Dead on the Level

During the classic pulp era of the 50's, you could probably count the women pulp writers on one hand. However, if you were so inclined to count them, you absolutely have to include Helen Nielsen on that short list. Nielsen wrote pulp and mysteries just as good as anyone from that era and her books are just fantastic reading. If you enjoy reading Gil Brewer, Talmadge Powell, and Harry Whittington, you ought to give Nielsen a try. Her 1951 work, "Dead on the Level," contains all the classic pulp motifs, including a drunk man returning to town after eight long years and "drinking up his last handful of dwindling dollars," "this gorgeous doll (with eyes like purple smoke) [who] had come slithering into the cocktail lounge," five thousand show more dollars in cash, a blackout as to what happened the night before, a dead man, and a missing heiress. This book is pure pulp from the first page with the protagonist thinking that life was a sour deal "with a beginning you didn't ask for, an ending you couldn't help, and nothing in between that would even sell at a charity auction." And this girl was something else. Casey Morrow didn't have enough dough left to even buy her a drink, but she sat down and bought him one. She had eyes like purple smoke, "a cascade of taffy- colored hair," and a scent of spicy perfume enough to make him dizzy. Whatever proposition she had offered him, he must have accepted because he woke up the next morning with five grand in his pocket and half the police force of Chicago hunting for him. It is a terrific pulp novel and amazingly one of Nielsen's earliest works. It is easy to read as the writing just drags you in without giving you much of a choice. It is short as was typical of novels in the early fifties. Primarily a mystery with a dead body, a drunk without a memory of what happened, and the most ravishing femme fatale of them all. I highly recommend this work. show less