Max Franklin (1915–1983)

A satisfyingly sleazy noir featuring the less-than-upstanding Tom Cavanaugh who catches his boss committing adultery in the office with a comely file clerk and parlays that into a cushy promotion. When boss starts seeming a little too in love with his mistress, Tom is concerned that he might leave his wife which would put Tom's sweet new job in jeopardy. His boss is only in charge by virtue of his marriage to the sexy and rich Helen Mathews who inherited the company from her father, so Tom show more works a double-cross by telling her about the affair. She has him tail the unfaithful husband and after Tom catches him buying a gun and some rope and weights under a fake name, Helen decides to get revenge on her husband for wanting to kill her to get her out of the way while still keeping her money and his job. She seduces Tom and offers him her body and her hand in marriage (and her money) if he kills her husband first AND lets her watch. That already sounds pretty complicated, but it gets even more so with a double twist that I was able to satisfyingly spot just before it happened.

Deming is a pro at the pulp game, so this tight and well-written narrative is not a surprise. What is a surprise is the relatively progressive (for an early 1960s pulp novel) attitude towards female sexuality and the concept of consent. That is balanced out, however with a solid "women like men to dominate the relationship" philosophy, so this isn't exactly a book for modern sensitivities. This one also holds its own with The Thin Man in terms of cocktails consumed per character.

Bonus: Deming also has a weird habit of very specifically describing women's dresses (a street dress, a semi-formal, a sheer sundress with a peter pan collar, etc.) -- maybe everyone paid more attention to that in the early 60s? show less

Deming was a pulp era writer in the fifties and sixties. Considering how good he is at telling a story, he ought to be more well known than he is. He's best known for his Mod Squad books. As the title suggests, Matt Rudd is a vice cop in St. Cecilia. Although prologue has done a commendable job of republishing these old books, what's missing is the cover from the original 1961 paperback edition
which shows a bikini- clad woman sprawled out against a green background with a tag line about show more thrill parties, orgies, and murder. Essentially, under the guise a police procedural, Deming gives us a drug and sex and teenage delinquency story. Drugs, booze, sex orgies, and murder. And
Rudd is right in the middle of it, torn between his role as a vice officer
and his affection for the beautiful redhead he escorted to the party. Despite the obvious sex and drugs elements guaranteed to sell books in 1961, it's one helluva good story. show less

This is without question a good story about a PI named Calhoun, a former Buffalo cop who was trolling for clients in a shady bar. After the bartender points out a well dressed couple, each married to someone else, Calhoun follows them out and witnesses a hit and run accident,
which he offers to clean up for a fee.

The driver was the woman he saw in the bar. She's married to a bank president and is fond of topless sunbathing. At least, every time Calhoun pays a call she's well exposed. And, show more he takes the bait, agreeing to cover up one crime after another
for one of the most cold, callous women he could ever have imagined.

Deming does a great job of leading the reader and Calhoun into the bottomless well step by step. In the end, it's as great a descent into hell as Dante ever wrote about.

It's a good story and very typical of this genre. show less

Richard Deming wrote detective fiction in the 1940s and 1950s in
Manhunt and Mike Shayne and later wrote for tv such as Dragnet and
other shows. He is not as well known as other writers from that era
and that's unfortunate because, if this book is typical of his work, he's
one of the best. This is a classic old fashioned hardboiled pulp novel. It
is well written, quick paced, and possibly a little risqué considering the
era in which it was written. Stella is a young innocent secretary with show more
an incredible figure. She stumbles on information that is dangerous to
have while working for a criminal defense attorney. She ends up with
the top enforcers from the Chicago mob after her and willing to shoot
the whole town up to get to her. She's on her own though with only
one man willing to stand up to the mob and protect her. Would make a
great movie with Charlize Theron playing Stella. A masterpiece! show less