“John Flagg” (aka, John Rex Gearon) wrote a series of paperback thrillers that Stark House has reprinted. The Hart Muldoon series features a mashup of private eye elements and spy elements. Muldoon worked for the O.S.S. during World War II but left the agency and went freelance. Muldoon still works occasionally for various governments, but also works for wealthy individuals who require his lethal skill set. Most of the Muldoon adventures are set in Europe and the Middle East.

A British spymaster tells Muldoon, “…sad that at your age and with your experience you should still carry with you the delusion that you can return to decent society … You and I – we belong outside. We belong to the hunters and the hunted. We belong to a world of violence and deception, a world that makes its own laws. We lie and we steal and we kill because it is our job to do it. And you can’t go back, Hart, you simply can’t go back.” That pretty much describes Hart Muldoon’s situation in the series of five thrillers. He’s drawn to danger and is willing to risk his life in dangerous circumstances.

Stark House’s Murder in Monaco and Death’s Lovely Mask captures the opulence of Europe amid exotic settings and treachery. Murder in Monaco begins with Hart Muldoon being hired by Nancy Trippe of the National Alert magazine to find stolen letters. The search for the letters leads Muldoon to the murdered publisher of National Alert. Blackmail, betrayal, and breach of trust lead to more violence and death. GRADE: B

In his excellent “Introduction” Nicholas Litchfield, Litchfield writes that Death’s Lovely Mask is “the jewel of the series.” Anthony Boucher wrote that Death’s Lovely Mask is “much the best of the International adventures of Hart Muldoon.” I have to agree. Muldoon is hired by Hiram, a government official, to go to Venice and investigate Linda Pawling whose husband, George Pawling, is a troubleshooter for the powerful German-American Oil company who controls the Donned-Arabia oil reserves.

Pawling and other interested parties want to stop Prince Sir-el-Donrd “Ali” of Donned-Arabia, a graduating Yale senior who is the favorite son of aging King Donrd, from marrying a Jewish woman. The marriage would cause disaster for American oil interests and the political fallout could destabilize the Middle East. Beautiful women and ruthless men of the worlds of money and power scheme to exert influence over the delicate balance of politics and oil.

Death strikes during a masked Ball and the masquerade leads to a chase from Venice to Spain to end in murder, mayhem, and vengeance. Death’s Lovely Mask takes the reader through opulent and alluring European settings with Hart Muldoon putting his life on the line to save the innocent and punish the malevolent. GRADE: A

THE HART MULDOON SERIES:

A Woman Of Cairo Copyright: 1953

Dear, Deadly Beloved Copyright: 1954

Murder In Monaco Copyright: 1957

Death’s Lovely Mask Copyright: 1958

The Paradise Gun Copyright: 1961