Anatomy of a Murder (Traver)

Book Reviews 
Rarely have I been so entertained as I have been by this strange novel, and for the life of me I can't tell why..... Traver is a bit naive about writing, putting in all sorts of extraneous things that don't really bear on his story, overlapping the distinguishing marks of his characters, and being careless about their insides.... Nevertheless, ...it held me as few books have, I couldn't put it down. The style is simple, colloquial English, beautifully adapted to its task, and often pungently effective.
James Cain - New York Times, 1958