The Hillman-Curl cover scans found at Bill Deeck’s Murder at 3 Cents a Day website are complete now from 1936 to 1939, which marked the end of their “Clue Club” line. I uploaded the covers for 1939 over the weekend, but I haven’t had a chance to let you know till now. (It’s been a busy week, and it promises to get even busier.)

   Included in this last batch are a Bulldog Drummond title by Gerald Fairlie, one by pulp writer Steve Fisher, and two by Barry Perowne, one of them a Raffles adventure. Coming next: perhaps Arcadia House (1939-1967) or Mystery House (1940-1959), but one of the smaller companies like Gateway (1939-1942) may sneak in ahead of both of the two larger ones.

   Al Hubin is now working on Part 16 of his Addenda to the Revised Crime Fiction IV; if you follow the link, the first 15 are now online. I’m still working on Part 3, adding images, commentary and various links. Here are most of the L’s, which I’ve finished up recently:

LANE, JEREMY Author of six mystery novels listed in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. Two were published in the late twenties, the remaining four from Phoenix Press between 1944 and 1949. The detective in all four of the Phoenix books was Dr. Whitney Wheat, a psychiatrist.
      Kill Him Tonight. Add setting: New York City.

LA PLANTE, LYNDA (née TITCHMARSH) Add maiden name.
      Framed. Novelization of TV movie [2 x 2 hour miniseries]: Anglia/A&E, 1992 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Geoffrey Sax). Also: TV movie: TNT, 2003 (scw & dir: Daniel Petrie, Jr.) [Correct title and delete previous SC identification.]

      Prime Suspect. TV movie [2 x 2 hr miniseries]: Granada, 1991 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Christopher Menaul). SC: DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren)
      Prime Suspect 2. [Add title.] Mandarin pb, 1992; Dell, 1993. TV movie [4-part mini-series] Granada, 1992 (scw: Alan Cubitt; dir: John Strickland). SC: DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren)
      Prime Suspect 3. TV movie [2 x 2 hour miniseries]: Granada, 1993 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: David Drury), SC: DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren)

      Trial and Retribution. [ghost written by Robin Blake, q.v.] Macmillan (London), 1997. TV movie [2 x 2 hour mini-series ]: La Plante, 1997 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Aisling Walsh). SC: Det. Supt. Michael Walker (David Hayman) & Det. Insp. Pat North (Kate Buffery)
      Trial and Retribution II. [ghost written by Robin Blake, q.v.] Macmillan (London), 1998. TV movie [2 x 2 hour mini-series]: La Plante, 1998 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Aisling Walsh). SC: Det. Supt. Michael Walker (David Hayman) & Det. Insp. Pat North (Kate Buffery)
      Trial and Retribution III. [ghost written by Robin Blake, q.v.] Macmillan (London), 1999. TV movie [2 x 2 hour mini-series]: La Plante, 1999 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Jo Johnson). SC: Det. Supt. Michael Walker (David Hayman) & Det. Insp. Pat North (Kate Buffery)
      Trial and Retribution IV. Novelization of TV series by Robin Blake, q.v., based on scripts by Lynda La Plante.
      The Widows. Novelization of TV movie [6-part mini-series]: Euston/Thames, 1983 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Ian Toynton). SC: Dolly Rawlins (Ann Mitchell). Also: TV movie [mini-series]: ABC, 2002 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Geoffrey Sax). SC: Dolly Rawlins (Mercedes Ruehl)
      The Widows II. Novelization of TV movie [6-part mini-series]: Euston/Thames, 1985 (scw: Lynda La Plante; dir: Paul Annett). SC: Dolly Rawlins (Ann Mitchell)

LARSON, GLEN A. Television writer and producer. Nominal co-author (with Roger Hill, q.v.) of five novelizations of the TV series Knight Rider. It is understood that Hill did all of the writing. The remaining four books were also based on individual one- or two-part episodes of the show; follow the preceding link for more information.
      Knight Rider. TV movie: Universal, 1982 (scw: Tom Greene, Glen A. Larson; dir: Daniel Haller). SC: Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff)

LAURENSON, R. M. Author of three books listed in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, two of them from Phoenix Press (1948-1949) with series character Marc Jordan, a railroad attorney. The book below is the first of his two cases.
      The Railroad Murder Case. Add setting: Illinois.

LEWIS, BEATRICE MARY Pseudonym: Lewis Iram, q.v.

LEWIS, MICHAEL (ARTHUR). British author of five detective novels between 1925 and 1931 listed in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. SC: Detective Insp. Anthony Field = AF. [Sergeant Hobbs was previously listed as being a series character in the two books marked *.]
      * The Brand of the Beast. AF
      * The Island of Disaster. AF
      The Three Amateurs. AF

LEWIS, WILLIAM (L.) 1931- . Noted operatic tenor. Add year of birth and middle initial. In his one work of crime fiction included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, listed below, five singers are the targets of a serial killer.
      Gala (Dutton, 1987, hc) [New York City, NY; Theatre]

LOGAN, MALCOLM. Co-author with Carolynne Logan of one mystery novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV; see below. Delete previously stated birth & death dates, both tentative. Leading character: “Former boy prodigy” Justus Drumm.
      One of These Seven. Mystery House, hc, 1946. [New York City, NY]

LONDON, JOAN. 1901-1971. Daughter of well-known author Jack London. Joint pseudonym with her husband Barney Mayes, 1905(?)-1978(?), q.v.: B. J. Maylon, q.v.

LONG, AMELIA REYNOLDS. Add settings for the mystery novels below; the series characters stated are already included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV:
      The Corpse at the Quill Club. SC: Mystery writer Katherine “Peter” Piper; criminal psychologist Edward Trelawney. [Philadelphia]
      Death Has a Will. SC: Attorney Steve Carter. [Pennsylvania]
      The Lady Saw Red. SC: Katherine “Peter” Piper. [Pennsylvania]
      Murder by Magic. SC: Steve Carter. [Pennsylvania]

      Murder Times Three. SC: Edward Trelawney. [Philadelphia]
      Murder to Type. SC: Steve Carter. [Pennsylvania]

LORAC, E. C. R. Pseudonym of Edith Caroline Rivett, (1894-1958); other pseudonym Carol Carnac. Prolific author of over 70 mystery novels under both pen names; her primary detective for the Lorac books is Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald. He is in the book below.
      Murder by Matchlight. Add setting: London.

LORING, EMILIE.  1866-1951.  [See the second comment below.]   Most of this British author’s books were romantic fiction, published between 1922 and 1950; unfinished material discovered after her death was developed into an additional 20 romances (1952-1972). Add the title below.
      Love Came Laughing By. Little, 1949 [Washington D.C.]

LOTTMAN, EILEEN
      Welcome Home, Jaime. TV movie [two-part series pilot for The Bionic Woman]: Universal, 1976, as Welcome Home, Jaime (scw: Kenneth Johnson; dir: Alan Crosland). SC: Jamie Summers (Lindsay Wagner)

LOVELL, B(OYD) E. 1920-1962. Add full first name and year of death. Author of two mystery novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, both with private eye Edge Hannagan.

(Mabel) DANA LYON. See joint pseudonym with (Josephine Hughston, q.v.) Dana Hughston, q.v. Note that Lyon and Hughston also shared a dual byline on the book cited below, previously included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV:
      The Bathtub Murder (U.S.: Williams, 1933, hc)

    To supplement Bill Deeck’s reference work about lending-library mysteries, Murder at 3c a Day, I’ve just uploaded scans of the covers of those that Hillman-Curl published in 1938, 24 of them in all. Authors with more than one book from H-C that year were J. S. Fletcher, Norman Forrest [Nigel Morland], Paul Haggard, E. R. Punshon and Edmund Snell.

    I asked Bill Pronzini, who’s been supplying me with the covers to upload, if he could recommend any of the titles from 1938. Are there any unknown gems in the lot? His reply:

    “The Haggards aren’t bad, particularly Death Talks Shop. Slangy, eccentric, and super fast-paced, reminiscent (to me anyway) of Theodore Roscoe’s two novels for Dodge. Roger Torrey’s 42 Days for Murder is a pretty good pulpish private eye novel. The two John Donavans [one from 1937] are decent fair-play deductive mysteries. The [Vivian] Meik is a Sax Rohmerish adventure mystery with a screwball plot. I haven’t read a lot of the others.”

   Although I’ve yet to hold a copy in my hands myself, Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller have theirs, and so it’s safe to say that it’s ready for purchase. Ordering information at the bottom of this page.

   Originally published in hardcover by Arbor House in 1986, 1001 Midnights by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller, one of the finest reference texts ever published in the field of mystery fiction, quickly went out of print, but it has been in high demand in the used book market ever since.

   Here’s the blurb on the dust jacket of the original edition, including the list of names on the back cover:

   1001 Midnights is the essential reference – and reading – book for all aficionados of mystery, detective, and suspense fiction. It is comprised of 1001 plot summaries, author biographies, and critical evaluations of classic and important crime and espionage novels, as well as short story collections seminal to the genre. It is an indispensable volume of information and criticism.

   Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller, well known for their mystery novels and anthologies, bring their inside, practitioners’ knowledge of the form as well as their enthusiasm as fans to these trenchant and engaging summaries, biographies, and critical judgments. Other experts in the field, most notably Francis M. Nevins, also contribute entries on authors in their areas of expertise.

   All the major writers are represented, from Edgar Allan Poe to Elmore Leonard. Their careers and works are described, analyzed, and assessed – sometimes to surprising, irreverent, and unorthodox conclusions. Some highly touted practitioners of the mystery genre have their critical reputations debunked, while others currently out of favor are extolled.

   But in addition to the famous names there are numerous obscure writers, and 1001 Midnights is unique and rich as a result of their inclusion. Jim Thompson, Leigh Brackett, Thomas B. Dewey, William Campbell Gault, Helen Reilly, and dozens of others are all resurrected from undeserved obscurity and restored to their rightful place in the crime literature pantheon. In the process, the reader is apprised of great writers he or she may not have heard of but who are well worth seeking out.

   Whether you prefer hardboiled or classic, Golden Age or contemporary, pure detection or action/adventure, espionage or private eye, 1001 Midnights will afford hundreds of hours of reading pleasure. It is a book to refer to again and again for its practical information, facts, and bibliographies; its memory-jogging plot summaries; its enlightening critical insights; and its gold mine of newly unearthed crime literature treasures. 1001 Midnights is essential to the library of every mystery buff.

   Some of the mystery and suspense writers whose careers and works are included in 1001 Midnights:

   And many many others, as they always say.

   Published by George Vanderburgh and his Battered Silicon Dispatch Box press, the book is a softcover, folio size, 8-1/2 x 11, with 471 pages. The list price is $45.00. ISBN: 978-1-55246-750-3

   The book does not appear on George’s website, but his contact information is there. Otherwise your local specialty mystery bookshop should be able to order it for you.

   Highly recommended!

    As far as my comments about the pseudonymous Inigo Jones are concerned, nothing more has been learned other than was stated in my review of his/her second mystery novel, The Albatross Murders.

   Of course, and by now it surely goes without saying, if anything more is learned, odds are you will read about it here first; or if not, I hope it will be no more than second-hand news.

   In the meantime, Bill Pronzini has sent along cover scans for both of the Inigo Jones books, which I’ve combined with the information on the titles to be found in Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin, and Murder at 3c a Day, by William F. Deeck, and have come up with the following complete crime fiction bibliography for:

INIGO JONES.  Pseudonym.

   * The Clue of the Hungry Corpse (n.) Arcadia House, hc, 1939.   Mystery Novel of the Month #11, digest pb, 1940.   Leading characters: Lt. Blanding and Det. Barry Linden, New York Police Department.   Setting: New York City.

Dust jacket blurb: At 10:07 p.m. Hayden Snell, an eccentric millionaire fond of precious stones almost to the point of madness, is found dead in his overheated study, a Japanese dagger thrust hilt-deep in his heart. Temperature of the room makes it impossible to determine exact time of death, but his telephone receiver was removed at exactly 9:15 p.m.

   Involved in this crime and the complicated network of mystery and adventure that follows are: Katherine Fox, grand-niece of the deceased, the only suspect who cannot provide a satisfactory alibi; Arthur Leader, natural son who hates the entire Snell family; Evander Snell, middle-aged son who mortally fears his sister Miriam; Joseph Rogato, shady private investigator, who tries to have himself arrested for the crime; Weisswasser, Rogato’s mouthpiece and partner in crime; Cokey Flo, Arthur’s mother, who has information implicating Evander Snell in an earlier crime; Monk Saunders, her husband, who holds a powerful threat over Rogato.

   A satisfying detective story particularly recommended to those who appreciate good writing and a complicated puzzle.

Review excerpts: [Will Cuppy, Books.] The author’s writing manner, except for a few backslidings into fancy prose, struck us as a cut above the standardized brittle style now employed by most of the ribald school, and his criminous lingo is inspired. Try the pseudonymous Mr. Jones for amusing wickedness.

[Kay Irwin, New York Times.] There is a little of everything in this story; it is a hodge-podge of excitements, inexpertly handled.
   The unanswerable question is why the architect of such a gingerbread structure chooses to sign himself “Inigo Jones.”

[Saturday Review of Literature.] Couple of clever tricks explained at end, but characters are overdrawn and plot pretty phoney. Not so much.

    * The Albatross Murders (n.) Mystery House, hc, 1941.  The Mystery Novel of the Month #33; digest pb, 1941.   Leading character: Inspector Sebastian Booth.  Setting: New England; Theatre.

Dust jacket blurb: During ten months of the year Shrewsbury was — on the surface — a quiet little New England town; for two months it was something else again.

   For then the summer theatre brought its freight if small-time Broadway talent and amateur aspirants. Their jealousies and conflicts met in a fateful dovetail with conflicts and motives buried deep in Shrewsbury’s past. And so murder struck.

   One died in the sight of five hundred, another died alone. Meanwhile the promise of death murmured everywhere.

   With a fleck of paint off a three-hundred year-old chimney and the aid of twentieth-century science; with the bones of a praying Indian and a bird that flew by night; with an antique silver smelling-salts bottle and a scandal that had its roots in another age and clime — with the aid of these and other things Inspector Sebastian Booth at length solved this dark puzzle of fate’s irony and bloody vengeance.

Review excerpt: [New York Times.]   …Finally Booth comes up with a theory that accounts for everything. The only trouble is that there is very little evidence to support it. It is not a very satisfactory ending, but it is the best that Inigo Jones has to offer.

   As part of the ongoing, online project to supplement Bill Deeck’s reference work about lending-library mysteries, Murder at 3c a Day, I’ve just uploaded scans of the covers of those that Hillman-Curl published between 1936 and 1937. Authors included in this grouping include Bram Stoker, Steve Fisher, E. R. Punshon, Sydney Horler and others.

   You may also be interested in reading Hillman-Curl’s “Bill of Rights for Detective Story Readers,” in which they set out the standards they intended their new line of “Clue Club” mysteries to live up to.

   Uploaded this morning was Part 15 of Allen J. Hubin’s Addenda to the Revised Crime Fiction IV. Once again most of the data in this installment consists of identifying authors who have entries in the online Contemporary Authors, not previously noted.

   Some of the other information — deaths, added settings, series characters and so on — has already appeared here on the Mystery*File blog, but hardly all. Even though Al has limited the coverage of CFIV to the year 2000 and before, additions and corrections continue to come streaming in.

   As for me, I’m waaaay behind on everything I have in mind to do for this blog. Whatever manages to show up here comes to only maybe 10% of what I’d like to do, if only I could.

   And to think that when I started I didn’t think that I had anything to say. Mostly what I had in mind was to have a place where the stories behind the data in CFIV could be told. That’s still its primary function, and if you’re not taking a look at the Addenda, you’re missing out on the basic reason that I revived M*F once again, this time in the blog format. (First time viewers should go to the main page first. That’s where you’ll see more of what the final product is intended to look like, with annotations, links and lots of cover images.)

Online cover scans for the Phoenix Press mysteries are now complete from 1936 through 1952, when the last of their titles was published.

Coming up next: the crime fiction published by Hillman-Curl between 1936 and 1939. Authors included in this line of lending-library mysteries include Bram Stoker, Steve Fisher, J. S. Fletcher, E. R. Punshon, Roger Torrey and many others. Look for the covers soon. You will read about it here first.

   I have mentioned Bill Deeck’s book, Murder at 3 Cents a Day, before, along with various updates as to the online version, as additional covers scans have gradually been included.

   What I now have is the great pleasure in announcing is that I have the book itself in my hands, and it is well worth the wait, almost. One can only regret that Bill Deeck is no longer with us to see it, but it is certain that he would be immensely pleased with it.

FROM THE BACK COVER —

   Murder at 3¢ a Day is the first and only reference volume devoted entirely to the lending-library publishers that flourished from the mid 1930s into the 1960s. More than ten years in compilation, it contains full listings of mystery and detective fiction published under such imprints as Phoenix Press, Hillman-Curl, Mystery House, Gateway, Arcadia House, Dodge, and Caslon.

   Included are dust jacket blurbs, settings, and leading characters for each title, as well as descriptions of jacket illustrations and names of the artists who designed them. Also included: an article about the lending-library trade written in 1939 by Charles S. Strong, who specialized in this type of novel; a tongue-in-cheek article on Phoenix Press mysteries by Bill Pronzini; brief biographies of many lending library writers; and selected period newspaper reviews of various titles.

   Readers and aficionados alike will find a wealth of fascinating and often amusing information about this little known variety of crime fiction. Murder at 3¢ a Day is a must for any reference shelf.

   William F. Deeck (1927-2004) was a well-known mystery fan and collector who had a special affinity for lending-library fiction. In addition to the present volume, he was the author of numerous articles and reviews for The Armchair Detective, Mystery Readers Journal, and other publications.

INTRODUCTION, by Bill Pronzini:

   What you hold in your hands is a labor of love.

   There have been scores of biographical and bibliographical reference works devoted to quality mystery fiction, but only a couple – Gun in Cheek (1982) and Son of Gun in Cheek (1987), both written by yours truly – that pay tribute to the genre’s lesser lights. And until the present volume, there has been no detailed source of information on the hundreds of mysteries published by, and the writers who wrote primarily or exclusively for, the lending-library markets that flourished in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and lasted well into the 60s.

   Murder at 3¢ a Day was conceived by Ellen Nehr, as a similar volume to her Doubleday Crime Club Compendium (1992), with Bill Deeck acting as assistant. A relatively small amount of material had been gathered when Ellen died late in 1995; it was Bill, with help from various other collectors and aficionados, who did most of the work of researching, compiling, and annotating the entries and who therefore earned the solo byline. After Bill’s death in 2004, I inherited the project – the adding of new material when found and the search for a publisher. Others deserving of heartfelt thanks for their efforts include Allen J. Hubin, Steve Lewis, Richard Moore, and Mark Terry.

   Any reader and collector of crime fiction, whether or not a fan of the odd, obscure, and delightfully absurd (Bill’s original title for the volume was Mostly Awful), will find much to entertain and enlighten them here. Some who were previously inclined to scoff at “alternative” mysteries might well join the growing number of us who consider them irresistible.

   For you, Bill, and Ellen too, with gratitude. I wish you were both here to see it published.

   The main page of the online companion to Murder at 3 Cents a Day is www.lendinglibmystery.com, where you can also find information about the publisher, The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, owned and operated by George A. Vanderburgh. It’s too soon for the latter’s website to include the book, but I believe the retail price to be $30.

   The cover scans for the Phoenix Press mysteries are now complete through 1947.

   Following my review of Requiem for Rogues and my overview of author David Hume’s career, I received enough follow-up comments to warrant making an entire blog entry out of them. First from the Yahoo Golden Age of Detection group, here’s a reply from Curt Evans:

Steve,

   My survey of Turner did not indicate to me that he was a lost great. The Hume books seemed beat ’em up thrillers. The Turner and Brady books are more detection, with amateurs Amos Petrie and Ebenezer Buckle. It looks like Turner had his feet planted firmly in both schools of mystery fiction. I’ve read a couple of the Petries and Buckles, but the only one that stood out in any way for me was The Fair Murder, which had some quite exceptionally grotesque elements – it certainly is not cosy!

Curt

   In my review and other commentary, I wondered about Turner’s death at the young age of 45. Victor Berch discovered his obituary in the NY Times [dated 02-06-45], but nothing in it referred to the cause of his passing. He had died the day earlier. I’ll quote briefly from the obituary anyway:

   “Formerly a Fleet Street reporter, Mr. Turner left journalism to devote his time to writing thrillers, and while still in his early thirties was often called ‘the second Edgar Wallace.’ At one period he wrote a novel a fortnight.

   “Frequently he spent weeks at a time living in London’s underworld to mix with criminals.

   “A reviewer of [They Called Him Death, 1934/35] in The New York Times commented, ‘Swift action and plenty of it make this story a good example of the mystery-adventure type of thriller. If you prefer subtle deduction, you must look elsewhere.'”

   I also wondered about Mick Cardby and whether his father should be also included as a series character in Allen J. Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV. Al replied:

Steve,

   As for the Cardbys, Bill Lofts has this to say:

   “The business of Cardby & Son, private detectives of Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, had been built up with the trust of both police and crooks. Whilst Mick Cardby was the younger and more prominent, Cardby senior had spent twenty years of distinguished service at Scotland Yard, reaching the rank of Chief Inspector.”

   I owned 33 David Hume titles once upon a time, and I rather think I chose Cardby the younger because that’s the way the books were promoted … as Mick Cardby tales.

Best,

Al

   Altogether you’ve certainly convinced me that Mick Cardby, the son, is the principal player, with the father taking the lesser role. Mick Cardby books, they are!

   Many thanks to Curt, Victor and Al for filling in some of the details on J. V. Turner, a/k/a David Hume. As usual, gents, it’s been a pleasure.

   And by the not-so-insignificant way, I missed the quote from the Bill Lofts website the other day, and I shouldn’t have. And neither should you, if you are interested in mysteries published during the Golden Age of Detection and certainly no later than 1960.

   Entitled The Crime Fighters, by W. O. G. Lofts and Derek Adley, it’s yet another project that Al Hubin is working on, putting online an alphabetical listing of many of the fictional characters found in all of those books, beginning with Pat & Jean Abbott (Frances Crane) and ending with Inspector Furneaux (Louis Tracy).

   Um, yes. Unfortunately, only letters A through F are online and accounted for so far. It’s still worth your time visiting, and if you’re like me, you may stay a while.

   From the Introduction:

   This is essentially a bibliography of the following fictional characters:

      * the private detective
      * the private eye
      * the official police investigator
      * the amateur sleuth
      * the adventurer type of detective, such as Bulldog Drummond and Norman Conquest, who were always on the side of law and order, as well as Robin Hood types like the Saint who were active on both sides
      * the secret service agent of the Tiger Standish type, who nearly always worked with the Special Branch at Scotland Yard (but not those of the James Bond type, who were purely engaged in spying and espionage and rarely worked in collaboration with the police).

   Thus, in general, we cover the fighters of evil-doers, but of course not including the American super-hero of the Superman type. The closest we come to this type is The Shadow and Doc Savage, who, while having certain mystic powers, are nonetheless ordinary men.

   We have endeavoured in the main to include detectives and the like who have appeared in British publications, although we have found that most of those of any repute appearing in book form in this country have likewise appeared in the U.S., and of course the reverse is true.

 

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