Think Fast, Mr. Moto

Being a fan of old 1930's murder mystery movies, such as the Chans and the Thin Man, I was eager to get acquainted with Mr. Moto when the series was recently released on DVD. I was not disappointed. Most of the movies held up quite well. The second set of movies included an interesting biography of John P. Marquand, the author of the original Moto novels. That led to a curiosity to read one of the mysteries. While Marquand's stories are not complicated as mysteries go, he does have an ability to draw engaging multi-dimensional characters with a swipe of the pen. Having been to the Orient himself during the time he is writing about, he describes Shanghai and Honolulu before World War II so well that you see each scene vividly. Interestingly enough, though the movies depart drastically from the plots of the novels, the character of Moto played by Peter Lorre seems exactly right as you follow Moto in the novel. In fact, I think Lorre may have injected even more inscrutable Oriental mystery into Moto than Marquand himself. For those of us who like a bit of history along with the murder, this is an entertaining read.

In this early Moto book written after the author's visit to Shanghai and the Orient, Moto saves a young couple and simultaneously serves the interests of the Japanese Empire. Wilson Hitchings is heir to the Shanghai branch of Hitchings Brothers, bankers and commission merchants. He is sent by his uncle to Honolulu to shut down a gambling casino run by a distant relative named Eva. The uncle fears the gambling operation is creating too much bad publicity for the Hitchings family. Mr. Moto is also interested in closing down the gambling operation since money is being funnelled through the casino by Chinese and Russian interests to anti-Japanese bandits in Manchuria. This book is an exciting thriller written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.