Review: Portrait of a Dead Heiress

Portrait of a Dead Heiress by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The eleventh book in Dewey’s excellent Mac series finds the PI back in Chicago investigating an dubious suicide. The cast of characters include a heart-broken and shady doctor, a gay alcoholic artist, a corrupt cop, and young woman who works for a shifty retailer in a poor urban district. Dialog is colorful and concise showcasing Mac’s detection and interviewer skills. Interesting perspective on abortion in the pre-Roe v. Wade era , a plot point that is handled discreetly, being a somewhat taboo subject in it’s time. The dialog and complex plotting are the strengths of this short novel, although the murder motive felt a bit contrived. Of all of the bevy of paperback original private eye series of the ‘50s and ‘60s I would rank Dewey’s Mac as my favorite. Another solid entry.

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Review: The Killer is Mine

The Killer is Mine by Talmage Powell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Talmage Powell was another pulp writer who migrated to the mystery digests, primarily Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and of course paperback originals in the 1950s. He was also one of the Tampa group of author pals with Harry Whittington, Day Keene, Jonathon Craig, and Gil Brewer. Fine company indeed. This paperback from 1959 was Powell’s take on the immensely popular private detective genre of the era with this, the first Ed Rivers novel. A young wife attempts to engage Rivers to prove that her husband on death row is innocent, and while at first disinclined to help, he changes his mind when he is threatened to drop the case, correctly sleuthing that something fishy is afoot. Rivers doggedly seeks the truth while dodging a large retinue of forces that are throwing roadblocks and threats at him. Powell expertly rolls up a delightfully sophisticated and tightly plotted gem with a slew of interesting characters, all spouting terse and evocative dialog. A top notch detective novel and another superior entry in the pantheon of 1959 paperback masterpieces, arguably the best year ever for crime, sleaze, and detective fiction. Five stars and my highest recommendation.

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Review: A Gun For Honey

A Gun For Honey by G.G. Fickling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Large breasts and murder are the focus of the third book in the Honey West series, a female private detective that the authors describe as a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Mike Hammer. Honey is engaged by a Hollywood director to protect his young second wife and young daughter from “The Kissing Killer”, however the young wife is immediately found dead. The suspects are a foursome of amorous men who take every opportunity to grope, kiss, or remark upon Honey’s well-endowed physique. Honey fends off these advances admirably, clearly determined to solve the crime without such distractions in a very classic detective whodunit murder mystery plot, even bringing the suspects together at the end for the big reveal. Lots of terrific set pieces with Honey bouncing between the elusive suspects who all have dark secrets to hide. I won’t spoil the conclusion - only to say that it was a real shocker. A fair bit of nudity, plenty of discreet references to sex, and a tight plot make this book a sexy and enjoyable reading experience. I will be on the lookout for the other books in the series. Four stars.

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Review: Slab Happy

Slab Happy by Richard S. Prather
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I somehow ended up with three copies of this book and figured that I ought to read one of them. A Hollywood movie producer hires Shell Scott to investigate a blackmail scheme involving some of his up and coming young stars. Once again Shell digs himself into deeper and deeper trouble this time with competing mobsters out to kill him, a corrupt desert horse ranch resort, and a hot young starlet to bed. All of the Shell Scott books are a wild ride with Shell getting beat up a few times, some cat-and-mouse set pieces, and some outrageous humor and wisecracking. This one plays it pretty straight. Less goofiness and a solid, albeit somewhat convoluted plot. I liked it a lot. Speaking of Hollywood, I’m surprised that there was never a effort to put Shell Scott on the big screen. His character and his antics would have translated well in my opinion. Four stars.

Wolfpack Publishing has acquired the rights to this series and has reissued them as very affordable ebooks.

Review: Mac Detective Series 08: The Girl Who Wasn't There

Mac Detective Series 08: The Girl Who Wasn't There by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mac is back in familiar territory in his hometown of Chicago tending to his neglected private eye business when a young woman who was married to a deceased colleague asks him to check out suspicious activity regarding some snooping around her apartment. She is soon blown to bits in a car explosion and Mac is out for revenge. Restaurant Supply racketeers, shady lawyers, estranged sisters, and a secret will are all part of the complex mystery that Mac has to unravel by using his smarts instead of violence, although he does get beat up and can dish it out when required. This is the eighth book in the superb Mac series and somehow each book seems to improve upon the previous one. This is my favorite private eye series. I like the Mac novels better than Hammer, Noon, Liddell, Shell Scott, and other PI books of the era. An easy five stars and highly recommended.

Wildside Press has republished this as an inexpensive ebook.

Review: The Lustful Ape

The Lustful Ape by Russell Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Russell Gray was a pseudonym of Bruno Fischer and this novel of murder and blackmail gets off to a typical Fischer quick start as Dirk Hart, an ex-cop turned private detective, learns that his estranged wife was murdered right after visiting him in a negligee. Things get a bit confusing in the first few chapters as Fischer rapidly introduces a lot of characters and spins out sub-plots galore, but then he starts pulling all the threads together and we have ourselves a page turner. The title and back cover tease copy are misleading: there is a character named Ape, and he is lustful, but no more so than the other characters, and his lust has little to do with the story. This is all about a blackmail scheme that Dirk needs to unravel before he too ends up dead. Satisfying murder mystery. Also available as a Gold Medal paperback with the Bruno Fischer by line, and an ebook version is available from Prologue Books.

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Review: The Long Night

The Long Night by Ovid Demaris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Private eye Vince Slader is a character born from Spillane’s Mike Hammer school of ultra hard-boiled detectives, hard-boiled to the point of self parody. Most of the familiar hard-boiled PI tropes are here, Slader is a former cop, gets beat up, gets laid, hands out plenty of brutal violence, barks caustic and smart ass dialog, etc. Demaris writes all of this very well and adds a couple of nice touches, a best buddy, and a love interest that humanize Slader and make him more sympathetic. The plot has something to do with killing a husband and collecting the insurance and although familiar, is executed well. The destination isn’t all that important, it's the ride, and the novel delivers a fun and wild one. Four stars.

Digital copy available from Cutting Edge books

Review: Lust Is No Lady

Lust Is No Lady by Michael Avallone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Prolific author Michael Avallone is probably best known for his 30+ “Ed Noon” private detective novels.This, the fourteenth entry in the series, tells the story of Noon finding himself dangerously out of his element and stranded when a low flying plane drops a load of bricks on his car while driving through Wyoming on his way to a vacation in California. Things only get more complicated when he rescues a naked woman who has been tied to the ground, gets dumped from a motorcycle, then gets involved with a man with smoking hot wife and daughter,and a psychotic son, who have partnered with some baddies to find a long lost cache of gold dust. The Noon books never take themselves too seriously with lots of sly humor and some wacky plotting which help to make the series, and this book, such delightful entertainment. The book is a total blast, funny and fast moving. I liked it a lot.

Available as an affordable ebook.

Review: The Chased and the Unchaste

The Chased and the Unchaste by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The seventh book in the “Mac” PI series finds Mac in Hollywood where he has been hired by a wealthy film producer to protect his young daughter from a kidnapping threat. Mac considers this to be a lucrative and easy job until a murder occurs and things begin to unravel. Dewey has a knack for creating fascinating female characters and here we have the saucy wife, the mousy governess and the cantankerous housekeeper, all with major roles in the narrative. The things that set Mac apart from the bevy of paperback original PIs of the era is that the characters and the plots are much more believable. Mac is a smart guy and he comes up with logical plans that don’t always go his way, rarely resorts to violence, and almost never gets the girl. Another fine novel from a writer who doesn’t get the respect or attention that he deserves.

Our friends at Wildside Press offers the ebook on Amazon.

Review: Deadly Chase

Deadly Chase by Carter Cullen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Great set up here as Robert Craig, our private investigator protagonist, deliberately ODs on barbiturates to get admitted to a psych ward so he can track down a bank robber held within. Cullen does a great job of building the tension throughout as he keeps moving the cheese so that Craig has to continuously adjust his strategy and tactics for recovering the loot from the robbery. Several interesting characters are introduced both as helpers and foes: an ex-cop in the psych ward, a psyche ward nurse, a gunsel for the mob, an insurance investigator, a shady PI (Ad Sharkey!), an independent charter pilot, and all these characters enliven the second half of the book. The tension and action keeps escalating to the end.

Review: The Double Take

The Double Take by Roy Huggins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Roy Huggins, the legendary Hollywood producer and screenwriter, started his career as a detective novelist. He was clearly a follower of Raymond Chandler - not a bad thing. Wise cracking PI Stuart Bailey gets involved over his head in this nicely plotted crime caper, meeting a slew of interesting characters, getting beat up, and doggedly chasing the twisting clues to a satisfying conclusion. The novel is certainly on par with the best of the 1940s era hard-boiled PI books that I've read. He later adapted this book for a film called I Love Trouble starring Franchot Tone which is very underrated. Someone has put it up on YouTube. Not a great print but it's watchable, and definitely worth watching.

Review: Mac Detective Series 06: You've Got Him Cold

Mac Detective Series 06: You've Got Him Cold by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many years of simmering secrets and blackmail explode in a sudden burst of related murders in this complex private eye mystery from the reliable Thomas B. Dewey. The P.I. known only as "Mac" deftly investigates and unravels the puzzling clues that include several seemingly unconnected characters while butting heads with the police as their investigations overlap, and Mac is forced to evade and withhold information to protect a girl in his care. Dewey's exceptional plotting and prose stands tall amongst the bevy of 1950s PI writers and if you can weather the head-swimming number of characters and names then the rewards are substantial. Highly recommended.

Buy the ebook here.

Review: Mac Detective Series 05: The Brave, Bad Girls

Mac Detective Series 05: The Brave, Bad Girls by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The sixth book in the “Mac” series of detective books is an ambitious one, telling the stories of several women, a young debutante charged with murder, a teacher accused of being a communist sympathizer, her principal (and a love interest for Mac), and Mac’s friend (another love interest!) who are all involved in a complex web of relationships that include a slew of other characters. This makes the book somewhat difficult to follow without paying strict attention. This is not necessarily a weakness. The plot, although complex, holds together beautifully and the journey is well worth it. Definitely one of my favorites of the series and recommended for readers that have an affinity for books with multiple plot lines and very many characters. There is a lot of depth here and I am adding this to my list of books that I intend to reread someday.

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Review: The Mean Streets

The Mean Streets by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The fifth book in the acclaimed “Mac” series of detective books starts off by setting low expectations with a clunky beginning that has Mac posing as a High School baseball coach hired to work a juvenile delinquency problem in a unnamed urban area near Chicago. Fortunately the book picks up steam in a hurry with a few murders, organized crime, and jailbait named Stella. Mac partners up with a mysterious and alluring woman that he calls “The Duchess”, a grieving mother and alcoholic who is somehow tied up in this whole mess. The book works well as a period piece from the 1950s hype of juvenile delinquency and as a top-notch detective story. Recommended.

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Review: Atlanta Deathwatch

Atlanta Deathwatch by Ralph Dennis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent hard-boiled private eye novel with an engaging '70s vibe that grabs you and won't let go. Jim Hardman is a strangely endearing PI with self-doubt issues and a tendency to work both sides of the law to further his interests. The story is expertly plotted and paced as the clues to the murder mystery fall swiftly into place. Hardman and his partner Hump are inclined to get themselves out of dangerous situations using cunning and stealth rather than shooting their way out - a plus in my opinion. I've heard good things about this series over the years and I'm glad to see that it's finally back in print. Recommended.

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Review: The Man Who Chose the Devil: Manville Moon, Detective #2

The Man Who Chose the Devil: Manville Moon, Detective #2 by Richard Deming
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deming ramps up the violence in this PI Manny Moon novella, originally published in Black Mask magazine 1948, while maintaining the solid puzzle plotting that kept me guessing the murderer and motive. More information about this series can be found here - http://www.thrillingdetective.com/moo...

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Review: The Juarez Knife: Manville Moon, Detective #1

The Juarez Knife: Manville Moon, Detective #1 by Richard Deming
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first entry in the largely forgotten Manville Moon series of private eye stories, this one a novella from the January 1948 issue of Popular Detective pulp magazine. Moon finds himself engaged in a well plotted locked room type of mystery with a first-rate cast of characters and a few surprising twists. Moon is from the hard-boiled school of detectives, although he's not particularly violent, and he's clearly more compassionate than others from this era. I liked that it's long enough to tell an elaborate story in an hour or two of reading without getting bogged down in details or bloat. Excellent pulp fiction and recommended to fans of post-war private eye stories.

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Here's the cover of the January 1948 issue of Popular Detective:

Book review: "Draw the Curtain Close" by Thomas B. Dewey

Draw the Curtain Close: Mac Detective Series #1 by Thomas B. Dewey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hard boiled detective "Mac" gets himself involved in a murder mystery. This is a very encouraging start to Dewey's "Mac" Detective Series of books. I intend to read more of them.

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