Sun 26 Feb 2012
CARTER BROWN – The Stripper. Signet S1981, paperback original, 1st printing, August 1961.
She’s billed as Deadpan Delores, the girl who says it all from the neck down. Yes, indeed, she could easily provoke an interesting evening of intimate conversation. Lieutenant Al Wheeler unfortunately has a one-track mind and wants only to read between the lines.
What it’s about, if it matters, is a suspicious suicide, a lonely-hearts club and a strip joint. It’d be unworthy of anyone to compare Wheeler’s activities to anything resembling actual police procedure, but if you like your detective fiction filled with incessant wisecracks and incredibly sexy dames, The Stripper might serve to soothe that ache in the mushy part of your mind. (Rating: C)
NOTE: Geoff Bradley has reviewed both the book and the musical comedy based on it on this blog. (Follow the links.)
February 28th, 2012 at 8:46 am
I enjoyed Carter Brown, in particular those with Al Wheeler and his repartee with Sheriff Lavers and Annabelle Jackson.
Wonder if the Saint’s sometime sidekick Hoppy Uniatz was the inspiration for Sergeant Polnik?
February 28th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
The thick-headed sidekick kind of guy? You may be on to something there, but dopey sidekicks seem to have been around for a long time. I always wondered how The Saint could put up with the dim-witted Hoppy Uniatz, who never helped any plans run the way they should, as far as I could see.
In his review of THE STRIPPER, the musical comedy, Geoff Bradley said “Sergeant Polnik is unfortunately relegated to a walk-on part…”
Browsing around on the Internet the other day, I came across this site, which includes mp3 links to all of the songs and a complete synopsis of the show:
http://www.rockymusic.org/album/stripper.php
In particular “Deadpan Delores”: http://www.rockymusic.org/mp3/rob/stripper-02.mp3 and “The Strip” http://www.rockymusic.org/mp3/rob/stripper-06.mp3
My kind of music!
March 2nd, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Thanks for that link, Steve. I’d have loved to have caught the show!