HUGH HOLMAN. Slay the Murderer. M. S. Mill Co., hardcover, 1946. Signet #684, paperback, 1948.

    — Another Man’s Poison. M. S. Mill Co., hardcover, 1947; Signet #718, paperback, 1949.

   Apparently the third book in the series featuring Sheriff John Macready of Hart County, South Carolina, Slay the Murderer finds the sheriff in something of a bind. Election Day is only two days off, and a prominent citizen is discovered stabbed and poisoned in a locked room.

   The killer ought to be obvious, since he, too, is in the locked room, but Macready is considerably more than just a hick sheriff — though he wouldn’t want the voters to know that — and he finds contradictory evidence.

   Still, if Macready doesn’t arrest the obvious person or doesn’t find out who did indeed do it and how, his re-election to a fairly cushy job that he usually enjoys is doubtful.

   In the later Another Man’s Poison, Macready leaves his county to complain to a politician about the appointment of an inept postmaster. Before he can talk to him, the politician drinks one of his own special cocktails and dies of poison.

   Macready is a witness, and there seems to be no way that the drink could have been poisoned by anyone. Also, it can’t be certain that the politician was the target of the poisoner, for he had taken the glass from someone else. Macready is glad it’s someone else’s problem until the murderer attacks him.

   Two excellent mysteries with an appealing lead character.

       The Sheriff John Macready series —

Trout in the Milk. Mill, 1945.
Up This Crooked Way. Mill, 1946.
Slay the Murderer. Mill, 1946.
Another Man’s Poison. Mill, 1947.

   Hugh Holman (1914-1981) was the author of two other mysteries: Death Like Thunder (Phoenix, 1942) and as Clarence Hunt, Small Town Corpse (Phoenix, 1951).

   Holman, however, was more than a writer of better than average detective novels, using Bill’s review as a basis for that statement. From http://museum.unc.edu:

    “In 1946, he entered graduate school at the University of North Carolina, where he received his doctorate with a dissertation on William Gilmore Simms. He joined the UNC English department and taught there until his retirement. He served as department chair, acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, dean of the graduate school, provost, and special assistant to the chancellor. From 1957 to 1973, he served as chair of the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina Press. Holman was the recipient of a Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1967), the Thomas Jefferson Award (1975), and the Oliver Max Gardner Award (1977). He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a founding editor of the Southern Literary Journal.”

        #13. HUGO OAKES, LAWYER-DETECTIVE, by J. Lane Linklater.

   One of the precursors of Erle Stanley Gardner’s series character Perry Mason the attorney, the Hugo Oakes series is fairly entertaining. J. Lane Linklater created this series about a criminal defense attorney who solved crimes. He appeared in twenty stories in Detective Fiction Weekly from 1929-1934, a respectable run.

   J. Lane Linklater was the pseudonym of Alex Watkins (1893?-1983?). He had two other series that also ran in the magazine: Sad Sam Salter (1937), and Paul C. Pitt, a kind of conman (1936-1941).

   One of the stories describes Oakes the person: “Hugo Oakes, lawyer, investigator, gruff friend of the penniless in trouble, had four great interests in life. Those interests were law, detection, people—and horses.” (Finishing Touches)

   A physical description of Oakes is noted in another story: “He was a wizard with flowery eloquence, too, but outside of the courtroom it didn’t seem to go with his age-colored, shapeless clothes, his casual manner, his pudgy person.” (You Think of Everything)

   He wears a slouch hat, and rolls his own cigarettes. Very little information is given about Oakes’ background and upbringing. There is a mention by Oakes himself on one occasion that he liked horses because he grew up on a farm (Not One Clew).

   He prefers to use ungrammatical, common speech that belies his education. However, when he wishes he can use much better language. Inspector Mallory prefers Oakes to use common language; he “liked Oakes much less when the lawyer used four-syllable words.” (Arsenic in the Cocktail)

   Oakes is not one of the high-priced lawyers with a fancy office and furniture. He has a shabby office that costs him twenty dollars a month, and often doesn’t have enough in his business accounts to pay that. His only employee is Mamie, who is his combination stenographer-bookkeeper-secretary.

   The reason he has very little money is that people rarely paid him for the legal work he did for them. Oakes has a thriving practice helping people with little money out of trouble. He did his own detective work rather than hire a detective agency to do it for him. However, we must remember that these stories take place during the Depression, when many people either lacked jobs or had poorly paying ones.

   Oakes is an egalitarian, preferring regular people and the poor to the better off and wealthy classes. A person’s lack of money never affected Oakes’ decision to take them on as a client.

   The only other regular in the series is police Inspector Mallory, who is usually glad to have Oakes help on his cases, but “he would never admit it. They might gibe and grouch at each other on occasion, but Mallory had intelligence enough to recognize the value of Oakes’s assistance, and Oakes was always willing to let the credit go to Mallory.” (Finishing Touches)

   Each story usually involves Oaks being called in by a client and then having to solve a murder, usually to save the client. Once his client was a murder victim before Oakes could reach the scene. Inspector Mallory was always on hand at the scene of the crime. Mallory either does not understand what is going on, or seeks the simplest explanation (always wrong, of course).

   Very rarely did Mallory actively ask for Oakes’ help on a case. One special case was in the story “A Pair of Shoes”, where Mallory asked for assistance. A rich businessman had disappeared, and three weeks of work had led Mallory to be desperate enough to ask for unofficial help. Oakes gets to work and very quickly solves the case in a logical manner.

   Another request for help from Mallory led to a murder investigation by Oakes at a high society horse show in “Not One Clew”. Oakes said he did not care for society, but he did like the horses. Part of the deal with Mallory was a free ticket to the horse show.

   Another off-beat story for the series is “Crazy People Are Smart,” where Oakes accepts the challenge of a prison chaplain and investigates an old murder. Bill Tubby had just twenty-four hours before his scheduled electric chair execution for a crime he claimed he did not commit. Inspector Mallory had solved the case to his satisfaction, and he is afraid Oakes will do something to change the outcome. Oakes goes to the scene of the crime and investigates, coming up with an unusual solution that saves Tubby.

   Hugo Oakes has a system for locating the murderer in crime situations: “Always look for the type of mind capable of conceiving and executing the particular crime under scrutiny.” (The Wild Man From Borneo)

   Inspector Mallory knows about this system, and in this story attempts to use it himself. Unfortunately he chooses the wrong person as the murderer, and Oakes has to straighten him out. This is one case where Oakes becomes involved because the victim was a friend of his. Oakes is uncharacteristically not in his usual cheerful mood; in fact he is angry and unsmiling.

   Another story gives a bit more of Oakes’ insight into crime detecting: “But a man always leaves the imprint of his personality on his crime. What a man does is the expression of what he is. He may not leave fingerprints, but he always leaves mind prints.” (Crazy People Are Smart)

   So Hugo Oakes is a believer in the application of psychology to crime-solving. The stories contain little violence, though one exception is in the story “Finishing Touches.” Here Oakes confronts the guilty party and has Inspector Mallory secretly back him up, which is needed when the murderer attempts to kill Oakes. Mallory wounds the murderer and saves Oakes’ life.

   The series is interesting to read, although there are not any great criminal masterminds, fancy destructive gadgets, or gangs of criminals running around. It took all kinds of stories in the pulp era, and this series is better than many other series in DFW.

      The Hugo Oakes series, by J. Lane Linklayer:

Hello, Jim!     September 7, 1929
Court Costs Saved     October 5, 1929
The Wild Man From Borneo     February 22, 1930
The Watchful Woman     May 10, 1930
Not One Clew     May 24, 1930
Crazy People Are Smart     May 31, 1930
The Seventh Green Murder     July 26, 1930
The Lady Confesses     August 23, 1930
Three Old Crows     October 18, 1930
A Pair of Shoes     November 15, 1930
Finishing Touches     January 3, 1931
You Think of Things February 7, 1931
Women Always Mean Trouble     March 28, 1931
Arsenic in the Cocktail     April 4, 1931
He Died Laughing     July 4, 1931
Murder Next Door     September 5, 1931
Find the Silencer     October 10, 1931
The Second Floor Murder     November 19, 1932
The Dead Client     December 2, 1933
On the Brink     June 2, 1934

    Biographical sketch of Linklater from the March 16, 1929 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly:

   HERE is a personal greeting from J. Lane Linklater, author of “One O’Clock in the Morning,” in this issue. We asked him to stand up and say a few words to you:

   You can’t mean me, cap’n?

   Oh, well—

   We’ll avoid the statistical as far as possible and get down to the vital.

   I have lived more or less decidedly and existed more or less uncertainly, in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana; that is, down the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to the Mexican border, and across the south to Louisiana. Thus it will be seen that I have never set foot on any but a coast or border State.

   I have held down — sometimes for a very brief period — forty-three jobs, in offices, restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, and again in offices; in large cities, small towns, construction and logging camps, in green valleys and desert plains. If I was working in a town, it was never far away from a restaurant; if in a camp, it was never very far away from the cookhouse.

   Incidentally, the transition from job to job was at times sudden and drastic. On one occasion, for instance, I was night porter in a “coffee and” dump, and a week later I was head bookkeeper for a chain store system some two thousand miles away. Honestly — or perhaps I should say, actually — I am a very fair bookkeeper.

   While I’m on the question of jobs — and what is more important? — I might add that the last regular job I had, and the one I was on longer than any of the others, was as editor of a farm paper. I was never better fitted for any job than for this one inasmuch as I had never in my life touched my hand to a plow and couldn’t tell the difference between a Jersey heifer and a Shorthorn bull. Now I know what a Shorthorn bull is, having met one in a dissatisfied mood.

   Among the people I have met and become friendly with — and this is vital, from the point of view of both life and letters — were bankers, labor agitators, gamblers, ministers, politicians, hoboes, Chinese cooks, mining-stock promoters, hard-working bohunks, and waitresses. Of these I should say that the bohunks were the most useful, the hoboes the happiest, the Chinese cooks the most successful, and the waitresses the most interesting — to me.

   Perhaps the most accurate indication of the kind of life a man has led is where he has slept. Well, I have slept in very expensive hotels — when I was working there — in middle-class hotels, in cheap hotels, and in fifteen-cent flophouses; also in bunk houses, ditches, city parks, fields, woods and swamps. Of these I should say that the woods were the most comfortable and the flophouses the most interesting.

   I have never been arrested. This I now regret exceedingly. I have had several opportunities, although I never offended society very seriously, except by going broke. I have been accosted on the street around three o’clock in the morning in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Orleans and other minor municipalities which suspected that my financial status warranted my arrest as a vagrant. Their suspicions were correct, but I was always able to convince them otherwise. As I say, I now regret it. I may yet overcome this disadvantage.

   In these emergencies my tongue was assisted by my face, a deceptively mild arrangement that never seemed to fit the role of roving mendicant. I have been mistaken for a well-known Methodist minister in Portland, Oregon, and for a Chatauqua lecturer in Sweetwater, Texas.

   My formal education, unfortunately, was not very extensive. However, I have read rather incessantly, if not systematically. Meditating upon what I had seen and what I had read I decided, about a year and a half ago, to forsake the discussion of ton litters and live stock diseases for the production of fiction. I inquired about it. I read the writers’ journals. I asked advice of people who know about these things — I was always keen for advice.

   They all told me to hang on to my job for five or perhaps ten years, the while I tried to write fiction. I thereupon quit my job cold. Advice is fine, but I have always thought that if you’re going to do a thing, the thing to do is to go ahead and do it, sink or swim. I’m not rich yet, but the wife and I are going back down to California for the winter.

   I have never been well enough to undertake anything violent, and never sick enough to take to my bed. It is a condition that presages a long life. Under the head of more good luck, I have a wife — acquired about eight years ago — who is a good scout and a smart woman; a father and mother, both alive and well, who are intelligent and good natured—they had to be to put up with me—and a number of friends who stick through the years.

   All of these things count. Not that it matters, but I am now thirty-six years old.

    Previously in this series:

1. SHAMUS MAGUIRE, by Stanley Day.
2. HAPPY McGONIGLE, by Paul Allenby.
3. ARTY BEELE, by Ruth & Alexander Wilson.
4. COLIN HAIG, by H. Bedford-Jones.
5. SECRET AGENT GEORGE DEVRITE, by Tom Curry.
6. BATTLE McKIM, by Edward Parrish Ware.
7. TUG NORTON by Edward Parrish Ware.
8. CANDID JONES by Richard Sale.
9. THE PATENT LEATHER KID, by Erle Stanley Gardner.
10. OSCAR VAN DUYVEN & PIERRE LEMASSE, by Robert Brennan.
11. INSPECTOR FRAYNE, by Harold de Polo.
12. INDIAN JOHN SEATTLE, by Charles Alexander.

ROBERT L. FISH – Brazilian Sleigh Ride. Simon & Schuster, hardcover, 1965. Paperback reprints: Berkley, 1967; Foul Play Press, 1988.

   Robert L. Fish, after a successful business career, became a successful mystery writer at age 48. He wrote the hilarious Schlock Holmes parodies and a fine series of ten books about Captain Jose Da Silva, one of the best of which, Brazilian Sleigh Ride, has just been reprinted by Foul Play Press.

   Fish uses two locales he knows best, Brazil (where he worked many years) and New York, in chronicling the efforts of Da Silva and his friend Wilson of the American Embassy to find who stole a fortune in negotiable bearer bonds.

   The story is compelling and Fish tells it in very lively fashion, especially regarding Da Silva’s extreme fear of flying and his feuding with Wilson.

       The Captain Jose da Silva series —

The Fugitive. Simon & Schuster, 1962.
Isle of the Snakes. Simon & Schuster, 1963.

The Shrunken Head. Simon & Schuster, 1963.
Brazilian Sleigh Ride. Simon & Schuster, 1965.
The Diamond Bubble. Simon & Schuster, 1965.

Always Kill a Stranger. Putnam, 1967.

The Bridge That Went Nowhere. Putnam, 1968.

The Xavier Affair. Putnam, 1969.
The Green Hell Treasure. Putnam, 1971.
Trouble in Paradise. Doubleday, 1975.

SAM LLEWELLYN – Dead Reckoning. Summit Books, US, hardcover, 1988. Pocket, US, paperback, 1989. First published by Joseph, UK, hardcover, 1987.

   If Dick Francis turned from horse racing to yacht racing his name might be Sam Llewellyn and he might write Dead Reckoning. This is Llewellyn’s second novel and first mystery, and it’s a gem.

   Charlie Agutter is a boat designer in Pulteney on the coast of England. His fortunes are on the rise, his talents are in demand, and one of his yachts seems likely to win the Captain’s Cup. Then the bottom falls out: Charlie’s brother is killed aboard a boat Charlie designed, and the word gets about that Charlie’s design is fatally flawed.

   Suddenly no one wants to touch him; existing design contracts are put on hold till Charlie can prove his experimental rudder design not at fault. If only he could… But someone badly wants him ruined if not dead.

   Notable drive and suspense.

       The Charlie Agutter series —

Dead Reckoning, 1987.
Blood Orange, 1988. CA in a supporting role.
Deadeye, 1989. CA in a minor role.
Death Roll, 1989. CA in a minor role.

   These four books are only a small fraction of Llewellyn’s total fictional output. For a complete list, check out the Fantastic Fiction website.

TED WOOD – Snowjob. Reid Bennett #9. Charles Scribner’s Sons, hardcover, 1993. Worldwide Library, paperback, 1995.

   When I think of Canadian mystery writers, three immediately come to mind: Eric Wright, Lawrence Gough, and Ted Wood. All are good, and Wright and Wood are among my favorites. Reid Bennett is Chief and one-man force of a small Ontario town, but often for one reason or another leaves his venue, and the books seem more like hardboiled PI stories than police procedurals.

   Here Bennett comes to a Vermont ski town to aid a Viet Nam buddy in trouble. Doug Ford, black, ex-Marine, local cop, has been arrested for the murder of a local woman. He tells Bennett that he was working with her undercover to bust a money laundering scheme involving local bigwigs and New York Mafia.

   The problem is that he was doing it on his own and didn’t tell anyone in the Department. The problem is compounded by Ford’s personal grudge against the Mafia bigwig, dating from his days as a NYC cop. The frame is tight, the local force is honest but inexperienced, and no one but Bennett believes him innocent. So Bennett and his wonder-dog Sam go to work.

   I’ve never thought that plotting was one of Wood’s strong points, and I’m confirmed in that view here. From the original premise to a confusing if not confused ending, I thought this plot was weak. What I have enjoyed about the series is the well-developed character of Reid Bennett, and the fast paced and forceful writing of Wood; and I still do.

   Wood is an ex-Toronto policeman, and though these are in no sense procedurals there is authenticity to the parts that deal with police work. They are usually violent books, and this is no exception., though it’s less violent than some previous ones.

   I continue to enjoy the Bennett series, though much less than I would if the plots were better. This is not the best of them by any means, but I’d still recommend it to Wood fans.

      The Reid Bennett series —

1. Dead in the Water (1983)

2. Murder On Ice (1984)

3. Live Bait (1985)

4. Fool’s Gold (1986)
5. Corkscrew (1987)
6. When the Killing Starts (1989)
7. On the Inside (1990)
8. Flashback (1992)
9. Snowjob (1992)
10. A Clean Kill (1995)

   
   Charles W. Tyler was perhaps the most prolific pulp writer you never heard of. He was the author of 100s of novelettes and short stories, in all genres, many of which are listed below. He wrote detective stories, adventure stories, railroad stories and westerns, but except to a small handful of enthusiasts, his name is no longer known today.

   He is the author of two titles included in Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin:

            Blue Jean Billy (Chelsea, 1926, hc)
            Quality Bill’s Girl (Chelsea, 1925, hc)

   The second of these is described as being “three novelets presented as a novel.” Since Tyler wrote six “Blue Jean Billy” stories that appeared in Detective Story Magazine (see below), a strong conjecture would be that Quality Bill’s Girl contains the first three, and Blue Jean Billy contains the final three.

   Tyler’s two most prominent series characters in the detective pulps were Big-Nose Charley and Blue Jean Billy Race. Here are descriptions of both, as excerpted from the online website The Pulp Heroes, by Jess Nevins. (Follow the link for more.)

   and

   
   Tyler’s entry in the Crime, Mystery & Gangster Fiction Magazine Index, 1915-2010, compiled by Phil Stephenson-Payne, William G. Contento & Stephen T. Miller (2010), mentions only that he flourished from 1917-1935.

   He is also found in the online FictionMags Index, where no dates are given for birth and death, but it is noted that he was born in North Hinsdale, MA and that he should not be confused with Charles Waller Tyler nor Charles Willis Tyler.

   In Allen J. Hubin’s massive bibliography Crime Fiction Bibliography, 1700-2000, it is stated he was born in Massachusetts, was a fireman, magazine writer and draftsman.

   Armed with these bits of information, I set out to see what I could unearth through my subscription to the databases held by the New England Historic Genealogical Society to determine what information it might have on a Charles W. Tyler, born in Massachusetts prior to 1915 and born in Hinsdale (or North Hinsdale) Massachusetts.

   It was only a matter of seconds to learn that no Charles W. Tyler showed up in the Society’s databases.

   What was my next step to be?

   Having a world-wide subscription to Ancestry.com’s databases, I knew that that was to be my next avenue of research to see what that might produce.

   There were loads of Charles W. Tylers, but one that caught my attention was a Charles W. Tyler who lived in Quincy, MA and was described as a novelist in the city directories for 1918 and 1920.

   Poking his name into the US Census records from 1900 on up, I was taken by surprise at the entry of a Charles W. Tyler, born 1887 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. Could it be that there were two Hinsdales? One in Massachusetts and one in New Hampshire and somehow the compilers of the Fictionmags Index and Allen J Hubin’s CFIV had mistakenly assigned the birthplace of Charles W. Tyler to Massachusetts.

   To verify this supposition, I turned to Wikipedia and sure enough, it verified that there was a Hinsdale, Massachusetts and a Hinsdale, New Hampshire,

   Hinsdale, Massachusetts is in Berkshire County, Massachusetts and is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, statistical area. While Hinsdale, New Hampshire is in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, south of Brattleboro VT near the Pisgah State Park at the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

   So, once again I turned to my Ancestry subscription. From previous searches on Ancestry, I knew that someone born in the 1880s had to register for the draft of World War I and I began to explore what might be in that particular database. I entered the name Charles W. Tyler and birthplace New Hampshire and up came Charles Warren Tyler, born 1887 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire and living in Quincy, Massachusetts.

   The clinching piece of data was that he described himself as a writer for the Frank Munsey Company in New York. However, his birth date was given as September 1, 1888. Why Mr. Tyler chose to make himself a year younger is anyone’s guess. But it was not an unusual practice, especially with women and oft times men in the public’s eye.

   Now, one of the great features of the Ancestry database is that it will suggest other of its databases to examine that relate to this person.

   So, in the 1900 US Census, it showed Charles W. Tyler, age 12, born 1887, living in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, living with his mother, Clara, a widow.

   In the 1910 Census, Charles W. Tyler, age 22, is shown living at No. 18 George St., Boston, MA as a boarder. His occupation, an artist with a general practice. (This seems to concur with Hubin’s description of him being a draftsman.)

   For some reason, he does not show up in the 1920 Census. But in the 1930 Census, Charles W. Tyler, age 42, born in New Hampshire, is living in Glendale, California with his wife, Alice. His occupation is listed as a fiction writer.

   And finally, the California Death Index shows that Charles Warren Tyler was born September 1, 1887 in New Hampshire and died April 3, 1952 in Los Angeles County, of which Glendale was a part. His mother’s maiden name was listed as Smith.

   In the book A History of the Doggett/Daggett Family, it states that his mother, Clara Smith, was born in Boston Jan. 17, 1850 and had married Olcott B. Tyler of Hinsdale, NH. Their offspring was Charles Warren Tyler.

   As an added bit of information, his story “Raggedy Ann,” which had appeared as a short story in Detective Story Magazine, March 26, 1918 was the basis for the silent film The Exquisite Thief, scenario by Harvey Gates and directed by Todd Browning. 6 reels and copyrighted April 4, 1919.

       Short fiction [crime and detective stories only]

TYLER, CHARLES W. BNC = Big-Nose Charley; BJB = Blue Jean Billy.

* At Milepost 92, (na) Detective Story Magazine Apr 13 1920

* Big-Nose Charley and Any Old Port [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Nov 18 1919
* Big-Nose Charley and Deuces Low [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 6 1920
* Big-Nose Charley and His Jenny [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 17 1926
* Big-Nose Charley and Human Clay [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Sep 2 1919
* Big-Nose Charley and Madeyline [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Aug 15 1925
* Big-Nose Charley and the Double Cross [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Aug 17 1920
* Big-Nose Charley and the Merry Widow [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jun 11 1927
* Big-Nose Charley and the Promised Land [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Feb 24 1920
* Big-Nose Charley and the Simple Life [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 2 1917
* Big-Nose Charley and the Tout [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 14 1922
* Big-Nose Charley at Home [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Dec 16 1919
* Big-Nose Charley at the Auto Show [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jun 4 1921
* Big-Nose Charley at the Opera [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Feb 13 1926
* Big-Nose Charley at the Policemen’s Ball [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 16 1921
* Big-Nose Charley at the Races [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Nov 21 1931
* Big-Nose Charley Enters the City of Angels [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Mar 8 1924
* Big-Nose Charley Finds a Brother [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Sep 5 1925
* Big-Nose Charley Gets an Interview [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Dec 10 1921
* Big-Nose Charley Gets His Match [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Feb 24 1923
* Big-Nose Charley Hops Off [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Mar 28 1925
* Big-Nose Charley in New Orleans [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jul 20 1929
* Big-Nose Charley in the City of Culture [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 22 1921
* Big-Nose Charley in the Magic City [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jun 9 1928
* Big-Nose Charley Leaves His Card [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 24 1925
* Big-Nose Charley Lends a Hand [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Mar 25 1935
* Big-Nose Charley Meets Some Home Folks [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jun 21 1924
* Big-Nose Charley on the Barbary Coast [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 1 1922
* Big-Nose Charley on the Mt. Division [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Dec 25 1917
* Big-Nose Charley on the Painted Plain [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 25 1924
* Big-Nose Charley Rolls His Own [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Mar 25 1919
* Big-Nose Charley Sits in the World [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine May 5 1923
* Big-Nose Charley Works Alone [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Sep 11 1917
* Big-Nose Charley, Alias Santa Claus [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Dec 20 1924
* Big-Nose Charley, Bad Man [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 29 1918
* Big-Nose Charley, Gentlemun [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Apr 18 1931

* Big-Nose Charley, Goober Grabber [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 7 1928
* Big-Nose Charley, Hijacker [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 11 1924
* Big-Nose Charley, On the Cross [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 16 1918
* Big-Nose Charley, Racketeer [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Aug 15 1931
* Big-Nose Charley’s Color Blind [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 21 1928
* Big-Nose Charley’s Derby Hat [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Jul 10 1934
* Big-Nose Charley’s Dog Helps Out [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Aug 27 1921
* Big-Nose Charley’s Florida Front [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Mar 24 1928
* Big-Nose Charley’s Get-Away [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 5 1917
* Big-Nose Charley’s Ha-Ha [BNC], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 10 1931
* Big-Nose Charley’s Safe [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Feb 13 1932
* Big-Nose Charley’s Trick Umbrella [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Jul 25 1935
* Blue Jean Billy and the Lone Survivor [BJB], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Aug 22 1925
* Blue Jean Billy at Fiddler’s Reach [BJB], (nv) Detective Story Magazine Jun 25 1921

* Blue Jean Billy Plays Fair [BJB], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 18 1930
* Blue Jean Billy, Sky Pirate [BJB], (nv) Detective Story Magazine Apr 4 1925; Best Detective Magazine Mar 1937
* Blue Jean Billy, Waif of the Sea [BJB], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Nov 6 1926
* Cold-Hands Kate, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 15 1919
* Dim Trails [Railroad Detective], (na) Detective Story Magazine Feb 19 1921
* The Dub at Eagle Bridge, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 12 1920
* Echo Bowl, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Nov 6 1917
* Expensive Cigarettes, (nv) Detective Story Magazine Oct 26 1920
* Fair Pickin’s, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Nov 3 1928
* Fate Snaps the Shutter, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jul 15 1922
Best Detective Magazine Feb 1931
* The Foothill Tiger, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 31 1925
* The Green Mask, (nv) Detective Story Magazine Jun 19 1926
* The Haunt of Raggedy Arm, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 7 1919
* The Haunted House on Dungeon Road, (na) Detective Story Magazine Jul 6 1920
* Highway Woman of the Sea [BJB], (na) Detective Story Magazine Aug 19 1922

* Hounded by Habit, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jul 30 1921
Best Detective Magazine Oct 1933
* In Hungry Man’s Canon, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Sep 17 1918
* It Was Signed “Bill”, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jun 8 1920
Best Detective Magazine Apr 1933
* Jimmy the Quilt, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 30 1921
Best Detective Magazine Aug 1934
* Judy’s Touch, (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Oct 17 1931
* A Kiss for Big-Nose Charley [BNC], (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Oct 25 1934
* Landlubbers, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 8 1922
* Lon Durgin’s Honor System, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 19 1920
* Look Out!, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 7 1928
* Loose Ends, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 9 1918
* The Loot of the Overland, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 20 1917
* The Lying Signal, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 30 1927
* Mountain Misery, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Aug 16 1924
* A Muddy Bird, (nv) Detective Story Magazine Sep 20 1924

* Nix’s Mate [BJB], (ss) Detective Story Magazine Mar 11 1919
* On the Right Side of the Wrong Street, (ss) Detective Story Magazine May 14 1921
* The Pal in the Pullman, (nv) Detective Story Magazine Nov 29 1924
* Pat Brady — Flatfoot, (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine May 10 1933
* Phantoms of Wolf River, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Oct 29 1918
* Raggedy Ann, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Mar 26 1918
* Raiders from Raggedy Ann, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jul 16 1918
* Raw Silk, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Dec 2 1919
* Sea Law and Blue Jean Billy [BJB], (nv) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Nov 14 1931
* Second No. 12, (na) Detective Story Magazine Aug 31 1920
* 77 and a Wink, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Feb 26 1921; Best Detective Magazine Jul 1934
* Shattered Evidence [Railroad Detective], (ss) Detective Story Magazine May 27 1919
* Sidetracked Loot on the Mountain Division, (na) Detective Story Magazine Aug 20 1921

* The Slicker Bandit, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 23 1926
* Stormy Petrel, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jan 10 1925
* There Were No Clews, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Mar 23 1920; Best Detective Magazine Aug 1932
* The Third Thirteen, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 27 1920
* Too Soft, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Feb 18 1928
* Tramps—Hoboes—Bums, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Apr 25 1925
* Unlucky Luke McCloskey, Gun, (ss) Detective Story Magazine Jun 25 1918
* The Wrong Sucker, (ss) Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine Sep 10 1934

ss = short story; nv = novelette; na = novella.

      Short fiction [everything else; likely incomplete]

TYLER, CHARLES W. Born in North Hinsdale, Massachusetts; not to be confused with Charles Waller Tyler (1841-1920) or with Charles Willis Tyler (1857-1922)

* The Angel of Canyon Pass, (ss) Railroad Stories Apr 1936; Railroad Magazine Feb 1973

* At Five Paces, (ss) Western Story Magazine Apr 29 1922; Far West Stories Aug 1930
* Back on the Main, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Dec 1931; Railroad Magazine Oct 1964
* Bad Men of Old Hat, (ss) Western Story Magazine Jun 21 1924
* Baldy Sours [Baldy Sours], (ss) Quick Trigger Stories of the West Apr 1930
* Baldy Sours and a Cock-Eyed Cupid [Baldy Sours], (ss) West Jan 8 1930
* Baldy Sours and Burning Brands [Baldy Sours], (ss) West Oct 1 1930
* Baldy Sours and Skates Ajar [Baldy Sours], (ss) Short Stories Oct 10 1937
* Baldy Sours and the Chariot Race [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Oct #1 1927
* Baldy Sours and the Day of Judgment [Baldy Sours], (ss) West Nov 13 1929
* Baldy Sours and the Firing Squad [Baldy Sours], (ss) Western Trails Jan 1930
* Baldy Sours and the Fountain of Youth [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Jul #1 1928
* Baldy Sours and the Golden Fleece [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Jan #1 1927
* Baldy Sours and the Gunsight Boom [Baldy Sours], (ss) Short Stories Jan 10 1929

* Baldy Sours and the Human Race [Baldy Sours], (ss) Adventure Mar 1937
* Baldy Sours and the Mexican War [Baldy Sours], (ss) Western Trails Sep-Oct 1929
* Baldy Sours and the Pig Skin Game [Baldy Sours], (ss) Short Stories Apr 25 1929
* Baldy Sours and the Polo Game [Baldy Sours], (ss) Short Stories Jun 25 1935
* Baldy Sours and the Spark of Life [Baldy Sours], (ss) Western Aces Nov 1937
* Baldy Sours and the Tin Horse [Baldy Sours], (ss) Short Stories Dec 25 1934
* Baldy Sours and the Woolly West [Baldy Sours], (ss) Short Stories Apr 25 1937
* Baldy Sours at a Gold Strike [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Sep #1 1927
* Baldy Sours Takes the Count [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Mar #2 1928; Thrilling Western Magazine Spr 1970
* Baldy Sours, Arabian Knight [Baldy Sours], (ss) Short Stories Nov 25 1928
* Baldy Sours, Bad Man from the West [Baldy Sours], (ss) Quick Trigger Stories of the West Aug/Sep 1930
* Baldy Sours, Badman [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Dec #1 1927
* Baldy Sours, Errant Knight [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Jun #2 1927
* Baldy Sours, King [Baldy Sours], (ss) Western Adventures May 1931
* Baldy Sours, Promoter [Baldy Sours], (ss) Western Adventures Nov 1931
* Baldy Sours, Rain Maker [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine May #2 1927
* Baldy Sours, The Late Lamented [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Oct #2 1928
* Battle-Call for Johnny Bates, (nv) Star Western Oct 1939
* The Bird That Knew, (ss) Western Story Magazine Feb 3 1923
* The Blue-Dome Mustang, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Jun #2 1923
* The Bo Who Rode No. Two, (ss) Short Stories Sep 25 1929
* The Boothill Parson of Babylon Bend, (nv) Star Western Jan 1944
* Boothill’s Buryin’ Man, (ss) New Western Magazine Dec 1950
* Brand Pirates of the Big Muddy, (nv) Star Western Oct 1941
* The Brand-Blotters Want War!, (nv) Star Western Aug 1942
* Buzzards at Bay, (na) Far West Illustrated Oct 1927
* C-Bar, Grab Your Guns!, (ss) Star Western Jun 1947
* Calico’s “Booty” Contest, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Aug #2 1925
* Cassidy’s Kid, (ss) Short Stories Oct 25 1937
* Clear Iron, (ss) Railroad Stories Feb 1934
* Clear the Iron, (ss) Short Stories Aug 10 1936; Short Stories Apr 1952
* Code of the Morse Man, (ss) Short Stories Nov 10 1947
* The Cop on the Beat, (ss) Short Stories May 10 1934

* The Coronation of Baldy Sours [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Aug #2 1926
* The Courtship of Baldy Sours [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Sep 18 1926
* Cow-Pirates of the Smoky Trail, (ss) Star Western Sep 1939
* Cowboy Sleuths [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Aug #1 1927
* Cowboys Amuck, (ss) Ace-High Magazine May #1 1926
* Cowboys at Stove Pipe, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Mar #2 1926
* Crazy Well [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Mar #1 1927
* Crossed Wires at Poverty Bend, (ss) Western Story Magazine Mar 19 1921
* Cut Two Notches, (ss) All Western Magazine Nov 1936
* Dead Man’s Bend, (ss) Short Stories May 10 1936
* Dead Man’s Key, (nv) Short Stories Jul 10 1929

* Derelict Cowman’s Last Stand, (nv) Ace-High Magazine Feb 1938
* The Devil Deals Three Tough Jokers, (ss) Star Western Jul 1947
* Devil Makes a Cowman, (ss) [??] 1939; Fifteen Western Tales Sep 1952
* Diamond Jack of Wyoming, (nv) Western Story Magazine Mar 11 1922
* Double-Breasted Mike, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Dec 7 1918
* Down Sunset Trail, (ss) People’s Magazine Feb 1917
* Down the Smoky Road, (ss) Short Stories Aug 25 1935
* Fast Bullet Man, (na) Fifteen Western Tales Feb 1949
* The Fastest Gun, (nv) Far West Illustrated Apr 1927
* Feud Herd Coming Through!, (nv) Ace-High Magazine Jul 1938

* Fighting Men of the Union Pacific, (nv) Star Western Mar 1942
* A Firin’ Fool, (ss) Short Stories Jul 25 1933
* For the Little Lady, (ss) People’s Magazine May 1917
* Fresh in the West, (ss) Far West Illustrated Nov 1928
* From the Primer of Hate, (ss) Far West Illustrated Magazine Sep 1926
* God of the High Iron, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Mar 1930
* Gun Lord of Poverty Empire, (nv) Star Western Oct 1940
* Gun Rider for the Overland, (ss) 10 Story Western Magazine Nov 1942
* The Gun River Pilgrims, (nv) Star Western Apr 1940
* Gunmen of the Rails, (na) Short Stories Sep 10 1929
* Gunmen of the Rails, (ss) Short Stories Sep 10 1929
* Gunmen’s Trails, (nv) West Mar 2 1932
* Guns of the Graveyard Trick, (na) Short Stories Jul 10 1935
* Gunsmoke Funeral at Yellow Cat, (nv) Star Western Jul 1940
* Hard As Nails, (ss) People’s Favorite Magazine Aug 10 1917
* He Forgot to Pay, (ss) Western Story Magazine Nov 5 1921
* He Knew It All, (ss) Western Story Magazine Jul 18 1925
* Hell in Their War-Sacks! [Dewlap, Wattles and the Hairpin Kid], (nv) Star Western Jul 1945
* Highballing the Moonbeam Trail, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine May 1930
* Hiram at a Rodeo [Hiram Pertwee], (ss) Western Story Magazine Oct 8 1921
* Hiram in a Hold-Up, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Apr 1916
* Hiram in No Man’s Land, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Nov 9 1918
* Hiram on a Down-Hill Road, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Feb 1915
* Hiram on the High Seas, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Nov 1918
* Hiram on the Yellowstone Trail [Hiram Pertwee], (ss) Western Story Magazine Dec 31 1921
* Hiram Rides “Parson Pickax”, (ss) Western Story Magazine Mar 5 1921
* Hiram Ropes a Kitty Cat [Hiram Pertwee], (ss) Western Story Magazine May 7 1921
* The Horned Toad Detour, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Nov 1930
* Hot Shot (with Griff Crawford, E. S. Dellinger, James W. Earp, William Edward Hayes, John Patrick Johns, Gilbert A. Lathrop, A. Leslie, John A. Thompson & Don Waters), (ss) Railroad Stories Apr 1934
* Igo, the Killer, (ss) Western Story Magazine Sep 24 1921; Far West Stories Mar 1930; Western Winners May 1935
* The Iron Warpath, (nv) Short Stories Oct 10 1943
* Johnny Bates Adopts a War!, (ss) Star Western Dec 1939
* Johnny Bates’ Running-Iron Rebellion, (nv) Star Western Dec 1944
* Johnny Gosh, Top Rope, (ss) Western Story Magazine Sep 10 1921
* The K.K.K., (sl) National Magazine Jul 1906
* The Kid from Gunhammer Vreek, (na) Dime Western Magazine Jul 1946
* Killer Country, (nv) Street & Smith’s Western Story Magazine Oct 15 1932
* The Killer of Canyon Diablo, (nv) Wide World Adventures Oct 1929
* The Killer of Canyon Diabolo, (nv) Ace-High Magazine Apr #2 1923
* The Last Witness, (nv) Short Stories Feb 25 1937; Short Stories Aug 1951
* Little Joe, (ss) Short Stories Jan 25 1938
* Make Way for the Eastbound, (ss) Railroad Magazine Oct 1954; Railroad Magazine Feb 1974
* The Male of the Species, (ss) Breezy Stories Sep 1916
* A Message from Mescal, (ss) Western Aces Jan 1938
* Mohave Buckaroo, (nv) Short Stories Mar 10 1939
* A Mountain Division Man, (ss) New Story Magazine Jul 1914
* The Murder Syndicate, (nv) Argosy All-Story Weekly May 12 1923
* Night Operator, (ss) Railroad Magazine Jan 1971
* Night Trick, (ss) Railroad Magazine Jan 1953
* No Cattle Sold in Hell, (nv) Ace-High Magazine Jun 1938
* No Law on the Tonto Rim, (na) 10 Story Western Magazine Dec 1941
* Old “Harqua Hala” Bill, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Sep #2 1923
* On First 303, (ss) The Railroad and Current Mechanics Oct 1913
* On Time!, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Mar 1931
* The Ora Hanna Stampede, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Jan #1 1926
* Out Where the Worst Begins, (ss) Ace-High Magazine May #1 1928

* Outlaw Frontier, (na) Short Stories Jun 10 1932
* Outlaws of Milestone Mesa, (na) Western Story Magazine Apr 30 1921
* Over the Big Divide, (ss) Western Story Magazine Jun 3 1922
* Owlhoot Roundup at the Horned Moon, (nv) 10 Story Western Magazine Dec 1940
* The Parson Buries His Dead, (ss)
* The Parson of Owlhoot Junction, (nv) Star Western Nov 1943
* Parson Pickax in the Pictures, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Mar #2 1924
* Peelers in Peril, (na) Western Story Magazine Jan 21 1928
* Petticoat Doolittle’s Emancipation, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Jun 1 1926
* Pirates’ Trail, (na) Western Story Magazine Mar 9 1929
* Pistoleers West of the Pecos, (ss) Dime Western Magazine Jul 1950
* Ragtown Shall Rise Again!, (nv) Star Western Oct 1945
* Railroad Drummer, (na) Railroad Stories Dec 1934

* Railroad Engineer, (ss) Railroad Stories Oct 1933
* Railroad Romeo, (ss) Short Stories Mar 25 1937
* Rails West, (ss) Short Stories Sep 10 1944
* Range of Missing Men, (na) Dime Western Magazine Feb 1951
* Ranger Wanted—in Hell!, (nv) Star Western Mar 1944
* The Rattler Racket, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Aug 1931
* The Reign of Baldy Sours [Baldy Sours], (ss) Ace-High Magazine Feb #1 1927
* Reply to Johnson’s letter, (ms) Big-Book Western Magazine Jun 1949
* Ribbons of Iron, (ss) Top-Notch Oct 15 1921
* The Road to Yesterday, (ss) Railroad Stories Feb 1936
* The Rustlers’ Union Votes for War!, (nv) Star Western Mar 1941
* Shoddy Mike’s Last Stand, (ss) Western Story Magazine May 14 1921
* Shoot ’Em Quick—Plant ’Em Fast!, (nv) Star Western Nov 1947
* The Shuffle Trick, (ss) All-Story Weekly May 22 1920
* The Sky Hoss, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Mar #1 1926
* Smiling Smith Sits In, (ss) Railroad Man’s Magazine Aug 1930
* Smoke Blue Ranch, (na) Western Story Magazine Aug 27 1921
* Smoky Smith—Sheriff, (nv) West Apr 15 1931
* Star and Six-Gun, (sl) West Dec 10, Dec 24 1930, Jan 7 1931
* The Star on Outlaw Trail, (ss) All Western Magazine Jan 1937
* Strange Guns Invade the Rim Rock, (ss) Star Western Oct 1937
* “Sunset” Jones, (nv) Western Story Magazine Feb 10 1923
* Telegraph Joe, (ss) Western Story Magazine Jul 16 1921
* The Tenderfoot of Buzzard Flat, (nv) Western Story Magazine Oct 7 1920
* The Terrible Trail to Dodge, (nv) Zane Grey’s Western Magazine Jun 1953
* Texas Sends ’Em Tough!, (na) Big-Book Western Magazine Mar 1949
* There’s Hell in Johnson Country, (na) 10 Story Western Magazine Apr 1942
* They’re Shipping Hell from Texas!, (na) Star Western Jan 1947
* Those Grave-Digging Brand-Hawks!, (nv) Star Western Jul 1943
* Those Three Texas Hellions, (nv) Star Western Jun 1943
* Three from Texas, (nv) Dime Western Magazine Jan 1952
* The 3-Cross Button Rides Gun, (ss) Ace-High Magazine Nov 1938
* “To Hell with the Rangers!”, (nv) Star Western Jan 1943
* Too Many Guns, (na) Western Story Magazine Jul 21 1923
* Track Clear at Algodones, (ss) Argosy Sep 1945
* Track Clear!, (ss) Argosy Nov 1943
* Trouble at Cottonwood Station, (ss) Argosy Jan 1944
* Trouble in the Canyon, (ss) Railroad Magazine Oct 1952
* Trouble Rides from Texas!, (ss) 10 Story Western Magazine Dec 1949
* Two-Gun Justice (with W. D. Liberty), (nv) Lariat Story Magazine Sep 1926; Cowboy Story Magazine Apr 1927
* The Walking Fool, (ss) Western Story Magazine Apr 2 1922
* War Call of the Singing Wire, (na) Ace-High Western Stories Jan 1942
* War of the Branding Iron, (na) Short Stories Nov 25 1935; Boston Sunday Globe Magazine Dec 10 1939
* Welcome to Bullfrog, (ss) Western Story Magazine Mar 28 1925
* The Western Union Kid, (ss) Railroad Stories May 1934
* When Hoboes Rode, (ss) Railroad Stories Jun 1935
* When Rangers Ride the Death-Watch, (nv) Star Western Jun 1944
* When the Chips Were Down, (ss) Railroad Magazine Jul 1945; also as “When the Chips Are Down,” Railroad Magazine Dec 1968
* When the Lights Are Green, (ss) Short Stories Aug 25 1936
* Wolves of the Iron Trail, (sl) West Sep 2, Sep 16, Sep 30 1931

          SOURCES:

The Crime Fiction Index, by Phil Stephensen-Payne, William G. Contento and Stephen T. Miller (CD-ROM, Locus Press).

Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin (CD-Rom, Locus Press).

The FictionMags Index.

The Pulp Heroes, by Jess Nevins.

   With a special note of gratitude to Phil Stephensen-Payne for not only generously allowing such extensive usage of the bibliographic material above, but also for letting us use his wonderful Galactic Central website as a source for the cover images you see here. Thanks, Phil!

For years I have collected crime books which dealt with music. For example a protagonist is a singer, a musician, a dancer or a DJ. The setting is a night club with musical performances, an opera-house, a record company. The reason for the crime is the corruption in the music business, organised crime and drugs. Stars are being threatened by jealous fans or blackmailers. The murder weapon is a musical instrument. A clue is a melody which leads to the killer, and so on.

“Music and crime”-mysteries comprehend all subgenres: the traditional puzzle mystery, the hard-boiled detective story, the action thriller, the suspense novel, the crime comedy etc. Some crime stories have such bizarre plot ideas that they might be parodies. Various kinds of music are presented: classical music, blues, jazz, soul, pop and rock music, country, folk music, reggae, rap etc. Most of the books, above all the paperbacks, have really nice covers, even some crime novels which are mediocre or worse. Those who prefer reading light-hearted romance novels may enjoy websites like https://my-passion.com/.

Once I had filled four big boxes with this kind of books I stopped collecting systematically. There were just too many books to buy. Now and then I still pick up a crime novel with a music background. Some very interesting novels were written by French and Scandinavian authors (e. g. Pouy, Daeninckx, Bocquet, Edwardson, Nesser, Dahl etc.) which I have read in German translation.

But my list below contains only crime and detective novels which were written in English (no short stories). I cannot say they are the fifty best music mysteries because there are many left I have not read at all. Every writer is represented only with one novel, even though he or she has written two or more mysteries referring to music.

The novels are listed alphabetically by author. They should be enjoyable at least for readers which are interested in music and the music scene. Some books are excellent.

If I were to recommend one book especially, I would select Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly by John Franklin Bardin. It catches the reader with its uncommon atmosphere. One gets the impression that music and crime meet in a kind of deviant behaviour, different from “normal reality” (seen from a rather abstract point of view).

More information about this novel can be found in Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books, by H. R. F. Keating. Everybody who likes the film Black Swan should also like Bardin’s novel.

Here is the list:

Allingham, Margery: Dancers in Mourning (1937)

Bardin, John Franklin: Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly (1948)

Barnard, Robert: Death on the High Cs (1977)

Barnes, Linda: Steel Guitar (1991)

Bloch, Robert: The Dead Beat (1960)

Box, Edgar: Death in the Fifth Position (1952)

Brown, Carter: Death on the Downbeat (1958); retitled: The Corpse (1960)

Brean, Herbert: The Traces of Brillhart (1960)

Cain, James M.: Serenade (1937)

Chase, James Hadley: What’s Better Than Money (1960)

Cody, Liza: Under Contract (1986)

Coxe, George Harmon: The Ring of Truth (1966)

Dewey, Thomas B.: A Sad Song Singing (1963)

Ellison, Harlan: Rockabilly (1961); retitled: Spider Kiss (1982)

Friedman, Kinky: Greenwich Killing Time (1986)

Goodis, David: Down There (1958); retitled: Shoot the Piano Player (1962)

Gosling, Paula: Loser’s Blues (1980)

Gruber, Frank: The Whispering Master (1947)

Haas, Charlie & Hunter, Tim: The Soul Hit (1977)

Hansen, Joseph: Fadeout (1970)

Hare, Cyril: When the Wind Blows (1949)

Haymon, S. T.: Death of a God (1987)

Headley, Victor: Excess (1993)

Hiaasen, Carl: Basket Case (2002)

Kane, Henry: Dirty Gertie (1963)

Keene, Day: Payola (1960)

Leonard, Elmore: Be Cool (1999)

Lyons, Arthur: Three with a Bullet (1984)

Marsh, Ngaio: Overture to Death (1939)

Martin, Robert: Catch a Killer (1956)

McBain, Ed: Rumpelstiltskin (1981)

McCoy, Horace: They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1935)

McDermid, Val: Dead Beat (1992)

Moody, Bill: Death of a Tenor Man (1995)

Myles, Simon: The Big Hit (1975)

Nielsen, Helen: Sing Me a Murder (1960)

Peters, Ellis: Black Is The Colour of My True-Love’s Heart (1967)

Pines, Paul: The Tin Angel (1983)

Queen, Ellery (Richard Deming): Death Spins the Platter (1962)

Rabe, Peter: Murder Me for Nickels (1960)

Rendell, Ruth: Some Lie and Some Die (1973)

Ripley, Mike: Just Another Angel (1988)

Sanders, William: A Death on 66 (1994)

Spicer, Bart: Blues for the Prince (1950)

Stagge, Jonathan: Death’s Old Sweet Song (1946)

Stout, Rex: The Broken Vase (1941)

Thompson, Jim: The Kill-Off (1957)

Timlin, Mark: Zip Gun Boogie (1992)

Westbrook, Robert: Nostalgia Kills (1987)

Whitfield, Raoul: Death in a Bowl (1931)

Additional titles of older music mysteries are listed in The Subject Is Murder (1986), Chapter 14, by Albert J. Menendez. Menendez refers especially to an extensive review of the opera mystery by Marv Lachman in Opera News, July 1980.

SOPHIE LITTLEFIELD – A Bad Day for Sorry. St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, hardcover, August 2009; trade paperback, May 2010.

Genre:   Unlicensed Investigator. Leading character:  Stella Hardesty; 1st in series. Setting:   Rural Missouri.

First Sentence:   Whuppin’ ass wasn’t so hard, Stella Hardesty thought as she took aim with the little Raven .22 she took off a cheating so-of-a-bitch in Kansas City last month.

   Stella Hardesty knows what it’s like to live with a physically abusive man. After taking care of her own husband, in a permanent way, she has made an off-the-books career out of convincing other women’s men to either change their ways or clear out.

   She has been very effective, in the past, but Roy Dean Shaw isn’t getting the point. Instead, he kidnaps his wife Chrissy’s baby, of whom he’s not even the father. Then, Stella learns that Roy Dean is connected to a crime gang. Still Stella, with Chrissy by her side, is determined to save the baby.

   The prologue left me fearing Littlefield’s book would be cute and folksy and the vernacular would become tiresome. Instead, it helps establish the sense of place and there is nothing cute about this book except the well placed humor applied with deft hand.

   Stella is a wonderful character. She is a survivor in the best sense of the word. Rather than become hardened by her experiences, her empathy for others makes her determined to do for them what they can’t do for themselves, even if her methods are not exactly — okay not at all — within the law.

   She does what the law does not; protects women. She is not your classic heroine; she’s over 50, seen hard life and known pain, both physical and emotional. But she’s tough and smart.

   Chrissy begins as her antithesis; young, cute, big-busted with blond curls. What was refreshing was that Littlefield did not write her as a stereotype. Chrissy provides to be someone not to be underestimated and exemplifies the adage of not getting between a mother and her young, and I hope we see more of her in future books.

   There is great dialogue here, as long as one doesn’t mind rough language. Anything else would have been unrealistic and completely out of character. The book is very well plotted, with a flow that keeps you engaged from first page to last and with an originality that catches you off guard.

   It’s a story that, were the characters men, you wouldn’t flinch. However, because they are women, you are, at times, both uncomfortable and cheering them on. There is great suspense and really well-done action.

   A Bad Day for Sorry surprised me and delighted me. It won an Anthony Award for Best First Novel and it was well deserved. It’s a pleasure to know there are more books in this series.

Rating:   Very Good Plus.

      The Stella Hardesty series —

1. A Bad Day for Sorry (2009)
2. A Bad Day for Pretty (2010)

3. A Bad Day for Scandal (2011)
4. A Bad Day for Mercy (2012)

SISTER CAROL ANNE O’MARIE – A Novena for Murder. Charles Scribner’s Sons, hardcover, 1984. Dell, paperback, 1986. St. Martin’s, paperback, 2005.

   Sister Mary Helen is a sprightly 75, reluctantly retired from the parochial schools to “do research” at Mount St. Francis College for Women. When the head of the history department, Professor Villanueva, is found with his head bashed in, Sister Mary Helen plunges into detection with all of her enthusiastic nature.

   She brings along with her her old friend, Sister Eileen, the college librarian, and a new friend, Sister Anne, the college chaplain. Professor Villanueva was known for his kindly sponsorship of young Portuguese immigrants, several of whom work for the college. However, several others have recently disappeared.

   The professional police detectives, Inspectors Kate Murphy, a Mt. St. Francis alumna, and Dennis Callahan, who takes a paternal interest in Kate’s love life, strongly suspect one of the Portuguese men after they learn that the professor’s kindness was more apparent than real.

   Though they’re at first annoyed by Mary Helen’s intervention, they wind up liking and respecting her. She is a lively addition to the ever-growing group of clerical detectives. The book is laced with humor, the people are interesting, and the San Francisco locale is well depicted.

   Plot is a bit thin on the ground, and the book’s brevity precludes any real depth of character. Maybe Sister O’Marie will go deeper next time. This enjoyable first effort deserves a follow-up.

Bio-Bibliographic Notes:   There was indeed a follow-up, ten of them, in fact. There might have even been more, but Sister Carol Anne O’Marie died in 2009 at the age of 75. Besides writing mysteries, she also helped run run a shelter for homeless women in Oakland, CA. A tribute to her at the time of her death by Janet Rudolph may be found on the latter’s blog here.

       The Sister Mary Helen series —

1. A Novena For Murder (1984)
2. Advent of Dying (1986)

3. The Missing Madona (1989)
4. Murder in Ordinary Time (1991)
5. Murder Makes a Pilgrimage (1993)

6. Death Goes on Retreat (1995)
7. Death of an Angel (1996)
8. Death Takes Up a Collection (1998)
9. Requiem at the Refuge (2000)

10. The Corporal Works of Murder (2002)
11. Murder at the Monk’s Table (2006)

MAX ALLAN COLLINS – Kill Your Darlings. Walker, hardcover, 1984. Tor, paperback, 1988.

   The first mystery novel set at a Bouchercon, Max Allan Collins’s Kill Your Darlings takes place in Chicago, where Bouchercon was held in 1984, though Collins wrote the book before that event.

   It’s an enormously enjoyable tale, well plotted and with lots of insights into a mystery convention and publishing, though mostly from a writer’s viewpoint. (Fans do not loom large in this book.) The plot device, an unknown Hammett manuscript, is an inspired idea.

   Despite Collins’s disclaimer that the victim, an old-time mystery writer, is a composite, he reminded me of someone in particular. If you ask me at the next Bouchercon, I’ll tell you who. Until then, attend a Bouchercon vicariously with Max as your guide.

Bibliographic Data: The detective who solves the case in Kill Your Darlings is “Mallory,” a former cop who became a mystery writer living in Iowa.

       The Mallory series —

The Baby Blue Rip-Off. Walker, 1983.

No Cure for Death. Walker, 1983.
Kill Your Darlings. Walker, 1984.
A Shroud for Aquarius. Walker, 1985.
Nice Weekend for a Murder. Walker, 1986.