Gary Lovisi, best known for his excellent publication Paperback Parade (started in 1986), has written about paperbacks and paperback writers for decades. In A Mystery, Crime & Noir Notebook, Lovisi collects dozens of articles he’s published over the past 40 years. A Mystery, Crime & Noir Notebook is a Graduate class in the history of paperbacks featuring articles on book covers (over 140 examples of classic paperback artwork grace the pages of this book), authors (some Lovisi knew personally), and book collecting.

I especially enjoyed reading Lovisi’s articles on some of my favorite paperback writers: quirky Michael Avallone, James Hadley Chase, Bruno Fischer, Richard Jessup, and the King of the Caper Novel–Lionel White.

Although you might think you know a lot about paperbacks and paperback writers and artists, Gary Lovisi knows more…way more! A Mystery, Crime & Noir Notebook is a must-buy for those who love paperback mysteries, crime novels, and Noir classics. Have fun reading about the paperback genres and learn a lot at the same time! Highly recommended! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 7

INTRODUCTION By Gary Lovisi — 11

About Mystery, Crime & Noir

The Noir Trap: Money, Women, Love, Sex & Fame — 13

The Hardboiled Way — 17

Various Authors & Books

Collecting Vintage Mystery Paperbacks — 23

Avon Books: Centerpieces of Vintage Mystery & Crime — 32

Dell Mapback Mysteries — 37

Three Daring Divas of Paperback Pulp Fiction — 44

Lion Books: Noir Paperback Icons — 54

A Trio of Lion Books: Book Three — 60

Hardboiled Paradise: Books to Remember — 65

Crime and Mystery One-Shot Wonders — 73

Mob Hits: True Crime Mafia & Gangster Paperbacks — 83

Crime To Die For — 93

A Closer Look At Falcon Books — 98

Sex & Savagery in Pulp Paperback Crime Cover Art — 104

Specific Authors & Books:

Georges Arnaud: Rediscovering The Wages of Fear — 111

Michael Avallone: A Giant Passed Our Way — 116

Stephen Becker (aka Steve Dodge): Shangai Incident And Others — 118

Charles Beckman, Jr.: Honky-Tonk Girl and I — 122

Jazz Meets Murder on Honky-Tonk Street — 124

Lon Cameron: Angels’ Flight: Cool Jazz & Hot Murder — 128

Fiction Too Tough: James Hadley Chase — 135

William L. Coons (aka Dell Holland): Sin Town — Sleaze Noir at Its Best! — 145

N. R. DeMexico: A Look at Marijuana Girl — 150

Norman Firth: Borrowed Love: Romance as Dark Noir — 155

Bruno Fischer: A Writer We Should Remember — 163

Rediscovering Bruno Fischer — 166

Hardboiled Paradise: Al Fray — 170

Gardner F. Fox (aka Rod Gray): That Lady From L.U.S.T. — 178

Charles Fritch: Negative of a Nude With Murder — 183

Otis Hemingway Gaylord, Jr. (aka G. H. Otis): The Search for Otis — 185

C. J. Henderson, Jack Hague and Me — 190

E. Howard Hunt (aka Robert Dietrich): The Seve Bentley Thrillers — 196

Kermit Jaediker: Hero’s Lust, A Top Crime Noir Sleeper — 211

Richard Jessup: A Cop Called Wolf — 215

Barry Lake (aka Joe Barry): The Elusive Joe Barry –217

I read “Homicide Hotel” — 224

Lyon Mallet: The Taffin Series — 227

Nick Marino: A Ride Down One Way Street — 233

Marijane Meaker (aka Vin Packer): Vin Packer: The Return — 237

Harold Q. Masur (aka Hal Masur): Scott Jordon: The Hard-Boiled Lawyer — 243

Paul S. Meskil: Falling Into The Sin Pit — 240

Fan Nichols: A Noir Unknown: One By One — 248

James Ross: One-Shot Wonder: They Don’t Dance Much — 257

Don Tracy and Deadly to Bed — 258

Blackout is a Knockout! — 260

Lionel White: Seven Hungry Killers on the Run — 264

Ennis Willie: Fortune: Tough Guy Hero as Noir Poetry — 268

Too Late to Pray — 272

Bibliography — 273

BIOGRAPHY — 275