Pulp International - Mort+Engel

Jul 27 2023

Speak softly but carry a big gun.

Mort Engel art fronts this Avon edition of Frances and Richard Lockridge's Death Has a Small Voice, a book we were eager to read because of the promise of The Norths Meet Murder, the debut tale in the Mr. and Mrs. North series of which the above book is a part. That promise is not fully realized here. Perhaps it's our fault for not reading the series in order. Seventeen entries in, maybe the Lockridges were trying to shake up their formula a bit. But we don't have much control over which books in a series are obtainable for us. We buy what's out there. In this tale Pamela North is kidnapped in the first few pages, and because she's isolated, the story misses the entertaining dialogue she provided in the debut. That makes the “small voice” of the title ironic—it's supposed to refer to the whispering kidnapper, but it's Pamela whose voice is diminished.

But it's a readable book anyway, even with Pamela ruminating in the dark for multiple chapters. Basically, someone has murdered an author named Hilda Godwin after becoming aware that he's been negatively portrayed in the draft of her upcoming novel. Through circumstances we won't detail here, she manages to record her own attack and killing. The recording is mailed to Gerald North's literary agency and the killer is desperate to retrieve it before anyone hears it. But the recording falls into Pamela's hands, and when the killer comes for it she manages to hide it. So the killer kidnaps her, planning to make her reveal the hiding place.

These are treacherous circumstances, and anything less than a horrible ordeal for Pamela would be unrealistic, which is why it's a good plot move by the Lockridges to have her escape almost immediately. From that point she's lost in a forest, while her husband and the cops are trying to fit the puzzle pieces that might lead to her rescue. Since the Lockridges are good writers this all works fine, but because Pamela seems to us to be the main attraction of series (based on the mere two books we've now read), we had little choice but to come away a bit disappointed. But like we said, after a while authors will try new ideas. What we'll try is to find book two in the North series Murder Out of Turn at a reasonable price, international shipping included. If we do we'll report back.

Avon Publications Frances Lockridge Richard Lockridge Mort Engel cover art literature

Vintage Pulp

Sep 23 2014

You asked for a wake up call? I've got one you'll never forget.

Originally published in 1958 as Dead to the World, Stewart Sterling’s The Blonde in Suite 14 tells the story of a house detective (do those exist anymore?) who thinks two deaths in his hotel—the fictional Plaza Royale—are linked to a beautiful blonde guest. Sterling, who we talked about previously here, had already used house detective Gil Vine in five books and would feature him in two more. The hotel setting gave him a handy platform for introducing scenarios, and his detective character’s prime directive to protect the hotel’s reputation sets up a constant ethical dilemma—i.e., call the police and risk bad publicity, or just cover up the whole mess? Pretty good, but we can’t help but think it could have been spectacular in other hands. The very nice cover art here is by Mort Engel.

Avon Publications Stewart Sterling Mort Engel cover art literature