Harry Whittington wrote Web of Murder in 1958, but the plot is still fresh. A successful lawyer, Charley Brower, falls in lust with his smoldering secretary, Laura. But Charley is married to Cora, a very wealthy woman. Charley and Laura decide to kill Cora and live on her fortune. However, as often happens in these noir novels, things go wrong. Really wrong. The Black Lizard edition of this book has a bonus essay by Harry Whittington talking about his career and thanking Bill Crider for the “best of the paperback pioneers” moniker. You can find this informative essay in Black Lizard editions of Forgive Me, Killer, Fires That Destroy, Ticket to Hell, The Devil Wears Wings, and A Moment to Prey. If you haven’t read Harry Whittington, Web of Murder would be a great book to start with.
I read FORGIVE ME, KILLER last year. Black Lizard published a lot of very readable titles.
In the mid-1980s, Black Lizard published a batch of Whittington reprints, Jeff. I owned the originals, but I the Black Lizards had Whittington’s wonderful essay.
That story never grows old in the right hands, does it?
And Whittington was a master of plotting, Patti. He knew how to make that story compelling.
One of my favorites in any edition.
You’re right about WEB OF MURDER being one of Whittington’s best books, Bill. Top shelf.
The Gold Medal cover if far superior, but that’s not surprising. Do you know who did it? The book sounds interesting, though the plot, which you claim is fresh, sounds as old as the hills. Someday I’d like to see a smoldering secretary (or was Barbara Hale as Della Street one?)
Trust me, Rick, the secretary in WEB OF MURDER is smoldering. The elements of the plot may be old as the hills, but in the hands of a master like Whittington, it’s fresh and surprising.
Wow, two Web of Murder reviews on the same FBF. What are the odds?
Coincidence, serendipity, call it whatever you like, Evan. The odds are astronomical!
Not quite in the top-tier of GM novelists, but a talented writer nonetheless. As you say George, Whittington knew how to put a story together. A lot of writers find that sort of thing difficult.
My favorite Whittington is the first one that I found, YOU’LL DIE NEXT. I read the Carroll & Graf edition, which had a brief but interesting introduction by Bill Crider. That was also the first time I encountered the latter gentleman.
YOU’LL DIE NEXT, A NIGHT FOR SCREAMING, TO FIND CORA, LIKE MINK LIKE MURDER, BODY AND PASSION are all enjoyable Whittington books, Drongo. I highly recommend the Stark House omnibus volumes where you get three Whittingtons packaged together in one wonderful trade paperback.
Pretty wild coincidence, George. I live in Las Vegas, and I can’t even comprehend how long the odds are. Anyway, good to know there’s another Whittington reader out there.
I wrote a review of another of his noir novels, FIRES THAT DESTROY. It’s a great story, well told, with shades of Jim Thompson dripping all over it.
Two guys reviewing the same book for Patti Abbott’s FORGOTTEN BOOKS on the same day…huge odds against that happening, Mike. Better run down to one of the casinos and make a bet. I’ll buy a lottery ticket. Who knows, maybe we’re on a roll! You do have great taste in books.
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I had a dream about the woman on that second cover last night and it wasn’t a good one.
Yes, those Black Lizard covers tended to be hideously garish, Patti.
This is an excellent novel.
That Black Lizard cover is so hideous it’s a wonder anyone read it and Whittington has a cult following.
Some of the Black Lizard covers are abstract, Juri. They’re not so bad. But this cover on WEB OF MURDER, when compared to the original cover, is indeed hideous.