, the state Vance has lived in for most of his life. The central character is the policeman Joe Bain, who during the first novel runs for county sheriff in succession to his corrupt and lackadaisical boss, Sheriff ‘Cooch’ Cuchinello. Though the murder mystery in each novel is plotted with Vance’s customary ingenuity, the real pleasure in these books is the spare, unembellished style (compared to the Baroque prose of his SF fantasies, Vance’s earth-bound thrillers cultivate a deadpan narrative idiom), the light touch of Vance's habitually pervasive irony, the minute and affectionate observation of rural and small-town California, and the interaction of a rich gallery of characters. Bain is a widower with a demanding mother and teenage daughter. Typically for a Vance protagonist he is good at his job, sparing of speech, generally amiable and not very impressible; and is surrounded by characters more flamboyant, ambitious, egotistical and (in their own estimation) much cleverer than he. Though the narrative approach is generally ‘realistic’, lacking the fantastic invention of Vance’s SF, he occasionally teases the boundaries of the ‘detective novel’ genre, as with the character of Luna with whom Bain has a mild flirtation in The Pleasant Grove Murders: a New Age real estate agent who claims to be really a visitor from the planet Andromeda, with which she communicates by means of a number of bowls of water filled to various levels. Vance seems to have planned an extended series of Joe Bain novels, and was fairly well advanced on a third one before he decided to pack it in. Photocopies of a typescript draft of The Genesee Slough Murders have circulated among collectors over the years. The entire story, including the solution of the crime, is extant in outline, and some early chapters are fairly fully drafted, though obviously lacking a final polish. A version of the draft was published in The Work of Jack Vance. An Annotated Bibliography & Guide by Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke (San Bernadino, CAL, 1994).