Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘A Fistful of Collars’

A Cat Was Involved

No surprise to Chet (he often deals with cats, but most especially in A Cat Was Involved, the short story where he meets Bernie, and in A Fistful of Collars, where he and a cat named Brando must come to terms).

Beginnings

Sunday is when we do beginnings, taking a look at the start of a Peter Abrahams novel, including those written under the Spencer Quinn moniker™. Since the Chet and Bernie novel A Fistful of Collars came up yesterday, how about we feature it today? It’s one of my few novels where Hollywood is a factor. The only others I can think of are Revolution #9 – where a character appears on Jeopardy – and Oblivion, where a TV movie is made of the case that made Nick Petrov, a PI and the main character, famous. Armand Assante was cast as Nick. (There’s fun to be had in the little corners of this business.) Here’s the beginning of A Fistful of Collars:

“Heard you drove another one off a cliff,” said Nixon Panero. He spat a thin brown stream of chewing tobacco into an empty paint can, or maybe not that empty. Yellow paint, the yellow of egg yolks, now with a brown swirl in the middle: there’s all kinds of beauty in life.

“You heard wrong,” said Bernie.

 

What’s In A Name?

Mrs. Publicist: Fifteenth of the month, when we discuss a name from the Chet and Bernie series. Good morning, Pete. It’s eleven degrees out there so I’m assuming no bike ride today.

Pete: Don’t bet on it.

Mrs. Publicist: Hmm. Before you go then, what character name should we talk about today?

Spencer Quinn: How about Brando?

Mrs. P: The cat belonging to Thad Perry, the troubled and troublesome movie star in A Fistful of Collars?

Pete: Exactly.

Mrs. P: Described initially by Chet as follows: “Yes, a cat. Not particularly little, by the way, in fact, kind of monstrous.”

Pete: That’s the one. In terms of plot, Thad Perry turning out to be a cat person is a big red flag, certainly in Chet’s eyes. But the name itself says Hollywood, entitlement, self-satisfaction. Plus there was a feline aspect to Marlon Brando – I’d go so far as to say feminine, but let’s omit that – and that fit nicely. Of course Marlon Brando was one of those movie stars who was actually an artist, and Thad Perry turns out – maybe surprisingly – to be that type, too. So there you have it.

Mrs. P.: Thanks, Pete. Dress warm. See you next month for more of What’s In A Name!

Beginnings

On Sunday we do beginnings, taking a look at the start of a Peter Abrahams novel, including those written under the Spencer Quinn moniker. How about A Fistful of Collars? The digital edition seems to be on sale for $1.99. That’s less than 2 bucks! This might be a good introduction to the series for some frugal friend. Does this frugal friend like cats? They – and Chet – will meet a cat named Brando in this story. What more could anyone ask?

“Heard you drove another one off a cliff,” said Nixon Panero. He spat a thin brown stream of chewing tobacco into an empty paint can, or maybe not that empty. Yellow paint, the yellow of egg yolks, now with a brown swirl in the middle: there’s all kinds of beauty in life.

“You heard wrong,” said Bernie.