So my birthday came and went a few weeks ago. But unlike previous years, I actually had an idea of gifts I wanted: books. So I wrote down my list of some titles and all turned up. Coincidentally, they all were titles from the Crippen & Landru publishing house. Personally, I would love to have their whole output, but these three will do just fine for now. I already have THE ARCHER FILES, and it’s fantastic.
KISSES OF DEATH: A NATHAN HELLER CASEBOOK by Max Allan Collins — As most BOOKGASM readers know, we have nothing but love and respect for Mr. Collins. This 2001 book only adds to the all the good write-ups, with Collins taking his private-eye character of Nathan Heller and having him interact with real people. That is this collection of short stories in a nutshell.
Heller rubs shoulders with the Hollywood elite and a few big-time gangsters, with the first story being a novella for which this anthology is titled. In it, Heller is hired to protect Marilyn Monroe while a friend of his is working on a book contract for her life. Heller and Marilyn go to a fundraiser for the poet Maxwell Bodenheim, who takes no time whatsoever to make the sex symbol cry. Then the story moves into the actual mystery: the killing of the Bodenheims.
Collins inserts Heller so well into this time frame that you forget he doesn’t exist, especially since Collins did major research before coming up with the plot. But again, Monroe is not the only Hollywood starlet in the book; in “The Perfect Crime,” Heller investigates the death of Thelma Todd, with Heller not only figuring out the case but makes it a point to scare the crap out of the guilty party.
“Kaddish for the Kid” tells the story of Heller’s first operation for his agency, in which he goes out for revenge the only way he knows how. In “Natural Death, Inc.,” he is teamed up with the untouchable Elliot Ness, who by this point, was hitting the bottle daily. This case was based on real events that dealt with insurance and death benefits. “Shoot-Out on Sunset” tells about the one fateful night when Heller tipped off Mickey Cohen.
This is a nice collection from Collins; its stories don’t have the typical storylines, since they are so based on fact and real people. This is well worth seeking out for fans of not only Heller, but of course, the real people he interacts with. But what is a nice surprise at the end is a Collins checklist, and trust me, anyone who really wants to read the man needs it.
MASQUERADE: TEN CRIME STORIES by Max Brand — Before this 2007 book, I knew two things for certain about Brand: He writes kick-ass Westerns, which are plentiful, and he created the character Dr. Kildare. So it’s a nice change-up to have this collection of his other works. Yes, Brand wrote stories which did not feature cowboys, even though one story here is a Western.
The reader is given a nice cross-section of the crime writing of which this author was capable. No one is going to confuse these as taxing, since there are a few plots that are paper-thin and obvious, but that is not the point; these are more about the character studies. Two examples would be “Fixed,” a boxing tale that takes place at the old Madison Square Garden, and the other being “The Death of Love,” which introduces us to a character Brand would reuse: a investigator in the mold of Charlie Chan. It’s explained in the introduction why this story was included since it reveals Brand’s battle with alcoholism.
Two stories deal with the author’s love of horses and the track, with one dealing pickpocket Lew Corbin, while the other concerns a thoroughbred steeplechase race. MASQUERADE is definitely an eye-opener for me, since I was only familiar with Brand’s wealth of Westerns. This is a great collection to a writer whose output was varied, even if it seems only one section of that output is still in print today.
THE DANGER ZONE AND OTHER STORIES by Erle Stanley Gardner — Like the other two authors featured here, Gardner is best -known for a certain series, while he also produced a vast array of other stories and characters. This 2004 collection gathers some of the lesser-known names, so there is not a Perry Mason, Donald Cool or Bertha Lam to be found.
What makes this collection even cooler is how action-packed the tales are. I love his series characters, but to see him stretch out with some of these people is just fantastic, be it a detective in the vein of Lam, but a bit more crafty in “Snowy Ducks for Cover,” or better yet, the reformed crook Slicker Williams in “The Corkscrew Kid,” who uses his former kitchen skills to crack open a case and a safe.
But the title story is a total surprise, introducing us to Major Brane, a bit of an outsider called upon by the elite to clear up matters, this one involving a missing Chinese girl and having global consequences. These are just the opening three stories, and the book just gets better as it goes along.
We have another detective story in “Restless Pearls,” which ends with one of the worst jokes ever. It made some bad sitcom material sound brilliant, but the story is top-notch. “Hard as Nails” features Gardner’s most hard-boiled creation ever in Gilbert Best, a detective who will use anything to get his way, including blackmail and a well-placed gun.
This is another in the Crippin & Landru’s “Lost Classics” line and would make a great gift for anyone who has only read Garnder’s series work, since after reading this, it gives a new perspective on those series.
Next time: Ladies’ night! —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MAX BRAND:
• THE FALSE RIDER by Max Brand
• GUNFIGHTER’S RETURN by Max Brand
• KING OF THE RANGE by Max Brand
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MAX ALLAN COLLINS:
• BLACK HATS by Patrick Culhane
• DEADLY BELOVED by Max Allan Collins
• DICK TRACY by Max Allan Collins
• THE FIRST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
• THE GOLIATH BONE by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins
• A KILLING IN COMICS by Max Allan Collins
• THE LAST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
• MY LOLITA COMPLEX AND OTHER TALES OF SEX AND VIOLENCE by Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens
• QUARRY’S LIST by Max Allan Collins
• RED SKY IN MORNING by Patrick Culhane
• ROAD TO PARADISE by Max Allan Collins
• STRIP FOR MURDER by Max Allan Collins
• TOUGH TENDER by Max Allan Collins
• THE WAR OF THE WORLDS MURDER by Max Allan Collins
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ERLE STANLEY GARDNER:
• BATS FLY AT DUSK by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE BIGGER THEY COME by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE CASE OF THE HESITANT HOSTESS by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE CASEBOOK OF SIDNEY ZOOM by Erle Stanley Gardner
• CROWS CAN’T COUNT by Erle Stanley Gardner
• GOLD COMES IN BRICKS by Erle Stanley Gardner
• PERRY MASON SOLVES THE CASE OF THE PHANTOM FORTUNE by Erle Stanley Gardner
• SOME SLIPS DON’T SHOW by Erle Stanley Gardner
• SOME WOMEN WON’T WAIT by Erle Stanley Gardner
• TRY ANYTHING ONCE by Erle Stanley Gardner
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Erle Stanley Gardner was just a great writer.
I have a couple of collections of his non Perry Mason or Donald Lam & Bertha Cool stories. Good stuff.