4 The Daily Tar Heel Thursday, September 8 1977
A view of recent books mystery, greed, queens, vans, nuns
When successful authors of good detective
stones decide to step out of their proven field
and write "significant" novels, they run a
calculated risk. Will they be declared
important novelists or will they lose the
impact and momentum of their earlier
detective stories?
Dorothy Uhnak, author of "The
Investigation," was a police officer for 14
years and won two medals for her
distinguished service. Then she wrote three
skillful detective stories with a policewoman
as the heroine: "The Ledger," "The Witness,"
and "The Bait." (Simon and Schuster. 344
pp. S9.95)
The inspiration for her new novel, "The
Investigation." is obviously the infamous
1 965 Alice Crimmins case, in which a mother
with a rather loose reputation is charged
with killing her two children. In Miss
Vhnak's version, the mother is beautiful,
blonde Kitty Keeler, whose two small
children are first reported missing and then
found dead, one strangled, one shot. The
police believe Kitty killed the children,
especiallly when they discover she has been
involved in various sordid love affairs with
Mafia-type characters. Publicity about the
case convinces the public that she is guilty;
and an ambitious police captain and a
politically-motivated district attorney press
the charges.
But Sergeant Joe Peters, a tired police
officer approaching retirement and the
breakup of his marriage, finds Kitty
innocently appealing, falls in love with her
and determines to prove her innocence. With
Kitty's estranged but devoted husband
George and her shrewd gangster friends
trying to help her. and Sergeant Peters
frantically seeking witnesses who might back
up Kitty's story that she had left the children
alone the night of their deaths, but had not
killed them, the suspense is skillfully built
up. Indeed, the ending manages to pack a
surprise, even though we may have read all
about the Crimmins case.
Lawrence Sanders, author of "The Second
Deadly Sin." wrote an arresting novel called
"The First Deadly Sin" (which dealt with
pride, while the new one tackles greed - and
we can fully expcect a "third deadly sin" to
give us lust. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. 412 pp.
$9.95) In "The Tomorrow File" Mr. Sanders
turned out an intriguing if not very
convincing fantasy tale about the future; and
in "The Marlow Chronicles" he changed
pace again to write a tender and very funny
novel about a flamboyant actor facing up to
imminent death.
When the famous artist Victor Maitland
(he specialized in painting luscious female
nudes) is stabbed to death in his studio, no
one seems to care. Certainly his widow, a
former model, his angry son. his neglected
mother and sister, his jealous fellow artists,
his greedy art dealer and his sexy mistress
shed neither tears nor clues.
Only the ex-Chief of Detectives Edward
Delaney. a carry-over frorri'The First Deadly
Sin." and ex-alcoholic Sergeant Abner
Boone, now grimly on the wagon, go over all
the evidence, re-interview all the suspects
long after the trail is cold, and eventually
discover an ingenious tax fraud in the art
world and an ingenious murderer obviously
motivated by greed, (w hich we already know
is "the second deadly sin.") Nor would it be
-book s-
Bv WALTER SPEARMAN
The Investigation
by Dorothy Uhnak
The Tomorrow File
by Lawrence Sanders
Queens of England
by Norah Lofts
Van People: The Great American
Rainbow Boogie
by Douglas Kent Hall
The Eighth Sacrament
by Thomas Cullinan
unfair to suggest that dullness and lack of
character depth might also be considered
deadly sins!
ENGLISH QUEENS
If you are one of those cats who wants to
look at a queen - from Boadices back in
Roman times to Queen Elizabeth II today -just
pick up Norah Lofts' handsome new
book, "Queens of England." (Doubleday.
I92 pp. $12.50)
In fact, you can follow the entire history of
England by consulting Miss Lofts' Book of
Queens and you will find them more
humanly interesting than you might have
expected.
THOSE VAN PEOPLE
A new American sub-culture is revealed -and
praised - in "Van People: The Great
American Rainbow Boogie" by Douglas
Kent Hall (Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 158 pp.
$17.95). The book is packed full of van
pictures.
It's an expensive fad, says Hall, but a very
popular one. Hundreds of thousands of van
fans are turning in their low-price compacts
and paying $12,000 to $15,000 for brightly
painted vans, then taking off across the
country for new adventures.
EIGHTH SACRAMENT
THE EIGHTH SACRAMENT. By Thomas
Cullinan. (Putnam. 224 pp. $7.95)
Oddly enough, and unbelievably enough,
this "suspense story" is about a Mother
Superior in an Ohio convent who finds two
of her nuns murdered, falls in love with the
investigating officer (or is he really an
officer?) and is about to run off with him
when she discovers that the convent is a
center of dope smuggling and million-dollar
sales. All that's pretty hard to believe, but
then Author Cullinan, a television writer, is
also 'author of "The Beguiling," which was
made into a movie with Clint Eastwood and
Geraldine Page.
Walter Spearman is a professor in the
L'NC School of Journalism.
( RESTAURANT )
The Porthole Picks the ACC.
A weekly feature predicting the outcome
of the week's ACC football games.
"We know more about good food
than we do about football!"
For the week of Sept. 10:
Maryland over Clemson
Duke over ECU
Point Spread
6
2
Record thru Sept. 3: 0-1
U. Kentucky over UNC
NCSU over Virginia
Wake over Furman
Point Spread
7
10
9
942-1171
Downtown, up the alley across from NCNB.
Serving daily. 11:30-2:00
4:45-7:15
GPSF to step up activities program
By BERME RANSBOTTOM
Staff Writer
Nestled behind the offices of the Yackety-Yack
and the Association for Women Students is a tiny,
one-room office that houses the Graduate and
Professional Student Federation (GPSF).
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For the next three days, this George is worth
real money at Atlantis Sound.
The money above may not be real, but the savings are at Atlantis Sound. One look at the
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Receivers $ 300 Pioneer SX 650 S 199 Headphones 49 AT 702 39
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Many students are unaware of the existence of
this organization. Beginning this fall with a
stepped-up program of social activities, however,
GPSF hopes to take a more active role in the lives
of UNC's more than 5,500 graduate and
professional students.
"Most of the programs funded by Student
Government are geared toward the
undergraduate," GPSF treasurer Jack Molyneux
says. "We're trying to develop activities which will
serve the graduate students, activities which will
bring graduate and professional students together
and help them to meet one another."
GPSF was organized in 1971. Molyneux says,
and the amount of appropriation per student
which the federation receives from Student
Government has been steadily decreasing since
that time.
He says this means that many of the fees paid by
graduate and professional students are being used
to fund organizations used almost exclusively by
undergraduates.
"Basically, we try to get the graduates' student
activity fees back to them," Molyneux explains.
"About two-thirds of our budget (which totals
$19,000 this year) goes back to the departments.
"We have some troubles with that when we try
to get money because we're treated like any other
organization," he says. Student government asks
what GPSF is going to do with the money, but
because the 66-member departments spend most
of the appropriation on their own projects, the
organization has been unable to outline any
specific programs in the past.
Thus. GPSF is putting a new emphasis on
sponsoring organized activities for its members
this fall. "Right now we're just trying new ideas,
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feeling out to see what kind of reactions we get to
these new activities," Molyneux says. "This is the
first time we've tried a really active social program.
"We will be working fairly closely with the
Craige social committee. So far, we've tentatively
approved $1,500 for GPSF social activities."
The first of these activities will be a swim at the
quarry near Pittsboro on Sept. 10, Molyneux says.
Beverages may be provided.
The owner of the quarry has donated it for
GPSF's use that day with the stipulation that
GPSF provide a lifeguard and a system for
checking IDs.
Other tentative activities include a beer night at
one of the local bars around Sept. 16 and a bull
roast at the quarry Sept. 24. Specifics such as
times, locations and directions to the quarry will
be included in Campus Calendar announcements
in the Daily Tar Heel, Molyneux says.
"If graduate students will be interested, we'll
find out soon enough," Molyneux says. "We're
trying to publicize these activities well enough so
that if people don't come, we will be sure that it
was because they didn't want to and not because
they didn't know about the activity."
MusicDepartmen t
to hold auditions
The UNC Music Department still has openings
in three of its organizations.
Male singers are invited to audition for the
University Chorus and the Men's Glee Club. The
chorus, a mixed group under the direction of Chip
Stam, rehearses from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays, and
from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Robert Porco conducts the Glee Club, which
meets from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Interested persons should report to 106 Person
Hall as soon as possible or phone Porco at 933
1093. David Reed, director of the University Wind
Ensemble, announced openings in that
organization for clarinetists, bassoonists, oboists
and string bass players. Performers on other
instruments are also encouraged to contact Reed,
as certain sections may be enlarged to
accommodate newcomers.
The Wind Ensemble is open to all UNC
students, although music majors are especially
encouraged to try out. Interested musicians
should go to 222 Hill Hall to set up an audition
time or call Reed at 933-2270.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
For Tutoring of
Elementary and Junior High
Students.
JLO-
yiick
ALLTHE PEOPLE
For more information, call 933-2333
or come by 102 Y-Building Campus
! J(: HI ',
! U:-'MI':;!.-:!.l!-;' .
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929-2147
Mon.-Fri. 9-5
Village Opticians 7
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Down from Fowler's
967-9394