The Wanton, published 1959, a Carter Brown Al Wheeler mystery. Sleazy goings-on in a wealthy family lead to murder, with a naked branded girl in a tree. Scandal, blackmail, greed, decadence and depravity. Pulpy, trashy, hugely entertaining.

Here's my review.


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A double header from Marty Holland. Her 1946 novel The Glass Heart is a noir heist story with lots of craziness. Her 1952 novella The Sleeping City is top-notch erotic noir. And she came up with odd interesting endings. Great stuff.

Here's my review.


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Stephen Marlowe's Blonde Bait, a fine 1959 noir novel. Ski instructor Chuck has married money. His wife indulges him but doesn't respect him. Then the blonde comes along. She's married. There are murders, but maybe they're not quite murders.

Here's my review.


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Bodies in Bedlam (1951), the second of Richard S. Prather's Shell Scott PI mystery novels, starts with a guy getting his throat cut at a Hollywood party. There's also blackmail afoot. fast-paced fun with a nice mix of action and humour.

Here's my review:


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Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 novel BLACK ALIBI starts with a woman killed by a jaguar. Or so it's assumed. The plot is rather wild, and the resolution is totally wild. Fascinatingly weird. Filmed in 1943 as THE LEOPARD MAN.

Here's my review.


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Milton K. Ozaki’s The Scented Flesh is a very competent 1951 hardboiled PI thriller. A PI wakes up next to a naked blonde. He doesn't know who she is but she's clearly out of his league. She's also dead. He really doesn't remember the night before but he knows he was drunk.

Here's my review.


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Owen Dudley’s Run If You Can, published 1960. The tagline gets your attention - So Lovely, So Nude, So Evil. Ed's business partner has been murdered. Ed was acquitted of an earlier murder. Three dangerous dames. A strong noir vibe. Fine stuff.

Here's my review.


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The Frightened Lady is a 1933 Edgar Wallace thriller. An aristocratic family, a very old house, secrets from the past, family infighting, sexual tensions, jealousies. And murder. A detective who gets personally involved. And secret passageways!

Here's my review.


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Jay Dratler’s The Pitfall, published 1947, is a nicely twisted noir tale. A cop persuades a screenwriter to romance a girl, but the cop wants the girl himself. Characters driven by madness and sexual obsession and the hero has no idea what he's walked into. Great stuff.

Here's my review.


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The Black Key is an obscure 1946 psychiatric murder mystery. A psychiatrist has a patient who thinks she's committed a murder. It's totally off-the-wall with crazy and ludicrously contrived dream clues. It doesn’t make sense, but it's enjoyable.

Here's my review.


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