Murder Wears A Mantilla by Carter Brown

1957 Horwitz Edition

Mavis Seidlitz returns in Murder Wears A Mantilla. She is the dizziest blonde who ever ended up in the Tunnel of Love after buying tickets for the Big Dipper. When she is not trying to fix her clothing, either a brazier, stockings, or chemise, she is a partner in Rio Investigations. As the story goes, Mavis is South of the border on vacation. She meets one bull fighter who she thinks is the dreamiest. The next bullfighter has a knife stuck in his back. So she starts investigating up until things get out of hand.  The Black Death, 40 million pesos, The Golden Inca, people with guns. so she sends a cable to her boss, Johnny Rio. HELP.

1962 Signet First Printing                     1972 3rd Signet Printing

Murder Wears A Mantilla is the 50th entry in Horwitz's Numbered Series and was published in 1957. Horwitz also published this title under the International Edition Series #34 in 1963. This title might have been  revised and was published in United States by New American Library's imprint Signet books in February 1962.

Lethal In love by Carter Brown

 Photo by Rita Moreno

This title was the 35th entry in Horwitz's Numbered Series and was published in late 1956. The story is about an assistant movie director, Martin Stevens. He and his director have a slight problem. They are in Cannes to publicize their latest movie Desire Burns Brightly. Their star, Sheilah Jones, will not play ball. So they go off and find another another lady by the name of Liz Peters. The story goes that Liz will dye her hair to look like Sheilah to pose for the publicity photos. Sheilah is sent off to a peaceful chateau a hundred miles away. Soon a Hollywood gossip writer shows up by the name of Carol Verne and she knows Martin. She is in Cannes to do a feature article for Film Digest. She wants to do a bikini shot of Sheilah. The plot thickens when Martin and his boss, the director, bring in a racketeer by the name of Frankie Cyrano. Frankie is to make sure Sheilah stays at the chateau, in other words she is knidnapped. To make a long story short, the stunts works perfectly up until the murder. They had not bargained for a murder. The movie will get the publicity, but will Martin live to enjoy it.

Hood of Death by William L Rhodes

1969 2nd Award Printing

 Hood Of Death

Written by William L Rhodes

It was just another expensive call girl operation that catered to Washington's elite. Until AXE realized that too many of the high ranking customers were beginning to die. A senator. A cabinet officer. A congressman. Suddenly dead and all from natural causes.

It was one of Nick Carter's hottest assignments. It called for a false identity and lots of field work with the willing women in the dead men's lives. But each encounter ended with an attempt on Nick's life. The accident on the deserted highway, the bullet whizzing past his ear, the sharp-honed knife in the hands of a butchering assailant. The assignment was heating up.

Nick knew what he had to find. The Chinese agent behind the whole set up. The man who trained beautiful women into sex machines. The man who blackmailed top American officials into treason after the women finished with them. The man who killed those who refused to cooperate. Like Nick Carter.

1973 Award Edition

Printing History

USA

1st Award (A326X) 1968

2nd Award (A326X) 1969

3rd Award (A326X) 1970

4th Award (AN1228) 1973

UK

Tandem (426 4175 5) 1969

Tandem (unkn) 1971

Tandem (426 12175 9) Jan 1973

Tandem (426 17451 8) unknown

Notes

Not sure if this title was printed in 1968 with Tandem.

Later Tandem Editions

Blonde, Bad, And Beautiful by Carter Brown

Lady-killer Andy Kane is propositioned by two adventuresses with lovely smiles, lethal bodies, and a treasure map....where X marks the spot. 

1957 Horwitz Edition

She looked like a dream come true. Her silk-flowered sheath was skin tight, slit to the thigh. She was all dressed up for business...brunette, gorgeous, and greedy. Out of the Hong Kong night came two dangerous dames, one blonde, the other brunette, and approached Andy Kane with the same proposition. Each had a map of a sunken treasure in Kwan-Po Bay. Each wanted the tough and handsome American to take her through a Chinese patrol to the site of a lost fortune. It was up to Andy to decide whether he preferred blondes or brunettes, or staying alive. Too many people had big ideas about the treasure and some included murder.  Blonde, Bad, and Beautiful was number 47 in the numbered Series and was revised by Horwitz and reissued in 1962. The US edition retained the revised title and was published by New American Library in 1962 under the Signet imprint.

1962 Revised Horwitz Edition

2nd US Signet Printing

A Corpse For Christmas by Carter Brown

Police Lt Al Wheeler comes down the chimney and finds hot tempers, hot chicks, and one warm corpse.

1965 Horwitz Edition

He was the death of the party. Right in the middle of the fun and games, Dean Carroll turns up dead under the bed. None of the guests really minded as he was an expert at spoiling things and the parties were the least of it. Almost anyone at the party could have killed him. About everyone wanted to and somebody did. It might have been: Toni, his beautiful wife, she hated him and would profit greatly by his death. Iris, the single blonde and his playmate until the game got too rough. And finally Janice, his fat and frowsy ex-mistress burning up at his brush off. It might have been any one of them who decided to play Santa Claus to give all of them a Christmas present of a lifetime...Dean Carroll's corpse.

May 1965  Signet                                    1974 Second printing

The Judas Spy by William L Rhodes

The Judas Spy is the first Nick Carter Killmaster adventure written by author William L Rhodes. Rhodes was a paperback writer from the fifties and  went on to write a total of five Nick Carter adventures. He enjoyed writing for the series by and employing a lot of continuity and delved into Nick's background. As the title suggests, Mr Judas returns.

1st Award Printing                                3rd Award Printing

Mr Judas: Master spy for hire to anyone. This time the Red Chinese. A man of incredible cruelty and savagery. Torturing people at whim and killing them for sport.

Nick Carter: America's top operative, the dreaded N3. Tougher, faster, deadlier than any man, except perhaps Mr Judas. His dreaded and oldest enemy.

The Prize they fought was for the free world and the fate of hundreds of millions of lives. Their arena was Indonesia, torn apart by civil war and rebellions. Judas depended on his usual ugly crew. Nife, the man child who killed on command. Geitsch, He cared only for the huge bounty the job would bring. Muller, the ex-Nazi whose preference ran to young boys. Nick Carter had Tala. She was too beautiful to resist and too dangerous to trust.

1975 Award Edition                                 1978 Charter Reprint

1969 Tandem Edition                            1971 Tandem Reprint

Printing History

Written By William L Rhodes

US Printings

1st Award (A325X) April 1968

2nd Award (A325X) June 1969

3rd Award (A325X) March 1970

4th Award (AQ1501) December 1975

UK Printings

Tandem Edition (426 4183) 1969

1st Tandem Edition 1970

Tandem Reprint (426 5397) 1971

Notes

The first instance of this title being printed by Tandem was in 1969. Stated Second Award Printing in 1969 with the cover being printed in the United States. The copyright page on the 1970 Edition states a 1970 copyright for Tandem Publishing Ltd.

The Unorthodox Corpse by Carter Brown

Al Wheeler and a school of sexy coeds play hide and seek with a corpse who just won't stay dead

1957 First Horwitz Edition

An Al Wheeler Mystery

The corpse made his debut in the finishing schools gym astride a horse. A knife protruded from his back. Then he departs only to reappear later stretched out flat in a padded leather box. When Police Lieutenant Al Wheeler is assigned to cover a ceremony at a local stylist girls school, he walks into the strangest caper of his offbeat career. First a hired magician turns into a corpse, then a blonde coed is murdered in front of sixty witnesses.

Various Covers from Horwitz (Australia) and Signet (USA)

1961 Horwitz                                         1965 Horwitz

1961 Signet First Printing                      1970 Signet Third Printing

Printing History

Australia

Horwitz Numbered Series 1957 (#54)

Horwitz International Edition 1961 (IE #11)

Horwitz International Edition 1965 (IE #11)

United States

New American Library Signet Edition 1st Printing July 1961 (S1950)

New American Library Signet Edition 3rd Printing 1970 (P4197)

Notes

The Unorthodox Corpse was first published by Horwitz Publications in 1957 in the Numbered Series and then published again in the International Edition concurrently with the New American Library Signet edition in 1961. Cover art for the 1970 3rd Signet printing was done by Robert McGinnus.

Operation Moon Rocket by Lew Louderback

Lew Louderback returns to the series with Operation Moon Rocket. American astronauts are the targets. Four have been killed thus far. Their murderers were found found dead just hours after the dead was done. Red China was the enemy and the mastermind in the U.S. was a mystery. There were five possibilities. Dr.Joy Sun, the beautiful NASA scientist with a huge sexual appetite. Alex Simian, the multi-millionaire with strange friends in China. Major Sollitz, a career officer with luxurious tastes his salary could not afford. Reno Tree, the crippled hood with ambitions to take over a mafia empire. And finally, Cindy Sweets, the sensuous playgirl with a lust for bizarre kicks. One of them was in league with the Chinese. But which one? Nick could only wait with himself as the bait.

3rd Award Printing

Printing History

Written by Lew Louderback

1st Award (A295X) 1968

1st Tandem (x) 1968

2nd Award (A295X) 1969

3rd Award (A295X) 1970

Tandem Reprint (426 42589 4) 1973

Tandem Reprint

Macao by Manning Lee Stokes

United Kingdom Editions

Macao or Macau was the first and last European colony in China, according to present day History.  But in 1968, it was a Portuguese colony. Macao was written by prolific writer Manning Lee Stokes. Stokes had written thirteen Nick Carter Killmaster novels to date. This is his fourteenth Nick of his 18 total written over the course of his writing for the series. 

It was killing season. A notorious London sex club owner is found butchered  to pieces. Portugal's top agent is gunned down in broad daylight on a crowded street with passersby. A two-bit private eye was knifed in the heart in Brooklyn after meddling in international espionage. This incidents all had one thing in common, Princess da Gama. Nick's assignment is to lure a Princess da Gama  into suicide and to save the United States from ultimate destruction. Princess da Gama was an international tramp with very big taste for men and drugs. She was hunted on three continents. The Portuguese wanted to force her into living death. The Red Chinese wanted to turn her into a sex puppet as a pawn in their espionage plot. The United States desperately needed her help, for she knew the man whose maniacal whim could start an international holocaust. The Princess could only run so fast before she ended in Nick's arms.

Printing History

Written By Manning Lee Stokes

1st Award (A294X) 1968

1st Tandem (T179) 1968

2nd Award (A294X) 1969

3rd Award (A294X) 1970

4th Award (A920S) 1971

5th Award (AN1099) 1972

6th Award (AN1099)  1973

7th Award (AN1099) 1974

Tandem Reprint (426 12618 1) 1975

Universal Reprint (426 1218 1) Unknown

Charter Reprint (441 51354) January 1981

Notes:

Award screwed this title up. Slapping a sticker on book number 920 and calling it book number 1099. Incorrect stated printing on book number 920.

Later Award Editions

Charter Edition

Madam You're Mayhem by Carter Brown

1957 Horwitz Edition

Racing is the name of the game in this Carter Brown novel from Horwitz Publications in 1957. The main character is Barney Blaine and he is racing in the Carrera Panamericana as a cover for an assignment. Barney was to go to Mexico to play secret agent. It seems a person by the name of Janet Loos was in Mexico City for a couple of months and was on to something, then disappears. Janet found a dancer by the name of Carmen Esteros and she was going to lead her to something.Fellow resident agent, Jimmy Gibson was to make inquires until her turned up dead. Barney is paired up with female racer Julie Adams. Mr Blaine spent his six week vacation last year while racing in the Mille Migla while in Europe. There seems to be a twist or two in the works as Barney works his was through the assignment. Madam You're Mayhem is the 44th entry in the Numbered Series. Barney Blaine may or may not have appeared before this title as the book hints at a previous story.

The Bright Blue Death by Nicholas Browne

The Bright Blue Death is Nicholas Browne's last Killmaster adventure before he disappeared. This title is also the 30th Nick Carter. They called themselves the Teutonic Knights, and they were neo-Nazis thirsting for revenge of the Fatherland. A half-mad genius was leading them with dreams of ruling the world. He has the means to destroy if if any one dared to resist. The first steps had already been taken. Carefully selected victims were dying from a mysterious painful disease. Each one vital to their countries survival. It was Nick Carter's job to destroy the madness. His success was riding on two sultry and sensuous women. One was scornful and a headstrong Swede who was supposed to be Nick's partner. The other was a treacherous amoral American who was his enemy.

The dwarf laughed, his body shaking with glee. He liked to see beautiful women tortured.
The giant with the mind of a child stared. He did not understand the terrible scene before him.
The girl was bored, her face betrayed no emotion. She had seen the scares and heard the screams too often.
The count was seething with rage. He was going to prolong the agony for a long time.

The setting was in a vast meeting hall of the Teutonic Knights. Before them on a table, lay a lovely blonde woman. Her eyes had fear in them. From head to her heart wires ran to a small control panel next to the count. The count turned to the big American at his side and said "Your next, Nick Carter."

Award and Tandem Editions

Printing History

Written by Nicholas Browne

1st Award (A277X) 1967

1st Tandem (T172) 1967

2nd Award (A277X) 1968

Tandem Reprint (426 12570 3) 1973

Charter Reprint (441 08015 4) Aug 1979

Notes

There is probably a 1969 and/or 1970 Award edition out there and maybe more.

Tandem Reprint

Charter Reprint

No Future Fair Lady by Carter Brown

1958 First Edition

Jerry Chase is the main character of this Carter Brown tale. He is on the staff of a magazine called SMEAR. His assignment is to prove eggheads make the best lovers by registering with Happy Honeymoons Inc. Happy Honeymoons was a neat little organization that catered  to an exclusive clientele. Mr Chase had been writing crime for three years until he accepted the new position at twice the salary. As the story goes, Chase meets not one lady but two ladies, the only problem was they were both dead. He knew something was fishy as the cops were breathing down his neck. Blackmail was the game and it all leads back to where it started. Chase comes out on top. No Future Fair Lady is No. 59 in the Numbered Series and was published in 1958 by Horwitz.

Caress Before Killing by Carter Brown

Dave Johnson is an assistant public relations manager of an airline company called I.A.L. The company is sponsoring a tour of Australia for some overseas journalists. There was a person named Benedict Luther who knew more dirt than anybody else. Luther was a nice person if one overlooked  the fact he was a liar, a drunk, and a debaucher. Also in attendance was a redhead, Erica Scott, and from the I.A.L. office Eileen. Fabian Vevasour was a charming old boy who should have died according to the law of averages. But the begging question is how does the public relations handbook handle a murderer who has a gun to ones back with real bullets. A murder looked possible from the time the tour started in Adelaide and was a certainty by the time it arrived in Melbourne.

1956 Horwitz Edition

Caress Before Killing was published in 1956 by Horwitz Publications and is No. 30 in the Numbered Series.

The Filthy Five by Manning Lee Stokes

American intelligence had intercepted the message. The Red Chinese were paying one billion dollars to have the US President killed. The money was used to create a super weapon out of five convicted murderers. But the US could not act without proof. This was a mission for only one person, Nick Carter Killmaster. The nation waited in horror as Nick battled the insurmountable odds. Tortured and a young lady was killed as to avert failure. The assassination plot had to be stopped at all costs, the clock was running out fast. Three people stood in the way.  

Dona Lanzos: She was filled with hate for the men who killed her lover. She was more than wiling to use her body as a weapon or revenge.
Harry Crabtree: He hated mankind. He was a sadistic hired killer who got a sickening, terrible kick out of his job.
Malcolm Drake: He could not stop hating his crippled and useless body. Having life and death power over others help to ease the pain. He would torture, betray, and murder for power.
Ramon Ramirez: He was a skilled expert at his work. His work was killing, and Nick was to be his victim.

None of them hated the United States, but their personal hatred could only be satisfied if they helped ignite the holocaust which could destroy the US.

1st Award/Tandem printing

Printing History

Written by Manning Lee Stokes

1st Award (A276) November 1967

1st Tandem (T171) November 1967?

2nd Award (unknown) April 1969

Tandem Reprint (4260 6461 5) 1972

3rd Award (AQ1415) February 1975

Charter Reprint (441 23765 7) 1978

3rd Award Printing                                    Charter Reprint

Tandem Reprint

Good-Mourning, Mavis ! by Carter Brown

Mavis Seidlitz returns in this Carter Brown title. Mavis is in New Orleans to keep an appointment with a guy who wanted to murder a client. Mardi Gras is going full throttle as Ms Seidlitz gets kissed not three times but four times, she gets trussed up with ropes, and finds out her client is turned into a zombie. To top that off, the bellhop delivers a package to her, inside is the cutest little doll. There was one problem with the little doll, it had a needle stuck right through the heart. All these actions happened after the fact Mavis was in the midst of a wardrobe malfunction. Her strapless bra sprung two hooks and the client walks right in. Good Mourning Mavis! was published by Horwitz Publications in 1957 and is No.53 in the Numbered Series.

The Red Guard by Manning Lee Stokes

Three brutal killings: The first murder was a professional job, efficiently carried out by a high-price assassin. The second was a torture job, the specialty of men who knew how to prolong agony to extract information. The third was unplanned, the knife mercifully swept into the victim. Each of the killings ended the life of a top spy.
Two strange double agents: The man who sold out for money and did not care who knew about it. The girl was forced into betrayal. She had to choose between treason and satisfying the Red agent's insatiable lust.
One awesome terror filled assignment: The bloodshed and treachery added up to the unleashing of a Chinese super-bomb. A Weapon more lethal than any American or Russian have built. Its destruction was critical. A job tailor-made for Nick Carter.



Unless Nick Carter struck first, Peking's mad masters would blow up the world. And Nick was helpless without the terrified beauty whose body had to serve as his passport into the blood drenched core of China.

US book cover

Printing History

Written by Manning Lee Stokes

1st Award (A261X) 1967

1st Tandem (T155) 1967

2nd Award (A261X) 1969

3rd Award (A754S) 1970

Tandem Reprint (unknown) 1973

4th Award (AN1089) 1974

Tandem Reprint (426 12626 2) 1975

Star Reprint (352 30575 4) 1979, 1988

Notes

There is another Award reprint from 1972 with the book number AN1089. Fly sleeve incorrectly notes a 1969 copyright on the 3rd printing. Second and final appearance of Fan Su, she first appeared in Dragon Flame in 1966.

Tandem and Star Editions

Death Of A Doll by Carter Brown

Death Of A Doll is interesting in that this title was written with the main character Barney Slade and then rewritten with another character by the name of Danny Boyd in 1960. Danny Boyd appears frequently through the Carter Brown Mystery Series. Anyways, the main plot of the title is that the main character accepts a movie mogul's bid to track down a wandering wanton star in Florida. Her name was Gloria Van Raven and she preferred to party on a yacht of Edward Woolrich II. Until the party got too wild with a dixieland horn player sounding a lament in a polka dotted bikini lying dead at his feet. Death Of A Doll originally was published by Horwitz in 1956 and was the 11th entry in the Numbered Series. It was republished under a slightly different form (different character) by Horwitz in 1960 in the International Edition Series with the number 21.Published as The Ever-Loving Blues in US and Canada.

1956 Edition Cover by Bernard Blackburn

International Edition 2nd Printing 1962

US/Canada Edition 1969

1st Us Edition 1961

US/Australian Double 1982

 Printing History

 Numbered Series 1956 (#11)

Reprint By Demand Series 1960 (#20)

Long Story Magazine April 1961 (#21)

International Edition 1962 (IE21) 1971 (IE70)

Signet Edition March 1961 (S1919)

Signet Edition Canada 2nd Printing January 1969 (D3722)

Signet Edition US 3rd Printing January 1969 (D3722)

Horwitz/Signet Double May 1982 (#11a) (AE1520)

Notes: The International Edition is one of a few covers layouts that were different. Horizontal vs Vertically. The Girl Who Was Possessed is another example of a different cover layout. A wrap around instead of horizontal cover. Barye Phillips painted the first Signet cover while Ron Lesser painted the latter Signet cover.

Assignment: Israel by Manning Lee Stokes

He was known as "The Butcher" and he was a former Hitler henchman who was responsible for more murders than any other man alive. Depraved in mind and body, he hungered for men and women with the same insatiable appetite. He was hunted as a war criminal by the Israelis and he lusted for the chance to massacre his enemies. A captured Communist document gave the United States the whole story. But finding "The Butcher" and stopping him were something else. Plastic surgery made the first half of the problem impossible while the Arabs' hatred of the Jews choked off the second half. The United States was banking on Nick Carter and it supplied him with the most tantalizing helper, a beautiful Israeli agent named Sabra. Sabra had the body of a goddess and the heart of an efficient killing machine. For "The Butcher" a Middle-East holocaust would be a personal victory, but the rest of the world it held a greater meaning. For the Chinese had already started the world towards WW III.

 1st-3rd Award Printings and 1st Tandem

Printing History

Written by Manning Lee Stokes

1st Award (A260X) 1967

1st Tandem (T154) 1967

2nd Award (A260X) 1968

3rd Award (A635X) 1970

4th Award (A939S) 1972?

Tandem Reprint (852106 12554 1) 1973

5th Award (AN1218) 1974?

Notes

4th and 5th Award printings have an error on the book cover,  incorrect stated printing, should not be 3rd and 4th. Tandem reprint has a goofy SBN number, should be 426 prefix instead of 852106. 

4th Printing                                                5th Printing

1973 Tandem Reprint

Meet Murder My Angel by Carter Brown

Twenty five years ago, Sam 'Rock' Stone defended a little hunch-backed hood called Frankie Demarco. Frankie got twenty five years in jail, now he is out. He is out long enough to get a message to Mike, his son about his inheritance, then Frankie gets himself murdered. So the main character is Mike Stone and his inheritance is a map of a part of a coast with a lighthouse and some trees. Mike did not know there was another part of the map until a lady by the name of Rosie stuck a gun in Mike's back. Rosie had a stake in the map as did a guy called Mr Emile. It was not until a couple of corpses crossed Mike's path that he learned the map was worth $5 million and his father did not die by his own hand. All this led Mike into trouble and down to the cliff where Frankie hid the dough. Mike was standing on the edge of doom...

Cover Photograph by David Franklin

Meet Murder My Angel was published by Horwtiz in 1956 and is the 23rd entry in the Numbered Series.

Bid The Babe Bye-Bye by Carter Brown

Steve Morgan is the title character in this Carter Brown tale. Morgan is sent to Wakeville to pay off a blackmailer. Wakeville was a nice, quiet, and friendly small town until he picked up the blonde. She shows him the sites of the town but forgot to tell him about her boyfriend. The boyfriend was a bad tempered giant. Then the original guy disappears and Steve finds a corpse in his  hotel room. The local law decides he is the murderer until a smart layer springs Morgan right into trouble. The trouble is the silver blonde journalist whose figure is news all year round. Now if Morgan can stay alive....

Cover Photograph by David Franklin

Bid The Babe Bye-Bye is 26th in the Carter Brown Numbered Series published by Horwitz in 1956.

No Body She Knows by Carter Brown

Bert Butler saw the body the first time, then he saw her again, the third time she was gone, ......and the fourth time? The fourth time she fell out of his wardrobe. The headlines read "Juicy Murder" An ordinary bullet in the head. The picture in the paper was none other than Mr Butler with the caption "Killer At Large" Bulter was employed by the soft drink company "Juicy" to promote a golf tournament, clean and wholesome fun until the blonde teed off and her caddy went off to find the ball in the rough. Boy did he scream, he found a corpse on links a nice neat hole in his forehead. No Body She Knows was published in 1958 with number 58 in the Numbered Series by Horwitz Publications.

A Korean Tiger by Manning Lee Stokes

It was just a routine case of murder. A clumsy hatchet job by an enraged husband on his nagging wife. The murdered fled with the FBI in pursuit. Until a check revealed the murderer worked for AXE with access to sensitive military information and for thirty years the guilty man was a clever enemy agent. Until AXE discovered that the Russian and Chinese were both on the trail to grab the man in possession of American atomic secrets. They would stop at nothing to get him. It was a job for Nick Carter. His orders were to mind the missing man and kill him fast, before the Russians and Chinese close in. The hunt led Nick across the underbelly of Asia, from exotic houses of pleasure to a guerrilla band's mountain hideout. This assignment was a terrifying in that America's existence depended on Nick Carter's success.

Printing History

Written by Manning Lee Stokes

1st Award (A248X) 1967

1st Tandem (T140) 1967

2nd Award (A248X) 1968

3rd Award (A634X) 1970

4th Award (AN1310) unknown

Notes

Award used the same book cover design for all printings and for the Tandem Edition. The 4th printing is a phantom of sorts. Looks like Award slapped on a sticker and reissued the 2nd printing. No mention of the 1310 book number on the fly sleeves.