A Matter of Policy

An Amy Brewster Mystery

By: Sam Merwin Jr.

Narrated by: Janelle Bigham

A Matter of Policy is an enthralling listen that begins when a young friend of Amy Brewster finds his life in jeopardy when an unknown mastermind insures it for one million dollars. When a private detective hired to protect the young man is the first victim, Amy Brewster must think fast and act faster if she is to learn who is behind the plot on the young man’s life in time to save him.

Is it Tosta Kaaren, aka the Canarsie Swede, a platinum-blonde nightclub singer whose real name is Toots Carlin? Or Paulie Paulec, the local crime boss who has a finger in every racket in town? Or playboy Lance Torrey, whose sources of income are suspect at best?

This is one of three suspenseful Amy Brewster mystery reprints by the legendary Golden Age mystery writer/editor Sam Merwin, Jr., available for the first time in more than 50 years!

©2001 Page Turner (P)2018 Page Turner

An enjoyable mystery

A Matter of Policy by Sam Merwin Jr was an 1940 noir mystery with a female detective. I like these type of mysteries and this did not disappoint! The narrator Jannelle Bigham created unique voices for the characters and kept the story moving forward. Great narration and a fun listen.

Noir Female Detective

I am a big fan of the Noir Detective books and movies of the 1940's. I had never heard of Sam Merwin Jr. until I was given the chance to listen to this audiobook by the publisher.

Jim Leavitt is a milquetoast working for a financial company. After his father's suicide, Jim just tries to get by and go unnoticed. When his boss, Mr. Stuveysant, sees a newspaper article saying that Jim is one of the most insured men in the city, the intrigue begins.

This is a great book for the genre. You have thugs, a sultry nightclub singer, a love interest, a police detective, a playboy or two and a gumshoe detective, plus just enough action to keep the story moving at a fast pace.

The character of Amy Brewster is totally unique. Where else will do you find a 300 pound gin-drinking woman who is a PI? The vocabulary and style of writing are pure 1940's and it's fun to read a book without cell phones and computers!

The narrator, Janelle Bigham, does a wonderful job and adds a lot to the enjoyment of the story. She doesn't try to imitate male voices (which hardly ever works) but has enough difference in her inflections for the listener to know who is talking.

If you are fan of this genre, give this one a go. You won't be disappointed!

A GAD Adventure Book Rather Than Mystery

In 1947's <strong>A Matter of Policy</strong> by Sam Merwin, Jr., Jim Leavitt has been hiding from life ever since his father committed suicide four years earlier, making people suspect him of embezzlement. Then Jim's boss, "Old Batwing," calls him into his office because the newspaper has listed Jim as among the ones with the largest life insurance policies in the city. Visiting the insurance agency, Jim discovers that someone else has taken out a $500,000 life insurance policy, posing as himself. In concern over the possibility that someone may have insured Jim with the plan to kill him, the agency sends a private detective to accompany the potential victim home, only for the detective to be killed when Jim's stairs collapse.

With the death, the police detective takes Jim to the nightclub where the beneficiary stars. But Tosta Kaaren, known as the Canarsie Swede, indicates that the Jim Leavitt she knows is a different man. While waiting for Tosta to perform again, Jim spies Juliana Stuyvesant, his former love and "Old Batwing's" daughter, who has the great detective, Amy Brewster, with her. Together everyone works together to find the fraudster and murderer of the insurance detective.

What follows is a madcap series of events that lead to all manner of craziness. The characters encounter villain after villain, dealing with each one in a unique manner. However, for a book that purports to center on Amy Brewster, it devotes only a small portion of the book to her. Instead, it spends most of its time on Jim and secondarily on Tosta. Further, Amy does not show herself to be the great mind that solves the case, as Jim actually does more thinking than Amy.

The characters in <strong>A Matter of Policy</strong> also did not come across as very realistic to me, especially the women. At one point, Jim knocks out Juliana by hitting her, and that is what makes her decide that she truly does love Jim because he will stand up to her. Even though I recognize that in 1947 people had different standards about physical abuse, the book still thoroughly turned me off by such portrayals. On the other hand, Tosta and Amy show themselves to be strong women, and even though Tosta and Juliana initially express jealousy of each other, all three women come to admire each other by the end.

The very informative introduction talks about Amy Brewster as a "Proto-feminist figure" who would be seen as another Kinsey Milhone [Sue Grafton's detective] if she were written today. While Amy does show an independent spirit and clever mind, it is her disgusting habits that truly define her. Weighing over 300 pounds and described as waddling instead of walking, Amy outeats, out-smokes, and out-swears all the men. This to me does not serve as an exemplar of feminism, just someone with bad behavior and habits.

Janelle Bigham performs the audio edition of this book and proves to be a good choice of actresses to narrate this book. Bigham takes us back to the feel of mystery movies from the Golden Age of Detection (GAD) and uses strong voices in particular for the characters of Tosta and Amy, for example giving Tosta a Brooklyn accent that makes her feel like the tough woman of the 1940s' movies.

<strong>A Matter of Policy</strong> reminded me of a wild adventure book, maybe even comic book, rather than a true mystery, though there is indeed a mystery to the story. It uses a series of crazy adventures with wild encounters with villains that move from episode to episode. As a mystery, I give this only 2.5 stars, but as a historical example of a GAD adventure book, I give it four stars.

Fun Mystery

If you like mysteries, this one is for you. Jim was a shy person growing up. He finds his life is a stake when he discovers someone has taken out a life insurance policy on him for a half million dollars. Jim’s boss asked Amy Brewster to look into it. Then the excitement starts. The narrator did a good job.

Trust no one

This is a pretty good mystery set back in time. It seems that suspects are plenty. I trusted no one and this kept me intrigued.

what the what??

More action and drama than you can imagine. The fight scenes are choreographed beautifully.
Amy, once again rises to the top like the cream on milk. I enjoyed following along and was clueless as to whodunit. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a good job bringing it to life.