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.

Goldfish by Raymond Chandler

Goldfish by Raymond Chandler
Short Story in "Trouble is My Business"
Pocket Book 2823

"Goldfish" is one of of my favorite Chandler short stories. Originally published in Black Mask in 1936, it featured a P.I. named Carmady. Almost all of Raymond Chandler's short stories were written before he created Marlowe, but these early P.I. characters are essentially the same L.A. dick -Philip Marlowe. You'll likely find Philip Marlowe as the P.I. (not Carmady) in most collections containing this story. That is the case in the four stories in this edition of "Trouble is My Business." (1957)

"I wasn't doing any work that day, just catching up on my foot-dangling." (opening line in "Goldfish")

In "Goldfish," Marlowe gets a tip on the location of the "Leander pearls." A guy by the name of Wally Sype heisted the gems 19 years earlier and he did his time without telling anyone where he stashed them. Sype was paroled and his location is unknown. The insurance company still has a $25,000 reward out on the pearls, so Marlowe looks into it. He finds Sype's old Leavenworth cellmate dead, after being tortured with a hot iron. And then Marlowe ends up meeting the two who performed the sadistic act. One is a shyster lawyer, but the one to watch out for is the cold-blood dame that goes by the name of Carol Donovan. They are also on the trail of the pearls, and after slapping their guns and giving Marlowe a "mickey," the two set out thinking they have the upper hand. But Marlowe unknowingly has the key and that is the word "goldfish."

Creative as hell, with all the wonderful Chandler descriptive elements in it. Murder, complex characters, sarcastic tough guy spilling out memorable dialogue, and a fine ending with Sype's wife trying to pull a fast one on the famous detective. A bonus is you get to meet the heartless Carol Donovan, a memorable character in the story. Hey, you can only keep reading Chandler's brilliant novels for so long. Hit the short stories once in a while, you will be rewarded.

"Red Wind" is also in this paperback. Besides having that marvelously written opening paragraph, (one of the best in any mystery short story) - the ending with Marlowe at the edge of the ocean is one of Chandler's most compassionate and sentimental. And the reference of the hot wind throughout this blackmail/murder story, has its own effect on each character and sets the mood throughout the story. The exchanges between Marlowe and the cop named Copernik are outstanding, with wiseass Marlowe playing the cop for a sucker. "Red Wind" was first published in Dime Detective Magazine in 1938, originally the P.I. was called John Dalmas. A great hardboiled read, one of Chandler's best.

The four "Marlowe" stories in this paperback:
"Trouble is My Business"
"Finger Man"
"Goldfish"
"Red Wind"

These four stories were published by Houghton Mifflin earlier in "The Simple Art of Murder,"(1950) which contained a total of 12 short works. A few years later, Pocket Books put together three paperbacks containing four short stories each from "The Simple Art of Murder." All are Marlowe stories and copies can still be found easily. I enjoy them all, how can you not.

Maiden Murders by The Mystery Writers of America

Maiden Murders by The Mystery Writers of America.
Harper & Brothers, Copyright 1952

This is one of the better anthologies that I've came across. I'm very selective when it comes to collections of short works in a book form, probably because I'll read only one or two of the stories and never get around to reading the majority of them. This wasn't the case here, these are terrific mystery stories. I see this book often in used bookstores or Salvation Army stores, I assume they published many copies. I paid a buck a few months ago, so how can you go wrong. The book has each authors first story, (or close to their first published story) and the author writes a brief introduction before the story. These are fascinating, some struggle to remember how the story came about, some were written on ships during WWII, some from a little episode they witnessed in life, almost all mention the little money they got paid for the story. I read over half of them so far, and there hasn't been a bad one in the bunch.

Since these were written so early in each authors career, you can see the "greatness in infancy" come through the pages. Of the ones I read, Gault's Marksman and David Alexander's racial lynching story are chilling. Kenneth Millar introduces us to a P.I. called Rogers, who latter turns into one of the best P.I.s in print, Lew Archer. In fact, Millar (Ross Macdonald) latter altered the story and substituted Rogers with Archer. Lawrence Blockman contributes an excellent pulp story, as does one of my favorite authors, Day Keene. The Ellery Queen adventure is a who-done-it marvel, and Jerome Barry packs a handful of suspense in his four page story. And you can't go wrong when the last story in the anthology is Stanley Ellin's award winning "dining" thriller.

A surprisingly excellent collection and if you see a battered copy in your travels, it's definitely worth a buck or two.

Room Number Twenty-Three by Hugh Penecost
The Fifty-Carat Jinx by Lawrence G. Blockman
Bezique of Death by Veronica Parker Johns
The Little House at Croix-Rousse by George Simenon
The Riddle of the Dangling Pearl by Stuart Palmer
Shoes for Breakfast by Lawrence Treat
Find the Woman by Kenneth Millar
Marksman by William Campbell Gault
Victim No. 5 by Harry Stephen Keeler
The Man in the Velvet Hat by Jerome and Harold Prince
The Adventure of the Black Narcissus by August Derleth
And On the Third Day by David Alexander
Too Many Brides by Ruth Wilson
The Fourth Degree by Jerome Barry
The Second Sight of Dr. Sam Johnson by Lillian De La Torre
Old Calamity Tries a Bluff by Joseph Fulling Fishman
A Great Whirring of Wings by Day Keene
Threnody by Anthony Boucher
The Adventures of the One-Penny Black by Ellery Queen
The Specialty of the House by Stanley Ellin