Never Come Back by Robert Colby

Never Come Back by Robert Colby
Short Story originally published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 1967

With the exception of the ones published by Monarch, I believe I've read all of the novels written by Robert Colby. (including the excellent co-authored Killmaster adventure titled, The Death's Head Conspiracy) I'm always on the lookout for Colby's short stories and when I get my hands on one, I eagerly dig into it.

"Never Come Back" first appeared in the June 1967 AHMM issue and was later added to one of Hitchcock's anthology collections. It's a story about an out of luck loser who has to drive a cab to make a living. Opportunity knocks one day when a fare leaves an attache case in his back seat. Upon returning the case for an assumed reward, he stumbles upon a murder and an alluring dame. The theme in this story is really about obsessive attraction. Jerry Hoagland (the cabbie) continues to seek out the girl and it becomes almost addictive pursuing her. Not for money, but just to see her. But in the end this spirals out of control for Hoagland. Staying away is not an option for him and his obsession has dangerous results.

A powerful short story written by an author that should have received more notoriety. Robert Colby was one of those special authors that besides writing excellent crime/mystery novels, he added an impressive collection of top-notch short stories throughout this career. "Never Come Back" happens to be just one of many that I have stumbled upon. And I'm glad I did.

This "Happiness is a Warm Corpse" Hitchcock collection contains many fine stories. Others that I've enjoyed, "This Day's Evil" by Jonathan Craig - burglary, murder and a hick Sheriff might just allow crime to pay. The author Fletcher Flora has always been an enigma to me because there is so little information about him. But he wrote great short stories and "IQ 184" is one of them. Also included in this issue is Richard Deming's ""Kill, If You Want Me!" This may be Deming's best short work. And an unexpected surprise awaits the reader at the end of by "Once Upon a Bank Floor" by James Holding Jr.

Many good ones by some excellent mystery writers.

Case of the Village Tramp by Jonathan Craig

Case of the Village Tramp by Jonathan Craig
Gold Medal 930, Copyright 1959

Jonathan Craig was a damn good mystery writer. Unfortunately, he became lost in the shadows of the more popular Gold Medal authors from the 1950s. Most of his paperbacks were published by Gold Medal, with the bulk involving murder investigations by NYPD Detective Pete Selby. Selby and his partner Stan Rayder work out of the Sixth Precinct, and mix it up with the oddball inhabitants of Greenwich Village. During that time, Craig wasn’t afraid to push the envelope a bit. You’ll find characters in the stories on the kinky side, with a few perverts (1950s style) popping up in the plots. But hold on, these are exciting detective dramas. Packing .38s and kicking down doors, Selby and Rayder perform old fashion police legwork to solve each whodunit case.

I holstered my gun and walked to the window. Blondie Miller's body was impaled on the swordlike points of an ornamental iron fence that ran across the brick courtyard five floors below. It was hard to be sure from that angle and at that distance, but he seemed to have been disemboweled.

Beautiful seventeen year old Sharon Ramey is found murdered in her apartment, wearing nothing but a medieval chastity belt. Selby discovers that Sharon was famous as a child classical concert pianist, but also learns that sweet little old Sharon wasn’t so sweet after all. For the past year, a trail of men have been lead into her bedroom and the detectives suspect one is the murderer. Lurking in the story is a syndicate rat who is being hunted by a psycho hitman who performs his work using an ice pick. As leads come in, Selby struggles to find a link between these two men and the murder. There is a wonderful scene where a lesbian enters the precinct to offer up a possible suspect for the detectives. The exchange is so unorthodox, that you wonder who is running the investigation, the detectives or her. As we near the end of the story, we seem no closer than in the beginning on finding the identity of the murderer. But after a brutal torture scene and some gunplay, things start falling in place for Selby. And as the detectives head out to nab the murderer, we are treated to an excellent ending by Jonathan Craig.

You'll find no complains by me on this novel, this is solid hardnosed crime fiction. 1950s police detectives doing their jobs, tackling the challenges thrown at them. From the offbeat characters they meet during the investigation, to the perverted police captain who gets his kicks hearing Selby reporting on the naked victim and her unusual lifestyle -all make this novel (and the whole Pete Selby series) a wonderment in this definitive genre from a bygone crime writing era.

As I said, It's ashame that Jonathan Craig has faded in popularity. The man could write a mystery story, and you won't find a bad novel in his bibliography. Also, he wrote a slew of excellent short stories that appeared in all the major mystery periodicals, including Manhunt, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazine. But don't overlook his non-Pete Selby novels, to me they contain his best work. And if you ever come across his paperback "Renegade Cop" (also published as "Alley Girl") you'll be introduced to the nastiest S.O.B. rogue cop ever found in any novel.

Renegade Cop by Jonathan Craig

Renegade Cop by Jonathan Craig.
Berkley D2015, copyright 1954
(Original Title: "Alley Girl")

Jonathan Craig is best known for the Pete Selby-Stan Rayder detective series, published in the 50s by Gold Medal. Though most books from the series are good, Craig's best work came from two other novels. One being Gold Medal's " Come Night, Come Evil"-with an awesome cover, and the other is "Renegade Cop."

Detective-Lieutenant Steve Lambert is a tough cop. He also is a mean SOB. Right from the start, we find him waking up hungover and slapping around his girl. Lambert and his partner are investigating a murder and the prime suspect has been arrested, a young guy named Tommy Nolan. They go to Nolan's house to interview his nice, loyal, loving wife. Lambert goes in talking tough to Mrs. Nolan and is immediately attracted to the "natural feminine aroma of her young body." He tells Mrs. Nolan that, he can work it out to help her husband if she provides him with certain "private services." The chapter ends with her going to the bedroom saying "Let's get it over with."

As you can tell, not a nice guy. Lambert is offered five thousand dollars to forget about a girl seen running away from the murder scene. Instead of solving the murder, he sets out to frame Nolan for it. Lambert continues to lead Mrs. Nolan on, and keep the "private services" coming. He even taunts Tommy Nolan about what his wife is doing, saying "when her husband's in a cell, he isn't a heck of a lot of good to her." As Lambert gets deeper and deeper into the corruption, events get more intense. Others start to figure out what is going on, and- as for the fate of Steve Lambert.......

It's a fine hardboiled story and pretty raw for 1954. As a reader, I wanted to tear apart Steve Lambert. Craig was good at getting to the readers emotions. Psychological interaction between characters, descriptive character thoughts, slick dialog and a damn good plot. Craig doesn't hold back on this one.

As for the original title "Alley Girl," that refers to the girl seen running away from the scene of the murder. Which develops into an unusual, perverted twist at the end.