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The assassin who is going to do one more job and then retire from the business is a familiar crime thriller theme. I can think for two I've read recently, Max Allan Collins' Two For The Money  (where Quarry has a similar problem in Blood Money with his financier and the stash he has put away for his retirement) and Pascal Garnier's Comment va la douleur?  As one of the darkest of French crime writers Jean-Patrick Manchette evidently has his very own distinctive take on that theme in La position du tireur couché . Having just finished his last hit in England, killer for hire Martin Terrier returns to Paris and packs up to leave for good. He has personal matters to take care of, and it's time to leave the murder business behind. His employer Monsieur Cox is unhappy with his decision and perhaps other people too, as Terrier is followed heading south out of Paris, which means he leaves something of a trail of death behind him. Some of the deaths are the result of his actio...

Not unexpectedly, since it is a DS Cross thriller , the opening of The Politician is rather low-key. If, that is, you consider the crime scene investigation into a woman battered to death in her bedroom low-key. Not to mention that the woman in question was a prominent member of the community who was still involved in daily local political affairs. Such however is the nature of DS Cross that he is not about to jump to any conclusions or at least not voice them, so the approach is slow and methodical, with no shocking revelations. Which is not to say The Politician is boring or cozy crime, although there is certainly something quietly comforting and even reassuring about the way the case progresses. Perhaps not so reassuring though for the family of the deceased or for Cross's colleagues in Somerset and Avon Police Force, but there is at least one senior member of the team prepared to let the often unsettling detective sergeant work to his own unconventional manner and methods. An...

Magnus Mills is a unique voice in English literature. His works all have a distinctive character and even a similarity of subject, style and character that makes them immediately recognisable and unmistakable for anyone else. Having said that, I've read nearly all but his most recent books and I would find it hard to point out what makes any one different from another, or even remember how they progress other than in abstract terms, but I love each and every one of them while I am reading them. Mills has a way of drawing you into his worlds, with easy to read prose and a simplicity of ideas that nonetheless touches, I believe, on profound matters. When I say abstract common themes, I mean that they usually involve men in an routine occupation; a close and closed group of workers in a job that has clearly laid out rules, regulations and timetables that have to be adhered to for maximum efficiency or for the greater good, or sometimes for no discernable good reason at all. Eventually...

The Shell Scott Sampler sounds like a good introduction to the Richard S. Prather' s LA private investigator, Sheldon "Shell" Scott,  - and it is - but rather than a sampler, it's actually a collection of five original short Shell Scott adventures. The tone of the stories varies, definitely giving you a flavour of Shell Scott, mostly his dealings with beautiful dames, but dealing with some crime as well... The Shell Scott Sampler, 1969 1. The Guilty Party In The Guilty Party, Prather goes for all-out saucy comedy. A hot tomato walks into his office asking him to investigate a bugging device she has found under her bed; a bed bug evidently. The entire opening exchange in the office is hilarious, the whole thing quotable, never mind trying to pick a favourite line out of it. Shell is forced to put on a big act in order to draw out the bounder who would put a listening device in a lady's bedroom. 'Rotty' Fish indeed. Favourite line: "She smiled, but stil...

One of the most underrated writers of classic American pulp crime fiction, Richard S. Prather wrote around 40 novels, short stories and novellas featuring his LA private investigator Sheldon 'Shell' Scott. They have a humorous, tongue-in-cheek side but are also fine crime novels with great writing. The Cheim Manuscript, 1969 Opening line: " They say time will tell and on Mrs. Gladys Jellicoe, it had spilled everything. " Inevitably, being an LA detective, Shell Scott's investigations sometimes involve getting involved with the movie industry. Sometimes you'd be better off getting caught in the middle of a turf war between two rival gangs - not so great when the two are combined. When Shell is hired by the rather prim Mrs Jellicoe to track down her errant but mild ex-husband Wilfred Jefferson who hasn't paid his alimony in two months, it doesn't seem all that promising a case. Before you know it however, Shell is in a topless night club with go-go dance...

Running to around 40 novels and a number of novellas and short stories written over four decades, Richard S. Prather's work on the Shell Scott series feature great pulp crime writing and more than a measure of saucy humour. They deserves greater recognition, and I'll try and cover more as and when I get the opportunity.   The Scrambled Yeggs, 1952 Opening line: "I was as uncomfortable as the defendant in a rape case" . Joe Brooks died in a traffic accident. A lot of people have died in traffic accidents recently and it's looking suspicious. Someone wants PI Sheldon Scott to look into Joe's death, and his leads takes him to Fleming Dragoon, who runs an illegal betting parlour that employed Joe. Along the way Shell drinks a lot of bourbon (even more than usual) and eats a lot of steak. It's important to keep his energy levels up on this case because there are a lot of deadly attractive women demanding his attention (more or less as many as usual).  On a diet...

One of the greatest writers of classic American pulp crime fiction, the works of Richard S. Prather have been largely overlooked, but his Shell Scott series, running to around 40 novels and a number of novellas and short stories featuring his LA private investigator, Sheldon Scott, deserve greater recognition. Perhaps it's because there is often a tongue-in-cheek humour, a certain sauciness, Shell spending as much time ogling and bedding numerous beautiful women as he does investigating crime, that the stories are not held in the same esteem now as other pulp authors working through the 50s, 60s and 70s, but there is great crime writing here, the books filled with memorable lines as witty as anything in Raymond Chandler. Bodies in Bedlam, 1951   Opening line: "It was Babel, and Babylon, and Baghdad galloping, and Lady Godiva in the middle naked as an artificial eye on a white-satin spread. And not a sign of a horse." There's no party like a Hollywood party and being a...