Calamity Fair

"Calamity Fair" is one of the Max Thursday series of hard-boiled detective novels written by Wade Miller, the pseudonym for the writing team of Robert Wade and Bill Miller. When I first got the idea for writing "Black's Beach Shuffle," I wondered how many other San Diego-based detective novels were out there, and discovered these classics of the post-war private-eye genre.

Aside from the fine plotting and brisk writing style, both of which had a real influence on my approach to "Black's Beach Shuffle", these novels are a lot of fun for San Diego readers. Wade and Miller were (and Mr. Wade continues to be) longtime San Diego residents, attending San Diego State together, where they edited the literary magazine and newspaper.

Location descriptions are kept to minimalistic impressions, but there are references to the U.S. Grant and Pickwick hotels (both still around), as well as the Fremont Hotel, which I've never heard of, so I assume it's a fictional invention or was torn down many years ago. There are also references to well-known San Diego neighborhoods, such as Middletown, Loma Portal, Point Loma, and Del Mar.

Most interesting is the Molyneux Alligator Farm, where some greusome action takes place. I assume this a fictional invention, but I'm intrigued by the possibility that there might have been an Alligator Farm theme park located in San Diego County back in the 1940s. If anyone knows of such a thing, I'd like to hear about it.

Wade Miller's best-known book is probably Badge of Evil, which Orson Welles used as the basis for the film "Touch of Evil." Some interesting critical discussion, along with reproductions of the original lurid paperback book covers can be found at MYSTERY*FILE The Crime Fiction Research Journal.

That reminds me, I need to pick up a copy of "Kitten with a Whip".