I’m still trying to get a handle on mystery writer Stanley Ellin. And I must admit that his 1970 novel The Bind kind of blindsided me. It’s unlike the previous Ellin books I’ve read, less reflective – this one is genuine hardboiled, in the old tradition. The way they wrote before Political Correctness.

Jake Dekker is a freelance insurance investigator, the kind who works with the companies to identify fraud, and keeps half of the payout value if he can prove it. He flies into Miami Beach with Ellie, a sexy young actress recruited at the last minute to pose as his wife. They move into a beachfront home next to Mrs. Thoren, wife of the deceased. Mr. Thoren died in an auto crash, but the insurance people suspect he committed suicide, which would invalidate the claim.

Getting to know the Thorens and their neighbors, Jake grows increasingly suspicious that the dead man had a secret, and was being blackmailed. If he can uncover the guilty secret, he may have leverage to pressure the widow to fess up.

Meanwhile, Ellie is falling in love with Jake, and he’s not immune to her charms. But that will make both of them more vulnerable when pressure is applied from an unexpected quarter.

The Bind was closer to a Mickey Spillane novel than I looked for in a Stanley Ellin story. Jake Dekker is a very hard case, a business-first guy who can be really brutal when it’s called for. Sensitivity is not in his toolbox. His relationship with Ellie is completely pre-feminist – there’s no question here who wears the pants, or who needs protecting. Reading it after all these years, I found that element a little shocking, but… let’s say, I didn’t hate it.

There was more sex than violence in this story, just the opposite of the way a mystery adventure would be done nowadays. And as for the conclusion – well, I think I can say that it’s not a good idea to look for happy endings in an Ellin book.

By the way, The Bind was filmed, after a fashion, in 1979, under the title of “Sunburn,” as a vehicle for Farrah Fawcett, fresh off her breakout role on “Charlie’s Angels.” Charles Grodin played Jake. The studio made the decision to turn it into an adventure comedy (which the book most definitely is not), and it flopped badly. Even Art Carney in a supporting role couldn’t save it. (I saw it myself, and was perfectly satisfied to watch Farrah under any circumstances).

I wouldn’t say I loved The Bind. It’s too much in the Mike Hammer mold for my taste. But it was well done after its kind.