This short-story collection by Elmore Leonard can get overlooked in his total output yet includes one of his most influential stories. It also displays how he owned the genre of crime fiction enough to deliver engaging, wry tales of life regardless of any degree of law-breaking.
The story of note, “Fire in the Hole,” would be better known to television audiences a few years later as the basis for the pilot of a long-running series, “Justified.”
While that is the most representative (and satisfying) example of Leonard’s tough-guy fiction in the collection, it’s far from the only thing worth reading.
Throughout the book, Leonard shows himself able to build things of small wonder from long graphs of narrative-free dialogue and taut setting descriptions of the kind Hemingway might have liked:
She came to the home on Ocean Drive, only a few blocks from Donald Trump’s, expecting to not have a good feeling for a woman named Mrs. Mahmood, wife of Dr. Wasim Mahmood, who altered the faces and breasts of Palm Beach ladies and aspirated their areas of fat. So it surprised Lourdes the woman didn’t look like a Mrs. Mahmood, and that she opened the door herself: this tall redheaded woman in a little green two-piece swimsuit, sunglasses on her nose, opened the door and said, “Lourdes, as in Our Lady of?”
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| Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida is the kind of setting Leonard would have invented if it wasn't already there for him. It figures in many of his stories, such as the title tale in When The Women Come Out To Dance. Image by Michael Wantz Photography from https://www.avalonhotel.com/hotel.htm |
That’s from the opening of the title story, which features an unlikely pairing of two women in a plot that either amounts to preemptive self-defense or murder one, depending on how you look at. Subjectivity is always part of Leonard’s tool kit, even when the good guys and bad guys are better defined.
From the book’s title, one might expect a heavy focus on women. And yes, women are central in several stories, though the focus, as with most Leonard books from the 1970s and after, remains crime.
What they lack in depth, brief as they are, the stories make up for in range and diversity of setting. Tone, here as always, is nearly always the same with Leonard, low-key, relaxed, edging on violence but open to other options. What you get are thoughtful, engaging diversions that leave you eager to read the next story.
“Sparks” – Canavan is an arson inspector checking out an insurance claim. Robin, the claimant, is described as “a slim turn-on in a trendy kind of way,” with a taste for marijuana and a dislike for Chinese décor, which was what her late husband used to furnished her late home. Canavan isn’t buying that the house burned down accidentally, and Robin isn’t trying too hard to sell it. She’s more interested in Canavan.
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| A mansion burning after a 2022 wildfire in Orange County, California. In "Sparks," Canavan tells Robin he has a witness who saw her acting suspiciously just before the blaze began. Her answer: "What would you like to drink?" Image from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61430573 |
A clever double meaning in the title sets up a story about working both ends of the law, something Leonard excelled in since 1969’s The Big Bounce. Not substantial, but its gem-cut tightness is part of its charm. As with many of the stories here, Leonard lets the dialogue speak for itself.
“Hanging Out at the Buena Vista” – A pair of old-timers, a man and a woman, find themselves sharing time at an assisted care facility, living out their last days with dignity, humor, and a stab at wary romance:
“You should see me in a blond wig.”
“A woman can get away with a good one. But you see a rug on a guy, every hair in place? You can always tell.”
The shortest story, written for USA Today, it’s also the farthest removed from crime fiction. But it carries a worn dignity which suits the book.
“Chickasaw Charlie Hoke” – The first reoccurring character from another Leonard work also appears in Tishomingo Blues, a novel Leonard also published in 2002. It’s a fun, nothing story setting up the job we see the easy-living Hoke working at in the novel. The fact this plays not as a crime story but a bet Hoke hopes to turn into a career opportunity shows what some guys will do under pressure. It also showcases Leonard’s love for baseball and its unique lore.
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| Kirk Gibson had a great Game 5 in the 1984 World Series, hitting two homers for his champion Detroit Tigers. The title character in "Chickasaw Charlie Hoke" has his own story about that game, which as he tells it was the only time he got to pitch in Major League Baseball. Image from https://www.facebook.com/baseballinpics/posts/kirk-gibson-celebrates-hitting-a-home-run-in-game-5-of-the-1984-world-series/563102995934785/ |
“When the Women Come Out to Dance” – One of two stories (along with “Karen Makes Out”) where women are the central characters, this one is about how the nastiest of crimes can be covered up by opulent surroundings. The interactions between the Columbian immigrant Lourdes and the woman of the house Ginger, who wants her for housecleaning duties of an unusual kind, are carefully shaded. It’s got a sting on the tail which may leave the strongest impression.
“Fire in the Hole” – The story the collection is known for, and what the book has been retitled in recent years. It’s actually a novella that compares well with the best Leonard I’ve read, and was greatly fleshed out to become the first season of the “Justified” TV series.
U. S. Marshal Raylan Givens goes on the trail of white supremist Boyd Crowder after Crowder blows up a black church and kills one of his own followers (he thinks the guy is an F. B. I. plant.) Very suspenseful tale dished up with some romantic intrigue between Raylan and the widow of Boyd’s late brother. I see how this story had legs; I think a full-length novel about this would have been awesome.
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| Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) square off in a sixth-season episode of the popular FX series "Justified." Givens wraps up his business with Crowder more quickly in the story "Fire in the Hole." You wish it was longer, though. Image from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/justified-a-look-at-finale-788923/ |
“Karen Makes Out” – Speaking of characters who figure in other Leonard novels, here’s Karen Sisco from Out Of Sight, seen here juggling work with a personal life and discovering they clash when her new boyfriend is suspected of committing bank robberies.
Leonard emphasizes her competent, professional demeanor throughout: The only time she wanted to be first through the door was on a fugitive warrant, this girl who scored higher with a handgun, more times than not, than any other marshal in the Southern District of Florida.
It delivers humor and suspense in roughly equal doses, mostly as it features Karen fending off jibes from her male colleagues while giving the boyfriend a careful look, hoping everyone else is wrong about him. The main takeaway: the lady can take care of herself.
“Hurrah for Capt. Early” – Black war veteran Bo Catlett rides into Sweetmary to meet up with his former comrade, the title character who everyone is waiting for. This attracts some local bigots who don’t fancy the concept of a black war veteran. It’s basically Leonard’s chance to explain myth vs. reality when it came to the Spanish-American War and San Juan Hill, and the closest thing in this collection to a minor dud. Catlett’s wry perspective on life is worth spending time with, though.
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| Known as "buffalo soldiers," black troops fought at San Juan Hill in segregated units. Told by his friend Capt. Early that the war was fought "to free the oppressed Cuban people," Bo Catlett answers. "I guess I knew. I just wasn't sure." Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_Hill |
“The Tonto Woman” – A white woman, once the captive of Mojave Indians and marked with intricate blue tattooing across her face, is confronted by amiable cattle thief Ruben Vega, who can’t understand why her husband just abandoned her after her rescue:
“But to live in the desert,” Ruben Vega said, still frowning, thoughtful, “with a rusty pump...”
“Look at her,” Diego Luz said. “What choice does she have?”
Vega reaches out to the woman instead, learning about the hard life she leads and the deals she has made to keep what little she has.
“Tenkiller” – The collection’s other longer story features ex-rodeo rider and stunt man Ben Webster, who returns home after his wife dies in a freak accident. He’s convinced he’s bad luck to any lover as that has become a kind of family tradition. Then he meets an old flame at the same time he discovers crooks squatting in his family’s pecan farm.
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| A pecan farm, like this one in Oklahoma, requires a lot of maintenance. The first sign of trouble Ben Webster sees when he returns to the family pecan farm is how the place has gone all to seed. A trio of father-and-sons claim they can do what they want with Ben's land. Ben has other ideas. Image from https://bfpecanfarm.com/ |
This may have been my favorite story in the collection, despite the fact it is not as good as “Fire in the Hole,” “Sparks,” or “When the Women Come Out to Dance.” The extended opening, showing glimpses of Webster’s life and memories of days gone by, has a flavor of non-genre fiction about it, specifically Larry McMurtry’s early work.
Carl said that time, “Now your grandma Kitty – I can barely remember her face even though I’m still married to the woman. If she died I doubt she’s in Heaven. Boy, Kitty was hot stuff, wore those real skimpy dresses. She’d read about me in the paper and pretend to shiver in a cute way.”
When the bad guys show up, the story kicks into a higher gear. While the conclusion is rushed, the suspense and emotional impact delivered is at least on par with Leonard’s best work. Again, the main character’s ability to stay cool while everything seems to blow up around him becomes its own satisfying takeaway.
Leonard was a great writer, even though he didn’t always write great books. When The Women Come Out To Dance is a fine one, though, even as it plays to formulaic stereotypes. For example, nearly every story (except the two set in the Old West) have characters whose appearances are likened to famous movie stars. But here at least, belying his reputation, violence is not always employed though in dealing with conflict. Perhaps Leonard wanted to try something else here.
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| Author Elmore Leonard in 2003, one year after the publication of When The Women Come Out To Dance. Image from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elmore-Leonard |
The best thing about the book throughout is the dialogue, which forms much of the narrative in each story. Like Ruben Vega objecting to being called a murderer though he has in fact killed many men stealing cattle. “You understand the distinction?” he asks a priest. “Not to kill someone to take a life, but only to save my own.”
There are many small, sharp moments like that to keep you reading while whetting your appetite for more Elmore Leonard. Whether writing long or short fiction, the man had a knack for keeping it tight.
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