Someone please explain why Stark House Press, which puts out some of the best reissues in today’s market, never falters. Now it’s gone above board with TO FIND CORA / LIKE MINK LIKE MURDER / BODY AND PASSION, containing three rare and sadly forgotten Harry Whittington novels, as David Laurence Wilson explains in his very detailed and thorough history of these lost classics.
Wilson goes even further, adding Whittington’s house names he wrote under to the bibliography, making it three full pages. Wilson also relates stories about how Whittington would not even acknowledge some of his work, once it was printed, since editors would try and sex it up and change titles just to sell books.
Closing out the piece is a fantastic quote from Whittington himself which sums up the beliefs that BOOKGASM is all about: “Books do not become classics, or even great art, because of some publisher’s logo, binding, or weight of paper. The novel that touches the heart, that comes from the heart, that stirs the emotions, that satisfies and enriches and entertains the reader — this is the truly great work of art no matter where it was published.”
From 1963, TO FIND CORA was originally put out under the title CORA IS A NYMPHO to deceive the book-buying public. That title could not be further from the truth. The story deals with Joe Byars, who is desperately searching for his wife, Cora, who seems to have run out on him. He is so distraught, he goes from town to town on a fruitless search.
Joe finally believes he gets a solid lead, which leads him to a desolate farmhouse inhabited by two people living in their own homemade hell. Byars believes the woman who answers the door is his Cora … until he gets a good look at her, finding out she is a woman named Viola, who has had enough of Hall, the man she is living withl.
This being a noir story, Whittington plunges these characters through a nightmare of epic proportions, especially since the incredibly paranoid Hall is about a brick shy of a load. He is under the belief that Joe is some sort of private eye hired to track him down. The story never lets the reader breathe for a second, especially when Byars only wants to break free from this couple, but Viola sees him as her ticket out.
Published in France in 1957, LIKE MINK LIKE MURDER was once believed not to have ever come out in America, since translating the story from French to English would have been a disaster. The story has been done before, with a man trying to go straight, only for his old gang to show up and drag him back into that life. But Whittington punches up those ideas with his own special twists.
Sam Baynard has been working as a milkman for a year now, just doing his job as best as he can. The owner might move him up, if he keeps his nose clean. Sam’s past was working with a group of criminals while in college, being a driver on a few jobs, with one of those jobs going horribly wrong.
Sam tries to have a relationship with Lois, whose family only sees him as not only a former criminal, but a lowly milkman. His world is in for a shock when Elva, a woman from his past, shows up. She was someone Sam never could have had since she was the Collie’s girl — Collie being the head of Sam’s old crew. Of course, the old gang turns up with a big job planned for the one place Sam wants nothing to do with. But Elva is a woman with expensive tastes, and Sam will do anything to keep her.
Add in a cop who is still trying to put Sam back in jail, and you have the makings of a true classic. Whittington’s writing is again at the breakneck pace of the previous novel, and he breathes some fresh air into some of the clichés that abound. Despite being from the late ’50s, it’s still as fresh as the milk Sam delivers.
Modern technology has made 1952’s BODY AND PASSION irrelevant. Even Wilson points out that fact, since it all could have been solved on an episode of Maury Povich. The novel deals with man who has been burned up and has no memory of who he might be. He could be Jeff Taylor, being framed for a murder that he did not commit, or he could be young assistant D.A. Ben Young, who’s not as clean as some would believe.
The two have a showdown in a cabin where the fire breaks out. Taylor’s partner and wife refer to the mystery man as “X” for the whole story. Both the Taylor and Young factions have their own reasons to lay claim to him, so our unknown lead uses each to his advantage.
Again, with the tools of modern technology, his case could be solved in no time. But Whittington uses this idea of the unknown man to its full extent. For me, this mystery was the weakest of the three. But then, after the one-two punch of CORA and MINK, it would be pretty hard to top that. Still, it’s a fine enough story to close out another great collection of novels. If only there were a way to speed up the process of getting another three collected … —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. #2: THE DOOMSDAY AFFAIR by Harry Whittington
• YOU’LL DIE NEXT! by Harry Whittington
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
These are great books but it’s interesting to me that you rank the third book the weakest. To me, it’s the best book by far, the one that you can’t put down. It kept me guessing as to X’s identity all the way through, flip-flopping as to who I thought it was at any given moment. Classic, despite the lack of modern technology.
Dear Rick –
I have heard all the books cited as favorites. I just felt they were all good, and they all hung together. Since I did some revision on Mink, that one’s a little hard for me to read. I approach it with all the reluctance of an author approaching his own work. My own favorite, I’ll admit, is probably Cora.
Best Wishes,
David Laurence Wilson