No Game For a Dame by M. Ruth Myers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A hard-boiled detective novel—but hey, the dick’s a dame! How about that for a twist? Yeah, well, as “neat” as that is, I don’t know if it’s that big of a deal.
Which is not to say this was a bad novel. It’s your basic procedural, your basic private-eye story, with many of the tropes we enjoy, the reason we read these things. The language, the attitude, the seedy bars, the gangsters, the run-ins with the cops. Maggie Sullivan delivers.
Then there’s the new stuff, the stuff you don’t get in the male version. Knitting needles, elaborate hats, a boarding house for women only. Don’t worry, none of it’s sexist or derivative. Just part of the tapestry, and used in the execution of detective duties.
There’s maybe a little too much misogyny tossed around for my tastes. I mean, yeah, sure, that’s the way it was back then, but I don’t read these detective stories for the history lesson. Feels less like an attempt at verisimilitude and more like self-indulgence. Like, I’m supposed to respect this dame more because she solves crimes and has to deal with institutional sexism.
No thanks. I’d rather just read a good story. And No Game for a Dame is a good story, more or less. The question I have to ask myself is, would this story have worked if the main character had been a guy? Sure— so on the one hand, kudos for not making this merely a by-gals-for-gals thing.
But on the other hand, why bother with the title, then? Look, I haven’t read a lot of women-as-private-eye novels. But it seems to me that there’s gotta be more one could do than just throw a female into a by-the-numbers paperback and add a little sexist window-dressing for good measure.
Then again, maybe that’s me being sexist. Bottom line—if you’re looking from some kind of feminist screed, give this one a pass. But if you’re looking for a decent little crime novel, go right ahead.