Last week I reviewed Lionel White’s marvelous Steal Big/The Big Caper. You can read my review here. Reading Lionel White was so much fun, I decided to read and review Coffin for a Hood/Operation–Murder for this week’s FFB.

Lionel White is best known for his caper novels, but he had the capacity to write suspenseful crime novels, too. Coffin for a Hood (1958) features two hired killers who arrive at a tiny coastal town called Arroyos in the Florida Keys by plane. Who are they going to kill? Is alcoholic Dr. Martins–a man with a dark past–their target? Or is it Socks Schroeder, the basketball player who refused to throw a game and later turned state’s evidence? Corrupt Deputy Flack had mob membership before he killed a rival and now he’s hiding behind a badge in a small Florida town fearing retribution. Wealthy Richard Fullbright, who swindled his partners to gain his money, fears that the professional killers are after him. Meanwhile, Hurricane Bettina has Arroyos and the Florida Key’s in its sights for a direct hit. White ratchets up the suspense as the storm gets closer and closer! GRADE: B+

White returns to a caper in Operation–Murder (1956). An embittered Korean War veteran named Frank Scudder, who is suffering from acute tuberculosis, plans for one big score so he can retire with his disability. While Frank was convalescing in a hospital, he met a lovely nurse named Tina. Tina falls in love with Frank and the couple get married. But Tina doesn’t know about Frank’s plan to rob a train.

Set in Colorado, Operation–Murder shows how a determined team of thieves can execute a plan to rob an armored caboose carrying a million dollars as its train winds its way through the Colorado mountains. A complicating factor: the heist is scheduled during a vicious blizzard. If you’re a fan of caper novels, Operation–Murder provides thrills and chills and surprises galore! GRADE: A