JACK IAMS – A Shot of Murder. William Morrow, hardcover, 1950. Dell #722, paperback, 1953.

   When a young American woman, Nita Romaine — a night club singer — disappears in Eastern Europe, recently married reporter “Rocky” Rockwell of the Riverside, Ohio Record manages to talk his editor into sending him and his bride to Europe in order to look for her — the missing woman’s fiancé being a local man.

   It isn’t long before Rocky realizes that someone doesn’t want him to be successful. A man mistaken for him is thrown over the side of the ocean liner transporting them, and efforts are made in Paris to get him entangled with the French police.

   Rocky is helped in Paris by Mrs. Pickett, the paper’s society columnist but is forced to go to Poland alone (though an attractive French woman with reasons of her own for going to Poland attaches herself to him) and continue his search.

   From reading the dust jacket, I gather that this was the third book in a series in which Mrs. Pickett was the lead character. Mrs. Pickett is something of a Rosalind Russell type. In this book, however, Rocky is definitely the major character.

   If I were to compare this with another series I would say it was entertaining in the same way that Manning Coles’ Tommy Hambledon novels are entertaining. Lightweight fluff, that is, a pleasant read, but about as realistic as a three dollar bill.

   One wonders how big a city Riverside, Ohio, is and how a local paper can afford to pay to send a reporter and his wife gallivanting through Europe.

Bibliography:    [Taken from the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin]

JACK IAMS, 1910-1990.

   The Body Missed the Boat (n.) Morrow 1947.

   Girl Meets Body (n.) Morrow 1947.

   Death Draws the Line (n.) Morrow 1949.

   Do Not Murder Before Christmas (n.) Morrow 1949 [Rocky Rockwell; Amelia Pickett]

   What Rhymes with Murder? (n.) Morrow 1950 [Rocky Rockwell; Amelia Pickett]

   A Shot of Murder (n.) Morrow 1950 [Rocky Rockwell]

   Into Thin Air (n.) Morrow 1952.
   A Corpse of the Old School (n.) Gollancz 1955 [Amelia Pickett]

Editorial Comments:   Al seems to have missed Amelia Pickett as a character in A Shot of Murder. Perhaps her role was small, but I’ll still send him a note to make sure he knows. It’s interesting to see that Iams’ last book, another Amelia Pickett novel, was never published here in the US.

TIMOTHY HALLINAN – The Man with No Time. Simeon Grist #5. Morrow, hardcover, 1993. Avon, paperback, May 1995.

   I have enjoyed previous tales of over-educated LA private detective Simeon Grist considerably. I enjoyed this one much less. Much less.

   Grist finds himself in the middle of the LA Asian gang scene, as the twin children if his Asian ladylove are kidnapped; seemingly by an old friend of the family from mainland China, who aided them in escaping from there many years ago.

   It quickly becomes apparent that the old “friend” is being pursued by an LA ganglord, and Grist is quickly up to his neck in gangsters of various Asian persuasions, all suitably villainous.

   This isn’t a poorly written book. It also isn’t a private detective book. It’s a well-done kick-ass type fairy tale of the Parker/Crais variety, though Hallinan isn’t quite in their league as prose stylist. Grist is assisted by a black semi-legal, and six black brothers who are his friends, and by a youthful Vietnamese gang member who he has co-opted; all entertaining characters.

   The storytelling is fine. It’s a bloody action-packed heroes-against-bad-guys tale with in-depth characterization not a major concern. But it isn’t the book I wanted to read, nor one I expected him to write. I’d have bought an “Executioner” if I wanted to read one.

   Pfui. Color me disappointed.

      The Simeon Grist series —

1. The Four Last Things (1989)
2. Everything but the Squeal (1990)
3. Skin Deep (1991)

4. Incinerator (1992)
5. The Man with No Time (1993)
6. The Bone Polisher (1995)

      The Poke Rafferty series —

1. A Nail Through the Heart (2007)

2. The Fourth Watcher (2008)
3. Breathing Water (2009)
4. The Queen of Patpong (2010)

   Poke Rafferty is an ex-pat travel writer and sometime adventurer trying to settle down in Bangkok with his fiancee and their adopted daughter.

ROGER EAST – Murder Rehearsal. Knopf, hardcover, 1934. First published in the UK: Collins, hardcover, 1933.

   When several “accidental” but suspicious deaths occur following the plot of Colin Knowles’s detective novel in progress, and one of those deaths could be advantageous to him in regaining his lost love, is Knowles turning art into reality? But why, then, the additional deaths?

   Superintendent Simmonds of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate the first death and, later, with the help of Knowles’s unfinished novel, makes the connection with the other deaths in a book that combines the thriller and the detective story. If nothing else, this novel gives the reader the chance to re-encounter the greatly cherished delayed revenge motif, despite the necessity to swallow some large coincidences.

   In the Manchester Evening Chronicle, Dr. Watson — frankly, I doubt that this was our Dr. Watson — said East “seems likely to become one of the small band of really first-class detective-story writers.” The promise is here, but it’s only a promise.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:     [Taken from the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin.]

EAST, ROGER. Pseudonym of Roger Burford, 1904- ; other pseudonym: Simon.

    The Mystery of the Monkey-Gland Cocktail (n.) Putnam 1932.
    Murder Rehearsal (n.) Collins 1933 [Colin Knowles; Supt. Simmonds]
    The Bell Is Answered (n.) Collins 1934.
    Candidate for Lilies (n.) Collins 1934.
    Twenty-Five Sanitary Inspectors (n.) Collins 1935 [Supt. Simmonds]
    Detectives in Gum Boots (n.) Collins 1936 [Colin Knowles]
    The Pearl Choker (n.) Collins 1954.
    Kingston Black (n.) Collins 1960.
    The Pin Men (n.) Hodder 1963.

SIMON. Pseudonym of Roger Burford & Henry Joseph Hasslacher.
    Murder Among Friends (n.) Wishart 1933 [Insp. (Supt.) Deering]
    Death on the Swim (n.) Wishart 1934 [Insp. (Supt.) Deering]
    The Cat with the Moustache (n.) Wishart 1935 [Insp. (Supt.) Deering]

GAR ANTHONY HAYWOOD – You Can Die Trying. Aaron Gunner #3. St. Martin’s, hardcover, 1993. Penguin, paperback, 1994.

   Haywood first wrote about black PI Aaron Gunner in the 1988 Fear of the Dark. For some reason, even before the President put his two cents in, Walter Mosley had gotten more attention as a black crime writer. Recently, Barbara Neely has been in the spotlight. I think Haywood writes about blacks better than either, and is a better writer overall.

   Gunner, for that best of reasons, poverty, takes a case that can bring him nothing but grief: proving that a bigoted cop was innocent of killing a 14 year old black youth in an attempted robbery. The cop had been fired for his actions, and eight months later ate his gun.

   A man comes to Gunner who said he witnessed the shooting, and that the kid fired at the cop first; and that he failed to come forward because he received anonymous threats on his family. No one wants to change history; not the black community, and not the police, who are re-building an image after the riots. Only Gunner. And he’s not really sure that he does. He knew the cop, too.

   Gunner is to me a believable person, but that doesn’t really mean anything. Any WASP male who claims to understand blacks is a fool, and in that regard at least, I’m not.

   Haywood is a thoroughly competent writer, and knows his way around the black middle-class as well street life. One of the book’s strongest points is that it clearly lays out why bigoted, brutal cops exist, and why, except in isolated instances, the black community can never like or trust people with badges.

   It is not a hopeful book, except in that it portrays a few decent people on both sides of the equation. It is a thoughtful book, though, and I think a good one.

       The Aaron Gunner series —

1. Fear of the Dark (1988)

2. Not Long for This World (1990)
3. You Can Die Trying (1993)
4. It’s Not a Pretty Sight (1996)

5. When Last Seen Alive (1997)
6. All The Lucky Ones Are Dead (2000)

MICHAEL ROBOTHAM – Bleed for Me. Sphere, UK, hardcover, 2010. Mulholland Books, US, hc, February 2012.

Genre:   Unlicensed Investigator: Psychiatrist. Leading character:  Joe O’Laughlin (4th in series). Setting:   England.

First Sentence:   I should start by telling you my name, although it’s not really important.

    Psychiatrist Joe O’Laughlin is trying to deal with having Parkinson’s disease, being separated from his wife and only seeing his daughter part time. When his daughter’s best friend is accused of murdering her father, a former police detective, Joe can’t ignore his daughter’s plea to help.

    I’ll admit I’m always excited when a new Robotham book comes out and, once again, he delivers. From the very powerful and disturbing prologue to the nail-biting ending, I was completely absorbed.

    One thing I really appreciate is that, although this is the fourth book in the series, he doesn’t assume you’ve read any of the previous books. Without burdening the plot or slowing down the story, within a very short period the author does an excellent job of providing a comprehensive back story on the characters. You never feel as though you’ve missed something.

   The portrayal of a couple who are amicably yet needfully separated is effective without being maudlin. I don’t know how accurate the psychiatry aspects are; it does seem Joe is, at time, a bit too insightful for belief, but it works and provides some interesting observations.

    Having recently served on a criminal-case jury; albeit not a murder, I found his comments on juries fascinating as well as the demonstration that, with motivation, anyone can be pushed to violence.

    It’s the balance of introspection and suspense that brings me back to Robotham every time. The plot is complex, twisty and fast-paced. I liked that all the clues were there to identify the killer, yet I didn’t, and that justice prevailed.

    If you’ve not yet discovered him, Robotham is an author I definitely recommend trying.

Rating:   Good Plus.

       The Joseph O’Loughlin series —

1. The Suspect (2004)

2. Lost (2005) aka The Drowning Man (US)
3. Shatter (2008)
4. Bleed for Me (2010)

RICHARD GOYNE – The Lipstick Clue. Stanley Paul, UK, hardcover, 1954. No US edition.

   Collectors of clergyman detectives may want to try Goyne’s series featuring The Padre — the Rev. Peter Eversleigh — whom I do not remember seeing on lists of clergy detectives.

   One of the reasons The Padre may not have made such lists is that his denomination, at least in this novel, is not revealed, though I would speculate on High Anglican. Another reason, again at least in this novel, is that Eversleigh may as well have been a lawyer or a doctor or unemployed, for that matter.The religious aspect is negligible.

   Still, the plot is a good one. A retired colonel, who is something more than a scoundrel, asks his estranged family to give him another chance as a father. For reasons unclear at the start, they all do come to spend the weekend with him, despite each of them despising him for various reasons. As is to be expected, the not-so-good colonel finishes the first night of the weekend dead to the last drop.

   The Padre had been invited as a sort of leavening for the group. He ends up investigating the murder, discovering what is in some respects an unusual motive for killing, and learning who the murderer was. An interesting case that makes one not reluctant to read the other novels in which The Padre appears — for the detectival aspect, not for his role as a clergyman.

       The Peter Eversleigh (The Padre) series —

   The Crime Philosopher (n.) Paul 1945.

   Savarin’s Shadow (n.) Paul 1947.
   The Dark Mind (n.) Paul 1948.
   Traitor’s Tide (n.) Paul 1948.
   The Courtway Case (n.) Paul 1951.
   The Lipstick Clue (n.) Paul 1954.

   Besides a long list of books under his own name, Richard Goyne (1902-1957) is credited with another two dozen or so as by John Courage, plus a scattered handful under the names Aileen Grey, Scarlet Grey, Kitty Lorraine, Paul Renin & Richard Standish.

   Other series characters under his own name are: Paul Templeton (13), Sexton Blake (2), and Supt. “Tubby” Greene (2).

DEANNA RAYBOURN – Dark Road to Darjeeling. Mira, US, trade paperback, 2010.

Genre:   Historical Mystery. Leading characters:  Lady Julia Grey/Nicholas
Brisbane (4th in series). Setting:   India-Victorian Era (1889).

First Sentence:   “I thought there would be camels,” I protested.

   The honeymoon of Lady Julia Grey and enquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane has been interrupted by the arrival of Julia’s sister, Portia, and brother, Plum. Jane, Portia’s lover of many years, desperate to have a child, married, moved to a tea plantation in India, is now pregnant.

   She is also a widow, her husband having died under somewhat suspect circumstances. If Jane’s impending child is male, he will be the heir to the plantation. Julia, Nicholas, Portia and Plum must keep Jane and the child safe as well as uncover a murderer, had it been murder.

   It takes a very good book to keep me reading until 3 a.m. This book did just that.

   Ms. Raybourn creates wonderful characters. Where Lady Julia starts off feeling reckless and stubborn, and her husband, Nicholas, overbearing and harsh, there is growth within the story where both characters learn and gain an understanding both to each other and to the reader.

   Julia’s sister Portia, brother Plum, maid Morag, and all the secondary characters have weight and substance. None of the characters are two-dimensional extras; rather each plays an important role in the development of the plot.

   he use of humor is delightful. It is often used to define the characters and relationships. When Portia is confronted by a less-than-fragrant smell, she states, “Julia, we are Englishwomen. We are not cowed by a little authentic local flavor.”

   Raybourn’s voice and dialogue effect a feeling both character and of period. In addition to which her excellent descriptions establish a strong sense of place and time.

   Although one could consider this romantic suspense, it is not a fluffy book and has more layers than most. One should not dismiss it casually. The lightness is tempered by reminders of harsh reality which are both thought-provoking and introspective.

   This is a story of relationships and their definitions, of neglect and its results, of loss and strength and survival. There is a mystery, a quite good one, in fact, with a tragic and emotional finale.

   Ms. Raybourn has taken a book, and a series, which could be simple light entertainment and infused it with depth and impact.

Rating:   Very Good.

      The Lady Julia Grey series —

1. Silent in the Grave (2006)

2. Silent in the Sanctuary (2008)
3. Silent on the Moor (2009)
4. Dark Road to Darjeeling (2010)
5. The Dark Enquiry (2011)

KAREN KIJEWSKI – Kat’s Cradle. Doubleday, hardcover, March 1992. Bantam, paperback, December 1992.

   Throughout the decade she was active, the 1990s, Karen Kijewski was a prolific and well-regarded mystery writer. She won or was nominated for several awards, and she seemed to be doing well sales-wise. Living in northern California at the time, and perhaps still, she seems to slipped off the map since her final book (so far), Stray Kat Waltz (1998), the ninth adventure for her female PI character, Kat Colorado.

   I admit to being optimistic to adding the parenthetical phrase (so far) in that line above. It’s been 13 years since that last outing, though, so I’d have to agree that the chances are slim to none that we’ll ever see another entry in the series. Someone once suggested to me that when her contract ran out and wasn’t renewed, she decided to call it quits, but as I say, that’s only hearsay, if not an out and out and totally wild guess.

   In Cradle Kat is hired by a young heiress, Paige Morell, whose strong-willed (i.e., domineering) grandmother has just died. She never knew her parents, and she wants Kat to find out more about them. While she takes the job, Kat knows that digging around in the past may bring up more than her client might want to know, but convincing her of that is another story. (And not this one.)

   Her client also appears more than a tog unstable, with many emotional ups and downs as the story goes along. Under the circumstances, it’s nothing very surprising, but it also becomes clear that there’s several important things she’s not telling. Otherwise the case seems straightforward enough, but not so. It turns out to be a thoroughly exhausting affair for Kat, both physically and otherwise.

   That Kat is unable to establish on her part an emotional distance away from the case she’s on is part of the problem. This is Ross Macdonald territory, not Hammett, but Kat is no Lew Archer, who often observes but fails to get involved himself.

   Besides the investigation she finds herself an integral part of, in more ways than one, she allows her relationship with Hank, her close cop friend who lives in Las Vegas – which is more than a short hike from the Sacramento area, her base of operations – to wither away.

   Let’s change that last phrase to something more akin to “actively pushes away.” My feeling is that PI’s should not allow themselves to become romantically involved with clients, suspects, or suspects’ families and friends, nor can you always foresee what will happen on the rebound. There’s more than enough of a hint here to tell you what I found as a fatal flaw to this book’s telling, and you should immediately forget I said anything, if you ever intend to read this book.

   In any case, it was obviously Karen Kijewski’s intent to write a wrenching tale of dysfunctional family relationships, and that is exactly what she did. Kat is lucky to have escaped alive, in more ways than one.

      The Kat Colorado series:

1. Katwalk (1988)
2. Katapult (1990)

3. Kat’s Cradle (1991)
4. Copy Kat (1992)
5. Wild Kat (1994)
6. Alley Kat Blues (1995)

7. Honky Tonk Kat (1996)
8. Kat Scratch Fever (1997)
9. Stray Kat Waltz (1998)

   The first part of this article on pulp writer Victor Maxwell appeared earlier here on this blog. As Monte Herridge pointed out in the comments that followed, there was a quasi-autobiography of Maxwell in the January 5, 1929, issue of Detective Fiction Weekly. Monte, by the way, is indeed a DFW scholar. Now to be honest, I’ve never put a lot of stock in DFW’s authors’ writing about themselves because some were obviously pure fiction.

   Now what Max did was a blend. He had his Halloran character meet Victor Maxwell. Probably made perfect sense to him since both names were fiction. Halloran is telling young Willis of his encounter the next day. The germane part is very brief and the underlined words are my way of highlighting new information.

    “Well he says as how he began what he calls his ‘nefarious career,’ whatever that is, in New Yawk on the Sun, an’ went from there to the New Yawk City News Association, an’ then to Brooklyn an’ other bad luck burgs Includin’ Wilmington, Delaware and Boston, which went Democratic – yuh know the place — an’ then how his feet got to itchin’ and he come out West, infestin’ for some twenty years all the live burgs an’ them as was foredestined to become live burgs.

    “Most of the time, he says, he was a newspaperman, but once or twice he deteriorated into bein’ an editor, an’ once he was an advance man for a show. One time, he says, he ran for sheriff an’ got as far as gettin’ the Democratic nomination; an another time he says he was a special agent for the Governor of Oregon, doin’ high-class gumshoe work after Wobblies an’ such.

    “An it was then, he says, that he run across Don Thompson, who writes for DFW an’ he thought Thompson was a right smart guy. From what he says I got a hunch, too, that he done some Intelligence work durin’ the war; but yuh can’t tell about those guys.”

      BIBLIOGRAPHY

A.   Non-Crime Pulps.

* The Little Girl Who Got Lost.    The Popular Magazine, Jan 20 1916.
* Why Arabia Kissed Me.     The Popular Magazine, Aug #2 1916.
* No Show at All.     The Popular Magazine, Apr 5 1917.
* Opals Are Unlucky.     The Popular Magazine, Apr 20 1917.
* “Honest Jawn”.     The Popular Magazine, May 20 1917.
* Doubling the Double Cross.     The Popular Magazine June, 7 1917.
* A Personal Vengeance.     The Popular Magazine, June 20 1917.
* No Imagination.     The Popular Magazine, Sept 7 1917.
* Mushrooms and Airships.     The Popular Magazine, Sept 20 1917.
* Justified Piracy.     The Popular Magazine, Dec 20 1917.
* The Making of a Hero.     The Popular Magazine, July 20 1928.
* I Remember When.     Railroad Man’s Magazine, Feb 1930.
* Check and Double Check.     Railroad Man’s Magazine, Jan 1931.
* The Side-Rod Bender.     Railroad Man’s Magazine, Feb 1931.
* Rolling Sixty-Five or Better.     Short Stories, Oct 10 1931.
* Red Lantern Oil.     Railroad Stories, Aug 1932.
* The Deadhead Passenger.     Railroad Stories, Nov 1933.
* One Thing Leads to Another.     Street & Smith’s Complete Stories, May 20 1934.
* Crazy Like a Fox.     Street & Smith’s Complete Stories, Sept 3 1934.
* The Payoff Comes Last.     Street & Smith’s Complete Magazine, June 1935.
* A Good, Smart Girl.     Street & Smith’s Complete Magazine, July 1935.

B.   Detective Magazines.     DFW indicates variously Flynn’s, Flynn’s Weekly, Detective Fiction Weekly.

* The Plainly Marked Track.     DFW, Aug 8, 1925.
* The Work Of An Artist.     DFW, Sept 5, 1925.
* Threads Of Evidence.     DFW, Sept 19, 1925.
* What The Cipher Told.     DFW, Oct 24, 1925.
* The Honest Thief.     DFW, Nov 7, 1925.
* Another Use For Water.     DFW, Dec 5, 1925.
* Three Out On Christmas.     DFW, Dec 12, 1925.
* Mister Somebody Else.     DFW, Jan 9, 1926.
* The Ghost Burglar.     DFW, Feb 13, 1926.
* A Jeweler’s Reputation.     DFW, Feb 27, 1926.
* Two In The Dark.     DFW, Mar 27, 1926.
* The Hole In The Chimney.     DFW, May 8, 1926.
* The Haunted Street.     DFW, Aug 21, 1926.
* For A Point Of Honor.     DFW, Sept 4, 1926.
* Quick Work.     Sept 11, 1926.
* All Covered Up.     DFW, Sept 25, 1926.
* Something New in Vanities.     DFW, Oct 2, 1926.
* Riordan Seems Stupid.     DFW, Oct 23, 1926.
* A Darned Good Tailor.     DFW, Nov 20, 1926.
* An Open And Shut Case.     DFW, Dec 11, 1926.
* Died From Other Causes.     DFW, Dec 18, 1926.
* Politics.     DFW, Feb 26, 1927.
* The Staples Case.     DFW, Mar 5, 1927.
* The Bomb.     DFW, Mar 12, 1927.
* The Stolen Street Car.     DFW, Apr 9, 1927.
* Framed.     DFW, Apr 23, 1927.
* The Power Of The Press.     DFW, June 11, 1927.
* Applied Psychology.     DFW, July 16, 1927.
* All Crossed Up.     DFW, Oct 15, 1927.
* Riordan Uses Tact.     DFW, Oct 22, 1927.
* Straight Police Work.     DFW, Oct 29, 1927.
* One Thing After Another.     DFW, Feb 18, 1928.
* The Truth About The Prince (Pt.1).     DFW, Feb 25, 1928.
* The Truth About The Prince (Pt. 2).     DFW, Mar 3, 1928.
* The Truth About The Prince (Pt.3).     DFW, Mar 10, 1928.
* Tod Nevis Tells The Story.     DFW, Apr 21, 1928.
* A Young Man In Trouble.     DFW, May 5, 1928.
* The Other Side Of The Story.     DFW, Sept 1, 1928.
* He Learned To Use His Eyes.     DFW, Nov 10, 1928.
* The Dark Finger-Prints.     DFW, Dec 1, 1928.
* Mostly Head Work.     DFW, Dec 15, 1928.
* Too Good To Be Straight.     DFW, Jan 5, 1929.
* Riordan Foils A Press Agent.     DFW, Jan 26, 1929.
* The Murder Of Joe Parrish.     DFW, Feb 16, 1929.
* Marked Money.     DFW, Mar 16, 1929.
* Evidence Of Murder.     DFW, June 22, 1929.
* Protection Money.     DFW, Aug 17, 1929.
* The Bullet Holes In The Ceiling.     DFW, Oct 12, 1929.
* Suspicion Of Murder.     DFW, Jan 25, 1930.
* On Getting Out Of A Jam.     DFW, Feb 1, 1930.
* Hit-And-Run.     DFW, Apr 19, 1930.
* Brass Buttons.     DFW, Aug 2, 1930.
* The Invisible Death.     DFW, Sept 6, 1930.
* Two Confess Murder.     DFW, Sept 20, 1930.
* The Hazardous Path.     DFW, Oct 18, 1930.
* Fast Time On The Main Line.     DFW, Nov 1, 1930.
* A Fine Night For Murders.     DFW, Feb 28, 1930.
* One Of These Seven.     All Star Detective Stories, May 1931.
* The Man Who Left No Trace.     DFW, May 2, 1931.
* Handicapped By Facts.     DFW, May 16, 1931.
* Very Well Framed.     DFW, June 10, 1931.
* Missing Persons.     DFW, June 27, 1931.
* Accidental Death.     DFW, Aug 15, 1931.
* Halloran Makes A Case.     DFW, Sept 12, 1931.
* The Morning Alibi.     DFW, Sept 26, 1931.
* The Convicting Alibi.     DFW, Dec 19, 1931.
* Captain Brady Takes A Cue.     DFW, Jan 23, 1932.
* The Things They Saw.     DFW, Mar 5, 1932.
* More Than Satisfied.     DFW, Apr 9, 1932.
* The Corpus Delicti.     DFW, June 11, 1932.
* The Station House Murder.     DFW, July 2, 1932.
* Halloran Spots A Boner.     DFW, Dec 31, 1932.
* Pearls Before Swine.     DFW, Mar 4, 1933.
* The Serge At 2242.     DFW, May 20, 1933.
* Find The Woman In Red.     DFW, July 15, 1933.
* The Trail To The Treasure.     International Detective Magazine, Oct 1933.
* Way Up In The Air.     DFW, Nov 11, 1933.
* The Girl In The Hidden Cell.     DFW, Dec 9, 1933.
* The Old Lummox.     DFW, Dec 30, 1933.
* The Death In The Binoculars.     DFW, Mar 31, 1934.
* Straws Of Doom.     DFW, July 7, 1934.
* Cold Decked.     DFW, Sept 29, 1934.
* Murder On The Limited.     DFW, Dec 29, 1934.
* The High-Frequency Eliminator.     DFW, June 8, 1935.
* A Clever Job.     DFW, July 20, 1935.
* Shake And Shake Again.     DFW, Oct 2, 1935.
* Loose End.     DFW, Jan 11, 1936.
* Four Petrified Men.     DFW, Feb 15, 1936.
* Diamond Death Trail.     DFW, Mar 28, 1936.
* The Cart Before The Horse.     DFW, June 20, 1936.
* Dangerous Millions.     DFW, Aug 1, 1936.
* Dames Are Poison.     Detective Action Stories, Oct 1936.
* On The Mayor’s Doorstep.     Detective Action Stories, Dec 1936.
* Willis to Riordan to Halloran.     DFW, Dec 26, 1936.
* The Thunderbolt.     DFW, July 3, 1937.
* The Suicide Clues.     DFW, Aug 28, 1937.
* The Hundred Flyaway Skulls.     Detective Action Stories, Apr-May 1937.
* The Devil Wears Diamonds.     DFW, July 1, 1939.
* A Trick For Halloran.     New Detective Magazine, Nov 1943.
* Murder, Ahoy!     New Detective Magazine, Jan 1944.

   Corrections and additions are most definitely welcome.

      SOURCES:

Michael L. Cook & Steven T. Miller: Mystery, Detective, and Espionage Fiction: A Checklist of Fiction in U.S. Pulp Magazines, 1915-1974.
The FictionMags Index.
The personal files of Maxwell Vietor, aka Victor Maxwell.

EDNA BUCHANAN – Miami, It’s Murder. Britt Montero #2. Hyperion, hardcover, January 1994. Avon, paperback, 1995.

   Buchanan’s first Montero, Contents Under Pressure, got a lot of good press, though I liked it less than most because of a to me unbelievable plot.

   [In Miami, It’s Murder, the city] is plagued by a serial rapist. Britt is doing the story, and has annoyed the police by printing information they wanted withheld. At the same time, a friend of hers on the police department is being forced into retirement because of a bad heart, and he is agonizing over cases he never broke.

   One was the 20-year-ago sexual murder of a young girl. He was convinced of the guilt of a young man who is now a grown politician running for governor, but could find no evidence. Britt decides to dig into the old case and see what she can find.

   She continues to write about the rapist, and begins to get threatening letters from him. A series of deaths begin to occur, some seemingly accidental, some not, all involving people who were suspected of old murders but never convicted. Not surprisingly, all three situations — rapist, politician, murders — are eventually resolved.

   As with the first book, the narration is excellent, the writing fast-paced and effective. Again, too, there are plot elements that won’t wash. Britt’s acceptance of her cop friend’s assertion of the politician’s guilt without any real evidence makes either her or the author just plain foolish; as does her eagerness to personally offend the man without even her paper’s knowledge or concurrence.

   More so than in the first novel, she often acts foolishly. But the main problem I have with the book is that it (and Montero) ethically offended me. I can’t go into reasons without giving away the plot, so I’ll just say neither she nor the author seem to have the same ethical values that I do. No go, Montero.

Bibliographic Notes:   In spite of Barry’s clearly stated misgivings, Miami, It’s Murder was nominated for an Edgar in 1995.

   For more on the author, a visit to her Wikipedia page may suffice: “As one of the first female crime journalists in Miami, she wrote for the Miami Beach Daily Sun and the Miami Herald as a general assignment and police-beat reporter. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for general reporting.” She is also the author or co-author of 17 crime novels, including the nine Britt Montero novels listed below.

   For even more, check out the author’s own website. There’s much of interest there.

      The Britt Montero series —

1. Contents Under Pressure (1992)

2. Miami, It’s Murder (1994)
3. Suitable for Framing (1995)
4. Act of Betrayal (1996)

5. Margin of Error (1997)
6. Garden of Evil (1999)
7. You Only Die Twice (2001)
8. The Ice Maiden (2002)
9. Love Kills (2007)