The Lady Was a Tramp (aka Murder at Midnight) collects the private eye stories of Pat Raffigan. Harry Whittington–one of Bill Crider’s favorite writers–wrote for newspaper syndication in the 1940s and 50s. In each one of these Raffigan stores the tall, good looking private investigator matches wits and determination with a wild series of clever criminals. Ruffian gets conked on the head in nearly every story. He’s also is lied to, shot at, beaten and tossed into dark alleys, and generally takes a lot of physical punishment. But the handsome Raffigan never gives up until the case is solved–and he seldom gets paid.
“The Lady Was a Tramp”–the first story in this new Stark House edition–starts with the body of a young woman named Gladys Price who has been murdered in Lover’s Lane. Her date, Carl Hobson, is found in the car with Gladys Price. He was knocked unconscious with the murder weapon–a pistol–which was tossed in the bushes nearby. Carl claims he’s innocent, but he’s the Prime Suspect.
Carl’s mother tries to hire Pat Raffigan to prove her son’s innocence. But she can’t afford to pay Raffigan’s rates. Instead, Raffigan takes on the case for Gladys’ wealthy father, who wants him to prove that Carl is the killer, and can afford to pay for that proof. But the more Raffigan investigates, the more Gladys’ sordid past provides a different, darker story.
I also enjoyed “The Case of the Red-Headed Girls.” Raffigan is hired by the parents of a young women–a red-head–who entered a Beauty Contest but has disappeared. Raffigan finds a sinister side to the Beauty Contest–and a number of dead bodies.
All of the Raffigan stories feature violence, Red Herrings, and clever plots. In his “Introduction” David Laurence Wilson speculates on why Whittington abandoned Pat Raffigan and moved on to other genres. One look at the “Harry Whittington Bibliography” shows what happened after Pat Raffigan: over 170 novels written for several publishers in a myriad of genres.
Stark House has reprinted 16 Harry Whittington novels. In The Lady Was a Tramp–with Armand Seguso’s great cover artwork–Harry Whittington’s pulp era noir story-telling is on full display. The relentless action punctuated by dead bodies challenges Pat Raffigan’s wits to solve the cases before the danger overwhelms him! You need to buckle your seatbelt when you read these stories! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Introduction by David Laurence Wilson — 7
- The Pat Raffigan Short Stories & Novelettes (A collection of 6 uncollected detective capers originally written for newspaper syndication), including: — 19
- The Lady Was a Tramp (The full-length 1951 noir novel originally published by Handy-Books. — 20
- What Happened in Suite 421 — 102
- The Two-Timing Wife — 116
- The Case of the Red-Headed Girls — 133
- Blond in the Bay — 149
- The Case of the Homicidal Blonde — 164
- The Case of the Haunted Bier — 180
- Harry Whittington Bibliography — 200