The Fox Valley Murders: A Joe Bain Mystery

Jack Vance is of course best known for his fantastic fiction, both of the Romance/Fantasy (Dying Earth, Lyonesse) and Tales of the Far Future (Demon Princes, Emphyrio, Cadwal Chronicles) types. But he was a fairly prolific writer of conventional mystery and police procedural novels in the 50s and 60s. Most fans probably do not consider this his best work, but some of them are actually quite fine, and have harmonics with his other fiction (for example, a precursor of Howard Alan Treesong in The Book of Dreams is the disabled and disaffected child in The View from Chickweed's Window). (Note: Vance is 96 and no longer writing, but is still living).This, and its companion "Sherriff Bain" mystery The Pleasant Grove Murders, both from the 1960s, are vintage Vance, with his careful turns of phrase and eye for detail. The stories are just eccentric enough to stand out from the run of the mill of their genre, and anyone who is in thrall to Vance's inimitable style in fantastic fiction MUST NOT MISS these, especially now that they're finally available at a mass market price.My only regret is that the outline for a third Bain mystery never materialized! (It's published in outline form in the Vance Integral Edition)

I've read this book two times 'cause it is such a pleasure to read. The dialogues are full of surprises, always developing in another way than you expect. Also the whole plot.Every word is well chosen. Jack Vance paints every character and the whole scenery in a few words. Amazing. Jack Vance at his best!

Even as a loyal Vance reader I can only award 3 stars to this effort. Well done,good plot, good character development, but somehow remains "flat" throughout.

Jack Vance was a genius in the SFF field, but he also wrote mysteries, including two books about Sheriff Joe Bain. This first one introduces the setting and Bain himself, a ne'er-do-well who's found himself as a lawman. After a convicted killer gets out on parole, things start to go wrong, and it's up to Bain to figure it all out before the upcoming local elections.Bain is a likable character, and the mystery is well constructed. It's fair, with clues provided and several people to suspect. The resolution is satisfying, though there's a strange little unneeded coda to wrap up loose ends.All the same, the story falls a bit flat, in the end. I wavered between three stars and four, and on BookLikes, I've given 3.5, which is what it deserves. The mystery genre just doesn't give Vance a chance to bring out his quirky, eerie nature, nor the extravagant language that makes him so great. It does mean that the characters are more natural and fully drawn than the Vancian norm, but it's not a fair trade.If you're looking for a good, logical mystery with some intriguing human nature, this is a good read. If you're looking for another side of Vance, this is it. But if you're looking for the classic Vance you know from his best known books, you may be a little disappointed.CVIE V

Out of curiosity, I am reading a number of mysteries by science fiction writers . This is the first. I have liked some of Vances science fiction (Dragon Masters comes to mind) but this mystery is sort of flat. A typical small town sheriff solves a puzzle sort of tale. Not bad but there are a lot of better mysteries and suspense fiction around to read .

Perfect. As described and prompt delivery.

Krimi von einen der besten Autoren der letzten 50 Jahre,Jack Vance. Leider vor kurzem gestorben-der Autor von "Games of Thrones",Martin,hat verschiedene berühmte amerikanische Kollegen versammelt,die ein Buch in HOmmage an diesen wahrhaft großen Schriftsteller herausgegeben haben.Guter Krimi,lesenswert und flüssig geschrieben,aber kann den überragenden Werken auf dem GEbiete der SF oder der Science Fantasy nicht das Wasser reichen.Nichtsdestotrotz immer noch besser als 99% der gegenwärtigen Krimiautoren.