This is the third omnibus edition of Al Wheeler mysteries, Numbers 7-9, that Stark House has published. Like the previous volumes (you can read my reviews here and here), these novels come from the mid-1950s when Alan Geoffrey Yates (aka, “carter brown”) was churning out mystery novels for his Australian publisher, Horwitz, on a monthly basis. A couple years later, the Al Wheeler books migrated to a U.S. publisher.
The seventh Al Wheeler mystery, No Law Against Angels(1957; revised U.S. edition, The Body, Signet 1958), involves Wheeler in the murders of two young girls with snake tattoos. The snake tattoos are required by the largest call-girl ring on the West Coast. Wheeler confronts a millionaire who wants to build a casino and almost dies as a result of the encounter. Later, a murderous meeting in a funeral home brings Wheeler to the brink of death again. No Law Against Angels delivers more than the average quota of dead bodies and plot surprises for a Carter Brown novel. GRADE: A-
Doll For the Big House (1957; revised U.S. edition, The Bombshell, Signet 1960), starts out with Al Wheeler searching for a missing rich girl and leading to a number of deaths as Al Wheeler works outside the Police bureaucracy to expose a massive corruption scheme. GRADE: B+
Chorine Makes a Killing (1957) features a change of pace when Al Wheeler leaves the Police Department to work for the law firm of Hammond, Irvine, and Snooks. Wheeler has to clear one of their clients from a murder charge. In exchange, Wheeler will get a new sports car. With his usual unorthodox tactics, Al Wheeler peels back all the lies and deceptions to get to the root of the crime. GRADE: B
These early Al Wheeler mysteries crackle with humor and violence and clever plots. And, like potato chips, you just can’t stop at one!
Those Carter Brown novels were really something new for me, never had read anything comparable!
And of course they helped me (like Mickey Spillane’s) to expand my English vocabulary. š
I don’t remember which ones I read – just those pictures I won’t forget, passed them in the window of a bookstore every morning on my way from the railway station to university and just couldn’t resist in the end.
OT:
That bookstore really was something special, they also had English/American SF books – and magazines like Astounding and even F&SF!
And they had MAD magazine which I grew a big fan of – now I’ve read that it will stop.
The times they are a’changing …
Wolf, these STARK HOUSE omnibus editions offer great value!
They are like potato chips, habit-forming and soon devoured. When I was in college I’d often read three to five of them in a day.
Jerry, didn’t you have to study and do homework? š
And I thought I was a book devourer reading 200 pages a day – I have to admit that sometimes it was more, but good books were a scarce resource when I was young.
Totally OT:
Did you hear/read that Donald .started an earthquake to show the bloody Californians what might happen to them? š
I remember traveling from Yosemite/Sequoia Park to Death Valley once in April and staying overnight in Ridgecrest, there’s a military base there so there also were plenty of motels to chose from.
George, study and homework yes, but only after the other priorities: reading and drinking. (I think I still hold the record of drinking the first green beer served at three different bars on one glorious St. Patrick’s Day. The follies of youth! I no longer drink but the reading continues.)
As for our Cheeto-in-Chief, I wouldn’t put it past him to grab California by the lithosphere.
Wolf, California is over due for a massive earthquake!
Jerry, I binged on Carter Brown paperbacks in the Sixties, too! Loved the covers!
Jerry, Iām green with envy over your beer story!
Never was a Carter Brown fan, though the covers were eye catching.
Rick, the Robert McGinnis covers on the Carter Brown paperbacks back in the 1960s were the prime motivator of my purchases.
I haven’t picked up the Stark House reprints, as I’m already half-buried in Carter Brown paperbacks as it is; all the Signets with painted covers – Barye Phillips, Ron Lesser and of course Bob McGinnis – and a fair selection of early Horwitz editions, mostly thanks to the late Graeme Flanagan. I stopped collecting the Carter Browns when they went to photo covers . And pretty much ditto for Halliday, Gardner, Prather & many more; the switch to photo covers circa 1970 on crime paperbacks was a dark time. The next Paperback Parade will be a CB special, with a complete American pb bibliography assembled by Gary Lovisi and myself, and a long article I contributed about Yates and the CB books from a collectors viewpoint. Lavishly illustrated! Watch for it.
Art, I’ll certainly buy that PAPERBACK PARADE with the Carter Brown bibliography and your brilliant essay. Can’t wait!
Art, I used to pick up those digest-sized Horwitz editions in England, or from Bob Adey.
I’m still waiting for my comment from yesterday to be moderated! I think that indignity is bogus, man!
Bob, sorry for the delay. WORDPRESS has been acting up this week.
AT least you don’t have a pinheadded troll messing with your blog!
Bob, WORDPRESS is a quirky program. But I’ve only had one incident of hacking over the past decade. Fortunately, Patrick was able to install some more protections.