The Three Coffins

Title : The Three Coffins

Author : John Dickson Carr

Cover art : Roger Roth  

  [N.Y. : International Polygonics, 1987. "A Gideon Fell mystery." Library of Crime Classics. Cover art : Roger Roth. First publishined in the UK, 1935, Hamish Hamilton, as The Hollow Man. International Polygonics comes through with another glorious retro cover, this one an especially creepy depiction of Dr. Fell.] 

style *** 

substance ***

collectibility **

Macfadden 60-275 (1967)

Title : Pearls Before Swine

Author : Margery Allingham

Cover : uncredited
   [N. Y. : Macfadden, 1967. Second edition. First published, London, William Heinemann, 1945, as Coroner's Pidgin.]

style *

substance ***

collecibility *

The Macfadden paperbacks issued in the 1960s seemed to me among the most bland of the late vintage entries. 60-275 is true to form, with more of a Sixties feeling that’s incongruous with the novel’s 1940s London fog bonafides. However, it’s noteworthy as a top drawer entry in the canon of the great Margery Allingham. The quirky lettering and pearl necklace rather in the form of a question mark are pluses.

Executioner 71

Title : Blood Dues


Author : [Don Pendleton]

Cover art : uncredited  
  
   [N. Y. : Gold Eagle, 1984. Mack Bolan. Executioner 71. Written by Mike Newton]
 
style **

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   It’s been noted that the early and mid 1970s represents the nadir of espionage and action paperback cover design. Certainly most of the Executioner titles can be included in this dubious pantheon, but I confess I rather like the cover of Blood Dues, mostly because it has such a genuinely pulpy feeling to it, both the setting and execution (no pun intended!). It has that seedy, smoky back room gestalt so beloved by fans of the authentic vintage pb cover art style of the Golden Age.

Cain's Wife

Title : Cain’s Wife

Author : O. G. Benson
Cover art : Thomas Sperling

  [N. Y. : Perennial Library, 1985. Paperback. Reissue. First published, as Cain's Woman, March 1960, Dell First Editions.] 

style **

substance ****
collectibility **

“I almost didn’t go down to the office that day. Not that it would have mattered, I suppose. She would have reached me anyway.” Thus begins Cain’s Wife, the first and only novel by Chicago author and painter O.G. (Ben) Benson [1]. The story elements are familiar – beautiful, mysterious woman, older husband, blackmailers, PI with heart of gold, sleazy bad guys, elegantly sinister bad guys. But Benson handles all with considerable deftness and aplomb, doing an especially nice job of creating a Chandleresque atmosphere in a Midwestern setting. Time has been kind to Cain’s Woman. It was originally released in 1960 to little fanfare but since its reissue by Harper Perennial in 1985 it’s been creeping up in critical esteem and visibility, with phrases like ‘forgotten classic’ and ‘cult favorite’ used to describe its quirky charms. I’ll go one further and put myself out on the proverbial limb and proclaim it the best private detective novel of the post Chandler era. In any case two reviews can be found here and here. 

Dell A200 (1960)

  [1] Not to be confused with Ben Benson, a late 40s and early 50s mystery author.

Gold Medal k1323 (1963)

Title : Message from Marise

Author : Paul Kruger

Cover art : Stanley Zuckerberg

   [Greenwich, Conn. : Fawcett Gold Medal, 1963. First printing, July 1963. Pseudonym of Roberta Elizabeth Sebenthal.] 

style ***

substance **

collectibility *

     Stanley Zuckerberg was among the most accomplished of the James Avati-influenced artists who strove for an emotional-realistic style. But his cover for Message from Marise – a rather late entry into the vintage cover art canon – has a splashy, quasi-expressionistic quality which shows how far the lurid style had evolved by the early 1960s. Nonetheless, the eye-catching design for Gold Medal k3123 represents one of the most unforgettable covers from the twilight era of vintage paperbacks. 

Que Todo es Imposible

Title : Que Todo es Imposible
Author : Paco Ignacio Taibo II
Cover art : Victor Stabin; Alberto Díez (design)
   [Mexico City : ROCA, 1995. Diseño de Portada : Alberto Díez. Illustración : Victor Stabin (collage).]

style ***
substance **
collectibility ***

Ases del Oeste 381 (1999)

Title : Ésta es Mi Ley!

Author : Keith Luger

Cover art : uncredited

   [Barcelona : Ediciones B, 1999. Ases del Oeste No. 381. First published, Barcelona, Bruguera , 1956.]

style **

substance **

collectibility ***

   I’d not heard of Keith Luger before stumbling across this book at a magazine stand outside the mercado in Mazatlán. And despite the Alglo-ish name, Luger was apparently an important figure in Spanish pulp circles in the 1950s and 1960s, with many westerns in particular to his credit. The front cover art for Ases del Oeste 381 presents a rather James Bondish tableau of sexy, partially undressed woman and cool guy in back tie holding a martini glass.