Trouble Is My Beat–Reader Friday

Patricia Bradley Reader Friday 40 Comments

Trouble is my Beat; Isaiah 50:4b

Trouble Is My Beat by James Scott Bell is this week’s Reader Friday. The stories in this book are written in the style of Dashiell Hammet, Raymond Chandler, Earle Stanley Gardner, and my favorite, John D. MacDonald. More on that later. Here are the first lines: “The war was over. The boys were coming home.”

Before I get to my review I want to talk about the photo and Scripture verse. It was taken on my way to physical therapy back in January. I parked just in time to snap the sun just as it topped the trees. So there is an advantage to having a 7 a.m. appointment sometimes. 😉 I’m finished with PT and in much better shape…except I twisted my knee Wednesday…the joys of getting older….

Now for Trouble is My Beat by James Scott Bell. Here’s the cover and back copy:

HollywTrouble Is My Beat--Isaiah 50:4ood, 1945. The war is over and the boys are coming home. But in Tinseltown it’s crime as usual.

Bill Armbrewster is the troubleshooter for National-Consolidated Pictures. That means getting leading men out of the drunk tank … or a murder rap. It means keeping wolves away from starlets and dancers away from temptation. Once it even means helping Bette Davis out of a jam.

His beat is trouble and his fists are ready. And when he isn’t solving studio problems he’s pounding a typewriter, writing crime stories for the fabled Black Mask pulp magazine.

From City Hall to the Sunset Strip—and all points in between—William “Wild Bill” Armbrewster, a Marine who fought in France in the First World War, gets between the studio talent and a raft of swindlers and hooligans, killers and thieves.

Fair warning: Don’t get on his bad side.

As tough as Sam Spade and as wisecracking as Philip Marlowe, Bill Armbrewster will appeal to fans of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Robert B. Parker.

From International Thrillers Writers Award winner James Scott Bell, here are six complete novelettes written in classic pulp style. Also included is a glossary of pulp slang. Learn to tell a fin from a sawbuck, a clip joint from a flophouse, and what it means to order Adam and Eve on a Raft.

My take:

First my take on Pulp fiction: I’ve long been a fan of pulp fiction, I just didn’t know publishers called it that. By the way, I didn’t read the original stories. Here’s a definition from dictionary.com: Pulp fiction refers to a genre of action-based stories published in cheaply printed magazines from around 1900 to the 1950s, mostly in the United States.

Pulp fiction gets its name from the paper it was printed on. Magazines featuring such stories were typically published using cheap, ragged-edged paper made from wood pulp. These magazines were sometimes called pulps.

Dashiell Hammet published The Maltese Falcon serially in five parts in Black Mask magazine.

My take on Trouble Is My Beat.

Five stories set against the backdrop of post-war Hollywood. Bell does a great job of capturing the era and paints a great picture of what went on behind the scenes at the movie studios. The big production companies definitely took care of trouble differently in the late 40s around the movie lots. Back then the hint of a scandal ruined a star or got them blacklisted, and it’s up to William “Bill” Armbrewster to make sure that didn’t happen.

Bill Armbrewster is a man’s man and values justice above anything else. Each story has an intriguing mystery that will make the reader reluctant to put the book down until “The End.” I loved the dialogue–and be sure to read the glossary of pulp slang.

Readers are always asking for a “clean” book recommendation for their husbands and this is a perfect gift for a husband or son who likes to read action-packed stories. And women will enjoy the stories as well–I certainly did and wanted to recommend them to you!

Right now you can pre-order for $2.99 until it releases April 10. Then the price will increase.

Trouble Is My Beat by James Scott Bell for this week Reader Friday post. Don't miss these six mysteries set against a 40s Hollywood backdrop. Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library. Share on X

Leave a comment with either the first line of the book you are currently reading or tell me if you ever read Pulp fiction! 

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  2. Barbara Diggs

    That’s an amazing sunrise and was a great present before physical therapy! The Scripture and sunrise remind me of the song, “in the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.”

    Good review and interesting to know these stories were called pulp fiction. My first new learned fact for the day! Blessings!

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      Patricia Bradley

      Thanks, Barbara. I kinda miss having to be at PT at 7…and I love that song!
      Trouble Is My Beat is what I always called a hard-boiled detective story, and Bill Armbrewster reminded me of Sam Spade. 🙂 Good to ‘see’ you!

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  3. Tim Johnson

    Ah, PT at 0700. What could be better, and you got that great photo to boot! Wide awake, and ready to hear God’s words. Hope you knee is better soon.

    I can remember reading some books which used cheap paper, and the edges were ragged rather than smooth. I remember some of the Hardy Boys books in the library were that way.

    “The euphoria of winning a hard case vied in her thoughts with wondering what came next as Hayden McCarthy left Alexandria courthouse.” is the first line from “Beyond Justice” by Cara Putman. I’m starting this book today. At over 300 pages, it will keep me busy for awhile, but I really like Cara’s books. I’m just finishing up “Sealed Justice” by Laura Scott; the 3rd in her Called to Protect series. It’s another excellent book.

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      Patricia Bradley

      I saw Laura’s book earlier, Tim…need to check it out! I think I’ve read Beyond Justice…Right now I’m reading a John D. MacDonald book–The Lonely Silver Rain. All of his Travis McGee books have a color in the title.
      The knee is better already–I unloaded fifteen bags of mulch earlier. 🙂

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  5. Kay DiBianca

    Beautiful photo, Patricia, and the verse is perfect! Glad you’re done with PT.

    I love some of the pulp fiction authors, especially Chandler and MacDonald. I’m also a big fan of James Scott Bell. His stories are always fast-paced and he’s created a new pulp hero in Armbrewster.

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      1. Kay DiBianca

        I haven’t read all the Travis McGee novels, but I’ve read many of them. I’ll be interested her hear your opinion of The Lonely Silver Rain.

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  6. Gloria A

    I cringe when I hear someone has a knee issue. Ouch! Glad it’s better. I am reading The Baxters: A Prequel by Karen Kingsbury. The first line: Outside Kari Baxter’s French bedroom window, storm clouds gathered in the early morning sky over Bloomington, Indiana.

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  7. Trixi

    This book looks and sounds more like what my husband would enjoy. I didn’t know why they called it “Pulp fiction” either, thanks for the history lesson!

    What a great scripture & photo. I love sunrises too, but am often not up early enough to catch them. But I do so love to watch the sun go down over the ocean where I live on the Oregon coast! Such gorgeous painting God does, huh? 🙂

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      1. Trixi

        Oh and I forget to leave the first line of the book I’m currently reading, it’s from “Saving Mrs Roosevelt” by Candice Sue Patterson. Part of the Heroines of WW2 Barbour publishing is putting out. This one features SPARs, which is the Coast Guard’s answer to women serving, kind of like the WAVEs in the Navy. It’s a very fascinating piece of history I didn’t know about! Anyway, first few lines:

        “Shirley Davenport was a breath away from dying. Of boredom. She lowered the newspaper to her lap. Why did men get to have all the fun?”

      2. Trixi

        Oh…..thanks for thinking of my husband Patricia when you shared about this book! I’ll definitely recommend it to him and see if it’s of interest 🙂

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  9. Paula Shreckhise

    These sound like great stories. I like watching that kind on TV.

    My first line is from Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna White:
    June, 1922. Chicago
    The wind tore down the alley, forcing Sabina Mancari to hold her cloche hat in place with one hand as she stepped around the corner.

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  10. Erika Luther

    Beautiful picture! The verse fits it well. The book sounds fun. I will have to check it out. I’m reading The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright. Campfires were meant to be places of shadows.

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  11. Edward Arrington

    I like the picture and verse. I’m still not ready to schedule my Cardiac Rehab appointments early enough to get those pictures. LOL!

    I don’t recall if I ever read pulp fiction. If someone had told me I was reading pulp fiction, I would probably have put it down. For some reason, I had the idea that pulp fiction was called that because it was unfit for human consumption. I think Tim mentioned some Hardy Boy books being published on the type of paper you described. I don’t remember ever seeing any like that in our school library.

    I’m doing a first read on a Jody Hedlund book, so I don’t think I should share anything from it. I am reading a non-fiction book also, but I think I shared the first line from it when I started it about a month ago. I got sidetracked doing first reads and a proofread.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Hi Edward! If you read the Maltese Falcon, you read Pulp fiction. 🙂 Or a Perry Mason book. I think there were some stories that were a little racier than others, but nothing like you find in general fiction today. And James Scott Bell’s books are clean reads. He is much more focused on telling a good story than anything else. I love his Mike Romeo books and Sister Justicia Marie books. He also has a few lawyer books and a lot of books on the craft of writing. I’ve learned so much from him.

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  12. Caryl Kane

    Love the scripture and photo!

    Campfires were meant to be places of shadows. The Souls of Lost Lake – Jaime Jo Wright

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  14. Lelia (Lucy) Reynolds

    Beautiful photo. Despite the raging midnight storm soaking her to the skin, 14-year-old Celia Percy help Chester, her 11 year old brother, drag a heavy tarp from the barn, through the house, and up the attic stairs, doing their best to shield nearly 200 years of Belvidere ghosts and treasures from pelting ice and rain. A Hundred Crickets Singing by Cathy Gohlke

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