"Hark! to the hurried question of Despair:
"Where is my child?" - an Echo answers - "Where?" - Byron
Evil Come, Evil Go is a 1961 crime novel by Whit Masterson.
Andy Paxton is a popular screen, TV and recording star, his celebrity rising. Not quite Sinatra, more in the Bobby Darin range. We enter as he presents sold out shows at the El Dorado, a California nightclub where top acts try new material. Along for the ride is his wife, son, and entourage: Bake (his best friend), Lanny from the record company, press agent Ed Thornburg, and 'Hub', his ex-cop bodyguard and driver.
Andy has risen fast from being an administrative cop, when his turn in a local talent show turned the world on to his voice. Meeting seasoned actress Lissa Deane on a TV show lead to a whirlwind romance, and their star roles in a technicolor epic solidified them as Hollywood's Golden Couple, complete with a newborn son. Little matter they are indifferent to each other, and their constant talk of divorce from this marriage of convenience is more about schedule timing than feelings.
"We have your Son. He is safe as long as you behave. Do not call the cops. We will contact you. Code word is Canary."
The bombshell note arrives as Andy takes the stage - the child was taken, and the babysitter killed. Andy's world collapses around him. The police are called in, the hounding reporters call out "Do you think your baby is still alive?". The media circus is held at bay and a vigil for the next phone call begins, although Homicide Lieutenant Bonner must wonder if it is all a publicity stunt. Andy is certain - the ransom of $100,000 will be paid. Everyone in Andy's inner circle is questioned, especially those heavy in debt. Dark secrets are revealed and there is another death (a probable suicide, or a certain murder?).
Andy and Hub lead their own investigations which turn off into shady roadside bars and burlesque houses, fake ransom seekers come out of the woodwork, and Andy's mother turns to astrology for answers. The culprit is revealed just three pages before the end, in an exciting rooftop chase and the discovery that the person closest to you could have been the vile kidnapper all along.
This is a taut novel moving from the backstage world of entertainment to a desperate search. The writing is dark and sharp with a driving tempo. There is mystery, however, the tone of stark panic plays more like a crime novel in The Desperate Hours style. Andy can trust no one in his world, not even the police, for he quickly finds out, the police do not trust him.
A very enjoyable page-turner, this was filmed as The Yellow Canary in 1963.
Whit Masterson is a psuedonym for the writing team of Robert Wade and H. Bill Miller, who also wrote popular fiction under the name Wade Miller (Branded Woman). Many of their titles have been adapted to film, including Orson Welles Touch of Evil, Kitten With A Whip, and Guilty Bystander.
1961 / Hardcover / 185 pages
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