Mon 18 Oct 2021
An Archived Mystery Review by Barry Gardner: RICHARD A. LUPOFF – The Cover Girl Killer.
Posted by Steve under Collecting , Reviews[4] Comments
RICHARD A. LUPOFF – The Cover Girl Killer. Hobart Lindsey #5. St. Martin’s, hardcover, 1995. Apparently no contemporaneous paperback edition (!).
I quit this series after the first, The Comic Book Killer, because I thought the lead was a wimp, but someone told me that I ought to read this one for reasons [you’ll see below], so I did.
Ace insurance investigator Hobart Lindsey is searching for the model who was the subject of a cover painting for a rare and obscure paperback published in the late 1940s. A tycoon had died in a suspicious helicopter crash, leaving millions either to the unknown model (if she can be found) or to a foundation for indigent artists.
Hobart finds himself plunged into the world of paperback collectors, while his lover, police Sergeant Marva Plum, struggles with the suspected murder. A personal nemesis from his first case reappears, adding danger and angst.
Well, I think you may recognize a paperback collector even before his real-life inspiration is named in the afterword. He has something of a regal air about him. This still isn’t going to be one of my favorite series, but it has definitely improved, and I enjoyed it because of the background. Lindsey isn’t quite as much of a wimp as he was, at least. There’s a nice intro by Bill Pronzini, too.
Required reading [for everyone reading this].
The Lindsey and Plum series —
1. The Comic Book Killer (1988)
2. The Classic Car Killer (1992)
3. The Sepia Siren Killer (1994)
4. The Bessie Blue Killer (1994)
5. The Cover Girl Killer (1995)
6. The Silver Chariot Killer (1996)
7. The Radio Red Killer (1997)
8. The Tinpan Tiger Killer (1998)
9. One Murder At A Time (2001)
10. The Emerald Cat Killer (2010)
October 18th, 2021 at 7:11 pm
Missed this one. Like Barry the first one put me off despite my liking Lupoff’s books. Guess I should have dipped my toes in again. Luckily it’s never too late.
October 18th, 2021 at 10:50 pm
That makes three of us. I read the first one, thought it was OK, but haven’t yet gone on to read any of the others.
Here’s my review of that one:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=57236
Quoting: “…I did not find Hobart Lindsey a very engaging protagonist. In the first few chapters especially I found him both callow and not particularly likeable.”
We all agree on that!
October 19th, 2021 at 9:49 am
Add me to the list of those who never got past the first book. Someone must have liked this series, though. Anyone out there?
October 19th, 2021 at 10:42 am
Focused as the series was on various types of Collectibles, a concept that I think all of us know something about, you’d think more people might have spoken up more positively by now, and as you see, so far they haven’t.
But Barry’s review suggests that by this, the fifth one, the series had improved. I’ll see if I can’t find a copy of this one and give it a try myself.