Paperback Warrior Primer - Doctor Death

The Doctor Death pulp character has a rather strange history. The first incarnation was in the pages of All Detective Magazine where the dastardly Doctor Death appeared in July through October of 1934 and again in January 1935. In these novels, the nemesis is Nibs Holloway, but that character actually debuted a year prior in the pages of Rapid-Fire Detective Stories. The 1934/1935 Doctor Death stories were authored by Edward P. Norris, although that could have been a pseudonym. No one really knows. After the January 1935 story, things change for the character.

All Detective Magazine folded with the January 1935 issue and that was the end of that particular version of Doctor Death. Then, February 1935 sees the shocking launch of Doctor Death Magazine with Norris replaced by prolific writer Harold Ward (using the bizarre pseudonym Zorro) and nemesis Nibs Holloway replaced by detective Jimmy Holm. This new version of Doctor Death debuts in the novel “12 Must Die”, the lead for the first issue. Then comes “The Gray Creatures” for the next issue followed by “The Shriveling Murders” for the very last issue of the magazine in April. That's it, February, March, April of 1935 – three total issues. Weird, right?

Thankfully, fans of the pulp got two additional novels that weren't originally published in the magazine - “Waves of Madness” and “The Red Mist of Murder”. These appeared in the 1980s in Nemesis Incorporated and Pulp Vault. Note that a publisher called Pulp Classics also reprinted at least one of the Doctor Death Magazine issues in 1979.

In 1966, a paperback publisher called Corinth Regency reprinted the three Doctor Death Magazine novels as paperbacks with amazing artwork by Robert Bonfils. These books were titled the same as the novels – 12 Must Die (CR118), The Gray Creatues (CR121), and The Shriveling Murders (CR125). But, the publisher also threw a fourth book in there titled Stories from Doctor Death and Other Terror Tales (CR129) which included the various shorts that were included in the three issues of the magazine.

In July, 2008 the Altus Press reprinted the Spring 1956 issue of Triple Detective Magazine. This issue featured a novel titled "Doctor Death Returns". It was authored by Steve Mitchell using the pseudonym Son of Zorro (clever). This same issue had also been reprinted in 2002 as Double Danger Tales #56.

But, wait..there's more. In 2009 Altus Press (now part of Steeger Books) published Doctor Death Vs The Secret Twelve Volume 1 which includes the three novels from Doctor Death Magazine with an awesome introduction by Will Murray. The same publisher released Doctor Death Vs The Secret Twelve Volume 2 which featured the two novels that were published in the 80s by Nemesis Incorporated and Pulp Vault. Then, there is also a combination of both volumes in one larger collection called The Complete Exploits of Doctor Death. In that edition there is also a treatment for an original comic strip that Harold Lamb had pitched.

What's Doctor Death all about? The backstory for the Doctor Death Magazine version of the character is that he is really a scientist named Rance Mandarin. He earned his education at Yale and became a Dean of Psychology there. But, somewhere along the way Rancine loses his mind and gets the notion that he himself is more superior to Albert Einstein. With his superior mental prowess he incorporates a fanatical religious crusade into an apocalyptic plan. As a mission from God – he claims – he will work to eliminate all of his contemporaries and completely destroy modern civilization. By returning Earth back to the Dark Age humanity can grow and evolve in different ways under his leadership.

To combat Doctor Death's attempts to destroy Earth with things like death rays and zombie armies the President of the United States forms a Secret Twelve committee made up of leading scientists, government leaders, and even the Mob boss. But, there are law-enforcement agents that do all of the heavy lifting.

Policeman Jimmy Holm is Doctor Death's main foe, an iron-fisted hero that reports to Inspector Ricks, a “policeman of the old school and head of the greatest body of manhunters in the world”. Holm is also engaged to Doctor Death's niece and former assistant Nina Fererra. There is also a psychic thrown in the mix named Elise Lando and the wealthiest man in America, Secretary Hallenberg.

If you are familiar with the “clearly good guy” versus the “clearly bad guy” then this pulp really isn't much different. It resembles many of the other villain-led pulps and stories of the time like Fu-Manchu. The Doctor Death novels are over-the-top and wildly entertaining if you simply suspend disbelief – which is the obligatory stance for reading any pulp material. You should know that if you've read this far. How does it rank with the pulp giants of the time? I'd say middle of the pack. There's nothing spectacular here, but nothing completely disposable. It serves the purpose of escaping our hectic troubled modern world and takes us back to more innocent times. Who can ask for anything more?

Murder's Old Maid

Donald Bayne Hobart (1898-1970) began his writing career in the pulps. He authored shorts for magazines like Popular Detective, Texas Rangers, Masked Rider Western, and The Phantom Detective. He also wrote filler stories for the mid-20th century comics like Thrilling Comics, The Black Terror, and Exciting Comics. He used pseudonyms like Lew Martin, Hobart Donbayne, Bayne Hobart and also house names like Jackson Cole. There is an excellent write-up on the author HERE. Anxious to read more Hobart, I found an online copy of Famous Detective's October 1956 issue which features his novel Murder's Old Maids. 

This sinister mystery stars Mark Creston, a doctor visiting an old-fashioned country hotel in New England in late September. Due to the tourist population's decrease, the hotel is nearly empty aside from a handful of characters. Creston is there to meet his wife Martha in hopes of repairing their strained marriage. The two have been separated for some time and Creston feels that Martha may have moved on to another lover.

Upon Creston's arrival things begin to unravel at a frantic pace. First, a man that Martha was boating with has died from a gunshot. Next, Creston discovers that the gun used in the murder has been deposited in a drawer in his guest room. The sickly hotel owner dies the night of Creston's arrival and a woman named Fern accuses Creston of physically mauling her in the nearby forest. Creston, dumbstruck by the insanity of the evening, begins to question three mysterious elderly women that live at the hotel.

Eventually the story enters the locked room mystery formula as Creston, the hotel's bellboy, and the county's Chief of Police begin a comprehensive investigation into the night's festivities and the short list of suspects. Who is behind the murders and why? Could Creston's wife be on a murderous rampage? The fascination is the obligatory unveiling of crime and motive, but the journey to get there is the real satisfaction. 

Creston is a likable character thrust into some really hard decisions that ultimately propel the narrative and central mystery. The writing is done in a way that the reader feels like a guest in the old hotel. The late summer season sets up a unique atmosphere that provides a gloomy isolation for the survivors. 

Needless to say these sort of Clue murder mysteries appear in hundreds of 20th century magazines and novels. What sets them apart is the originality of the story and the writer's prose. Hobart was a prolific author for a reason – he had a knack for the murder mystery no matter what genre he was writing. Murder's Old Maid is a terrific novel that buzzes with energy and showcases Hobart's ability to spin a gripping mystery.

You can read the novel online HERE or by streaming it below.

Dan Fortune #01 - Act of Fear

Dennis Lynds (1924-2005) was born in St. Louis, grew up in New York, and later earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service during WWII. He became a full-time author in 1965 and wrote 80ish novels and hundreds of shorts. Using the pseudonym Michael Collins, Lynds created one of the most popular modern literary detectives, Dan Fortune. 

The Dan Fortune series began in 1967 with the novel Act of Fear, a work that earned Lynds the 1968 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The character's success led to 18 more installments until 1995. The background provided in the series debut is that Fortune's original name was Daniel Tadeusz Fortunowski of Polish-Lithuanian ancestry. His family's last name was shortened. Fortune, a 5'-10” 160-pounder, grew up in the Chelsea district of New York City and his father was a cop. Fortune would later live in places like London, Paris, Amsterdam, San Francisco, and Tokyo. He's worked as a seaman, waiter, tourist guide, farmhand, private cop, actor, and newspaperman. His best friend is bartender Joe Harris, a relationship that Fortune has kept since childhood. He also has a steady girlfriend, a showgirl named Marty.

When Fortune was a kid he straddled the line of criminality. With the help of Harris, Fortune tried looting a ship's hold but fell and broke his left arm. The appendage was shattered in so many places that the surgeons, working under a sense of urgency, had to amputate. Thankfully, Fortune is a really smart private-eye that is right-hand dominant. He isn't a knock'em sock'em type of hero, instead the author focuses more on Fortune's mental fortitude in solving challenging crimes.

In Act of Fear, Fortune is approached by a young man named Pete to find his buddy Jo-Jo, who has only been missing a day or so. Pete states that Jo-Jo would never leave their employer, an old garage specializing in fixing up cars and motorcycles, and that Jo-Jo was just obsessed with engines. No drugs, no girlfriends, no trouble. Fortune takes a mere $50 to help the kid out. 

As Fortune digs into the possible whereabouts of Jo-Jo he begins to suspect that Jo-Jo is on the run from a variety of likely suspects. The first clues may be two girls that were chasing after Jo-Jo. The other option is something related to a cop being mugged and his summons book, gun, and wallet all taken. But, there is also a local kingpin named Andy that Fortune ran around with as a kid. As the case changes from cloudy to clear, the investigation pushes Fortune into the backgrounds of two dead women. Oddly, Jo-Jo's family of fierce and proud Norwegians seem to hold the secret.

Fortune is extremely likable and I love the fact that Lynds doesn't incorporate some of the more stereotypical private-eye stuff from the mid 20th century – overly glib, heavy on satire, sarcastic dialogue from the hero, and the romancing of every damsel in distress. Fortune is a vulnerable hero who can't engage in too many fisticuffs with the bad guys. It also is a unique premise that Fortune already has a girl. These things are fresh ingredients for a late 1960s gumshoe novel. 

The lone stereotype I did enjoy was the “police pal”. Every private-eye has one. The law-enforcement officer that allows the detective a long leash to dig into cases and gain inside clues from the precinct house. Fortune has Captain Gazzo, an elderly veteran cop that likes and respects Fortune. Their chemistry together is something really special and often humorous. 

Act of Fear was an entertaining read that is well-equipped for the smarter PI audience. Brains over brawn is such a clique but it certainly describes this detective quite well. I loved Dan Fortune and I'm excited to wade into this series. 

Buy a copy of the book HERE  

Pleasure Ground

Orrie Hitt (1916-1975) was an Upstate New York author of sleaze paperbacks who made a living writing a lot of books very quickly. The upshot is that he became a very good author and often incorporated crime and noir among his PG-13 sex scenes. Pleasure Ground was a 1961 Kozy Book that has been reprinted as a Kindle release by Fiction Hunters Press. 

Our narrator is a 6’6” human giant named Bert Forbes, and he’s new in town looking for a fresh start as a farm worker after learning that his beloved wife was faithless and gave birth to another man’s child. After spending a year as a drifter, Bert lands a gig on Flint Collins’ farm. Old Man Collins is 50 and just met a much-younger woman on a cattle-buying trip and married her immediately. She will be arriving to the farm soon on a bus and the farmhands have been warned to keep their distance. 

With that set-up, the novel pretty much writes itself thereafter. Bert meets a beautiful, stacked girl at a community dance, and she lives next door to the Collins Ranch and refuses to sell her land. Bert sees her naked in the woodsy swimming pond adjacent to the farm (as depicted on the cover), and the two develop a sweet interest in one another. Meanwhile, the new Mrs. Collins arrives and her breasts are even bigger and more voluptuous than the reader anticipated. How can Bert resist?

The new lady of the house seems to have the hots for our hero, Bert. His boss is a dick (who gets worse as the novel progresses), so Bert isn’t too worried about the ethical dilemma. He just wants to get paid without becoming the victim of workplace violence. There are other women in his orbit and the horny farmhands make it quite a compelling little soap opera. There’s plenty of off-page sex as well. 

Hitt’s presentation of the lives of these broke-ass farm people felt like the author was channeling the down-and-out urban blight of his literary contemporary, David Goodis. Both writers did a fantastic job of portraying society’s losers and the circumstances that drive them into self-destructive behavior and criminality. 

There’s nothing in this paperback that you won’t see coming, but Hitt does an admirable job of making it compelling nonetheless. The violent crime that encompasses the novel’s non-sexual climax is well-developed and earned through careful character development. 

Hitt was the best at this type of book from the soft-core sleaze paperback era, and Pleasure Ground is one of his finest works. If you’ve never read one of his novels, this is a fine place to start. Buy a copy of the book HERE.

Railroad Stories #12: The Silver Switch Key

Railroad Stories #12: The Silver Switch Key was published by Bold Venture Press in late 2023. I've enjoyed the publisher's efforts on producing these compilation volumes containing vintage stories from the railroad pulps. The lead novel in this book is The Silver Switch Key, a serial that was originally published over a five-month period in the 1931 issues of Railroad Man's Magazine. It was authored by Wilson Wells, a writer that contributed five short stories to the magazine in 1931 along with the novel serial.

Protagonist Bob Martin is employed by Gila County as sheriff. But it's a job that Martin doesn't particularly enjoy or want. When the book begins Martin has been in the lawman role for four months watching fruit trains climb the two-percent grade out of town daily. The partial reason for Martin's dejection is that he was born a railroad man. For 15 years Martin rode the rails as an accomplished and experienced railroader. However, Martin was fired by the railroad committee after liquor was found in his possession. This event is the key element to the novel – Martin's ultimate redemption from being framed by a criminal.

Through a conversation with his friend Frank, Martin explains that he was in love with Janet, the daughter of the railroad's vice president. But, a wealthy land baron named  Thomas had his eyes on Janet in a way to politically attach himself to the lucrative railroad. By making a play for Janet while simultaneously framing and disgracing Martin, Thomas set himself up as Janet's fiance.

Martin receives word that Janet, Thomas, and his family are arriving in town on a private car. But, Janet sends word to Martin that she desperately needs to meet him on the train. Once the narrative gets steamrolling a murder mystery is unveiled involving a railroad detective and the passengers on the private car. With Martin's help, Janet hopes to learn more about Thomas and his family and who is killing who. It is Martin's chance to not only redeem himself by exposing Thomas as a criminal but also a new lease on life to reacquire his former lover and job.

I'm not sure how prolific Wells was as an author but he certainly had a talent for writing an interesting murder mystery. This long train ride is ripe with scandal, intrigue, and enough suspicion to fill an ocean. Martin's good-guy persona isn't overdone and the fact that his redemption is central to the story was a clever addition. I really enjoyed riding the rails with all of the characters and the frenzied race to uncover the secrets behind the prized silver switch key was well worth the price of admission. Recommended. Get a copy of it HERE.

Deadly Travelers

By 1980, New Zealand author Dorothy Eden (1912-1982) was considered one of the 10 best-selling novelists in the world. She specialized in suspense thrillers and gothic romance and served on the committee of the English Crime Writers Association. I own several of her paperbacks including The Deadly Travelers, printed by Ace in 1956 and disguised as a gothic.

London resident Kate Tempest has a really odd job. She works for an agency that employs her to do things like shopping for a birthday present for someone, reading a book to a client, or shopping for a customer. In this novel she has been assigned the task of traveling to Paris to retrieve a young child named Francesca. The child is involved in a divorce case. Kate is asked to simply pick up the child from her father's house in Paris, then travel with Francesca by train to London, and then to deliver the child to the mother. Simple, right? Well not so much if Francesca's existence is seemingly erased.

On the train, Kate and Francesca go to sleep in their small cabin. When Kate awakens she is shocked to discover another child is sleeping in the cabin and Francesca has vanished. After searching the train, Kate can't find any trace of Francesca other than the girl's tiny doll – which plays a large part in this book. 

Back in London, Kate is fed a story that Francesca rejoined her father during the night at a random train stop. But Kate isn't buying that story. She takes it upon herself to investigate Francesca's whereabouts and suddenly becomes entangled in a really bizarre mystery. Not only does Francesca's mother simply vanish from existence, the people that Kate remembers having contact with during the job have seemed to be erased from history. It seems that someone, or some agency, has erased all footprints of Francesca as well as Kate's efforts to retrieve the child in Paris.

At 230 pages, this book should have been trimmed down to a smooth and entertaining read at about 180ish. There are so many twists and turns that puts Kate back and forth from London to Paris. Along the way she has three men in her life – two of which seem to have nefarious motives. Repeatedly Kate manages to avoid being killed in random “accidents” while interviewing people that claim to have no knowledge of Francesca. Her only hope is the doll that proves she was really with the child that night on the train. 

Despite Ace's best efforts, including the traditional cover art with the one light shining in the darkness, this isn't a gothic novel. The story is void of mansions, family inheritances, and any genre tropes like mysterious paintings or supernatural vibes. The Deadly Travelers is an international mystery that dips both feet into the world of crime-fiction during the third act. 

If you enjoy the dense international flavoring of danger, intrigue, and death, then The Deadly Travelers is a winner. I enjoyed it and found Eden's writing superb. This was a mid-career entry for the author and my first experience with her. I'll be back for more. Recommended. Buy a copy of the book HERE.

The Fetish Fighters

Francis Van Wyck Mason (1901-1978) was an American historian and author from Boston who was a World War One veteran and Harvard graduate. He started writing professionally in the 1920s finding success selling stories to pulp magazines, including fictional adventure tales of the French Foreign Legion appearing in Argosy. Four of these serialized novellas have been collected in a beautiful volume by Steeger Books, anchored by the 100-page The Fetish Fighters from 1931.

Our story begins in a Foreign Legion’s African outpost in Kouande, which is in modern-day Benin (next door to Nigeria). It was a French colony called French Dahomey beginning in 1892, but still largely populated by black Africans. Wikipedia is helpful in providing some historical and and geographic context - not that you really need it.

It’s also important to understand that the French Foreign Legion was a branch of the French Army that welcomed foreign nationals into the fighting force. They were highly retrained and well-paid soldiers who largely handled the muscle behind France’s occupation of African regions.

Our hero is muscular American Lem Frost who was just promoted to Seargeant within the Legion. However, Frost has no time to celebrate his promotion before word arrives that a bunch of native religious fanatics known as The Fetish Fighters, are putting on war paint and planning to attack the outpost. The African fighters are comprised of both male and female cannibal killers with a taste for colonizer blood.

You’ll need to set aside 21st century sensibilities and racial decorum while reading “The Fetish Fighters.” The N-word is bandied about casually and the African bushmen are of the non-subtle ooga-booga variety. But part of the fun of an adventure story from nearly 100 years ago is the antiquated stereotypes at play. You can either be offended or you can enjoy a fine adventure story and be happy about how far we’ve come as norms change over a century. Context is everything here.

With the sound of the war drums approaching and only 68 men at the French outpost, the Legionnaires need to work smarter, not harder. The tension and combat scenes are well-crafted. There are way too many characters for a modern reader to track, but you only need to be invested in the fates of a few. The interpersonal drama among the soldiers was a bit much, but you can probably skim over much of it. It’s pulp fiction, after all, and there’s no test at the end.

Overall, if the idea of a classic French Foreign Legion adventure sounds up your alley, The Fetish Fighters, as well as the other stories included in this volume, are an excellent way to go. Recommended. Buy a copy of the book HERE.