Carnal Hours

Carnal Hours by Max Allan Collins is a work of fiction. It is however based on a real life crime....the 1943 murder of Canadian millionaire Sir Harry Oakes. This well researched novel is narrated by its protagonist, the streetwise Chicago PI Nathan Heller, a fictional character who appears in a number of Max Allan Collins books. Most of the action unfolds in the Bahamas, Sir Harry's adopted home and the site of his grisly murder. Enhancing the interest quotient of the ongoing narrative is the presence of a number of real life celebrities. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Erle Stanley Gardner, Eliot Ness, Meyer Lansky, Ian Fleming and Sally Rand all put in appearances. Some of these historical figures really were connected to the Oakes murder case, others were inserted in by the author to add color to the proceedings. Carnal Hours is an exceedingly interesting murder mystery. The narrative is fast paced and action packed. Collins did his homework in researching the time and locale in which the story takes place and it shows. Highly recommended.

I like Collins... I really do. Personally, his Nathan Heller series are interesting, accurate and a fast-read. I've even enjoyed his other historical fiction (Murder at the War of the World's was outstanding). Anyone who has read his Purgatory series knows that Collins is really a good writer, but I guess I don't understand why he cheapens his work by copying televeision series like CSI and now Criminal Minds. Of course the obvious answer is because he can make money with a recognizable series, but he is a much more talented author than this. Collins is a devoted Mickey Spillane, 50's noir, author who occassionally writes under another name or with his wife. Recently he tackled the son of Doc Holiday meeting Wyatt Earp and Al Capone... imagine that!! I always look forward to reading him, but I wish he would, however, had stayed with Heller and continued to expand his world. Collins is good historical mystery read regardless of what he tackles.

An excellent historical mystery, with Collin's Nate Heller filling the role of an real-life private detective who investigated the murder of Sir Harry Oaks.Look for the reference to Dick Tracy that Collins ames at the end: "It hurts."

A fitional novel about an actual event that held my interest better than any other non-fiction books on the Death of Sir Harry Oakes