The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope - Book Review

 

The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope                            Oct. 20, 2022

by C.W. Grafton 

 

I enjoyed the 1940’s language better than I did the story and/or writing. Not that the writing was bad, but the lawyer/investigator/tough guy (Gilmore Henry) was a hard act to swallow. His inner thoughts/dialogue either you like or wish it would just stop. Based on his character description and behavior, it would be hard to convince readers like me that a cultured, high society woman like Janet Harper would even consider him to be marriage material.

The story bogged down a bit almost immediately, probably due to all the financial talk, legal talk and who’s who along the way. Confusion with the Harper and McClure families had me constantly going back and checking previous chapters early on.

But again, the language and 1940’s culture (smoking in hospital beds, drive-it yourself rentals, Bronx Cheer, Primo Carnera, etc…) gave the story an authentic noirish feel with added wiseguy humor in the character of Gilmore Henry. So much of the plot and mystery depended on how Mr. Henry delivered the pieces to the puzzle.

In the end he wrapped up everything pretty good, but throughout the story some pieces seemed to detract instead of adding to the story. I felt the author was trying too hard to create a mystery puzzle instead of just writing a great story. And yes, the corny humor did get old and at times wore thin.

But I also must remember the era it was written and its targeted audience. In a time of film noir and newspaper serials featuring dark deeds and hardboiled crime, this book might have been just what paying customers were looking to sink their teeth into. With a world war in full swing (1943), the cold and brutal killings of individuals in a book were likely received with less sympathy and shock than during peace time. War must have hardened society to acts of violence, real or fictional.

In this mystery novel there were no less than five killings, three attempted killings, threatening phone calls and multiple bruising, clobbering, bleeding, restraining incidents.

The fact that I took this book with me on a cross-country train trip, and tired of it early, says much about its entertainment value. It bored, it confused, it left me wanting to quit it many times. And yet I found myself returning to its pages, wanting to not solve the mystery as much as figure out what part all the moving pieces played.

Was I satisfied with the end result? Well, let’s just say the wrap up was much better than the buildup. Putting it another way, the arrival was much better than the journey. And I am a man that cherishes the journey, hence the cross-country train travel.

So, on a scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 3. Maybe 3.5 because I love history and nostalgia. To know something about stock market puts and calls, as well as inheritance law, gives readers a jump on the plot. Fans of the author’s mystery writer daughter, Sue Grafton, might want this book in their mystery writer’s collection.

 

Triangle Books Edition – Published October 1944

The Blakiston Company – Philadelphia

Copyright 1943, by C.W. Grafton

The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope characters Listed With Descriptions (bookcompanion.com)