Stark House continues to publish their omnibus reprints of Carter Brown’s (aka, Alan Geoffrey Yates) Al Wheeler mysteries. There are 54 Al Wheeler mysteries and this omnibus volume includes #13, #14, and #15.
The Lover (1958) involves Lieutenant Al Wheeler of the Pine City police force investigating a cult of sun worshipers and the subsequent murder of one of the followers. Led by The Prophet, a grand fund-raising scheme generates a lot of cash which plays a key role in the plot. GRADE: B
The Mistress (1958) starts with one of the more shocking beginnings of any of the Al Wheeler books: the murder of Sheriff Lavers’ niece, Linda Scott. Scott had been working in Las Vegas but suddenly appeared in Pine City. Shortly thereafter, Linda Scott’s body was dumped at the Sheriff’s doorstep. Lavers’ suspects Scott was murdered by Howard Fletcher, a Vegas tycoon who was forced out by The Syndicate. Fletcher had offered Sheriff Lavers a lucrative deal to allow him to open a casino in Pine City, but Lavers turned him down. Fletcher then threatened Lavers with “one final warning”–which Lavers interpreted as the murder of his niece. Al Wheeler isn’t so sure. GRADE: B
My favorite Al Wheeler novel in this collection is The Passionate (1959). Corpses appear and disappear forcing Al Wheeler to apply his canny analytical powers to solve a very twisty mystery. The Calthorpe sisters, two eccentric women with oodles of money and seduction on their minds, send Wheeler into a whirlwind of plots where death and greed and danger blend together. Don’t miss this one! GRADE: A
In his excellent Introduction, Nicholas Litchfield notes that Anthony Boucher was a fan of Carter Brown and wrote positive reviews of his work. Litchfield also says that Marlene Dietrich and John F. Kennedy were avid readers of Carter Brown novels. With humor, smart dialogue, sexy women, and mysteries with a Python’s grip, these Al Wheeler novels deliver unique entertainment!
When I was a teenager Carter Brown books were always present in the drugstore racks, but I don’t remember ever reading any. I think the only authors who had more books in those racks were Richard Prather and John D. MacDonald.
Steve, Carter Brown averaged writing about six novels per year. New Carter Brown Signet paperbacks showed up every other month.
I was an avid reader of Carter Brown too!
Seeing one of his paperback covers (similar to the one here …) made me really curious and I like it, so bought what I could get my hand on which wasn’t too much in Germany however.
And the books helped me to learn American slang …
Much later in London I found more titles, in the famous bookstore “Murder One” – fond memories again.
PS: It’s even on wiki!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_One_(bookshop)
PPS:
Just saw that my comment is in moderation???
Wolf, no moderation for you!
Wolf, there’s no doubt that the classy Robert McGinnis covers on the Signet paperbacks sold a lot of Carter Brown books!
Like Steve, I was more likely to read Prather than Carter Brown. It was only years later, when book hunting in England, that I started buying up the Australian digests published by Horwitz, many of them not published in the U.S. (at least at that time). The only one of these that is familiar is THE LOVER.
Jeff, STARK HOUSE has published some Al Wheeler novels that were only published in Australia. I hope I”m still around when they publish Al Wheeler #54!
I somehow managed to avoid these things back in the Sixties and Seventies when they were everywhere, but a few pre-plague years ago I found one of the Stark House volumes (I think it was the first one) on a library sale table and decided that finally satisfying my curiosity was worth a buck. I read the first novel in the collection and decided that was enough. But Stark House keeps cranking the things out so somebody must be buying them.
Michael, I consider reading the Al Wheeler mysteries an exercise in nostalgia. I read them in the Sixties and at the time they were Hot Stuff featuring voluptuous women and smart-ass repartee.
It is ages since I read a Carter Brown. Once upon a time he was very popular in India. Though ‘respectable’ libraries didn’t stock him, his books filled the shelves of provision shops cum libraries. I hardly find him now. Thanks for bringing back those memories, George.
neeru, Carter Brown seemed to have international appeal. If you want some Carter Brown now, STARK HOUSE is the place to look.