Under the Paper Moon
Opening in Los Angeles in 1948, this novel introduces characters out of film noir: beautiful, tough protagonist Evelyn Bishop and her handsome boyfriend James; a wealthy businessman who is soon murdered and the pretty young waitress he appeared to be having an affair with; Nick Gallagher, an old contact of Evelyn’s, now a hard-drinker whose life has gone askew. Chapter Two shifts to London in 1942: another sort of movie altogether. With a small group of OSS operatives, Evelyn and Nick parachute behind enemy lines to work with the French Resistance defeating the Nazis. Nefarious dealings during the war extend afterwards with murderous consequences.
Having long lost contact, Evelyn and Nick are now private investigators, she for women clients from her Rodeo Drive office in Beverly Hills, he from a shabby downtown cubbyhole. Both become entangled with the murder of George Palmer, and details of their wartime adventures and relationship weave through the story. The aeronautics tycoon, widower Logan Bishop, raised Evelyn and her brother Matthew around airplanes; Nick and James were their childhood friends. Thus, family, friendship, and planes play a significant role.
These elements create an ever-intensifying plot with a mysterious antagonist worming his way into Los Angeles business, politics, and events from WW II hanging over the major characters. Steinberg’s style is vivid, recreating late 1940s Los Angeles in the hard-boiled mode reminiscent of Raymond Chandler. Even more in the manner of detective novels of that era is the brutality. More violent than earlier scenes during WWII are the fights, sabotages, and narrow escapes—or not—of these characters in the face of soulless villainy. Under the Paper Moon, a suspenseful page-turner, would make a compelling movie.
