Carol Wood Reviews:

The Marble Orchard
by William Nolan

When I met Bill Nolan at the Festival of books in Los Angeles, I knew I was in for a good read. I had seen the movie made from one of his more famous novels "Logan's Run" and I just couldn't decide what to purchase.
"Well, what's the matter?" Bill said in his matter of fact way.
"Everything is going to be good, which should I choose?"
"Well," Bill said and he tapped "The Marble Orchard" Cover. "That's the BEST DANG BOOK I ever wrote!"
So I picked that, and I wasn't disappointed.

The main characters of this mystery is Raymond Chandler, the author, and his buddy Dashell Hammet. The flavors of "Double Indemnity" and "The Maltese Falcon" are throughout the book.

     "This will be a good follow up. I just read Joe Gores, 'Cons, Scams and Grifts.'" I told Bill.
     "We're good friends. Funny man."
Somehow these two high caliber writers knowing each other didn't surprise me.

The Marble Orchard is a fast read. I couldn't put it down. The fact that it involved writers who wind up detecting was very satisfying. When you sit in a closet all day long like I do, you like to think that you might go out and investigate a murder... of a friend... if it happened - and dodge the occasional bullet. The way he set up the scene before each chapter reminded me of Steinbeck as I read. This was really fun to read for me because I just moved to LA and all the locations are here. I was just on Laurel Canyon this past week! And here it is in the book! I love that.
Raymond's buddie, Dash Hammet, takes time away from his script writing to help find the killers and the pair go cavorting all over LA in search of answers to a mysterious suicide. Bill really had me guessing throughout this masterful plot. At one point I became convinced it was a suicide, and...but I'm not going to give away the ending. You will just have to read it.

By the way, if you ever have a chance to go to the Festival of Books in LA, this is the way to purchase a book. Bill signs all his books with a cartoon and my cartoon is a little fat "I don't know who he is I just draw!" Bill created on the spot. The little guy in the cartoon is sticking his tongue at me.
Maybe he's daring me to figure out the plot. With Nolan's very capable skill and complicated twists and turns, I couldn't figure out who done it. Well, till almost the very end, and that's not like me! Usually, I'm the one in the theatre that says, "Oh, he's dead, that's why the kid is talking to him - He SEES Dead people, get it?"
In a scene at a cafe Hedda Hopper waltzes in while Dash and Chandler are having lunch. Hammet tells her to
      "Fill me in."
      "Well, it's just incredible, but it's true!..."
Hedda tells all the latest gossip and when she leaves...
      She swung suddenly toward me. "Are you anyone I should know?"
      "Definitely not," I assured her."

And then, when you're thinking this book is so real. I wonder what parts of it are from true life, Bill tells you. At the end of the book, there's an Afterword that satisfies all your curiosity. Ahhhh, that felt good. I think Bill Nolan is someone we all need to know, Definitely!
You should definitely read this book!