Friday, February 21, 2014

Friday's Forgotten Books, Friday, February 21, 2014




Death of a Doll, Hilda Lawrence

I saw this in vintage paperback in a bookstore in Carlsbad, CA and remembered reading Lawrence's books (I think there were about four or so) back in the day. This was not the cover I saw.  This review is largely borrowed from Good Reads because I didn't spend the $ to buy it.




Ruth Miller moves into Hope House, a home for working girls (and not in the newer meaning) and was found dead shorty after. The home officials cover it up, getting an official verdict of "fell or jumped," Nobody knows Ruth well enough to look into it.  But it turns out that Ruth did have a friend, whom no one--certainly not her murderer--had bargained for, and she was determined to see justice done.

Serge Angelini, LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN, Ed McBain
Joe Barone, THE OLD GRAY WOLF, James D. Doss
Brian Busby, HIGH TIDE IS AT MIDNIGHT, Ronald Cocking
Bill Crider, FIND EILEEN HARDIN-ALIVE, Andrew Frazier
Martin Edwards, CALAMITY TOWN, Ellery Queen
Curt Evans, SIX AGAINST THE YARD, Margery Allingham et al
Rich Horton, HALF ROGUE and THE BEST MAN, Harold Macgrath
Nick Jones, HIGH RISE. J.G. Ballard
George Kelley, LADY ON THE CASE, edited by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muelller
Margot Kinberg, A FEW RIGHT -THINKING MEN, Sulari Gentill
B.V. Lawson,  The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by Catherine Louisa Pirkis
Evan Lewis, DAFFY DILL in "THE DANCING CORPSE" Richard Sale
Todd Mason, COLLEGE PARODIES, edited by Will and Martin Lieberman
J.F. Norris, DEATH WEARS A WHITE GARDENIA, Zelda Popkins
James Reasoner, THE YEAR WHEN STARDUST FELL Raymond F. Jones
Richard Robinson, THE DRAGONS OF ARCHENFIELD, Edward Marston
Gerard Saylor, THE DEAD WOMEN OF JUAREZ, Sam Hawken
Ron Scheer, A SOLDIER'S WAY, Dane Coolidge
Michael Slind, DAYS OF MISFORTUNE, Aaron Marc Stein
Kevin Tipple/Patrick Ohl, THE CORPSE IN THE CAR, John Rhode
Prashant Trikannad, JOHN GARDNER'S JAMES BOND novels
TomCat, THE CRIMSON FOG, Paul Haulter
Prashant Trikannad, John Gardner's James Bond novels

8 comments:

Todd Mason said...

I'm in, with:
COLLEGE PARODIES edited by Will and Martin Lieberson

Todd Mason said...

Yeah, that's a print-on-demand sort of cover for the Lawrence novel. Possibly in use on a (supposedly) public-domain ebook, as well...that sort of thing. Was this one particularly good? The one you'd start with with Lawrence?

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Patti, I'll have my review of "John Gardner's James Bond novels" ready in a short while. Thanks very much.

Anonymous said...

The one Lawrence I read was her first, BLOOD UPON THE SNOW, which introduced her main detective Mark East. Two or three of hers were reprinted in the Avon Classic Crime Collection series. I used to have them all.

Jeff M.

J F Norris said...

I'd suggest BLOOD UPON THE SNOW as a good example of what Hilda Lawrence did with the detective novel. It's an unusual blend of HIBK and the private eye novel. Like Mignon Eberhart she was good at creating creepy atmosphere.

J F Norris said...

My post is up now:
Death Wears a White Gardenia by Zelda Popkin

Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) said...

I have BLOOD ON THE SNOW by Lawrence to read on my TBR sp shall dig that one out - thanks fpr the reminder Patti (and John)!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, as always, for including my stuff, Patti.