Eager to read another novel by Dan J. Marlowe after enjoying Death Deep Down, we selected 1961’s Backfire, for which you see an uncredited cover above. This time Marlowe is in police mode, with the tale of cop named Marty Donovan whose bad practices end with his partner shot dead. In order to save his job he re-stages the crime elsewhere, but he’s immediately assigned by his superiors to solve the murder. That puts him in the no-win position of searching for a killer who is—of course—the only witness to the fact that the shooting happened somewhere different than everyone thinks. You know what that means. The only way Marty can carry off his scam is to kill the killer. That’s a bad spot to be in, but there’s an additional complication to this tangled mess—Marty was secretly sleeping with his partner’s wife Lenore. A sticky wicket indeed.
Those of an untrusting mindset might think Marty arranged the murder to leave Lenore an available widow. Those of an even less trusting mindset might think Lenore arranged the set-up. We know for sure Marty didn’t do it—he’s the narrator. In turn, he’s pretty sure Lenore didn’t do it. So investigating he goes, chasing the very person who could cost him the only career he’s ever known. While the search has its twists and turns, we can’t say we were as enthralled by this book as we were with Death Deep Down. That book had a more interesting concept and main character. It came four years after Backfire, and the additional writing experience shows. Still, nothing Marlowe did here shook our confidence in him. We may read him again, but if we do we’ll try to pick something outside the police milieu.
