Hugh Pentecost (aka, Judson Philips) wrote over a 100 crime and mystery novels. In 1973, Pentecost was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Pentecost’s first story, “Room Number 23,” was published in 1925. Pentecost went on to a long, prolific career that ended with his death in 1989. Of all of Pentecost’s various series, I enjoy those about Pierre Chambrun, the manager of a luxury hotel, the best. And, one of the best Chambrun mysteries is Walking Dead Man. Walking Dead Man features an assassination attempt on the second richest man in the world in Pierre Chambrun’s penthouse. Plenty of devious plotting and surprises follow. Although Hugh Pentecost is pretty much forgotten now, his fine mysteries deserve to be read. Here’s a list of the books in Pentecost’s Pierre Chambrun series:
The Cannibal Who Overate (1962)
The Shape of Fear (1964)
The Evil That Men Do (1966)
The Golden Trap (1967)
The Gilded Nightmare (1969)
Girl Watcher’s Funeral (1969)
The Deadly Joke (1971)
Birthday, Deathday (1972)
Walking Dead Man (1973)
Bargain with Death (1974)
Time of Terror (1975)
The 14 Dilemma (1976)
Death After Breakfast (1978)
Random Killer (1979)
Beware Young Lovers (1980)
Murder in Luxury (1981)
With Intent to Kill (1982)
Murder in High Places (1983)
Remember to Kill Me (1984)
Murder Round the Clock (1985)
Nightmare Time (1986)
Murder Goes Round and Round (1988)
The only one of the Chambrun books I’ve read was the first, THE CANNIBAL WHO OVERATE. As near as I can remember (I read it in 1973) I was not overwhelmed. I much preferred the first book he wrote as Pentecost, 1939’s CANCELLED IN RED, about stamp collectors. It was one of the Dodd, Mead Red Badge Prize winning novels Ellen Nehr used to collect, as I recall.
Crippen & Landru did a collection of his [artist] John Jericho stories, THE BATTLES OF JERICHO, in their Lost Classics Series in 2008.
That Crippen & Landru collection, THE BATTLES OF JERICHO, is excellent, Jeff. I like a lot of the early Pentecost mysteries, too.
How is that knee, George. We need an update.
It’s been three weeks since my knee surgery, Patti. After my hospital stay, I went to Rehab for five days to learn how to walk again and how to climb stairs. Then I returned home to convalesce. Major surgery really drained me. I tire easily, but each day I’m getting incrementally stronger. I go to Physical Therapy twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays). I can walk short distances without my cane. I’m managing my pain fairly well. Most days I don’t take any pain medication. Occasionally, I take some Tylenol. I’ve found after a vigorous PT session, I have to take a Lortab, but I’ll be really happy when I don’t have to resort to narcotics to take the pain away.
Never read any Pentecost, though I do have that s.s. collection on the shelf. Glad to hear you’re making some progress. Have you been out for pizza yet?
Pizza is on the Agenda for this week, Rick. It will be a Major Milestone.