Ni Más Ni Menos Que un Asesinato

Title : Ni Más Ni Menos Que un Asesinato
Author : Jim Thompson
Cover art : uncredited
   [México, D.F.: Editorial Novaro, 1958. “Colección Nova-Mex.” First published in the U.S. as Nothing More Than Murder, 1949. ‘A Max Jacobson, M.D.’ p. 7. Traducción de: Jorge Peón Bolio.]

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Collección Caiman #203 (1962)

Title : Tiren a Matar (Ride a High Horse)
Author : Richard Prather
Cover art : Barye Phillips
   [México, D.F.: Editorial Diana S.A., 1962. “Primera Edición.” Collección Caiman #203. Traductor : Frederico Wingartz. Originally issued in the U.S. as Ride a High Horse;  subsequently reissued as Too Many Crooks.]

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Colección Orquídea (1950?)

Title : La Equivocación de Colette
Author : Eveline Le Maire
Cover art : uncredited
   [México, D.F.: Editorial Albatros, 195?. “Colección Orquídea.” Originally published as La Méprise de Colette, Paris, Plon-Nourrit, 1914.]

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   Contrary to my original assumption, Equivocación de Colette has nothing to do with the famous writer of the same name. It seems that Eveline Le Maire was a between-the-wars author of women’s novels, and this one happens to have a fictional heroine named Colette. Regrettably, the front cover art is not particularly memorable; it’s dominated by a flat, mannequin-like rendering of the title character. By the way, what is that hobby horse/chess piece figure over her left shoulder? There’s no credit for the cover art, though the soft gray blob just beneath her right elbow may be a barely discernible outline of a signature. Pluses include the Deco lettering and quasi-Deco chair.
   The Colección Orquídea was a series of romance novels that Mexican publisher Albatros issued around mid-Twentieth Century, thus I place the date of La Equivocación at circa 1950. The cover's heavy doses of pink tips us off that the primary audience is female.

Collección Crimen No. 40 (1959?)

Title : Exiliado Político
Author : K. T. McCall
Cover art : uncredited
   Mexico City : Editora Latino Americana, S. A., [1959?]. Texto completo. Titulo del original en inglés : M-MM-Minx. Versión el español de : José Villalba Pinyana. Collección Crimen No. 40. [Pseud. Audrey Armitage and Muriel Watkins. A Johnny Buchanan mystery.]

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   “When you buy a book in one of the Donceles bookstores, no matter how much you pay for it, no matter what language the book is in or where it was printed, you feel good about taking with you a little piece of Mexico City history.” Kurt Hollander, “Mexico City's Literary Circle,” L. A. Times, 8 Nov 2009

   A recent visit to Mexico City resulted in a mini-haul of Mexican vintage pbs, thus the next few postings will have a Latino flavor. K. T.  McCall’s Exiliado Político is the first entry and gives us a good idea of the slightly different Mexican take on the tough style : a pistol-brandishing femme fatale dominates the lively cover, which is also noteworthy for its phantasmagoric combination of gaudy, slightly kitschy colors. The woman and the other characters - two tough guys scuffling - are rendered in a wooden, cartoonish style. Moreover, there’s a quasi-surrealistic collage effect as the giant woman’s body morphs into the two men and what appears to be a waterfront or boat setting. I’m not sure about the off-white blob beneath her hand -- rolodex? rumpled newspaper?

  My impression of this cover is that it’s an earnest, well intended attempt to imitate the 1950s hardboiled style. However, it falls a little short due to its clumsiness and overall lack of polish. One can’t argue about those colors making an impression, though.