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Pale Gray for Guilt
John D. MacDonald Book Review

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Plot Summary of Pale Gray for Guilt
"
Gray is the titled color for this Travis McGee novel. Once again, John D.
MacDonald's hero comes to the rescue. A longtime friend of McGee's is dead, murdered
by some ruthless individuals who could care less that he had a wife and three children.
McGee, sometimes known as that “amiable boat bum” (he only takes cases when he's out
of money; the rest of the time he stays aboard his houseboat, “The Busted Flush,” enjoying
life!) is determined to exact justice and revenge, as the victim was his friend. Before that
happens, however, he gets involved in some nasty, organized crime scenes.

"

Bill Hobbs, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Pale Gray for Guilt
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - 1960's-1970's
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 90%
Murder of certain profession? - criminals
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
The antagonists are: - Drug kingpins
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - Mexico

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Pale Gray for Guilt
Stan the Killer by Georges Simenon
My Friend Maigret by Georges Simenon
Inspector Maigret and the Killers by Georges Simenon
A Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosley
Perry Mason Solves the Case of the Deadly Toy by Erle Stanley Gardner


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John D. MacDonald Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
BethG  

SCHOLARS:
Jennifer Sexton  Deepa  


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