Tue 30 Jun 2026
Archived Review: J. HARVEY BOND – Murder Isn’t Funny.
Posted by Steve under Uncategorized[8] Comments
J. HARVEY BOND – Murder Isn’t Funny. Mike Lanson #3. Ace Double D-301, paperback original, 1959. Published back-to-back with The Deadly Combo, by John Farr (to be reviewed here on this blog soon).
J. Harvey Bond was the pen name of Russ Winterbotham (1904-1971), who was probably better known as a writer of science fiction, both novels and short stories, starting as far back as 1935 and “The Star That Would Not Behave” as R. R. Winterbotham in the August issue of Astounding SF for that year.
All of Winterbotham’s detective novels were written as by J. Harvey Bond, and all four were mysteries tackled by a newspaper reporter by the name of Mike Lanson. Murder Isn’t Funny is the second of the four.
Thus were the opening three paragraphs of my review of Kill Me with Kindness , which was the third of the four. You can find it reviewed here. What follows is the original review I wrote for Murder Isn’t Funny.
Newspaper reporter Mike Lanson gets involved with murder again – he was the hero of all four of Bond’s ,mystery novels — this time of the artist-creator of the “Dream Man” comic strip. It’s science fiction, high adventure stuff, and it sounds pretty bad.
And so’s the book. But maybe it’s not all the author’s fault, What it reads like is like watching a movie edited for TV, with chunks cut out here and there to make it fit the time slot. When Lanson breaks the killer’s alibi, I didn’t even know he/she had one.
July 1st, 2026 at 7:48 am
Sad to say, but the only work of Winterbotham’s I remember reading was Big Little Book about Captain Midnight and the Franklin Hadley novel PLANET BIG ZERO, both of which in a rational world should have been forgettable, but for some season still rattle about in my brain.
My brain also categorizes Winterbotham with such other writers as Robert Moore Williams, Stuart Byrne, J. Hunter Holly, and Raymond A. Palmer — something that I am sure is grossly unfair to all of these writers. Concerning his science fiction, John Clute said that none of Winterbotham’s work passed the routine, but none were incompetent; I suspect that holds true to his other writing
July 1st, 2026 at 12:19 pm
I read many books and stories, back in the day, by authors such as “Robert Moore Williams, Stuart Byrne, J. Hunter Holly, and Raymond A. Palmer” before realizing (or being told) that they are minor writers in the overall scheme of things. They are, of course, but I enjoyed them anyway. Not always, but sometimes.
July 1st, 2026 at 9:50 am
I wish I’d bought more non-SF ACE Doubles. I was pretty much focused on Science Fiction in the 1960s and ignored the crime and Westerns in the ACE Double series. They used to be plentiful in used book stores and Thrift stories…but not any more.
July 1st, 2026 at 12:26 pm
I was buying Ace Doubles back in the 60s also, the SF ones of course, and the Westerns (I’m not sure why, since what I don’t remember is actually reading them), but like you I never bought the mysteries. Not until I found boxes of them in a used book store on the early 70s and stocking up on them, all at once. I even ran out of money at the time, but the store owner took pity on me and allowed me to take them all. A wonderful day!
July 3rd, 2026 at 8:31 pm
Steve, I love stories like that! I’ve had my share of sympathetic used book store owners who have helped me build the Kelley Collection over the years. Book people and Librarians are the best!
July 4th, 2026 at 11:39 am
Double down on that, George!
July 3rd, 2026 at 10:53 pm
It is amazing how many writers take acceptable plots, detectives, and over all setups and never get around to the mystery. Everything else, but no murder.
This plot has been used much better by the likes of Richard Lupoff, Max Allan Collins, and Ron Goulart among others.
July 4th, 2026 at 11:43 am
It’s a small niche in the annals of detective fiction, but when done right, wit’s a good one. I even wish I still had this book. I’m willing to try again!