Reading mid-century crime and adventure novels has been a great journey for us. We can imagine those who’ve already read them smiling (or smirking) as we discuss the books as revelations. “These pulp guys. *eye roll* ’Bout seventy years late with their stunning insights.” But that’s the way it goes—you have to start sometime. Over the years we’ve gone from novice to slightly-less-novice in this realm.
We say all that because, though Hillary Waugh is a well-known novelist, up to this week we’d read only one of his books—1960’s The Girl Who Cried Wolf. It’s a personality-driven, occasionally cute tale, about a tough P.I. and the collegiate client who has a massive crush on him. The book is pretty much a total success. There was no logical reason for us think that single effort defined Waugh’s style, but experience has shown that a good novel tends to sit in the sweet spot of an author, and they hit those notes again and again.
Imagine our surprise, then, when we read the 1954 paperback Last Seen Wearing and discovered that it’s a stark police procedural allegedly inspired by the true 1946 disappearance of 18-year-old Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden. What Waugh produced—and had originally published in 1952—is basically impossible to put down. If you like police procedurals, read this one. Waugh wows. Also wow is the cover art on the 1960 Great Pan edition. It’s by Danish artist Hans Helweg.
