Forgotten Books: Have Gat-Will Travel – Richard S. Prather
HAVE GAT-WILL TRAVEL was published in 1957 and gathered together six short stories from the early fifties. This was Shell Scott at the beginning of his career, literally, in both the stories and the character’s profession. One story mentions early jobs and the fact that he’d been a PI for only a few years.
The Shell Scott series was the second bestselling PI of the fifties, after Mike Hammer of course. A different sort of character though. The books had a slightly humorous edge, some more so than others. He always had an eye for the ladies, and there were plenty of them, and these stories were the first time I ever heard them referred to as tomatoes. Here’s a typical way some of the women were described:
“She was closer to twenty-five and she looked a if she’d started life with a beautiful face that had grown easier to look at every year.
And the body. The body had tagged right along.”
In these stories, Shell investigates a variety of cases: the eighteen year old who had been raped and beaten to death, a writer friend doing an expose of the Communist party is murdered and the manuscript is missing, he takes a bookie for a client that has lost a lot of money in Mexico and suspects the horse races were fixed, he’s framed for murder during a poker game and has to dodge the police until he can clear his name, a cowboy movie star is found drunk and unconscious beside a woman’s body, and a client offers him $5,000 to find a blackmailer just before he’s shot between the eyes from the window over Shell’s shoulder.
Shell Scott was an early favorite of mine. What’s not to like? The books were full of scantily clad women who always seemed willing to give Shell their all, though there was really no sex. It was all implied. But the young male I was could fill in the details.
Make no mistake though. These stories were fun and engrossing. I came to them late in the series and have read a few of the earliest and a number near the end. There is a large chunk in the middle I hope to catch up on some day.
Who knows? I may actually read them all. That’s the intent anyway.
I have read a shell scott story but I’m not sure where.
How long after HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL was this? Or was it a play on something else?
HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL started the same year this book came out, 1957, and since the show was very popular, in the top five all four years it ran, coincidence is not likely.
This is indeed a good one. I’m a real fan of Prather, his sense of humor combined with the tough character and his plots cover a wide range from “zany” (a word I hesitate to use, since it may turn people off) to really hard boiled. Along with Mike Shayne, Scott is a favorite.
I’m not so sure about the influence of the TV show on this title, at the time, “Have __, will __” was a popular saying. Still, the saying may have been popularized by the show title, I just don’t remember (I was in 7th grade).
I’m with you there, Richard. I was making a guess as we’re about the same age(I was sixty a couple of weeks ago).
And I had a birthday just 10 days ago, 64. So belated happy birthday to you! I feel kinds old, but what really worries me is that I may not have time to read, and re-read, all the books I’d like to before the Grim Reaper comes calling. **sigh**
Happy birthday back at ya, Richard. And I know that feeling as well. So many books, not enough time.
Seems like you are a real professional. Did you study about the matter? *lol*