Yes, I’m that George Kelley who wrote the INTRODUCTION to this new Stark House edition of Harold R. Daniel’s The Girl in 304. Thank you Greg Shepard, Editor and Publisher of Stark House, for inviting me to be part of the Black Gat Books series!
I discovered Harold R. Daniel’s work in the early 1970s when I bought plenty of old Dell paperbacks back then and found Daniel’s first novel, In His Blood (1955), full of suspense and surprises. In His Blood was nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel.
The Girl in 304 was Daniel’s second novel, also published by Dell, and featured the investigation of the murder of Lucy Carter, a carhop (remember them?), who had been stabbed to death and whose stripped body was dumped near the side of the road. Sheriff Ed Masters delves into Lucy’s troubled life and discovers perplexing questions. Why did Lucy suddenly quit her job at Benny Zurich’s drive-in? What was Lucy’s connection to Lieutenant Cox, a dirty cop who shook down working girls who lived in the same hotel that Lucy did?
The Girl in 304, with its hints of deadly secrets and hidden motives, takes the reader to dark places and sinister schemes.
Norman R. Daniel’s wrote a series of excellent mysteries and hopefully Stark House will reprint more of them for a new audience. GRADE: A
HAROLD R. DANIEL’S NOVELS:
In His Blood (Dell, 1955)
The Girl in 304 (Dell, 1956)
The Accused (Dell, 1958)
The Snatch (Dell, 1958)
For the Asking (Fawcett, 1962)
The House on Greenapple Road (Random House, 1966; Dell 1969)
Thanks for the tip, George. Was there any genre that Daniels didn’t write in? He was turning out the John Keith spy novels for Pyramid when I first noticed him in the mid-’60s. Friday trivia: HOUSE ON GREENAPPLE ROAD became a popular 1970 TV movie starring Christopher George as Lt. Dan August. When the movie was spun off into a series, Chris George was out and Burt Reynolds in as Dan August.
Fred, thanks for the info on HOUSE ON GREENAPPLE ROAD. I don’t remember Chris George, but I do remember Burt Reynolds as Dan August.
I knew about the film and the AUGUST series, but forgot whose novel sparked it all. Congratulations on writing an intro, George…though you might’ve typed “Black Gat” above, and it was Corrected to Black Gate, a website, rather than the proper Black Cat Books…
Todd, the WORDPRESS Spellcheck continues to torture me with unasked for changes. Thanks for the heads up!
Who’s not yet awake? (Why am I drinking dish soap rather than coffee?)…you DID type Black Gat, properly, and your Corrector turned it into Gate…now someone needs to launch/relaunch Black Cat Books…Greg’s horror line.
Todd, I’d love to see more BLACK CAT Books, too!
Congratulations, George. Your knowledge of these classic crime books is well known. I am unfamiliar with this writer under any name.
Patti, thank you for your kind words. I’m glad STARK HOUSE is bringing back the work of a quality writer I discovered over 40 years ago!
Whoops, sorry on associating Harold R. Daniels with the paperback spy series, George. Wrong Daniels. That was NORMAN A. Daniels who wrote the paperback spy novels (as well as war, pulp, TV tie-ins, etc), not Harold R. I hadn’t had my second cup of coffee yet. But the Dan August trivia was correct.
All sympathies!
Fred, I’m in a fog until I drink my second cup of coffee, too! I thought you might have confused Norman A. Daniels with Harold R. Daniels. But, I’m ordering those Norman A. Daniels spy novels!
Hey, who is this George Kelley guy? THE SNATCH is the the Daniels I have in the small Dell paperback.
Jeff, Stephen King loved THE SNATCH and gave it a nice blurb.
I don’t recall hearing of him. Good on you for the intro!!
Maggie, hopefully the response to THE GIRL IN 304 will result in more Harold R. Daniels books returned to print! Thanks for your kind words! I like writing intros!
Congratulations, that is so awesome that you wrote the introduction to the book! I want to track down a copy just because of that, let alone based on your positive review.
Carl, thank for your kind words. Let me know if you’d like me to sign your copy of THE GIRL IN 304!