To Find Cora

In 1963, Harry Whittington sold a book titled “To Find Cora” to a sleaze publishing house after the novel had been rejected by Fawcett Gold Medal. The book was later released under the salacious title - “Cora Is A Nympho.” Three years later, the plot was slightly revised and re-sold as “Flesh Snare” by J.X. Williams published with a tawdry - and misleading -S&M cover.

In 2009, Stark House reprinted “To Find Cora” in a three-book compilation along with two other Whittington rarities and a fascinating introduction by David Laurence Wilson detailing Whittington’s foray in the 1960s porno book market. By today’s standards, the sex in “To Find Cora” is extremely tame, but it remains a damn fine noir novel that modern readers will no doubt enjoy.

“To Find Cora” is narrated by Joe who is searching for his estranged wife after she left him following a domestic dispute. We quickly learn that fights between Joe and Cora were not unusual occurrences, so nobody takes Joe seriously as he’s trying to find his bride following her disappearing act. The other issue is that Cora is quite a looker, and the working theory is that she’s found another man. This doesn’t dissuade Joe who is certain he can win Cora back if he can just speak to her for a few minutes.

Joe’s obsessive hunt for Cora brings him to a desolate Oklahoma farmhouse on a hot tip. Instead of Cora, Joe finds a young couple named Hall and Vy who are hiding out from the law. Vy is a lusty vixen fully disillusioned by her man while turning her eyes on Joe. Meanwhile, Hall is a savage paranoiac who won’t let Joe leave for fear that he’ll notify the police. As such, Joe finds himself taken prisoner in the couple’s farmhouse hideaway.

I can only imagine that readers looking for a cheap porno novel after purchasing “Cora Is A Nympho” or “Flesh Snare” were super confused as they were thrust into this suspenseful noir - almost horror - novel. Overall, “To Find Cora” is in the upper echelon of Whittington’s paperbacks. There’s a central mystery, a duplicitous and alluring femme fatale, a psychotic adversary, and an unstable tinderbox of violence waiting to explode. It’s both a hard novel to put down and an easy recommendation for you.

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Johnny Killain #02 - Killer with a Key

Dan J. Marlowe's fans will quickly point to 'Earl Drake' as the author's finest work. However, before creating that 60s-70s series, Marlowe had a five-book run of hotel detective novels starring protagonist 'Johnny Killain'. The first, “Doorway to Death”, released in 1957 via Avon, followed by this sequel, “Killer with a Key”, the same year. 

Killain's detective work runs parallel  with the night shift duties at Hotel Duarte, an older establishment in New York City. The series debut convinced readers that Killain is the real deal – a no nonsense, tough guy that worked for the pre-cursor of the CIA during WWII. So, when Killain's ex-wife, Ellen Saxon, is found murdered in his hotel...we know heads will roll.

The novel's narrative has Killain rescue his ex-wife from a hail of bullets. After physically ripping a car door handle off in the firefight, Killain manages to hide Ellen in a hotel suite. It's only a matter of time before Killain finds her strangled to death on the bed. The culprit points to Killain's friend and co-worker Vic, but Vic may be taking the heat for another party. 

What Marlowe perfected in the series debut was the interplay between hot-headed Killain and the NYPD. Here, it is duplicated in the same fashion with equally entertaining results. While Detective Cuneo runs afoul of Killain's private investigation, he needs Killain to do the dirty work his department won't allow. The narrative follows Killain's hardboiled trail as he navigates an underworld of insurance rackets. The murder puts him at odds with not only the police, but friends and allies that may be involved in running a fraudulent business out of the hotel. 

While not as action-packed as Marlowe's Earl Drake, this series more than makes up for it with the lovable cast of characters. The hotel's staff, including Killain's lover, enhances the story with familiar faces that plays like an episode of “Cheers”. The heart of this story and series is Johnny Killain – the smart, loud, fist-fighting man's man. And, as billed, Marlowe is exceptional. This one is a recommended read for crime novel enthusiasts.

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Pete Selby #8 - Case of the Laughing Virgin

“The Case of the Laughing Virgin” by Jonathan Craig (real name: Frank E. Smith) is the eighth mystery-adventure starring NYPD Detective Pete Selby and his partner, Stan Rayder. The paperback was originally released by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1960 with a cheeky, swinging cover and was re-released in April 1974 by Belmont Tower as #6 in the “Sixth Precinct” series with a decidedly more menacing illustration.

There’s really no reason to tie yourself into knots trying to reading the series sequentially - particularly since the 1970s publisher couldn’t figure out the proper order anyway. This short installment begins with Selby (our narrator) and Rayder pulling a hysterical naked girl down from the roof of a Greenwich Village brownstone - only to discover her dead lover inside the apartment with three bullet holes in his chest. Did the naked lady plug her boyfriend? Sometimes in life it’s that easy but rarely in crime fiction.

Selby and Rayder logically put the pieces of what unfolded at the apartment together to generate logical leads in the case. It’s a pure police procedural and the paperback follows the course of the investigation with a brisk pace that is seldom boring. Also, sex is humming in the background of nearly every scene but no one seems to get laid here.

Over the course of 160 pages, the author does a great job of making 1960 New York City come alive, particularly when the investigation leads the police into the world of underground stag film production and sex clubs. Moreover, the interplay between the two police partners is pure gold. The problem is that this novel isn’t particularly exciting. It’s a serviceable police procedural where Selby and Rayder go from interview to interview running down logical leads. There was really nothing to grab the reader in a story about two honest cops doing their jobs very well.

I’m not giving up on this series. I regard Jonathan Craig as an unsung master of crime fiction, and I know he can do better. If you dive into the Pete Selby Sixth Precinct series, start with a different installment. For me, this one failed to deliver.

We have a Jonathan Craig feature on our third episode of the Paperback Warrior Podcast.

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Utah Blaine

“Utah Blaine” is a 1954 western by genre heavyweight Louis L'Amour. It was originally released as part of an Ace double under the pseudonym Jim Mayo (the second book was “Desert Showdown” by Samuel A. Peeples as Brad Ward). In 1957, the novel was adapted for the silver screen by director Fred F. Sears and starred Rory Calhoun. 

The book, set in Arizona's Verde River Valley, introduces us to protagonist Utah Blaine in heroic fashion. Blaine, unarmed, listens closely as a vigilante army strings up rancher Joe Neal. Seemingly dead at the end of a noose, Blaine rescues Neal and learns he owns a large cattle outfit named The 46. After hiring a vigilant army to prevent cattle rustling, the valley's ranchers soon found the tables had turned – the army, greedy and chomping at the bit, selfishly wants the ranches. Blaine's reputation of slick gunfighter appeals to Neal, so the two come to an agreement to have Blaine run the 46 and fight Neal's battles for him. There's a large monetary reward and a head of 500 cattle if Blaine can get the job done.

This is traditional L'Amour at his finest. At a brisk 164-pages, the novel is absolutely loaded with gunfights. In what seems like a “Game of Thrones” chessboard of ranches, Blaine shakes out a dozen or more characters, each with their own agendas, skill-sets and history. It's these characters that each represent alliances and historical feuds involving money, land and...shockingly...even pretty women. While often I had to keep a scorecard on the dead and still-living, this book was  an exhilarating read. L'Amour's silver star shines bright with “Utah Blaine”. 

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One for Hell

Jada M. Davis (1919-1996) was a newspaperman in West Texas who saw plenty of crime and corruption in his day coinciding with the oil boom that transformed the character of sleepy small towns unprepared for rapid growth. His unique vantage point over the underbelly of society clearly sparked his imagination for the 1952 Fawcett Red Seal crime novel, “One For Hell.” The paperback was reprinted by Stark House in 2010 and remains available today as a trade paperback and eBook at reasonable prices.

The novel’s protagonist is Willa Ree, like the author, a man with a feminine-sounding name. He’s a flat-broke drifter and ex-con who bails out of a freight train in search of sustenance in the oil boomtown of Breton. Upon arrival, Ree meets a corrupt local city councilman who arranges for Ree to be hired by the local police force as a plain clothes detective with the understanding that Ree will keep the graft money flowing in the right direction.

Ree embraces the lifestyle of a crooked cop with real gusto, and the reader quickly realizes that he is a genuinely bad guy - not a charming antihero but a complete heel driven by greed and ambition. Ree’s government-sanctioned crime spree is plenty entertaining and involves a fair share of shocking, bloody violence that keeps the pages turning. So be warned: he’s a reprehensible guy and does some awful things within the pages of this paperback.

The novel’s main flaw is that there’s hardly anyone to root for among the graft-addicted politicians and crooked cops running the town. The fairly large supporting cast - as well as their wives and mistresses - are a loathsome bunch prone to bashing in each other’s heads when they interfere with each other. Can Ree rise to the top in such a filthy environment? Moreover, should we even be rooting for this guy?

“One from Hell” reminded me of the 1983 Al Pacino movie “Scarface” in that both stories track the rise of a sociopaths through the twists and turns of burning criminal ambitions. The Jada Davis paperback isn’t a crime-fiction masterpiece - the plot meanders too much for that - but it is a compelling and violent character study that is definitely worth checking out. Recommended.

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The Late Mrs. Five

Richard Wormser (1908-1977) was a prolific pulp fiction writer, penning 17 'Nick Carter' adventures for Street & Smith before releasing a novel under his own name - “The Man with the Wax Face” (1934). Along with writing TV adaptations and screenplays, Wormser wrote over 20 crime and western novels. In 2017, Stark House released two of Wormser's classics as a double reprinting - “The Body Looks Familiar” (1958) and “The Late Mrs. Five” (1960). Both are prefaced with an introduction by esteemed Texas writer Bill Crider, one of the last things the author wrote before his death in February of 2018. 

“The Late Mrs. Five” is my first introduction to Richard Wormser. The book is a superb example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When we first meet protagonist Paul Porter, it's on a lonely stretch of mid-west flattop. Porter, a divorcee, is making the territory pitches as a factory rep for terracers (like a farm plow). In the small farming town of Lowndesburg, Porter stops to check on a display model of the terracer and to talk shop with a client, Mr. Gray.

Upon his arrival he learns that Mr. Gray has gifted his retail business to his son-in-lawn, town sheriff Otto McLane. After a quick inspection, McLane encourages Porter to talk with the wealthy businessman John Hilliard. In route, Porter shockingly spots his estranged ex-wife on main street. Up until this point Porter has no idea of her whereabouts...and very little interest after a bitter divorce that's robbed him of his life savings. After the surprise discovery, Porter continues to Hilliard's residence only to find it vacant.

Later that night, Sheriff McLane arrests Porter for killing his ex-wife! Coincidentally, she had remarried Hilliard and was murdered the same date as Porter's visit to the home. McLane puts the finger to Porter despite a solid alibi. Aligning with McLane's daughter, Porter is forced to run in a frantic attempt to solve the murder. As the pace quickens, the cast of characters are examined by Porter and the reader as the whodunit mystery races to an exhilarating reveal. 

Wormser blends a familiar prose – innocent man accused of murder – with small town charm. This hybrid of “Our Town” crossed with “Perry Mason” works brilliantly despite its shortcomings. We've read it before, but Wormser is an entertaining story-teller and works wonders with this elementary plot. The addition of shyster attorney Henry Lighton smooths out the morbid aspect of murder into a humorous subtext on the legal system's backward motions (paralleling present day). “The Late Mrs. Five” is highly recommended for someone just wanting a classic whodunit that isn't affixed to the names Gardner and Christie.

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Classification Homicide

In February 1955, “Classification: Homicide” began its publication history as the first of Jonathan Craig’s ‘Police File’ stories featured in Manhunt magazine. In 2016, the story was repackaged for the first time in paperback by Armchair Fiction as the B-Side of a double along with Dexter St. Clare’s “Saratoga Mantrap.” In it’s trade paperback incarnation, Craig’s “full novel” weighs in at 76-pages for a quick, breezy, and enjoyable read.

Before the review, some historical context:

In the 1950s, “Manhunt” magazine was the premier digest for hardboiled crime and mystery stories. For 35 cents, a reader would get a full novel (really a novella by today’s standards) and a handful of short stories by America’s top genre writers. It was quite a bargain and provided a ton of quality reading each month for a nice price. Because of Manhunt’s important place in America’s literary history, copies of the magazine are scarce today and worth a small fortune to collectors.

Jonathan Craig (real name: Frank E. Smith) wrote a series of seven short novels and short stories that were published in Manhunt between February 1955 and January 1956 tagged as the ‘Police File’ series. My theory is that the ‘Police File’ stories served as a literary precursor to Craig’s ‘Pete Selby & Stan Rayder’ police procedurals originally published by Fawcett Gold Medal starting in November 1955 and later repackaged by Belmont Tower in the 1970s as the ‘Sixth Precinct’ series - likely to capitalize on the success of Ed McBain’s bestselling ‘87th Precinct’ books.

And now the book review:

NYPD 20th Precinct detectives Steve Manning and his partner are called upon to investigate the stabbing death of a young woman whose body is discovered on the roof of a nine-story building on 69th Street. Manning is our narrator, and he follows all the logical steps one would expect to identify the victim and further learn what occurred.

Through canvassing neighbors in the apartment building, Manning learns that the deceased was a resident of the building and struggling fashion model and that she used to date a guy down the hall. In fact, her ex is the one who found her on the roof. A suspect, perhaps? Now we’re getting somewhere! Unfortunately, it’s never that easy.

The police procedural storytelling approach employed by the author owes a lot to the “Dragnet” TV show which premiered four years earlier in 1951. It’s an emotionless style driven by proven investigative methodology and professionalism rather than the overwrought emotionalism popular today. There’s none of this “I’m trying to stay objective, Sarge, but I just care too damn much!” bullshit in a ‘Police File’ story. Realism is the selling point.

That's not to say that Manning is without personality. In his narration, he takes the time to provide the reader with tips about best practices, conventional wisdom, and generalities about what cops know that seem credible, reasonable, and helpful to a lay reader. He also shows real compassion to witnesses and suspects who’ve gotten tough breaks in life.

The mystery takes us through the medical examiner’s conclusions, the lab team’s processing of the crime scene, and interviews of witnesses and suspects. But because this was a 1950s story, all this is done with a keen efficiency, and the reader never has time to get bored or mired in the minutiae of forensic details. “Classification: Homicide” moves forward without unnecessary diversions, and the mystery’s solution springs solely from the narrator’s own wits.

It’s not an action novel, though - it’s a straight-up mystery with clues, suspects, and lucky breaks. The cops and suspects were all great characters, and the solution at the end is satisfying and unambiguous. There was really nothing not to like about this well-written little mystery. In fact, I’m excited to one day read the other stories in this series. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done.

Further Reading:

It seems that “Classification: Homicide” is the only ‘Police File’ story to be converted to paperback as of this writing. Nevertheless, here are the ‘Police File’ stories in order, and the months they appeared in Manhunt:

“Classification:Homicide” - February 1955

“The Punisher” - March 1955

“The Babystiier” - July 1955

“Cast Off” - September 1955

“The Spoilers” - October 1955

“The Man Between” - November 1955

“The Cheater” - January 1956

Without spending a mint on old copies of Manhunt, it’s unlikely that I’ll ever get to read about the further adventures of Detective Manning and his crew. I’m really hoping that some enterprising eBook entrepreneur will rescue these orphaned works from the dustbin of history and release them all in one, affordable volume. If that happens, they can count me in as a customer.

Jonathan Craig and the Police File series is on the third episode of the Paperback Warrior Podcast.

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