Above, the cover of Sin Mill, by Robert M. Duffy, for Vega Books, copyright 1967. The art, which is by Bill Edwards, suggests far more than what happens in the story. While the main character Lucy does go into the Three Nickels brothel to use the phone—wearing a full winter outfit, not a coat over a nightie—and is mistaken by a naked customer for a prostitute before sprinting from the place, Sin Mill isn't really the sleaze novel it appears to be. Duffy wrote this with serious intent, a mostly uninspired examination of a poor country girl's attempt to get through college and into a better life. If there's one thing we hate it's false billing. When you sign up for a sleaze novel you should get a sleaze novel.

Our American vacation continues as we leave Denver behind and head to San Francisco. In the meantime here’s a random sleaze paperback we spotted yesterday, a little something from Vega Books called All for One. Author Arnold Marmor worked during the ’50s and ’60s, producing titles such as Boudoir Treachery, Abnormal Desire, and Lust Lodge. He also wrote a couple of books in the Nick Carter series. This particular effort, with its voyeur-themed cover art by unknown, appeared in 1962.

Satan in Malibu came from Vega Books via the brain and typewriter of Frank Cannon, and it deals with a man who tries to solve his brother's murder. He learns of the death when a telegram arrives, but is the woman who sent it to him really trying to help, or is there more to her story? The hero's investigation takes him to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California, and when he gets there he runs across a band of satanists who may have done the killing.

We last ran across Frank Cannon when we shared a cover for his 1964 effort Hide in Hell. The hell in that book was figurative. The hell in Satan in Malibu is a slightly less so, since the villains actually believe in it, but the reason for the murder is rooted firmly in the mundane world. We don't know who painted the cover art, but for Vega Books it's not bad. The copyright on this is 1961. 

Bill Edwards' profile as a paperback illustrator has risen considerably in recent years. Like others who painted for sleaze imprints, it is not so much his technical ability that has garnered the attention, but rather the subject matter and a strong style. Edwards is a guy whose work you can identify in a millisecond. His women almost always have sharp cheekbones, ski jump noses, and a prominent beauty mark. The cover above for Rick Rand's New Girl in Town shows you all three elements up close. Edwards was also prolific like few other painters, which makes finding his work easy. Below are many more illustrations, some for novels with subject matter well beyond the pale, and we have other Edwards pieces populating Pulp Intl., for example here, here, and here.

Twice a Fool was published by Vega Books, above, and by Fabian Books, a version that was identical in every way except the company logo. That's because both Fabian and Vega, along with Saber Books, were owned by Sanford Aday, as we've mentioned before. Bunny Strand was in reality sleaze author Bernie Strahn, who also wrote such highbrow classics as Reaching High, The Bedroom Imposter, and Sex Party: The Rape of Lori Grant. Info on him is scarce, but we'll keep digging. Twice a Fool is copyright 1960 with uncredited cover art. 

Above, the cover of Stella Gray's lez sleaze classic The Naked Archer, for Vega Books, 1966. We haven't read this one—it sells for way too much money. But the cover blurb gives the gist, and typically, because the readers were mostly male, lesbians in these books didn't stay lesbian for long, so we're pretty sure we know how this one goes. The art is by the underrated Bill Edwards. 

We love Vega Books. Nearly everything they released was patently terrible, but the cover art was sometimes quite funny. You can thank Bill Edwards for that. 1961 on this. 

Above, a Vega Books front for Frank Cannon’s Hide in Hell, with art of a fugitive and his female companion, who’s probably wondering why they can’t hide in the Bahamas or Bali. Cannon, by the way, also wrote Satan in Malibu, so apparently even the Prince of Darkness didn’t like spending time in Hell. 1964 on this, with uncredited art (but it's Bill Edwards).

We haven’t read this book, so we don’t know what’s in the suitcase, but clearly it’s not a product many people want. Whizzinator anyone? Automatic banana peeler? Mary Fletcher was almost certainly a pen name, but one that was used perhaps only for this effort, so we can’t tell you who the author really was. But we can tell you we think this is Bill Edwards’ cover art. He painted many of Vega’s covers, and this looks very much like his work. You can compare for yourself by looking at an Edwards collection here.