It's a good time for Harold Adams, whose novels about itinerent sign painter ex-cop Carl Wilcox had been languishing, garnering critical raves but little in the way of sales. Walker & Company, a publishing house becoming known for literate, sometimes off-beat mysteries, has released four books so far in trade paperback and published new ones in hardback. This is a series well worth investigating.

Wilcox reminds me of every boy's favorite uncle, the one who's a black sheep to the women of the family for not settling down, who stops by when he needs a bed and a few square meals, bringing with him a whiff of sin and a few great stories. He travels the small towns of the Dakotas and Minnesota during the Depression, taking on sign-painting jobs for grocery stores and law offices when they're available, and camping by the side of the road in his modified Model T. When the jobs are few on the ground, he'll take on a murder investigation.

In "A Way with Widows," his sister asks him to come to Red Ford, North Dakota, to help clear a neighbor of killing her husband, who was found on the stairs of another woman's house. In "No Badge, No Gun," a minister who has heard of Wilcox's reputation as an investigator asks him to solve the murder of his niece, found dead in the basement of a church. Wilcox's investigating style consists of wandering around town, talking to people, gathering threads of facts and weaving them into a plausible story. He's suspicious, but not cynical. Told about the perfect character of a churchgoing man, he observes, "Nothing in this world raises more doubts in my mind than apparently perfect young men."

Yet Wilcox is also a flawed man. He makes mistakes and is perfectly capable of being turned by a pretty widow with something to hide. His attempts at seduction sometimes succeed, but more often fail, which makes sense at a time when a woman's reputation could be affected by who she's seen with.

One hopes for better things for Adams and Wilcox, but if it doesn't happen, it won't be the fault of the publisher. Like most of Walker's books, these are beautiful to look at -- details from Edward Hopper's paintings appear on most of them, which is a nice change from the usual blood and skulls that passes for art on most mystery covers -- and the $8.95 price tag is more than reasonable for these absorbing tales of small-town crimes of passion.

For some of us too young to know better, the world of the Depression can seem as foreign a place as Moscow or Outer Mongolia. It was, after all, a half-century ago, before computers, television, the Interstate Highway system and couple of major wars.

Which is why following Carl Wilcox, part-time bum, former convict and itinerant sign painter as he travels from town to town in the Dakotas so fascinating. In addition to painting signs and doing what he can to bring body and soul a little closer together, he sometimes investigate cases in small towns like Hope, Jonesville and Greenhill.

For the most part, these are pretty quiet stories about small towns where there's not much to do, and where murders are few and far between. Adams's books describe a Depression-era Dakotas of quiet small towns where private reputations and public behavior mattered. His Wilcox is a quiet man, willing to work when he needs money and loaf when he doesn't. His constant pursuit of any semi-willing women would be off-putting were it not realistically depicted (i.e., he doesn't succeed very often).

One added bonus can be found in the design of the books, whose covers sport art by Edward Hopper and Thomas Hart Benton. Not your usual mystery book design.

During the Depression, sign painter Carl Wilcox has earned a reputation throughout the Dakotas for solving murder mysteries, which is why Pastor Bjorn Bjornsen invites him to lunch. Bjorn and his nephew Sven offer Carl $100 to discover who raped and murdered the pastor's niece Gwendolyn in their church basement.

Carl begins his inquiries by talking to the cop on the case, Officer Driscoll, who has unofficially given up on the case, but does provide Carl the needed information. Carl follows up with discussions about the victim with her teachers, friends, and family. As he continues to look into the brutal death of a child with no seeming enemies or anyone with a motive to hurt her, Carl begins to wonder if even he can solve this mystery.

The fifteenth Wilcox depression era who-done-it keeps the freshness that has constantly made this series one of the best historical mysteries on the market. The story line fits the period, making it seem much more alive than fiction normally produces. However, it is the talent of Harold Adams to brilliantly describe a host of characters as seen through their varying relationships with succinct and abrupt Carl that makes NO BADGE, NO GUN and , for that matter all the Wilcox books, must reading for sub-genre fans.

Harriet Klausner

I read this book in 1988 for an autobiography class, and reread it about once a year. It is the only book that has ever brought me to tears. Anyone with a parent who kept their relationships with their children strictly formal will identify with this book.

Through this book you will get to know Harold Lloyd, one of the 3 comedy stars of silent films (other than Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton). I saw "Safety Last", which was released in 1923, and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to read about Harold Lloyd. This book contains pictures from many of Lloyd's movies and makes you wish you could see them all. However, just the summaries and accompanying pictures are quite funny and make good reading. Lloyd was largely the same person offscreen as onscreen, lived a clean life with his wife and children and became one of the richest men in Hollywood at the time. The book also gives the modern reader an idea of what was involved in the production of the early silent films. Great book.

I am a future educator who reccommends this book to all people involved in the educational system. It is filled with intuitive ideas that should be recognized and credited for all that they can be, if they were to be implemented. The authors use common sense approaches that are often neglected in schools. Our educational system really needs to be reformed and changed in order to successfully educate our children. The ideas presented in this book could help do just that.

This profusely illustrated text will give residents in radiology the basic anatomy needed to form a solid foundation for a complete radiologist.It however does not contain tables for easy reading and review.
The pictures are explicit and help to further reinforce understanding of the text.

A very well organised and profusely illustrated text which provides information on anatomy as related to and conventional radiology and more sophisticated radiological forms of investigation like the magnetic resonance imaging. First year residents would find the book useful as it provide the basic anatomic knowledge needed in making diagnosis. This book is a must for radiologists!

This book provides a wonderful examination of how emerging communication technologies impact the society that spawned them. Each major media advance (papyrus, parchment, paper, the printing press) causes major shifts in the social paradigms of the societies that adopt its use... definately worth the read. This edition has an afterword by Dr. David Godfrey regarding the impact of the electronic form.

Former TV news anchor Kyle Champion reluctantly accepts the invitation from his old college buddy Matt Kreuger to attend a memorial service for the latter's deceased dad. Actually, the invitation was offered because Matt's sister-in-law Marcia demanded he ask Kyle. She knows Kyle has had some success in solving homicides and Marcia wants Kyle to investigate the death of her father in law, P.J. Though officially P.J. died of a heart attack, Marcia feels his four-decade younger second wife Sorah killed him because she inherits everything in his revised will.

Matt drives the three hours from Minneapolis to the remote "Kreugerland" cabins near Bent Line Lake. There he meets the family he met several years ago when he stayed at the cabins. He also finds Sorah to be quite charming and not at all like a murderous Jezebel. As he unenthusiastically discusses the death with everyone remotely involved, Kyle begins to uncover disturbing discrepancies that makes him wonder if perhaps P.J. was murdered.

THE FOURTH OF JULY WAKE is an interesting amateur sleuth mystery that readers will enjoy because of the depth of the ensemble's secondary characters. In spite of his TV exposure, Kyle remains a charming idealist though he loses some of rosy optimism due to the results of his inquiries. Though why the dominating Marcia would stay as a second fiddle seems stretched, this cozy will delight fans that will wonder along with Kyle whether a homicide occurred and if so did Sorah really murder her elderly spouse?

Harriet Klausner

I thought this book was very good. It takes a really good book to get me past the first chapter, and this one kept me interested throughout the whole story. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery!

Adams autobiography plots along at a snail's pace as Adams describes in nauseatingly long detail about the plants and birds that lived in the area where he grew up. I suppose that this is exciting for people who enjoy nature walks and such.

I labored through the book because I am a dedicated Adams fan. I have read every novel that he has ever written, and enjoyed them thoroughly. The Day Gone By is helpful if you want to get inside of Adams' head and figure out how he thinks. After reading the work, I think that Hazel, a character from Watership Down, may actually be a model for his father, to whom Adams was very close.

Other observations about Adams' works can be gleaned by reading The Day Gone By.

Actually, Adams goes right out and says that Hazel was based on a man he met durung his army service, so read closer next time, buddy.

Adams is not widely available in my native UK and I cannot say I am experiencing any sense of cultural deprivation if this entry in the Carl Wilcox series is typical of its quality.
Wilcox has had a colourful past--veteran of WW1,former convict and now an itinerant sign painter in the Mid West in the Great Depression and a man who has established a reputation as a sskilled investigator Why then does he come across as so dull in the book?
He is asked by a relative in North Dakota to dig up evidence that will exonerate a friend who is suspected of murdering her husband.Suspects are not exactly scarce--there is the nubile neighbour and her mildly retarded daughter;his partner in a clothing store known to be resentful of the deceased's less than hands on approach to business,and members of a dance band he once lead some of whom feel they are being held back by his less than dynamic leadership
Wilcox questions suspects,sleeps around with several female charcters and teaches his nephew to fight and bored me into a light coma in the process
Turgid,Unexciting .No sense of place or period.
Its boring and no condemnation can be more damning

It's a good time for Harold Adams, whose novels about itinerent sign painter ex-cop Carl Wilcox had been languishing, garnering critical raves but little in the way of sales. Walker & Company, a publishing house becoming known for literate, sometimes off-beat mysteries, has released four books so far in trade paperback and published new ones in hardback. This is a series well worth investigating.

Wilcox reminds me of every boy's favorite uncle, the one who's a black sheep to the women of the family for not settling down, who stops by when he needs a bed and a few square meals, bringing with him a whiff of sin and a few great stories. He travels the small towns of the Dakotas and Minnesota during the Depression, taking on sign-painting jobs for grocery stores and law offices when they're available, and camping by the side of the road in his modified Model T. When the jobs are few on the ground, he'll take on a murder investigation.

In "A Way with Widows," his sister asks him to come to Red Ford, North Dakota, to help clear a neighbor of killing her husband, who was found on the stairs of another woman's house. In "No Badge, No Gun," a minister who has heard of Wilcox's reputation as an investigator asks him to solve the murder of his niece, found dead in the basement of a church. Wilcox's investigating style consists of wandering around town, talking to people, gathering threads of facts and weaving them into a plausible story. He's suspicious, but not cynical. Told about the perfect character of a churchgoing man, he observes, "Nothing in this world raises more doubts in my mind than apparently perfect young men."

Yet Wilcox is also a flawed man. He makes mistakes and is perfectly capable of being turned by a pretty widow with something to hide. His attempts at seduction sometimes succeed, but more often fail, which makes sense at a time when a woman's reputation could be affected by who she's seen with.

One hopes for better things for Adams and Wilcox, but if it doesn't happen, it won't be the fault of the publisher. Like most of Walker's books, these are beautiful to look at -- details from Edward Hopper's paintings appear on most of them, which is a nice change from the usual blood and skulls that passes for art on most mystery covers -- and the $8.95 price tag is more than reasonable for these absorbing tales of small-town crimes of passion.