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.

Blonde Verdict by Carter Brown

Police Lieutenant Al Wheeler is back in Blonde Verdict. Al is drinking at this bar when a guy comes in and drops dead at his feet.  It turns out the dead guy is a lawyer. The dead lawyer has set up a meeting with Wheeler and keels over. It turns out the lawyer is killed by curare. Al gets to meet a redhead secretary, a blonde widow, and a silver blonde. Al's trouble is that he is an unorthodox cop and this is an unorthodox case. This title was revised and printed in the US as The Brazen in 1960. Blonde Verdict is the 13th entry in the Numbered Series and published in 1956 by Horwitz Publications.

Horwitz Edition 1956

Signet August 1960                                     Signet 1971 reprint

Seven Against Greece by Nicholas Browne

Seven Against Greece is about Nick Carter on a blood-soaked mission against one of the worlds most vicious terrorist gang. The world teetered on the edge of destruction because of seven people against Greece. The greedy Greek millionaire Papadoru, his fortune was based on betraying his country to the highest bidder. The evil Chinese agent, General Lin Te-peng, who ran Europe's master spy school. The revolutionary madman, Gorgas, he lived only fir the pain he could inflict on helpless women. The beautiful Princess Electra, she as a a man eating tigress who them the gang to their terrifying goals. There was also an English soldier of fortune, a huge Greek thug, and the man they call "The Black Monk." The goal was world domination, they were driven by lust for power and to overthrow governments in the Balkans. There were attempts to stop them. The bullet riddled body of an AXE agent was the end of one try. Now there was a more lethal agent, Nick Carter, but he was unprepared for the death trap set by the perfumed beautiful woman.

US Printing History

Written by Nicholas Browne (3/4)

1st Award (A247X) September 1967

2nd Award (A633X) February 1970

3rd Award (AN1096) September 1972

4th Award (AN1096) November 1973

5th Award (AQ1393) December 1974

Notes: The first three Award printings each feature the same book cover design. The later two printings have the same book design. This title has a complete history as others are lacking.

UK Printing History

1st Tandem Printing (T141) 1967

Tandem Reprint (426 12634 3) 1973

Note: The first Tandem printing has the same book cover as the1st Award edition.

Tandem Reprint 1973

Who Is Carter Brown

Carter Brown is the pseudonym of Alan Geoffrey Yates. He was a British-Australian author of crime fiction. Yates was born in London in 1923 and served with the British Royal Navy from 1942 until 1946. Yates married an Australian by the name of Denise MacKeller and immigrated to Australia from the UK in 1948. Mr Yates was working as an Editorial Officer for QANTAS when Horwitz Publications contracted him to write two monthly detective novels in return for a weekly advance of £30 (no royalties) in 1951. He was to produce two novelettes and one full-length Carter Brown a month.  In 1953 he started writing full time. Yates started writing westerns before he set his sights on mysteries. His books were set in the United States but were more popular in Europe. His books sold upwards of 70,000,000 copies throughout his career. He wrote under his own name, Tod Conway, Dennis Sinclair, and Paul Valdez. Alan Yates died on May 5, 1985.

Delilah Was Deadly by Carter Brown

Delilah Was Deadly is an Al Wheeler mystery and the 22nd entry into Numbered Series. This title was published in 1956 by Horwitz Publications. Police Lieutenant Al Wheeler is assigned to a case involving a murder of a guy strangled by a nylon girdle in a safe. Maybe the murdered wanted him there for safekeeping? Commissioner Lavers needs an unorthodox cop to solve this loony case. The idea was to assign the case to Wheeler to solve it, but three murders later Al would like to call the cops but he would look silly doing that. The only thing that made sense were the dames all over the place, at Al's place, at their place. But who wants to talk to a beautiful blonde, brunette, or redhead.

The Chinese Paymaster by Nicholas Browne

The Chinese Paymaster was written by Nicholas Browne. This title was Browne's second Killmaster novel. He will write a total of four before disappearing to points unknown. Award Books was publishing two titles concurrently. The Chinese Paymaster was published with The Devil's Cockpit. This story is about a Communist double agent that has set The United States up for takeover. Three separate incidents in three different countries.  The first incident occurs in a small Chinese village where an old scientist is executed. The next day the CIA learn they have lost one of its most valuable agents. The second incident occurs in the Laotian jungle where an American officer and his guerrilla band are bombed by Chinese planes. An important American operation is sabotaged. The last incident occurs in an posh NYC bar. Thailand's UN delegate is assassinated. Somebody sprays cyanide into the diplomats face hours before he was to vote against China. All three incidents were linked to a Red Chinese paymaster. Person, male or female, was unknown. The method of operation was within the US intelligence network. It was determined the paymaster was on a tans-Atlantic jet on the first lap of a charter flight around the world. It was Nick's mission to find the paymaster among the planes passengers. But somebody has betrayed Nick and the Chinese move in for the kill long before he has boarded the plane.

1st Award Printing                                  1st Tandem Printing

Award and Tandem covers were the same as well as the 2nd Award printing (see above). 

The third and fourth Award printings will see a new covers (see below).

3rd Award Printing                         4th Award Printing

The Tandem covers will see new covers (see below). The left scan is the 1972 reprint and December 1972  edition. The right scan is from an undisclosed edition published sometime between December 1972 and 1978.

1972 Editions                                         Unknown Edition

Below is the 1978 Edition published by Universal Books

1978 Universal Edition

Printing History

1st Award (A 239X) 1967

1st Tandem ( T 139) 1967

2nd Award (A 627X) 1970

2nd Tandem (4260 6496 8) 1972

3rd Tandem (4260 12001 9) Dec 1972

3rd Award (A 940S) 1972

4th Award (AQ 1592) 1976

4th Tandem (426 17427 5) Unknown

5th Tandem (426 17427 5) 1978

Notes
In the UK, Howard and Wyndam Company published Tandem, Universal, and Star book editions.

Booty For A Babe: Another Al Wheeler Mystery

Al Wheeler appears again in Booty For A Babe. This title was published in 1956 by Horwitz and is the 31st entry in the Numbered Series. This story is a screwball case as quoted by Commissioner Lavers. Lavers is LT Wheeler's immediate superior. Take a bunch of science fiction fans, a lecturer, a tungsten dart in the heart of the lecturer, and the dames. Even the redhead dame, with no experience with boy and girl stuff,  so Al brings her back to his apartment and he introduces her to his Hi-Fi setup.  And then there is the blonde, her boyfriend bores her so she prefers to drink with Al. And how about the other blonde who can throw a switch as fast as Al can duck. Here she is, there she isn't, that away kind of girl. People keep dying in this case and Commissioner Lavers wants the case solved fast. Or Wheeler will be in a blue uniform very soon.