I continued to work in Part 9 this afternoon, still in the S’s but getting into the T’s. As you’ll quickly see, this entailed some backtracking to fill in the cross-referencing that developed.

BOUNDS, SYDNEY JAMES. 1920-2006. Add year of death. Pseudonyms: Max Storm, George Sydney, qq.v. Other pseudonyms: Maxwell Chance, V. L. Scott. Born in Brighton, England. An early science fiction fan and writer, he later branched out into other fields: crime novels, westerns, war stories and others. Much of his mystery fiction was written under house names; included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV are nine such novels, the bylines being Brett Diamond, Earl Ellison, Rick Madison, Rex Marlowe, Desmond Reid & Peter Saxon. One of these is shown below: White Mercenary [as by Peter Saxon], Amalgamated Press, UK, pb, 1962. SC: Sexton Blake. [Rewritten by W. Howard Baker.]

KEY, L. J. Pseudonym of Daniel Tamkus, 1934- . Add confirmed year of birth. Under this pen name, the author of one marginal crime-horror novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      -The Spawn. Dell, pb, 1983. [The Royces – a special family, a privileged clan living in a closely guarded enclave, a paradise of wealth and tradition no stranger could penetrate. They thought themselves safe…]

STORM, MAX. Pseudonym of Sydney James Bounds, 1920-2006, q.v. Add year of death. Under this pen name, the author of one paperback original included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Murder Be My Mistress. Badger, UK, pb, 1959. Also published as: The Set-Up, as by J. K. Baxter (Badger, 1962).

SWIFT, FRANCINE MORRIS. 1938-2007. Add both dates. Described as a true Sherlockian, a long-time member of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes (“Hatty Doran”); received her investiture in the Baker Street Irregulars in 1994. One short work is included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Hound’s Tale. London: Sherlock Holmes Society, pb, 18 pages, 1992. SC: Sherlock Holmes. [A chapbook offering a “decidedly canine view of the events on Dartmoor.”]

SWIFT, RACHELLE. Pseudonym of Jean Barbara Lumsden, 1916-1998. Add year of death. Under this pen name, author of a number of romance novels; two with mystery content are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The House at Green Bay. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1969. Setting: New Zealand.
      A Taunt from the Past. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1970. Setting: Wellington, NZ.

SYDNEY, GEORGE. Pseudonym of Sydney James Bounds, 1920-2006, q.v. Under this pen name, the author of one Sexton Blake novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Countdown for Murder. Amalgamated Press, UK, pb, 1962. SC: Sexton Blake. Note: According to a website devoted to the character, the book was revised by W. Howard Baker & George Paul Mann.

TACK, ALFRED. 1906-1993. Add year of death. Born and lived in London, England. Besides a number of non-fiction books on marketing and business management, Tack was the author of 16 mystery novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. Of these books, published between 1946 and 1975, only four have been reprinted in the US. A series character named John Harley appeared in four of his earliest mysteries, including his first, shown below (Herbert Jenkins, 1946). In this book Harley, formerly of the Royal Artillery, is a new salesman for a firm whose managing director has just been murdered.

TALBOT, HAYDEN. 1892- . Add year of birth; date of death unknown. Born in New York NY. Father of Betsy Talbot Blackwell, editor-in-chief of Mademoiselle between 1937 and 1971. A grandson, James Madison Blackwell IV, was on the staff of Newsweek from 1963 to 1985. Playwright and author of one work included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      It Is the Law. Allen & Unwin, UK, hc, 1923. Silent film: Fox, 1924 (scw: Curtis Benton; dir: J. Gordon Edwards). A play by Elmer Rice was earlier based on Talbot’s original story (1922). (The link leads to a full synopsis and review.)

TAMKUS, DANIEL. 1934- . Add confirmed year of birth. Pseudonym: L. J. Key, q.v. Under his own name, author of story or screenwriter for two Hollywood films.

   Yes, in case you were wondering, I do indeed take requests. This one’s from Michael Grost, whose website A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection is one you should visit and revisit often. I know I do.

   Said Mike, in a recent email:

   Steve, Victor Kalin did two different covers for Rinehart’s The Window at the White Cat. One is a sort of pun, in which a house also forms a cat face. The other shows a rainy building. Both are very good. His two covers for The Case of Jennie Brice are also atmospheric.    — Mike

   Victor Kalin is a favorite of mine also. He did ‘dark and gloomy’ very well, which meant he did a lot of covers for the gothics in the 1960s and early 1970s, but from the 1950s on, his work appeared on all kinds of mystery fiction, not to mention the occasional western or SF novel. I’ll set up a Cover Gallery for him in a day or so.

   To see what Mike means about the cover, you won’t if you’re sitting too close to the screen. You may have to move yourself backward, or refocus your eyes, to obtain the full effect. (Or vice versa, as the case may be.)

DELL D411. Paperback reprint: 1st printing, new Dell edition, March 1961. Previous Dell edition #506 [mapback], with many other later reprintings. Hardcover edition: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1910.

      From the back cover:

         Politics and Poker …

that was the occupation and the preoccupation of the members of the White Cat Club.

Once on the inside, a man’s business was his own and nobody gave a damn if he was the mayor of the town or the champion poolplayer of the first ward.

It was a noisy, crowded, masculine kind of retreat, which explained the sign that hung proudly over the door:

         “The White Cat Never Sleeps.”

But murder entered the wakeful chambers of the White Cat and its victims slept the deep, long sleep of the dead.

   You realize, of course, that this includes only a small portion of the Smiths whose entries can be found in Allen J. Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV. These came from Part 9 of the online Addenda to the Revised CFIV.

   The first of these is, so far as I can tell without having actually having read one, a prime candidate for inclusion in Kevin Burton Smith’s online compendium of fictional private eyes, to be found at thrillingdetective.com:

SMITH, CYNTHIA (S.). 1934- . Add confirmed year of birth & middle initial; delete previous reference to CA. Author of books on marriage and business, plus a five book series of adventures of Emma Rhodes, “private resolver” who traveled around the world solving problems of the rich and famous for a $20,000 fee. Results were guaranteed within two weeks or the fee was returned.
      Impolite Society. Berkley, pb, 1997. Setting: Portugal.

      Misleading Ladies. Berkley, pb, 1997. Setting: England.
      Noblesse Oblige. Berkley, pb, 1997. Setting: Brussels.
      Royals and Rogues. Berkley, pb, 1998. Setting: Russia.

      Silver and Guilt. Berkley, pb, 1998. Setting: London.

SMITH, MARY-ANN TIRONE. 1944- . Ref: CA. Born in Hartford CT; married Jere Smith. Author of several novels, including one literary thriller included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      An American Killing. Headline, UK, hc, 1998. Henry Holt, US, hc, 1998. Setting: Washington DC, Rhode Island. [True-crime writer Denise Burke’s research into a new book may be involved with the death of a US Congressman.] Note: FBI agent Penelope “Poppy” Rice, a minor character in this book, reappeared as the primary detective in Love Her Madly (Holt, 2002) and at least one other subsequent book.

SMITH, MICHAEL MARSHALL. 1965- . Ref: CA. Author of science fiction and thriller novels and short stories. Lives in London; his first three novels are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV.
      One of Us. Collins, UK, hc, 1998. Bantam, US, hc, 1998. Setting: Los Angeles, 2017. Publishers Weekly: “Smith’s ear for the nuances of classic hard-boiled narrative is surpassed only by his skill at exceeding expectations for the conventional mystery/suspense tale.”
      Only Forward. Collins, UK, pb, 1994. Bantam, US, pb, 2000. “Futuristic work that features Stark, a tough loner who is hired to find and retrieve a kidnapping victim in his home metropolis.”

      Spares. Collins, UK, hc, 1996. Bantam, US, hc, 1997. Setting: Virginia, future. [A former cop named Jack Randall frees several clones being held prisoner for their body parts.]

SMITH, NAOMI GLADISH. 1935- . Add confirmed year of birth. Born in England to American parents, now lives in Illinois and Florida. Currently the author of Christian fiction; her first book was a gothic romance, a mystery novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Buried Remembrance. Ace, pb, 1976. “She fled the pain-filled memories of love, but Death would not let her forget …”

SMITH, NEVILLE (ROY?). 1940-1998? Add tentative middle name and year of death. British actor and TV screenwriter with one film to his credit; also the author of the novelized version. See below.
      Gumshoe. Fontana, UK, pb, 1971. Ballantine, US, pb, 1972. Setting: Liverpool. Novelization of film: Columbia, 1971 (scw: Neville Smith; dir: Stephen Frears). Leading character: amateur PI Eddie Ginley (Albert Finney). A Time magazine review of the film is available online.

SMITH, WYNNE. 1953- . Add year of birth. Author of a regency romance novel sufficiently criminous to be included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Rushmoreland Rubies. Pageant, pb, 1988. Setting: England, 1800s. Published as Regency Romantic Intrigue Series, Book 1. [Lady seeking the rubies disguises herself as a housemaid in the home of the man who inherited them after the mysterious deaths of two heirs.]

   After spending the afternoon scraping a quarter inch of ice off my driveway, I decided that less strenuous activity was the order of the remainder of the day. More from Part 9 follows, mostly in the S’s.

RYTON, ROYCE (THOMAS CARLISLE). 1924- . Add both middle names. Noted playwright with one criminous drama included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Unvarnished Truth. London: French, pb, 1978. [3-act play, a comedy-farce: A row between a married couple leaves the woman dead.]

SANCTON, THOMAS [SR.]. 1915- . Add as a new author entry. Born in the Panama Canal Zone. Managing editor of The New Republic in 1943; wrote extensively on race and the South while with the magazine and later as Washington editor of The Nation. Currently at work in New Orleans on a memoir of his early involvement in civil rights movement. Father of Thomas A. Sancton, jazz clarinetist & former Paris bureau chief for Time magazine.
      -Count Roller Skates. Doubleday, 1956. Setting: New Orleans. Reprinted as The Magnificent Rascal, Crest, pb, 1958. From a Time magazine review: “… camera-eye reporting on jazz joints, brothels and the irrecoverable sights and sounds of New Orleans before World War I.”

      _The Magnificent Rascal. See: Count Roller Skates (Doubleday, 1956).

SANDERS, ELSIE H(ELEN?). 1919?-1994? Tentatively add middle name and both dates. Author of one novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Kenya Nights. Grayson & Grayson, UK, hc, 1944. Setting: Kenya. “… novel of romance, jealousy, attacks by leopards & mad natives …”

SARMIENTO, DOROTHY. 1908-1995. Add both dates. Author of one mystery novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below:
      Roles and Relations. Chapman & Hall, UK, hc, 1956. Setting: England. “… a murder story set in a country house where a group of psychiatrists are meeting.”

SAVI, E(THEL) W(INIFRED) née BRYNING. 1865-1954. [Slightly revised biography.] Mother of Gerald B. Savi, q.v. Born in Calcutta; privately educated. Married John Savi in 1884 and lived in rural India until 1896. Settled in England, 1909, when she began to write. One of her many romantic novels is marginally criminous and is included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      -The Devil Drives. Putnam, UK, hc, 1921. Putnam, US, hc, 1922. Setting: India.

SAVI, GERALD B(ARTON). Son of novelist E(thel) W(inifred) Savi, q.v. Spent ten years in an official capacity in Burma and author of a number of novels set there; many are criminous, at least marginally. Five are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, including the first cited below; add the one indicated with an asterisk (*).
      -Alive or Dead. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, hc, 1938. Add setting: Burma.

      (*) The White Pig. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, hc, 1937. Setting: Burma. “… a thriller concerned with government officials in Naga country and the Burmese jungles.”

   It was Dan Roberts who identified the cover artist for the Philip Race book a couple of posts ago, thanks to the timely assistance of Graham Holroyd’s Paperback Prices and Checklist.

   Darcy is the name, and at the moment it’s the only part of his (or her) name that I know. Here are a few other covers in the artist’s portfolio:

   Continuing in Part 9 this evening, but shifting slightly downward in the alphabet to the R’s. I imagine that the name of the first entry will produce a number of hits to this blog, but he is not he, and in fact was a she. The other authors produced a nice balance between those about whom much information was obtainable, and those about whom essentially nothing was found. Help if you can.

REEVE, CHRISTOPHER. Pseudonym of Dorothy Anna Maria Webb, 1900?-1985?, q.v. Add full name of author and tentative dates. She wrote seven mystery novels between 1929 to 1948 under this pen name, five of them eventually published in the US. All are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. The jacket for one of them is shown below (Morrow, US, 1930). A review of The Ginger Cat, touted on the cover, was reviewed in The Harvard Crimson, November 9, 1929.

REYNOLDS, FATHER BRAD (RICHARD), S. J. 1948- . Add middle name and year of birth. A Jesuit priest presently living in Portland OR. Lived at one time in Alaska; has written over 300 articles published in National Geographic, America, Alaska and American Scholar etc. In addition, the author of four mystery novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below. Series character in each: Father Mark Townsend, S. J., also a Jesuit priest.
      Cruel Sanctuary. Avon, pb, 1999. Setting: Washington state.
      Deadly Harvest. Avon, pb, 1999. Setting: Washington state.
      A Ritual Death. Avon, pb, 1997. Setting: Washington state.

      The Story Knife. Avon, pb, 1996. Setting: Alaska.

RICE, ROBERT. 1926-2000? Add tentative year of death. Author of one novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Mongrel Sabbath. Excalibur Press, UK, pb, 1995.

RICH, NICHOLAS. 1916?-1984? Add tentative dates. Author of three espionage thrillers included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below. Series character in each: Adam Hood.
      The Blane Document. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1972. Setting: Australia.
      The Seajet Spies. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1973. Setting: Australia.
      Spy Now, Pay Later. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1972.

RICHARDS, C(ECIL) J(OHN). 1894?-1989? Add tentative dates. Author of one short story collection included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      No Buses Running. Warren, UK, hc, 1956. Story collection, some criminous. Setting: Burma.

RICHARDSON, GEOFFREY. 1929-2003. Add year of death. His ‘second career’ was as an author of books about Richard III and the War of the Roses; one of these novels is included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Deceivers. Baildon Books, UK, hc, 1997. Setting: London, 1480s. [A radical solution for the puzzle of who killed the Princes in the Tower.]

RICHARDSON, H(ENRY) M(ARRIOTT). 1876-1936. Add confirmed year of birth plus year of death. Born in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent; educated in private schools; journalist, editor, leader writer, drama critic, playwright; a founder of the International Federation of Journalists. Author of several plays and two crime novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Rock of Justice. Hutchinson, UK, hc, 1928.
      The Temple Murder. Hutchinson, UK, hc, 1926.

WEBB, DOROTHY ANNA MARIA. 1900?-1985? Add full name and tentative dates. Pseudonym: Christopher Reeve, q.v. Born in Leicestershire; editor and reader for various publishers; living in South Kensington in the 1930s.

   Once again, I don’t have a name to go with the artwork on this cover. I’ve shown this book to a number of people, and not many of them remember that Bantam ever published James Bond’s adventures. Everybody remembers the Signet books, of course, since they came out when Bond’s popularity was the highest, and there’s a slew of those around.

   Fleming died in 1964, and this book came out in 1971. Even though the movies were still going strong — weren’t they? — I don’t think the Bantam editions sold well. I almost never see them anywhere myself, and I doubt that I have a full set. (Assuming, that is, that Bantam did a full set.)

BANTAM, paperback reprint, May 1971. Hardcover edition: Macmillan, March 1954. UK hardcover: Jonathan Cape, 1954. Also published in paperback as You Asked for It, Popular Library, 1955. Other paperback edition: Signet, February 1960.

      From the back cover:

Millions of readers and countless filmgoers the world over have met British Secret Service agent James Bond — 007 — the superhero with an enormous appetite for the good things in life — food, women and international intrigue.

In Casino Royale, 007 faces one of his keenest adversaries, the Communist agent Le Chiffre, across the gaming tables of a famous French casino. The game is baccarat; the stakes are high: life and death.

Read the James Bond thriller From Russia, With Love. A Bantam Book.

   I might be able to make a reasonable guess as to who the cover artist is, but since there’s no indication and I’m not sure, I’ve decided not to make myself look foolish. Philip Race was the pen name of E. M. Parsons; he wrote three crime fiction novels under this name, the other two for Gold Medal; and one as Parsons, that one for Avon.

HILLMAN 179. Paperback original, 1960.

      From the back cover:

   Johnny was just a crap game hustler, but when he blew into town they pegged him wrong. The cops said, “Killer,” and slugged him simple. “Lover,” the rich gal said, and got him even worse mixed up. Next came the ex-striptease queen with the heart of gold or pewter, and the Happiness Boys from the Syndicate…

   All Johnny had going for him was fast pair of legs, a faster set of wits, and just maybe, the one female around who could be counted on to win it or lose it for keeps. A fickle broad named Lady Luck.

   I think we had more snow yesterday afternoon and evening than we did all last winter. It was well over a foot of the white stuff. After cleaning up the last bit of it from the driveway this morning, I returned to Part 9 of the Addenda and worked in the P section. Don Pendleton is obviously the best known author of this particular grouping, but the others seem to have been interesting people too.

PATTINSON, JAMES. 1915- . Prolific British author of approximately 100 mystery thrillers included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, plus five published after 2000, including one scheduled for 2008. One of his earlier novels (Hale, 1968) is shown immediately below:

      Cordley’s Castle. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1974. Add setting: Arizona.

PAVILLARD, STANLEY SEPTIMUS. 1913-1997. Add year of death. Born in the Canary Islands; founder and director of the British American Clinics Las Palmas, 1956-89. Captured by the Japanese in Singapore early in World War II; wrote of his experiences in Bamboo Doctor. After developing partial blindness in later life, dictated a novel also related to his captivity, a book included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Enemy No. 19. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Pentland Press, hc, 1997. Setting: Far East. “One is apt to forget there was also a Holocaust in the Far East as well as Europe.”

PAYNE, EVELYN. 1907-1977? Author of one mystery novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Held Open for Death. Arcadia House, hc, 1958. Add setting: El Paso TX. Leading character: fledgling real estate agent Tillie Latimer. [For a review of this book, see the previous post.]

PEARSON, JOHN. 1930- . Lives in London; author of two novelsl [FOOTNOTE] included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, plus one fictional “biography.” See below. This now constitutes the author’s completely revised CFIV entry:
      Delete: Dragon’s Play. [Stoddart, Canada, hc, 1987.] The book does not appear to exist.
      Add: Gone To Timbuctoo. Collins, UK, hc, 1962. Setting: Africa.
      James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007. Sidgwick & Jackson, UK, hc, 1973. Wm. Morrow, US, hc, 1973. SC: James Bond.

      The Kindness of Dr. Avicenna. Macmillan, UK, hc, 1982. Holt Rinehart & Winston, US, hc, 1982. Setting: Rome. [A Prince gets kidnapping insurance through Lloyd’s and soon disappears from his palazzo in Rome.]

PENDLETON, DON(ALD EUGENE). 1927-1995. As the creator of Mack Bolan, or “The Executioner” series, generally perceived as the father of the modern action-adventure novel. The first Bolan book was in 1969; after 1980 other authors took over the writing, but the books still appeared under Pendleton’s name.
      Death Squad. Vivid Comics, 1996. Graphic novel, with scripting by Pendleton’s widow, Linda Pendleton, 1942- , q.v. Art by Sandi Florea. [Note: Death Squad is the second “Executioner” novel; the first, War Against the Mafia, appeared earlier in a serialized comic book format: Parts One, Two and Three were adapted and scripted by Don Pendleton & Linda Pendleton, with art by Sandu Florea: Innovation Comics, 1993. Part Four did not appear after the publisher went out of business.]

PENDLETON, LINDA. 1942- . Add as a new author entry. See: Don(ald Eugene) Pendleton, 1927-1995.

[FOOTNOTE] 12-28-07. See Hank Reineke’s comment. This has prompted a complete overhauling of John Pearson’s entry. See this later post for more details.

EVELYN PAYNE – Held Open for Death

Arcadia House; hardcover; c. 1958.

   The author’s only mystery, nor is it one that’s particularly easy to find. There are two copies online that are both in the $30 range, and one other in Norway for $80 or so. I paid less than either asking price for mine, and – as long as you’re asking me my opinion – neither should you.

   It starts out promising enough, with a heroine sleuth with an unusual occupation for, um, a heroine sleuth: that of real estate agent. There certainly must have been others, before and since, but at the moment, none seem come to mind.    [FOOTNOTE.]

   Tillie Latimer is her name, the locale is El Paso, and truth be told, when the book begins, Tillie’s been a real estate agent for only a couple of weeks. Her first big assignment on her own: holding an open house for the home next door to her mother’s, where Tillie still lives.

   It proves to be a big success, so big that keeping track of incoming visitors proves impossible. This turns out to be a big problem when Granpa Tellfair, aged 89, and father of Miss Sadie, who owns the house, is later found dead in the basement, stabbed to death with a knife still in his back. Strangely enough, he also still has $1000 in his pocket. This is doubly strange. Since time he was once robbed, he never carried more than five dollars with him at a time.

   Tillie had met Granpa during the open house, and as it so happens, while he managed to maintain his well-deserved status as a curmudgeon in his short conversation with her, he was also one of the more likable people who happened to stop by. The question is, who’d kill an old man like this, and why?

   Going hand-in-hand with the mystery, there is also a strong romantic interest for Tillie in the person of Miss Sadie’s son Rick, the “town’s star juvenile delinquent for a few years,” now out of the Army and perhaps on his way to becoming a solid citizen. Nor is Rick the only one who is showing an interest in Tillie. Trying to place the book into its proper category, I am not sure whether the two or three more murders that occur qualify this detective yarn as a cozy or not, but if Agatha Christie’s books are cozies, then so is this one. And after thinking about it some more, I shall happily concede that it is, no matter what.

   I mentioned Agatha Christie. That was a rather unfortunate reference, now that I think about it. While the author is obviously very familiar with the ins and outs of the real estate business, she’s also in over her head in making sure that the story keeps on going in the direction she wants it to. The characters are fun at first, but their lack of depth soon begins to tell. Soon after the halfway point, the many loose strands of the plot get tangled, cluttered and confused, and seemingly beyond repair. In wrapping things up, the author makes it clear she had a goal worthy of the telling in mind. It is the getting there that is the problem.

   Everything that a good mystery should have is in this book. It’s just that the ingredients have been assembled – well, not badly, exactly, and I have not come up with a more positive way of saying this – but by an amateur, in a truest sense of the word. Without a stronger pro at the helm, to come to the point a little more quickly, this is little more than a “nice try” and/or a “might have been.”

[FOOTNOTE.] This is the review that was my springboard into creating a list of all the real estate agents who ever happened to become detectives as part of their occupational duties. Check it out here, a post made back in January of this year.