Sixteen chapters in, I still can't decide

Sales of pulp magazines increased 15 percent when his stories were featured on the cover, but CARROLL JOHN DALY doesn't get the respect accorded to Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler or Cornell Woolrich.
I am reading Daly's novella "THE THIRD MURDERER" in "The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps," and 16 chapters into the story, I still can't decide where I personally rank the writer generally considered the originator of the HARD-BOILED DETECTIVE STORY. Is he good or bad, I can't quite decide.
The novella I am reading originally appeared as "'The Flame' and Race Williams," serialized in BLACK MASK from June to August 1931.
It is fast-paced with exciting scenes, but the characters seem shallow, even for pulp magazines.
Stephen Mertz once defended Daly's writing. In a 1978 article in The MYSTERY FANcier magazine, Mertz wrote:
"In addition to being important as an influential pioneer, it should also be pointed out that, the critical establishment aside, Carroll John Daly was a damn good thriller writer."
Mertz admits Daly "had his faults."
"His characters on occasion speak more like 19th century Victorian actors or refugees from a dime novel than like hard-boiled underworld types," Mertz wrote, "and some of his novels are episodic, rather than existing as sustained works building to one all-powerful climax."
Ah ha! That must be it. I think my more modern sensibilities are struggling with the episodic nature of Daly's work. I keep reading, though, because Mertz was correct: Daly could pen some thrilling scenes. Is he good or bad? Maybe it doesn't matter.