Nicely Crafted…
A collection of seven tales, first published in 1923, featuring Jim Hanvey. Each tale is amusing and nicely crafted and each in a traditional vein. No murders here, as each is mainly involved with some sort of financial crime. A well put together reissue of tales well worth a visit.

Jim Hanvey, Detective is an engaging collection of early detective fiction by Octavus Roy Cohen which is also the first entry in the Library of Congress Crime Classics. Originally published 1922-1923, it contains 7 self contained stories, additional material, and commentary. This edition was released 10th Aug 2021 by Poison Pen Press. It's 256 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a lighter version of the typical solo investigator detective fiction of the period. In a lot of ways, Cohen's detective reminds me of Peter Falk's Columbo; he's a slow speaking, bumbling guy, with an apparently dull intellect which he uses to disarm and catch out wrongdoers. He loves sappy romance films (and cries in the theater at the sad bits), smokes horrible stinky cigars, and associates with known criminals for information gathering purposes.

The language is a bit dated and the dialogue can be a bit stilted in places; it's definitely a product of the time period. That being said however, these are well constructed and entertaining mysteries and are entertaining in their own right as well as being important in historical context.

The book includes a fair bit of additional background information including a short bio of the author and his place in contemporary American crime fiction. The editors/publishers have included book club discussion question prompts and a short bibliography for further reading.

Four stars. It's nice to see lesser known gems from 19th and 20th century crime fiction being released to a new generation of readers. Despite having read the genre and period extensively, Cohen was an author previously unfamiliar to me.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

As with many such books, I am always game to try books that are reprints or first-time prints of authors who lived years ago.
This book has the additional component of providing context to the more obscure usages and terminologies towards the end. This is not something I usually appreciate, but it added something to the narrative in this case.
It is a small collection of seven short stories.

The first: 'Fish Eyes', it was pretty entertaining. Jim Hanvey is but a spectre in the background and does not actually do much to the story. A bank robbery was meticulously planned, but once Jim Hanvey comes into the scene, he solves the issue without even trying. Given the turn the narrative takes, it should have been annoying, but it was surprisingly not.

Homespun Silk: This story was also along the same line, with the crime being laid out front and centre and then Jim Hanvey does some meddling. In this case, this unlikely and strange-looking detective does a pretty great job of wrapping things up. He proves his statement at the beginning, where he claims to be doing well workwise.

Common Stock: This was another case where Jim Hanvey (it makes sense to always refer to him with his full name), has a plan. He is annoying to the man he is supposed to protect, but he knows things. It was not as twisty as the others or even that unexpected. I still liked reading it to its inevitable conclusion.

Helen of Troy, N.Y. : On a sweltering hot day, a woman from his past comes to appeal to his finer sensibilities, and Jim Hanvey obliges. What happens next is also inevitable but was entertaining nonetheless.

Caveat Emptor: This starts off with a chance encounter and an unlikely governess. It leads the detective to help the people who he otherwise would be pitting his wits against. This adds to his colour and overall variety.

The Knight's Gambit: A villain has his claws into an innocent person, and Jim Hanvey might be the rescuer she never knew she needed. This was lighter in some ways than the rest but still fun to watch unfold.

Pink Bait: A man seems to be on an innocuous holiday, but he is scheming, and Jim Hanvey might just tip him into confessing. It is like a cat and mouse chase that does not take the usual route.

I read this book a while ago, and it took me a while to get through. It is only on this individual introspection that I realise that I actually enjoyed the change of pace and characters in this story. The 'ugliness' of our lead character was a little repetitive, but since the individual stories are not connected, some things bore repeating. Funnily enough, even after all this, I could not readily admit to knowing the mind of Jim Hanvey. He does not reveal much, even at the end. He shows one side of his personality and quietly moves on. I might read another collection if I get the chance.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This is a new to me author and I'm happy I discovered this stories written in the Golden Age of Mystery.
They are entertaining, riveting and the puzzle are complex and not easy to solve.
I liked the MC, an unusual type of detective and think they aged well.
NOTE: they were written a long time ago so they are not politically correct.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Part of a series of reprints of classic American crime fiction, this book is a collection of short stories featuring Jim Hanvey, an obese fish-eyed detective who appears to be easily duped. Appearances are deceptive though, as somehow (and we don't see how) Hanvey is able to anticipate criminals' moves and thwart them.

Unlike most mysteries, these crimes are not murders, generally, they are thefts or forgeries.

Unhappily, the lack of explanations along with a plodding writing style make it far less enjoyable than other mysteries written s=at the time.

The stories in this book were engaging and fun! I love the old detective mysteries, despite the non-political correctness included in some. It does give you a fair look at the norms of the period. Jim Hanvey is the Columbo of his time-though Hanvey is more of an investigator-for-hire. He's unconventional, none too good looking, and misses nothing, but at the same time he manages to remain on good terms with those he has caught (and those he hopes to catch). Above all, he is honest...even with his adversaries. The historical context and commentary provided in this collection was extremely interesting. Footnotes were included for the more obscure terms and phrases used in the stories. Recommended for detective mystery fans.

Completely not what I anticipated and a treat of sorts - think Continental Op but deeply, deeply unsexy - the crimes are purposefully pedestrian a tad grubby and Jim Hanvey is like a human toad person? Given the nature of the insurance detective's work we are treated to more of a character study in each short story than straight up detecting. Given the melancholia and the general bleakness that, to me, permeates this collection it's not one that I would recommend finishing in a few sittings; parse it out here and there, both to enjoy the writing but also to sort of mitigate the gloom. It's a recommend but an acquired taste.

You can't go wrong with this series of classics. While Jim Havney may be forgotten now, the stories are fun, though naive by modern standards. Still, if you like to read the classic noir tales of the early 20th century, you won't be dissapointed

1920s, mysteries, private-investigators, crime-fiction, classic-crime, reprint, edited, short-stories, collection, Library Of Congress*****

Originally these well crafted short stories were published in the popular magazine Saturday Evening Post in the 1920s and have been residing in the Library of Congress until recently. This small collection has been given a great editing which explains the current value of any monies included, gives things like *had a watch chain like a hawser* an explanation, and who knew that what we know as a gas pedal today was a hand throttle then? The detective is really something else! To the eye, he is oddly sized and kind of irritating but he can out-Sherlock anyone with dogged patience and acute logic. He looks slow-witted, and especially outwits criminals who underestimate him and overestimate themselves. Classics indeed! Super reads!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

The seven stories here are edited, introduced and annotated by Leslie S Klinger from the first edition of 1923

As the editor observes in the Introduction, there are no murders in these tales which often involve the astute and amiable Jim Hanvey in his role as an insurance investigator. Most of the crimes are financial and involve the defrauding of institutions or wealthy individuals. The criminals are as far removed from 1920s gangsters as one could imagine. Nor is there much by way of “traditional” detection.

Hanvey has a vast knowledge of criminals and their psychology. He does a lot of observing, both visual and verbal, and his modus operandi involves making the guilty feel so uncomfortable that they believe he knows more than he does, and so end up giving themselves away.

I very much enjoyed the collection, my only previous encounter with Hanvey being through watching the 1937 film “Jim Hanvey, Detective ”. My main advice would be not to read these all at once as there is a sameness about them which makes it relatively easy to predict the outcome. They are gently amusing and certainly very different to any other detective short stories I have encountered. I would gladly read another collection.

For this British reader, and, I would imagine for many, even from the USA, Leslie S Klinger’s notes were essential, and are to be commended for their thoroughness.

Very recommendable.

Thank you to NetGalley, and to Poisoned Pen Press for granting my wish, for the digital review copy.

“Hanvey is my name. Mr. James Hanvey.”
“Next time I come remember I ain’t no guy. I’m a feller.”

Jim Hanvey, Detective by Octavus Roy Cohen is a Classic sleuth mystery short collection of seven stories.

“You can’t arrest a man for what he’s got in his head. If you could the jails’d be overflowin’.”

In 1922, Cohen created Jim Hanvey, a detective whose slow and stupid appearance masked a sharp mind and a tenacious character. He treated villains with respect, and in some cases, he was a friend of them.

“I know you, Jim. You ain’t half the fool you look. You couldn’t be."

Well, overall this was good, a little hard to read, but I think it was funny in some ways and different, although this enormous
foolishness couldn't be too right for thieves, is it?

“Just between friends—you did steal them jools, didn’t you?”
“Between friends?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Yes, I stole them. But you can’t prove it, Jim.”
“M’m! I could arrest you now an’ say that you confessed you stole ’em.”

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read Jim Hanvey, Detective by Octavus Roy Cohen, I have given an honest review.
Pub Date: 10 Aug 2021

Detective fiction in this era is such a pleasure to read. Though ideas and words can be dated, the reader must take the age in which it is written into account and enjoy it for what it is...entertainment. This collection of short detective stories first published in 1923 features Jim Hanvey whose detection skills are unsurpassable, his demeanour and countenance unexpected! Though I've read many hundreds of crime novels of this vintage, I hadn't heard of this prolific author before. What a shame as Cohen's writing is amusing, witty and just plain fun. Adding a few new words (to me) to my vocabulary such as "gelid", "incarnadined" and "brummagem" was enjoyable.

Jim Hanvey's visage is very...er...original and witty. For example, "...he didn't blink, he yawned with his eyelids". And from his own mouth, "Far as her appearance is concerned--she ain't got any. She's sort of the same upholstery style that I am." He is self deprecating though is aware of his clever powers of observation. He is jolly yet intimidates the guilty in his unique way.

My favourite story of the seven is the first in the book but I enjoyed others, including the story featuring the bragging little girl and her father. In Fish Eyes the tension and suspense are fabulous and kept me absolutely riveted with tiny beads of sweat forming on my forehead. Well, almost!

My sincere thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this fascinating book. As is written in the foreword, we learn so much about the culture in eras not our own. I recommend this book to all Golden Age readers in particular but also to those seeking to discover lesser-known authors. Kudos to Poisoned Pen Press for re-publishing this gem.

Equal parts Damon Runyon and Colombo, Jim Hanvey doesn’t look like much of a detective. He’s jowly and heavyset, with double chins and glassy, fish-like eyes, a Southern country boy in terrible tweed suits transplanted to New York City. But his disheveled looks disguise a keen mind. Hanvey doesn’t act much like a detective, either, befriending half of the criminal element in the Greater New York area à la Runyon. The Hanvey stories also resembles the 1970s TV series Colombo in that readers know the perpetrator from the start; the fun is in finding out how Hanvey’s going to make his case and enjoying the unexpected twists that come at the end of most of the tales.

Americans first discovered Hanvey in The Saturday Evening Post in 1922. A year later Jim Hanvey, Detective was released in 1923. Why isn’t his creator, Octavus Roy Cohen better known? I loved all but one of the seven stories (the exception being “Homespun Silk”). Here’s to hoping the Poisoned Pen Press publish more of Cohen’s detective stories.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.

This book is a bit different than you usual mystery book. It is different in the fact that the reader knows who the culprit is, and the story in turned around to see how the detective catches the culprit. The book is a series of short stories, and is very easy to read and enjoy. The characters are well drawn and I must admit, sometimes one feels on the side of the culprit, and this is due to the way the story evolves .
Reminds me much in the vein of the series of Colombo, but gentler.

“Jim Hanvey, Detective” by Octavus Roy Cohen: What a fun collection! First published in the 1920s and originally appearing in the Saturday Evening Post, Jim Hanvey is a detective out to catch the scammers and conmen who prey on the innocent. We are introduced to the criminal at the start of the story, we see how he sets up his victim and what he will attempt to pull. And then we see Jim Hanvey enter the scene.

Jim Hanvey is not your typical private detective. He is overweight, he waddles around, he blinks like some sort of fish, he plays with a gold toothpick that he wears on a chain around his waist. But what he has is a great memory for faces, a sharp mind, and a sense of fair play that makes him very well respected (and feared) by the higher level of criminals. Once he enters the story, we see the swindle begin to unravel – sometimes because of Hanvey, sometimes because the mere presence of Hanvey upsets the criminal to such an extent that he does himself in.

All seven stories are enjoyable, nothing violent, it is fun watching Hanvey mess up the best laid plans. In one of the stories, he even goes out of his way to help pull a con on a criminal, a change of pace for him.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

A delightful collection of stories originally published during the Roaring Twenties where we are invited to joyfully follow the sleuthing adventures of a bigger than life private investigator gravitating around a highly entertaining criminal world full of colorful characters, physical slapstick & lots of verbal pyrotechnics.
A genial Depression Era discovery & a wonderful treasure trove of dated expressions and delicious vocabulary. A marvellous and unforgettable fictional tapestry of American life during the twenties.
Highly recommend and to be enjoyed without moderation👍👍

Many thanks to Netgalley Poisoned Pen & the Library of Congress for this terrific ARC