The Man From Limbo by John D. MacDonald

The Man From Limbo By John D. MacDonald
Short Story, Dime Detective Magazine
April 1953

Like many of the successful post-war American mystery novelists, John D. MacDonald got his start writing for the popular pulp magazines. There are some who believe here is where you'll find his best work, and I might agree with that statement. Try reading stories like "Finders Killers" or "In a Small Motel," and you'll find characters and plots with smothering situations that explode from the pages. "The Man From Limbo" appeared in the Apr. 1953 issue of Dime Detective. It may not be the best MacDonald short story, but it sure is a fascinating one. The story starts with shell-shocked ex-GI Dolph Regan, struggling within his inner darkness and fears, being constantly tormented by events from the war. He takes on a job as a traveling salesman, which lands him in a town where he finds his old platoon sergeant is running for mayor. Before we know it, Regan is on the run for a murder rap and his war buddy is out to kill him. All this has to do with the future control of corruption in the town and an amnesiac mystery from the past. Along the way he bumps into a couple of dames, one is out to help him and the other is there to harm him. MacDonald creates a hell of a setting and scraps it all together into a quick ending.

I do have favorite novels by John D. MacDonald, they are the non-Travis McGee novels. And it was through the pounding on that typewriter, writing for the pulps, that rooted those novels and made them extraordinary.

"The Man From Limbo" can also be found in the 1992 crime anthology containing 23 Dime Detective Magazine stories titled, HARD-BOILED DETECTIVES.

The Body Lovers by Mickey Spillane

The Body Lovers by Mickey Spillane
Signet P3221
Copyright 1967

Spillane's The Body Lovers was written when Mike Hammer came out for round two. Round one being the six explosive Hammer novels from 1947-1952. In the 60s, the toughest fictional PI reappeared in five more novels. Some say they fall a step behind when compared to the first ones, but to me The Girl Hunters (1962) and The Twisted Thing (1966) didn't miss a beat. As for The Body Lovers, I will agree that it's not even near being one of top novels that feature Mike Hammer. But it still is a Mickey Spillane novel, and it still has the violently vindictive Mike Hammer reeling out his own ways of justice, and it still is entertaining as hell.

But it wasn't her he was seeing. It was me he was watching. I was one of his own kind. I couldn't be faked out and wasn't leashed by the proprieties of society. I could lash out and kill as fast as he could and of all the people in the room, I was the potential threat. I knew what he felt because I felt the same way myself.

Bang page one, Hammer stumbles upon a body of a beautiful girl that was whipped to death. From his cop buddy Capt. Pat Chambers, he finds out that other girls have been found tortured and killed. The only lead is that all were found wearing exotic negligee. Mike stays out of this one, even though most of the press and the public believes otherwise. But not for long, because a crook that Hammer sent to the slammer hears about the murders and hires Mike to locate his missing sister. The sister knew the dead girls and might be next. Quickly Hammer is setup for a hit, botched of course with him blasting the hood to kingdom come. The trail leads to the high fashion world and shady UN delegates. And when Velda, Hammer's full-time secretary and part-time associate, gets caught in the action and Mike discovers her missing, not only does he pulled back his snarly grin, the hammer on the .45 gets cocked and he is ready to release his rage.

A little less hard than you'll find in other Hammer novels. But when I comes, it comes. The best by far is when Hammer is looking for a pimp named Lorenzo Jones. He locates Roberta, one of Jones' whores. Roberta agrees to tell him where Jones is hiding but on one condition, Hammer must take her along to watch him kick the crap out the pimp. It's Spillane at his best. In The Body Lovers, Hammer comes off a bit older. He even realizes it. At one point he talks about dissection thinking and missed clues in this head, "Little voices, I thought. They were saying something, but were too far away to be heard. It wasn't like the old days any more. I could think faster then." But when he's ready to cut down the evil that has spread throughout the city, our revenge seeking white knight doesn't fail the reader.

This one has all that makes Mike Hammer novels a fun read. Including Hammer's (and Spillane's) views about commies, diplomatic immunity, bleeding-heart liberals creating loopholes in the justice system-they are all here. The reader is never disappointed. You can't go wrong picking up a Mickey Spillane novel. He was an American icon and created one of the most memorable private detectives in fiction.

Every now and then you have to get your Mike Hammer fix.

The Deep End by Owen Dudley

The Deep End by Owen Dudley
ACE D-195
Copyright 1956

But you don't shoot cops. That's the end, if you do. The real deep end.

Pete Summer lost his memory from a plane crash over Mexican waters. As his memory returns, he decides to hide out in a quiet Mexican town for a year. And for good reason. Back home in California they believe he killed the man that he was flying to South America on a mineral deal. Everyone thinks Pete Summer is dead until a visitor arrives bringing back bad memories. He learns that his gorgeous wife is now married to an ex-gangster. Not only does Pete miss his wife, he is totally obsessed with her. So he decides to head back home to reclaim his wife. And that may not be such a great idea.

His face hardened. "Let's not kid ourself. You've got a beautiful pan hooked onto a terrific body. But there's nothing behind the face. You just do what I tell you and keep your mouth shut."

Owen Dudley is just one pseudonym that author Dudley Dean McGaughey used. He wrote plenty of novels and short stories, and Westerns fill the bulk of his work. But he did churn out crime mysteries and even some movie novelizations. (my favorite is End of the World for the 1962 Ray Milland film Panic in Year Zero!) He's a darn good storyteller and his early Gold Medal Westerns are some the best that they published. As for The Deep End, it's not the best Dudley Dean book that I've read, but it has a interesting little plot going on.

Pete Summers is a veteran of two wars,WWII and Korea, and that helped mold him into a tough hombre. But the odds are stacked against him from the start. Once word gets out that he is alive and in town, just about everyone is out to get him. Pete's brother-in-law has positioned himself to benefit having Pete presumed dead. Pete's arrival has jeopardize that. His wife's new husband has three thugs hanging around, ready to get their hands on Pete. And then he discovers that the man who bought his old ranch has been bedding his wife for years. After being left for dead in an old sewer hole, Pete really sets out to clear his name from the murder charge and even it up against those who wronged him.

It's a story that has been told before, it even includes that young girl character who had a crush on Pete growing up and is willing to help him through his quest. I liked the Mexican tie-in and having an ex-gangster as his wife's new husband. There a bit about the old guy having trouble satisfying his wife and resorting to hormone ejections. (No Viagra in the 1950s fellas!) It's a hardboiled read and it has plenty of action, but there are really no surprises in the end. But that doesn't make it one that should be written off. Even though the cops and others are gunning for Pete, it really isn't a "man on the run" novel. Pete seems free to roam about as he uncovers secrets and lies from the past, many involving his wife who was everything to him. The novel zips along at a fast clip, and it has to because these ACE paperback novels rarely get beyond 150 pages. Overall a fairly decent job.

What is real good about this ACE Double paperback is the flip novel, The Quaking Widow by Robert Colby. Colby never got the fame and recognition that he deserved. Besides his outstanding Gold Medal paperbacks and his fine short stories, he had four novels published by ACE. I've read them all and The Quaking Widow is the best of the four.

Day Never Came by Steve Fisher

Day Never Came by Steve Fisher
Copyright 1938
Short Story in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Oct. 1953

He had no fear. If he died, then he died, and that would be that. But as long as he lived, he was looking out for himself. He took his living and his world without the hurrah of emotion.

Steve Fisher packs a lot in the pages of this short psychological thriller. Day Never Came is a bleak and dark story of a psychotic killer who gets a little too clever for his own good.

Set in prewar Shanghai as the Japanese are bombing the city, a isolated American Marine station waits for orders with a handful of jailed service members awaiting court-martial. Most involve petty stuff, but the Navy prisoner called Clark is in for espionage and as for moral principles, he has none. There is a witness out in the city and his only hope is to get to her before the trial. Clark plans and executes an escape which involves secretly murdering a guard. Dodging bombs he makes his way to the girl's apartment. The kicker is that the girl loves him, but that's a one way street for Clark and he ends up strangling her to keep her from testifying. Without being seen, Clark quitely sneaks back into the Marine brig and thinks he devised a solid alibi. Of course you can be a little too clever, and Clark surely is ... as we waits in his cell.

Readers of Steve Fisher's work know that he was a highly influential author in his day. Pulp, noir, and lives lost in the seedy underworld - his novels and stories are filled with a gritty, raw, (and yes, a romantic) edge on them. Day Never Came has all those. Unseen love, which Clark doesn't realize until it's too late. Madness, as he kills without remorse to save his neck. And pain, sadness, and a lost chance-as he sits in his locked cell at the end. For a short story it's very atmospheric and "the nasty's" what go around in Clark's head are oddly appealing. For me this short story came up as the best of the bunch in this fine 1953 edition of EQMM.

But that is not to say that the others weren't very good. Fredric Brown's 4 pager titled, Cry Silence is a masterfully written tale that questions, "was it murder or was it not." Which lines in parallel to the old question, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Another enjoyable yarn is the retired cop story Before The Act. Thomas Walsh wrote solid cop mystery novels (some involve rogue cops) and after reading The Night Watch and Nightmare in Manhattan, I realized I'd stumbled on lost treasures. I enjoy his storytelling and when I come across an anthology with a short story of his in it, I'll but it. And that was the reason I bought this EQMM years ago.

Here are the stories in this October 1953 edition:

High Court by Thomas Kyd

Back In Five Years by Michael Gilbert
The Stroke Of Thirteen by Lillian de la Torre
Before The Act by Thomas Walsh
Laugh It Off by Charlotte Armstrong
Day Never Came by Steve Fisher
Cry Silence by Fredric Brown
A Wish For A Cigar by Will Scott
Ms. In The Safe by Frank Swinnerton
Night Of The Execution by Faith Baldwin
Helpless Victim by C.G. Lumbard
The World Series Murder by Rex Stout

Too Many Girls by Don Tracy

Too Many Girls by Don Tracy
Berkley G-182
Copyright 1934

I had a hell of a headache when I woke up.

So starts this brilliant piece of noir fiction about the exploits of an unprincipled Baltimore newspaper photographer. The actual title (hardcover) is Round Trip, which really sums up the road Eddie Magruder goes down. And maybe the point of the first sentence is to inform the reader that the journey of Eddie was one hell of a headache for him but it's a pleasure for us because this one is special.

I forgot all about everything. For a couple of minutes I was back before I'd met Edith and this girl was a good looking pushover and my hands were inside the neck of her dress and giving her the works.

The novel starts with Eddie being sent out on an assignment to snap some photos from the aftermath of a lynching done by Eastern Longshoremen. Here is where we get our introduction of Eddie -tough youth, on is own as a teen, learning the ways of women from the streets, and consuming plenty of booze. The novel then turns into a flashback as Eddie tells us about the events in his life during the last few years. There is the suicide of a female newspaper reporter that he had final contact with and he seems indifferent about. Eddie has the moral nature of a heel with just a snip of compassion. He is willing to earn a few extra bucks taking "dirty"photos for distributors or receiving special favors from women for taking high quality shots so they can get public notice. But that changes when he meets and marries Edith. Eddie finally finds felicity and worth in his life. But the road he is given to go down, isn't level. In a fistfight, Eddie kills Edith's abusive ex-husband and he has to stand trial for manslaughter. It becomes an emotional ordeal for both Edith and Eddie. But after the acquittal, all the despair ends and there is a return to a life of contentment. Of course, Fate stacks the cards against a guy like Eddie and in the end it really crashes down on him.

I thought to myself that if they sent me up, I still had a hell of a lot to be glad about. I was a bum when I met Edith and now I wasn't a bum. I was up for killing a guy but I'd done it the right way.

Block out the meaningless title the paperback publishers gave this one, Round Trip is a monolithic hardboiled novel. In Eddie Magruder's world, happiness only gets touched, never embraced. He doesn't self-destruct or have ambitions that lead him down a wanton alley, Eddie is stuck and will forever be because guys like him are always destined to be lured up and knocked down. It's just the way life is....

James M. Cain wasn't the only one reshaping raw and gritty noir tales in the 30s. Don Tracy was also right there, he just never got the notoriety that Cain did. A fine example is Round Trip, this tragic novel stands pretty tall with what others were bring to the table at that time. With the exception of Edith's Ex-husband, there are really no evil people in the novel. Most are disillusioned souls lumbering in depression-era Americana and working for a niche in life. With Eddie being swallowed up in all of it. This novel predates Horace McCoy's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Gresham's Nightmare Alley and Richard Hallas' You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up, and I'd put Round Trip right up there with them.

A memorable novel. I won't forget this one.
It's one of the best that I've read.

The Long Night by Ovid Demaris

The Long Night by Ovid Demaris
Avon T-372
Copyright 1959

Their Buick was at least five years old. These boys weren't doing so well. That's the first place the hood spends his loot. A big flashy car. Next on the list is the big sparkler on the little pinkie. These characters had neither.

He's an ex-Marine who went through hell on Tawara. Then for 9 years he was a LAPD Vice cop until he got kicked out after beating up a hood who he caught in his ex-wife's bed. The last 4 years he's been a P.I., who specializes in locating delinquent debtors and squeezing them to pay up. When it comes to women, he's a "legs and buttocks" man and he doesn't mind getting his "biological needs" from a $5 whore or a classy pickup in a bar. His name is Vince Slader and he's on a hard case, getting little sleep, that involves clearing himself from a murder rap.

The Long Night has a unique start. Slader is in front of a Senate Crime Committee hearing, sassing it up against two powerful senators. It seems that the private eyes in LA have been getting a bit out of control and Slader is the committee's poster boy. He leaves the hearings with warnings that they will be watching him and he better keep his nose clean. Like that's going to happen. Slader is hired by a scumbag casino owner to find a guy called Ben Russell. Russell has a $28,000 gambling debt and Slader gets a percentage if Russell pays up. Russell also has a young wife who has plans of her own, and those include a life insurance scam. Of course P.I. Vince Slader gets caught in it. He first gets setup to be murdered and burned to a crisp in Russell's car, the idea is that the authorities will believe he was Russell. Slader gets banged up pretty bad, but survives. Next he walks in on Ben Russell's actual murder and here is where he gets pegged as the murderer. Along with Mrs. Russell's motives to get her husband's life insurance money, elements of the local crime organization have an interest in this case. So besides the Senate Committee, Slader has thugs and cops after him now.

As for a plot, there is really no new ground breaking in this one. It's your typical P.I. being played for a patsy story. But that's OK, it still was an enjoyable read. The Senate Committee angle in the story was different and refreshing. Slader has an ex-con as an assistant called Emilio Caruso, who he kiddingly refers to as his "little wop." I liked the guy, unfortunately he doesn't make it through to the end of the novel. There is a good dose of explosive (and descriptive) gunplay in The Long Night. One of the best takes place in the desert outside of Las Vegas, with Slader having some fun with two hired killers. Slader plays the ladies throughout the story and even with his rough mug, they are attracted to him. He even gets serious with a redhead who helps him survive in the end.

Reading the The Long Night, I was wondering if Ovid Demaris was trying to make a Mickey Spillane type of novel here. It's close, but the narrative is less hardboiled and the ending fell a little flat. As for P.I. Vince Slader, I liked him. And with more appearances in novels and a little more development, he could of had a future. The Long Night is a good P.I. crime mystery, and it came darn close to being a very good one. As Maxwell Smart said, "Missed it by that much."

Here is a taste of some lines that Slader spouts about the fairer sex:

I turned and looked her over closely. Her looks were better than average for a barfly, but nothing to get worked up over. She was stacked, and dressed to prove it. I ignored the cleavage. There was nothing there I hadn't seen before.

She led me into the room, and the calves pumped and the buttocks shook. I didn't know where to look.

There are only two approaches to women - sweet and tough. And ninety percent of the time the tough will get you farther, quicker than sweet.

I have never felt much compunction about sex anyway. Women have been conveniently relegated to the role of machines for fornication. This is a hard-boiled attitude, and, like all such attitudes, it's microscopic and bigoted.

Gator Kill by Bill Crider

Gator Kill by Bill Crider
Walker Publishing
Copyright 1992

“You don’t look like much of anything,” he said, “except maybe an out-of-work housepainter.”

Well, that may not be true. Truman Smith does paint houses to earn a few extra bucks, but he will put to use his past experiences as a detective to perform investigations for a friend in need. In the 90s, Bill Crider wrote five novels featuring the Galveston-based PI Truman Smith. And I found him as one of the most realistic private eyes that came through the pages of mystery crime fiction in the decade of the 90s. Bill Crider portrays Truman Smith as a loner and a bit of an introvert, add this to the depth-lined cases he gets himself involved in, and the results are an outstanding PI series that snares the reader into some capricious surroundings throughout Southeast Texas. My favorite is the second "Tru" novel, Gator Kill. (though I recommend starting with the first, Dead on the Island) I read Gator Kill for the third time this week and I'm glad I did, because reading a Truman Smith mystery is like visiting an old friend.

There were actually two doorways, one leading to a kitchen and one into a bedroom. The bedroom was where I looked.
That's where the dead woman was. She was wearing a dress that seemed obviously homemade and about two sizes too big. It was some kind of blue material, but it was stained red in the front by blood. There was a small pool of blood beneath her. Most of it had soaked into the floor, staining it black. She looked fail and helpless in death.

Fred Benton is a tough old cuss and when someone kills and skins an alligator on his land, he’s going to do something about it. Coming off a missing person case that got his name in the news, part-time private investigator Truman Smith leaves Galveston Island to head over to Fred’s marsh property and have a look-see. Though not a glamorous case, to Fred killing the gator is murder and Tru agrees to investigate into who killed it. Of course there is more at work here than a rotting alligator. It first looks like Fred is being harassed and there are rumors that the State will be gobbling up surrounding lands. Then Tru steps into a double homicide and before you know it he becomes the target. Not only is he being shot at, but a tinted-windowed monster 4X4 is out hunting him down at night. But he understands this is the consequences of sticking your nose where people don’t want it. And it all comes to a head one night in a creepy, mosquito-infested swamp, when Fred and Tru drive out to investigate suspicious activities. An unexpected fatal meeting takes place and it's here where Tru puts the pieces of all the mysteries together. But it may be too late for him and Fred, as the eyes of the gators gaze upon them.

There’s enough plot twists in this one to keep the reader tightly gripping onto the book. Bill Crider has us going down one road and then he throws the curve. And later he does it again! The novel is filled with an assortment of colorful characters. My favorite is Fred Benton, who is sort of a sidekick in Gator Kill. A man in his 70s who is not afraid to provoke a fight, smokes unfiltered Camels, and has the stamina of a 40 year old. Heck, growing up I remember a guy just like that. There are characters throughout Gator Kill that we can relate to because we have run across types like them in our lifetime. The history behind Truman Smith is so damn intriguing, that we crave for more on him. A man that shuns people, he continues to be haunted by his inability to locate his missing sister. (there's more detail on this in Dead on the Island) When her murdered remains are found, he shoulders the blame and this adds to his unsocial-like state. All of this enhances the likable P.I.

This is the way I like my private detective novels. A whodunit that is packed with action, an ending that is just as much horror as it is mystery suspense, and an eerie atmosphere where the muggy nights are filled with rifle shots, mosquitoes, and mean gators lurking in the swamps.
Your shirt will be sticking to you when you read this one.

Murder Doll by Milton K. Ozaki

Murder Doll by Milton K. Ozaki
Berkley Diamond D2016
Copyright 1952

She fluttered mascaraed eyelashes and laid a hand on my arm. "Has anyone ever told you you're handsome?"
"Sure," I said, "my mother. What's your name, baby?"

Novels containing characters that deliver a hardboiled narrative have always been a favorite of mine. And Milton Ozaki's Chicago P.I. Carl Good definitely fits that bill. Good describes himself as having "features like a fistful of dough and carrying the beginning of a paunch." He then adds in his favor are height and broad shoulders. In WWII, Carl Good was a paratrooper who saw plenty of action and did his share of killing. He's an impetuous guy who likes Scotch and girls, and fancies himself as a rough, tough guy in a fight. He knows the town and has plenty of connections, which is a big benefit for a man in his line of work.

Right out of the gates, Carl Good is trying to locate the missing Orville Pederson. Hired by his wife, Pederson has been gone for a few weeks and left her without any spending cash. Good finds Pederson's plaything in a Chicago B-girl joint, but in a few minutes she is dead after taking a poisoned drink intended for Good. He learns that Pederson is connected to the Chicago mob and performs real estate deals for them. And through his many street contacts, Good finds out the the heat has been turn up and this is making things difficult for mob operations. It's causing friction in the ranks that is leaving an opportunity for a Philadelphia kingpin to elbow in. Pisano, the standing boss, offers Good $25,000 to find the identity of the person the Philadelphia boys have sent to orchestrate the takeover. All they know is that it is a woman and she's a looker. Carl Good isn't one to let a financial opportunity go to waste, he adds that job to his plate because this is "real money." Later he realizes that both cases are interconnected and as usual in these PI plots, Good is smack dab in the middle of both of them.

As I said, I'm a sucker for hardboiled narrative and Murder Doll has some of the best I've read in a while. Here are a few that I liked:

"She's just a hooker," I insisted flatly. "She hasn't got enough brains to file her toenails."

I went up the side of a pile of two-by-fours like a scared cat and flattened myself on the rough timber like juice on a platter.

She came to me and lifted herself onto my lap. One arm went around my neck and her mouth searched for mine. I felt like spitting after the kiss, but I didn't.

As for the storyline, the majority of the time you can tell what is going to happen. But there are a few surprises. One is when an enraged Good chokes a thug to death after failing to make the guy talk. Later Good finds out that the thug had his tongue cut out. This didn't seemed to bother the PI at all. There's also a remarkable scene when Good is being hunted down in a lumber yard. In his pocket he happens to have a grenade that he took off a bobby-trap that was setup for him. Removing the firing pin with his teeth and lobbing it at his pursuers makes a satisfying payback. A couple of things come off silly in the plot. One is having a woman organizing the takeover of the deep-rooted Chicago vice organization. The other is a wild scene at a Nudist park where Carl Good is strutting his stuff trying to get the lowdown on how the woman is luring men away from Pisano's organization. And if you can swallow these, you'll find a good crime mystery in your hands. Milton Ozaki has Carl Good operating in the streets of Chicago where the surroundings are dark and grimy. Good isn't your compassionate P.I. and he definitely isn't in the game to be morally upright. He does it for the money and it also is a good occupation for him to release an inborn fury onto the bad guys. I liked the guy and will dig out a few more of his paperbacks. Chicago's Carl Good is a hard-headed and conniving private detective, who should have gotten more literary recognition.

This Berkley paperback edition was actually published in 1959. Murder Doll first appeared in the 1952 Phantom Books paperback authored under the name Robert O. Saber, a pseudonym used by Milton Ozaki.

Find Eileen Hardin - Alive! by Andrew Frazer

Find Eileen Hardin - Alive! by Andrew Frazer
Avon T343, Copyright 1959

I had taken a man's life. Not in cold blood, but I had taken it. I waited for the first pangs of remorse. They didn't come.

Some fictional private eyes are lucky enough to have long careers and go down those mean streets in many novels, other excellent ones made an appearance is just one or two paperbacks. And this is the case with P.I. Duncan Pride in Find Eileen Hardin - Alive! Of course if you are a busy and prolific author, you most likely have many projects going on at once. And I would like to believe that this is the reason why Pride only appeared in two novels. The author Andrew Frazer is really Milton Lesser, or better known as Stephen Marlowe the creator of the successful Chester Drum series. And even with the Drum novels, Stephen Marlowe seemed to be a tireless writer and for decades filled up his large bibliography with a steady stream of quality work.

The history behind P.I. Duncan Pride is a darn intriguing one. He was an All-American quarterback at Wynant College located on Long Island. Big man on campus, beautiful girls in his arms, and first round draft pick of the L.A. Rams. He held the world in the palm of his hands. Well, that was before the West coast mob confronted him on the eve of his NFL debut with an offer to shave off points in the game. He refused, the mob lost money, and Duncan Pride got this legs broken in three places which ended his football career. So what is a big, tough, college graduate gonna do to earn a living? Not an accountant, not an architect, not a shoe salesman -Duncan Pride applies for a license and picks up a gun to become a West coast private eye. And as an avid reader of crime mysteries, I'm glad he did.

Find Eileen Hardin - Alive! starts with Duncan Pride returning East to his Alma mater, called in by his ex-college sweetheart Marjorie to locate her missing stepdaughter. Marjorie married Pride's college coach Ward Hardin (the father of Eileen) and her disappearance is tearing him up. Of course this is not a simple missing persons case. Pride's investigation runs into switchblade pimps, whorehouses, mobsters, addicts, and crushing intimate family secrets. The novel has an excellent mystery plot that has numerous twists that have you guessing what is the real reason behind having Pride hunt down Eileen Hardin. Questions I kept asking myself-Why are so many people interested in located her? And what in the past has caused this girl to flee? There is plenty of sexual tension throughout the novel, mostly between Pride and Marjorie. Pride has a sense of loyalty and respect for his college coach and Marjorie is making it tough for him. This strain bogs him down a little, but once he is in the dark alleys or sneaking through the back doors of NYC tenements, we realize Pride is in his element. Stephen Marlowe didn't make this into a basic P.I. novel, it has a quality complexity to it that has Pride wondering where this investigation is going. And even with being paid to lay off the case, getting knocked out a couple of times, shot at, and having to kill a man himself-he is determined to find Eileen Hardin.

To be honest when I starting into the first few pages, I almost quit on this one. I wasn't in the mood for this "P.I. returns his old college" storyline. I'm sure glad I continued. It quickly turned into a fine noir tale with many suspenseful hardboiled episodes. Four are standouts that have Pride lurking and hunting in a violent pimp's pad, an abandoned oyster cannery, a curious Men's health club, and a wonderful airport scene near the end that reminded me a bit of the ending in the Steve McQueen movie "Bullitt." A well-written and adventurous P.I. novel, that takes off and slams down to an exceptional conclusion.

Just one thing that lightly dated this paperback, and that is Pride's interaction with the college kids. You have your 1950s stereotypical crewcut boys here. In one scene you have Pride handing one of them a gun to watch over a suspect he has locked down in a motel room for a night. I kept thinking of Archie of Riverdale with a gat in his hand. But the college boys have no importance in the plot and their role is very minimal.

The other novel that Duncan Pride appeared in is called The Fall of Marty Moon, written in 1960. Marty Moon was the muscle who put out the order to have Pride's legs broken when he was a rookie with the L.A. Rams.

Murder on the Wild Side by Jeff Jacks

Murder on the Wild Side by Jeff Jacks
Fawcett T2515
Copyright 1971

"They told me you were just a crooked cop who drinks too much."
"I'm an ex-cop who drinks."

This one is aptly titled because in it we meet the oddest and strangest assortment of characters that I have ever came across in a private detective novel. There is a Bible preaching street ragamuffin, punchy ex-boxer, astrological charlatans, illegal abortionists, junkies and pushers, number runners, beautiful lesbos and sick S&M fags, filth-clad hippies, pimped out streetwalkers, a motorcycle gang, Black radicals, and a few more derelicts and chiselers that I haven't listed. All cross paths in a murder investigation conducted by a down-and-out NYC ex-cop playing P.I., called Shep Stone.

She took my raincoat. As she turned to hang it in the closet, I resisted the impulse to reach out and pat her on the ass. Like I used to.

Shep Stone was kicked out of the Police Department for taking drug bust money. Everyone was doing it, unfortunately he got caught and took the fall. He's trying to get his P.I. license by pulling in a few favors with his old cop buddies, but they mostly shun him. Stone is one step from skid row, a middle aged lush, and just keeps his head above water by hiring himself out to get the goods on cheating husbands or looking for missing persons. In the crap-hole boarding house where he has a room, he stumbles upon the murdered body of an old lady called "The Handkerchief Woman." Well, the cops get involved and they tell Stone if he helps them out (because he knows the pulse of the area) they will expedite getting the P.I. license approved. At the same time a Wisconsin man hires him to look for his runaway teenage daughter in NYC. And it's during these two investigations that we bump into all those quirky and unusual characters.

"Murder on the Wild Side" is the the best P.I. novel that I've read this year. The well-written (and unpredictable) plot takes the reader through the grimy and profligate streets of 1969 New York City. Everyone is out for themselves and willing to use anyone for their advantage. Shep Stone included. Stone comes off as an unemotional man who is trapped in this filthy concrete environment with no future hope of escape. The blend of the murder and the missing persons investigation is exceptional and as I flipped through the pages I eagerly waited to see who Stone was going to run into next. The novel is broken into compelling short chapters that have distinctive titles. And they really snap together to lock down this extraordinary detective novel. A wild ride on the wild side, and I loved every minute of it. I've had this paperback collecting dust for a quite a while, I waited way too long to read it. It is outstanding!

A young Chinese hooker gave me a smile. I decided she was what I needed. I paid for two hours of her time in a nearby hotel. Her cooper body was a lovely, professional instrument.

Besides the mystery surrounding the old woman's murder and location of the teenage runaway, there is one more mystery concerning this paperback. And that is - who the hell is Jeff Jacks? It's no doubt a pseudonym and I've had no luck researching the name. It would be interesting to find out!

In 1973, Shep Stone made a return appearance in "Find the Don's Daughter." (also authored by Jeff Jacks) I don't have that paperback, but I'll be on the hunt.

The Golden Frame by Joseph Chadwick

The Golden Frame by Joseph Chadwick
Gold Medal #493, Copyright 1955

I didn't want to lose her; in fact, I was beginning to want her again right now. But I was suspicious of even her tears.

Known more for his fine Westerns, Joseph Chadwick also authored a few crime mystery novels in his day. And he didn't miss a beat with them. When I first looked at the cover of this one, I thought I had a romance story in my hands. Well, this is no romance novel. "The Golden Frame" is a novel filled with suspicion, doubtful trust, a violent ride into the West, and of course... murder.

Dave Burke arrives fresh off a freighter in Baltimore after spending two years working the oil fields in Saudi Arabia. The problem is he arrives broke, he blew his wad on dames and booze during a stopover in Paris. He contacts his stepbrother for a loan, who then tells Dave that he inherited a drilling rig and land in Wyoming from an old oil man that he worked for in the past. That same day he meets a vacationing schoolteacher named Anne Somers and he falls for her. Also that day he finds a dead P.I. in his hotel room and Dave's gun put the bullet in the guy's head. Knowing this will be tough to explain to the cops, Dave hightails it out of Baltimore and Miss Somers is all to willing to assist. Believing someone is framing him to get hold of his newly inherited land, they head out to Wyoming to by time and think things out. Besides the cops, Dave and Anne have two killers on their tail and these two thugs seem to be always popping up wherever Dave and Anne stop. Dave gets roughed up and shot at throughout the trek Westward, and he starts getting suspicious of Anne's motives. Be he hangs with her and this may turn out to be a bad decision on his part. (or not)

He swung the gun up and clubbed down with it before I could throw the punch I had cocked. His blow caught me on the left temple. There was a burst of pain, then I was going down. The pain was so intense that I didn't feel myself hit the concrete.

Three things I really enjoyed in this paperback. First, I loved the action. It's fast paced and it's spread out evenly throughout the novel. There is really no lulls in the story. Second, it has a wonderful collection of supporting characters. The Baltimore cop called Hallaron, who is sent to investigate Dave Burke, is a likable wise droll. The two bastardly killers are also quite intriguing. And the third is the seesawing relationship between Dave Burke and Anne Somers. Just when Dave (and us as readers) is convinced that Anne is legit, something occurs that sways Dave into believing she is in on the frame up and out to get him. And this goes back and forth until the end of the novel. At times I just wanted to shout out, "Drop the bitch!" Joseph Chadwick delivers this very well and it is this ping-ponging drama that makes this noir novel rise above the average ones. Throw in an exciting ending, a bit of education around the oil business, and a taste of the West in the 1950s -and you have a well-written and darn good crime adventure in your hands.

Joseph Chadwick also wrote crime novels under the pseudo John Creighton and all of those were published by ACE in the Double Flip paperback format. I read a couple of them years ago before I knew Chadwick and Creighton were one and the same. I remember liking them, but "The Golden Frame" definitely tops them.

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.

Homicidal Lady by Day Keene

Homicidal Lady by Day Keene
Graphic 87, Copyright 1954

I own and have read quite a few Day Keene novels. I've always loved his work and even now seek out magazines that published one of his short stories. He is one of those authors that will not disappoint the reader and if you're looking of a quick well-written crime/mystery -Keene surely satisfies. Though not one of his best, "Homicidal Lady" still packs quite a punch and contains all that makes Keene's writing so integrating to the reader-A wronged protagonist, conflicting dames, a steamy post-war Florida atmosphere, and a curve or two to keep you flipping the pages.

Talbot looked from the girl on the bed to the pistol in his hand. The lump in his stomach continued to balloon. The stillness in the room bothered him. It was an eerie sensation, this waiting in a dimly lighted room to shoot a man who had been his friend for twenty years.
She wet her lips with her tongue, "Are you frightened, Tod?"
"Not Particularly, " Talbot said. "What's there to killing a man? All you have to do is pull the trigger."

Tod Talbot is the D.A for Sun City and he just sent an innocent man to his death. Shamed and ridiculed, he does the honorable thing and resigns. But of course more problems are in store for Mr. Talbot. And when he is caught with his pants down next to the murdered wife of the man who he prosecuted into the electric chair, this quickly turns into a "man on the run" novel. As always, a girl happens on the scene to help our man in times of trouble and this time it is a local "cracker" girl who has had a crush on Talbot for years. Talbot seems to have some inner conflict with being a "cracker" boy himself, who married above his class. You see, his wife happens to be the town's well-bred rich girl and was the defense attorney for the man that was executed. They are about to be divorced because of the recent trial and this doesn't help Talbot's cause as he is running from the cops. Thanks to the quick thinking by the "cracker" girl, Talbot escapes numerous roadblocks and this helps him buy time to find out what this is all about. He's no dummy, he figures he was setup and now to save his skin he needs the why and by whom.

I'll admit to you that I had this one figured out early. Having read many of Day Keene's novels, you sort of get the flow of his storyline and you can see the pieces falling in line as you read on. But that never mattered to me. The plot holds your interest and it is different enough from the author's other "man on the run" stories, making "Homicidal Lady" an enjoyable ride. I loved this "cracker" demon that Talbot battles within himself and how this plays between him and his divorcing wife. Fairly exciting pace around the hunt for Talbot by the local authorities. Its these fast action pounding chases that attract me to these early novels and Keene was damn good at writing them. (he wrote many) The local girl that helps Talbot grows on the reader and you really get to like her at the end. (in the beginning you have mix feelings about her) I've always liked these Florida small city settings and I'm thankful that so many of these post-war authors settled down there in the 50s to put them on paper for us.

Like I said, "Homicidal Lady" may not be Day Keene's best novel, but that doesn't mean it is not a good one. I liked it and have yet to find anything he has written what was not worth picking up.

Down I Go by Ben Kerr

Down I Go by Ben Kerr
Popular Library 653,
Copyright 1955

Ben Kerr was one pseudonym used by hardboiled writer William Ard. Those similar with Ard know the author created two excellent 50s PIs that worked out of NYC, Timothy Dane (one of my favorites) and Johnny Stevens. He must of liked coming up with new tough sleuths, because he birthed another around the same time called Barney Glines. I read the second Glines novel that was published by Gold Medal, titled "Mine to Avenge" and remember liking it a lot. William Ard also dabbed in Westerns and started the Tom Buchanan series under the name of Jonas Ward. The series continued after Ard's early death, some were ghostwritten by Brian Garfield and William R. Cox. But I like William Ard's crime novels best and "Down I Go" is a fine one. No private dick story here, this one is about city corruption, sleazy vice, and an ex-cop looking for a bit of revenge.

"This dump, Bantle thought. This dirty, stinking, miserable little hole, with its grifters and gunsels, its homos and harlots-the cheating, lying, whoring lot of them. The dregs of a corrupt city, streaming into this sewer for their liquor and their lovemaking and their cheap thrills when the show begins."

Lou Bantle is one tough cookie. For a few weeks he's been employed as a floorman, keeping the peace in the roughest and most vile strip joint in Bay City. But there is more to Bantle than slugging out riotous patrons, he has a past. Lou Bantle was once an honest Bay City vice cop, but for the last three years he's been doing hard time. He was railroaded on a trumped-up charge, setup by Detective Charlie Josephs and a gold digger tramp. Bantle was fighting the city corruption and had to be put out of the way. The crooked Josephs wanted to move up in the profligacy that controls the city, so he made his play on Bantle. During the last three years, Josephs has been living large and is now captain of the precinct. Not heeding the warning to never return to Bay City, Bantle is back and looking to settle up with Josephs and the girl who framed him.

There's a steady stream of action in this one, including a descriptive brutal beating Lou Bantle receives from two dirty cops with saps. But Lou recovers quickly, because one of his first undertakings is to protect a girl named Rita Largo. She falls in love with the hardcase ex-cop, adding an extra burden for him when Josephs goes after her to get to Bantle. Bantle still has some old friends on the force that want to clean up the city and he learns that the State's Criminal Investigation Division is at work to sweep out the rats. But they need help from someone unconnected to them and recruit Lou Bantle. Bantle goes undercover for them, but he has to go it alone. (which suits him fine)

I really liked the dark, dingy atmosphere created in "Down I Go." William Ard puts us in a soiled and colorless world, where around every corner there are perverted peeping toms, hookers, dope heads, chiselers, and of course plenty of rogue cops. It's a dirty city and throughout the novel we are always reminded of that. As a main character, Lou Bantle is a monolith. He's aggressive, brawny, and hates all kinds of criminal vice. Nothing can hold him back. There are other things that stand out in this novel. One is Bantle's pursuit of the money-hungry dame that helped set him up and another is the almost insane obsession Charlie Josephs has to hunt down Bantle and kill him. Both I found very gripping and well written.

If you are a fan of William Ard's work, you will enjoy "Down I Go." No complaints from me on this one. I would of liked to seen a little more punch in the end, (not that it didn't have any gun action) and it's not a complaint, it's just that my personal taste would have preferred a touch more violence in the finale. But it takes nothing away from this excellent hardboiled crime novel from the 50s. Did William Ard ever write anything that was not first-rate? I don't believe so. At the young age of 38, cancer took William Ard. What a shame. In a short period of time, he authored an admirable bundle of wonderful noir crime novels. Who knows what other crime-ridden street cesspools, in need of being cleaned up, William Ard would have taken the reader to if he had lived to a ripe old age.

(If you ever have a chance to get your hands on one of Ard's Timothy Dane novels, treat yourself. You will be rewarded)

Man on the Run by Charles Williams

Man on the Run by Charles Williams
Gold Medal 822, Copyright 1958

"How much longer could this nightmare go on?"

The story of a man being hunted down for a murder that he didn't commit has been told many times. And the paperback racks of the Fifties were full of them. I know Gold Medal had their share of them. In fact, many of the well known authors of the day used that literary plot a few times in separate novels. Charles Williams was one of those authors and he penned a damn good one in "Man on the Run."

Rain kept falling. The topcoat was soaked now and heavy. I was seized with uncontrollable fits of shaking that lasted for minutes at a time. Whenever I saw a car coming, I dived off the road and hid.

This one starts out of the gate immediately, even before we know what the hell is going down. A man jumps off a train during a heavy rainstorm. He has cops on his tail and he's tired and scared. Rest and shelter from the cold is what he needs, so he sneaks into a small seacoast community and breaks into an empty cottage. Here we learn of his past. His name is Russell Foley, a third mate on an oil tanker. The night before in the town of Sanport he had a vicious fistfight with a police detective that was screwing around with his wife. Five minutes after he leaves the detective's apartment, the copper is found stabbed to death. Guess who everyone on the Florida coast thinks did it? Enter Suzy Patton, the owner of the cottage where Foley is hiding. She's a big beautiful blonde and a writer of romance novels that take place during the Civil War. Suzy believes Foley's story and is willing to help him. (Of all the times I've gotten into trouble, no beautiful blonde appeared to lend me a hand) They fall for each other and together head back to Sanport to find the real killers. But it's not easy, the hunting for Russell Foley never ceases. And to make matters worse, the killers are now out to get him. We find out that murdered police detective was dirty and it all ties into a payroll robbery that occurred a couple of months ago. While trying to clear his name, Foley stumbles into the body of a nude strangled dame in a bathtub and now the cops also think he murdered her. Separated from Suzy because he was almost apprehended, Foley sneaks aboard a old commercial fishing boat to get another lead on the killers. It is here where he gets more that he was bargaining for.

What I like best about "Man on the Run" is that there is no rest, for Foley and the reader. The story is constantly on the move, with the law on Foley's heels from the get go. This just builds more excitement into the plot as he is searching for the killers and always looking over his shoulder. Charles Williams leaves out the character development in this one. It's not needed because of the pace of the novel. Foley is on the outs with his wife, he likes the sailor life and hitting his favorite drinking hole when in port. Suzy Patton comes off as a perplexing and sad character. Her novels don't sell well anymore and she carries around an aura of loneliness. At the end of the novel, Charles Williams displays her cognitive state brilliantly. I like surprises and I didn't expect that.

Add, the wonderful "man against man" brawl between the despite Foley and the killer into the ending, and all I can say is that "Man on the Run" is a direct hit. I escaped into this one and as with most of Charles Williams' novels, I utterly enjoyed it.

Delayed Verdict by R. C. Tuttle

Delayed Verdict by R. C. Tuttle
Short Story in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine,
May 1981

Mysteries that take place in the World War II era have always been a favorite of mine. This one actually takes place in the middle of WWII at Guadalcanal. It's a flashback story, told by an ex-Marine Corporal named Lennie Bullard who arrives on the island in a tour boat. It's 1981 and 39 years ago Bullard was assisting in a murder investigation. He relives the questioning of five Marines by Lieutenant Milo Cannon. The victim was a Captain John Vinson, who was shot in the back with a .45 while leaving the Officer's Club. It seems that Capt. Vinson was a major SOB and all five Marines has a reason to kill him, making them prime suspects.

What is a bit strange is that the investigation takes place on the beach front lines. The five suspects, Lieutenant Cannon, and our story teller Bullard are "holding the line" while receiving a series of attacks by Jap Zeros and beach assaults. As we learn of each suspect's gripe with the dead Capt. Vinson, one of them is killed by the enemy. Little by little, the group gets smaller until only Bullard is left alive. We as readers have plenty of information, but the mystery remains unsolved. That is until Bullard returns 39 years later.

"Delayed Verdict" is a well written little thriller that mixes a good whodunit with wartime infantry action. The flashback adds drama to the story and the author R.C. Tuttle created an engaging and believable group of characters. The five Marine suspects come from a wide range of social backgrounds, one is even a Hollywood actor. This is another fine example of the quality stories that were published in the early 80s, found in the Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine publications. You'll always find good ones in them.

But the best entry in this issue is the Mike Shayne novelette titled, "The Stalker of Biscayne Bay." Having read many of these Shayne stories, I found a good percentage of them being very generic. That is definitely not the case here. This is a bang, bang noir-ish tale that takes our Miami based P.I. from dark alleyways to churches, with pimps and hookers to babes in lounge chairs around swimming pools. And Mike gets a good dose of slugs to the head in this one. Three parts I found outstanding in this mystery story. First is the opening pages where the victim is stalked and murdered. It's eerie and frightening, highlighted by lines like when the murderer tells his victim, "You should have thought about what might happen to you when you took up this life." The author creates a compelling start to the story that ropes in the reader. Second is the addition of the New Orleans undercover cop, Terry (Theresa) Denton. Shayne and her develop a wonderful working relationship that charges up the entire story. The third and best is the ending. It's how I like them, adrenalin filled with plenty of trigger action. (and it takes place in a chapel) This is one of the best Mike Shayne short stories that I have read in a long time.

Here is what is in this issue from May 1981:

"The Stalker of Biscayne Bay" by Brett Halliday (Ghostwritten by?)
"Assassination-Middle East" by Joseph Cummings
"In The Key of Murder" by Hal Charles
"Whistle" by Mignon Glass
"Don't Dare Reject the Manuscript" by William Schoell
"Animal Sounds" by Don Wall
"Delayed Verdict" by R. C. Tuttle
"Saturday Night Special" by Terry Black
Plus: Plenty of extra features

April in Peril by William Campbell Gault

April in Peril by William Campbell Gault
Short Story in Mean Streets, Ed. by Robert J. Randisi
Copyright 1986

I'm a huge fan of Gault's work, especially the novels that feature P.I. Brock Callahan. The ex-L.A. Ram tackle appeared in seven excellent novels between 1955-63. Reading all, I quickly discovered that this might be the finest written P.I. series during that period. Callahan had a return in the 1980s, when Gault penned seven more novels. (Gault passed away after the last novel was written) After a twenty year absence, Callahan inherited money, moved out of L.A., and finally married his longtime girlfriend Jan. He's a bit more involved in the social scene than in the earlier stories. A little less "dark alley" fare, but he is the same old compassionate Brock "The Rock" Callahan making things right in Southern California.

I believe "April in Peril" is the only short story that Gault wrote featuring Brock Callahan. It's a good one and I liked two things about it. One is that it's a flashback story about one of Callahan's first cases and the other is that it includes the presence of Gault's other P.I., Joe Puma. Puma was a big, handsome, tough, Italian-American detective out of Los Angeles. All the beautiful ladies fall for him and he has no trouble bedding a couple of them in every investigation. Joe Puma had his nose to the street in seven P.I. novels from 1953-61 and in a handful of short stories.

Taking place in 1986, "April in Peril" starts with Brock and Jan reading the morning paper over breakfast, when Jan comes upon an article about the famous actress April Fielding having her hands imprinted in cement on Hollywood Boulevard. That's when Brock tells the story of his early case, years ago, involving the voluptuous April Fielding. On that day the young rising starlet arrives at Callahan's Beverly Hills office to hire him after first offering the case to Joe Puma. Puma was picked because he carries a .38 and doesn't hesitate to use it. Though fully competent, the horny Puma seemed more interested in laying his paws on the Fielding girl. This turns her off and her next option is P.I. Brock Callahan. The story is about blackmail. Before reaching star status, April Fielding acted in a few "dirty" films to earn a living. Even after being paid off, the blackmailer continues to find copies of these films and demands more money. To avoid any harm to her career, she needs protection and someone to put an end to this. Between a couple of meetings with Joe Puma and April Fielding's agent, Callahan makes progress in the case. But he doesn't solve it. Some one else comes up with a plan to permanently end the blackmailing scheme. A double murder takes place, Callahan figures out what happened, and then lets it go for the good of everyone.

This crime yarn is quick and neatly packaged. As a fan of both private detectives, this is another William Campbell Gault story that I was hunting for. And I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it.

There are plenty of excellent stories in this second collection edited by Robert Randisi. Though good, the Gault story is not the best of the bunch. Max Collins has an exceptional one, I really liked Kaminsky's Tobey Peters story, and Loren Estleman's Amos Walker tale is terrific. (I also loved the title of that one) Here is the complete list:

House Call (Nate Heller) by Max Allan Collins
Body Count (Joe Hannibal) by Wayne D. Dundee
I'm in the Book (Amos Walker) by Loren Estleman
April in Peril (Brock Callahan) by William Campbell Gault
The Parker Shotgun (Kinsey Millhone) by Sue Grafton
Busted Blossoms (Toby Peters) By Stuart Kaminsky
Fly Away Home (Ben Perkins) by Rob Kantner
The Thunder of Guilt (Alo Nudger) by John Lutz
Missing in Miami (Jacob Asch) by Arthur Lyons
At the Old Swimming Hole (Warshawski) by Sara Paretsky
Ace in the Hole ("Nameless") by Bill Pronzini
Wrongful Death (Henry Paige) by Dick Stodghill

A quick note: Joe Puma's name comes up a few times in the Brock Callahan novels. He even met his demise in one. Early in "The Cana Diversion" (1984) the two detectives meet and exchange pleasantries at a police station. The next day Puma is murdered and Callahan is determined to find who killed him. (Sort of a professional ethics thing- he can't standby and let a fellow sleuth's murder go without a private investigation into it) What's interesting is that Gault paints Joe Puma as a struggling P.I. who is married and has a son. Having trouble making ends meet, he even resorts to taking slimy divorce cases. There is no mention of his good looks, his brazenness, or his virility. A moderately different character than seen in the Puma novels of the late 50s.
It's an excellent novel and worth a read.

Fear's Justice by Marc Olden

Fear's Justice by Marc Olden
Villard Books, Copyright 1996

Back in the 70s I was hooked reading those numbered men's adventure/vigilante novels. One of the best (if not THE best) was a series titled "Narc" written by a guy named Robert Hawkes. It featured an America drug agent called John Bolt and I found the writing in these books heads above the others that were being pumped out at that time. I later discovered that Robert Hawkes was a pseudo for Marc Olden, who also was penning the excellent "Black Samurai" and "The Harker File" novels. In the 80s and 90s, Olden wrote high charged thrillers, some influenced by his interest in the Asian culture and martial arts. And in 1996 he delivered a knockout with "Fear's Justice," where a chastised NYC detective goes it alone against crooked cops and dirty city politics.

Detective Feargal "Fear" Meagher is a tough fat-assed mick, who doesn't care much for most minorities on the force or anywhere else in NYC. When his girl is slaughtered and the murder is pin on a Black vagrant, he smells a cover up. Meagher starts digging into it and because it's been known that he pocketed $25,000 from a drug pusher, the higher ups try to get him to lay off. Too late though, Meagher uncovers a group of SOB rogue cops that are moonlighting as contract killers. They call themselves the "Exchange Students" and their leader is Detective Schiafino, the husband of Meagher's girlfriend. Schiafino is one bad dude and wants to see Meagher suffer, violently and slowly. Schiafino is connected and has influence with the highest city officials, which puts a mighty squeeze on Meagher's investigations.

"In the outhouse of life," he said, "Schiafino's a splinter in your ass. The man didn't tell you anything you didn't already know. And forget this crap about sending you to prison. He wants to do you himself, and we both know why."

Even pinned down, Meagher is able to get through the cracks and finds an accomplice in his world of corruption. And then later we are left wondering if that was an accomplice after all. As in most Marc Olden novels there is a showdown and what I like about this one is that it is straightforward. Meagher settles it and walks away, as a reader I savored it and left well satisfied.

This one is what I call a novel that slams into you. Fast and raw, (in language and violence) it paints a bleak picture of NYC. We go down some of the filthiest streets and meet some of the most vile people that I have come across in a crime story. The dialogue is fresh noir, superior than any that I have seen in a post-pulp era novel. This is the best book that I have read in months. I'm thrilled that I picked it up.

I have to return to more of Marc Olden's novels.

The Butterfly by James M. Cain

The Butterfly by James M. Cain
Signet 720, Copyright 1946

When I pick up one of Cain's novels, I expect a devious pull into a deceitful murder plot set in Southern California. But in this one we are taken to a coal mining region of West Virginia for a seductive backwoods noir tale that has plenty of family scheming, temptation, and hatred.

"He was eating beans out of a can with his knife, and I let him finish them up before I raised my gun. I drew my bead right on the butterfly. He doubled up when I pulled the trigger, and held on to his stomach, and kicked like a cat trying to shake papers off it's feet, and drew his breath in and out fast like a dog in the summer time, except instead of heat that made him do that, it was pain. That suit me fine. I stepped out, picked up his rifle from where he had set it down to eat, and sat down to watch him twitch."

After Jess Tyler's two-timing wife split on him 18 years ago, he seemed content just farming his land near the abandoned coal mines. That all changes when his 19 year old daughter Kady shows up one day and decides to stay for a spell. Well before you know it, both feel a little more passion between them than is usual between a father and daughter. But Jess is a Church-going-man and fights the temptation, even as Kady spews seduction over him. Things happen fast in this novel, Jess finds out that Kady has a illegitimate baby boy and it has been kidnapped by her stepfather. The boy gets returned as more members of Jess Tyler's family get involved. Kady plans to marry the baby boy's real father, but that goes sour. Then there is suspicion that the stepfather is the real father of Kady's boy. With incestuous lust still tempting Jess, he heads out to settle the score between him and the man who took away his wife years ago. But just about then, Jess learns something and that brings his relationship with Kady down a road towards sin and shame.

A swift story that is packaged with suspense, morality, and the forbidden topic of incest. Oh, and a murder along the way. Cain's writing (as always) is terrific in this novel. The characters burst from the pages, the plot has plenty of twists and offers a stark portrayal of hatred, lust, and even the passion of love. There is an intensity in this story and it builds and builds, then ends masterfully as Jess is writing down the tale of what happens.

It's safe to say, I never read anything that I didn't fully enjoy by James M. Cain. It's been a while since I read a backwoods noir novel and adding Cain as the author... this one is a "can't miss!"

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
Pocket Book 212, Copyright 1940

"I like smooth shiny girls, hardboiled and loaded with sin."

My favorite Raymond Chandler novel. And of course there is more here than Philip Marlowe trying to get a lead on where Moose Malloy is hiding out and finding what became of little Velma. I've probably read "Farewell, My Lovely" more times than any other novel. And whenever I pick it up, I discover something in it that amazes me. This time it was Marlowe's interaction with the two main cops in the story. Detective Lieutenant Nulty is a sloppy, lazy, almost unhealthy homicide cop. He doesn't even leave his office in the 77th Street Division and depends on others to provide leads and services for him. Marlowe willingly helps him out, knowing he can use Nulty's name to benefit his investigation whenever an "official" question needs to be asked. For Marlowe, throwing Nulty a bone can do him some good, in the future he may need to cash in a little credit with the Hollywood Police Department.

Randall is the Los Angeles homicide cop assigned to the Lindsay Marriott murder. A professional all the way, he suspects Marlowe is withholding from him and he warns Marlowe to stay out of it. Later, Marlowe sort of goes through the back door looking into the Marriott murder as he discovers there was a connection between Marriott and the drunken Florian hag. The next time Marlowe and Randall meet, their relationship turns more respectful and the exchange of information is mutual. Of course, Marlowe has to first go through taking his "treatment" at Dr. Sonderborg's residence. The last chapter really captures Randall showing a high regard for Marlowe, as they meet and he tells of Velma's final fate.

Chandler also has Marlowe battling his share of corrupt cops. There are the two Bay City ones who sap him and take him to Dr. Sonderberg. And the Bay City police chief is in politically with the racketeer Brunette. But then there is the ex-cop Red Norgaard who takes a great risk to ferry Marlowe to the gambling ship Montecito. He is so mysterious and likable, that Marlowe sees a bit of himself in Red. Chandler must of liked the character also because in the end he gets his job back on the police force.

Good ones or bad ones, when it came to a P.I.'s interaction with cops, no one wrote them better than Raymond Chandler. It's just another magnet the draws you into a Philip Marlowe novel.

"After a little while I felt a little better, but very little. I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room."

Raymond Chandler's novels are not just enjoyable to read, they are a privilege to read.