Monday, April 8, 2013

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013: The Letter A

I am back this year with the community meme Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013 from Kerry's Blog. The posts must be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname, or even maybe a crime fiction "topic". But above all, it has to be crime fiction. This time around I will be doing a post on a Carter Brown title for each letter of the alphabet.


Carter Brown: A is for Angel!


Angel was published in June1962 and features the unorthodox cop, Al Wheeler. Al investigates the dangerous aerial skylarking of a group of ex-Air Force buddies and witnesses an explosion that kills one of them. Evidence reveals that the tragic accident was, indeed, no accident and the mystery deepens as several suspects and motives come to light. The Angel of the title is a blonde bombshell, considered by the fliers to be a lucky mascot, obviously not so lucky for one of them. 

Robert McGinnis Cover
Angel was 100% female, she was the answer to every mans dream. Beside her, even Venus took second place. One minute with Angel and Al Wheeler actually found himself enjoying the fact he had been sent to check out a routine traffic complaint. Five minutes with Angel and Al knew he was in for the right place, at the right time, with the right girl. Because in those five minutes, He had become a witness to murder.

Robert McGinnis Cover

Joy Ride to Death
The murder victim was the wrong man. The ex-jet flier took up the plane out of turn. And because he did, he died.out of turn. All the evidence there was disintegrated in mid-air with the exploding plane. The mourners  included six prime suspects: Three other ex-jet jockeys, ex-buddies of the murderer man, an airplane mechanic with a grudge, and two delectable dolls, one of whom was the intended victim's wife, the other his current "girl of the week".

Various Other Covers

Grant Roberts Cover
Croatia 2004
Moscow 1992

Printing History
Alan G Yates (1923-1985)

Horwitz Publications
Numbered Series #97 June 1962
International Edition Series #33 1963
Double Edition Series #10A 1981

New American Library
Signet Books
S2094 March 1962
D3413 1969
AE1027 September 1981

Note
Original Post from July 2011 below
Angel! by Carter Brown

5 comments:

  1. Scott - What I find so interesting is the different set of ways in which Angel is portrayed on those covers.

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  2. This book was reprinted lots of times! So it must have been popular. My favorite is the Robert McGinnis cover. I really like his style of illustration.

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  3. Scott: Fascinating covers. A little hard to understand why all but one of them feature a brunette rather than a blonde bombshell. I am going to have to look for a copy.

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  4. I love those blurbs. Inspires me to rework my own. How could you resist a summary that goes "Five minutes with Angel and Al knew he was in for the right place, at the right time, with the right girl. Because in those five minutes, He had become a witness to murder."?

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