Blogs Posts on "Mystery Fiction"

Lester Dent in Black Mask: Angelfish by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Nov 22, 2009Lester Dent has been the subject of talk on Ed Gorman's new improved blog the past couple of days, and Ed speaks of Dent's fine Black Mask story "Angelfish". Well, I don't have many issues of that mag from its golden age, but I do have the Angelfish...

Forgotten Books: Dead at the Take-Off by Lester Dent by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Nov 20, 2009Lester Dent’s career has enjoyed a resurgence of late. I expect he’s smiling down - or up - from wherever he now resides. Nostalgia Ventures has put dozens of his Doc Savage novels back in print, with many more to come, and he’s finally getting...

Forgotten Books: SINFUL WOMAN by James M. Cain by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Nov 12, 2009This book surprised me in two ways. First, that a James M. Cain novel had appeared as a paperback original. And second, that any Cain novel could be considered a Forgotten Book, even by someone with a memory as faulty as mine.“A Brand New Novel”,...

Satan Hall 4: Satan's Kill by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Nov 10, 2009A word of advice. Don't ever sneak into Satan Hall's apartment and try to kill him in his sleep. Johnny tried it, here in this 1932 issue of DFW.He stepped two spaces forward; he pressed the button of the flash; he laid the nose of the heavy automati...

FORGOTTEN BOOKS: Six Deadly Dames by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Nov 6, 2009I’ve been enjoying the Friday’s Forgotten Books posts on the blogs of Richard Robinson, James Reasoner, Steve Lewis, Randy Johnson, George Kelley, Richard Prosch, Ed Gorman, Paul Brazill, Gary Dobbs, Paul Bishop and others for sometime, and only...

Murder Wears a Halo by John Evans by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Nov 3, 2009I was surprised to find this pulp 20-odd years ago, and surprised again when I found it in a box the other day. John Evans (aka Howard Browne) is the still-respected author of four Chandleresque novels featuring private detective Paul Pine. Those nov...

Shakedown Sham - A Complete Dan Turner Story by Robert Leslie Bellem by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Nov 1, 2009I've done some yapping about the pleasures to be derived from Dan Turner stories, and I've posted a couple of swell Hollywood Detective covers. But words and pictures can't prepare you for Robert Leslie Bellem's writing. You have to experience it for...

Pulps for Halloween: The Devil Made Me Do It by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Oct 31, 2009Surely this swanky Belarski babe wouldn't want to shoot our hero Candid Jones. Must be Mr. Beelzebub (or some bozo trying out his Halloween costume in April) urging her on.We talked about Richard Sale's wiseguy reporter Daffy Dill some time back. Wel...

Pulps for Halloween: A Cautionary Tale by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Oct 31, 2009Let this be a warning. It ain't healthy to stiff your trick-or-treaters with junk like fruit and nuts. This fellow in the silk mask was jonesing for a sugar high and accepting no substitutes.This Carroll John Daly tale from 1934 starred Twist Sulliva...

Pulps for Halloween: The Ghost of Spicy Mystery by Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West on Oct 29, 2009Yesterday we had skeleton-face guy, so today it's a ghost, emerging from this defunct diplomat to claim his Halloween treats. And being this is a Spicy pulp, those treats are likely to involve some heavy petting with the obligatory scantily-clad fema...