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Mark Preston #1
Murder is for Keeps
When private eye Mark Preston was hired to chase an amorous musician away from teenage heiress Ellen Chase, it sounded simple. But within twenty-four hours he was beaten up and made the number one suspect in a case of murder. He was also in trouble with wealthy casino-owner Vic Toreno. Dark figures began to emerge from the past, and a sex-killer stalked the streets of Monkton City. Then, showgirl Cuddles Candy gave Preston an unexpected lead - unexpected, because Cuddles had been fished out of New York's East River years before
191 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
About the author
Peter Chambers
96 books3 followersDennis John Andrew Phillips aka Simon Challis, Peter Chester, Philip Daniels, Dennis Phillips
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 26, 2025
In the grand old tradition of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald and other hard-boiled detectives, I can now add Mark Preston, the creation of Peter Chambers. The first book in his series is Murder is for keeps,, originally published in 1962.
Mark Preston has an office in Monkton, near Los Angeles. One afternoon, he's visited by a new client, Moira Chase, a beautiful rich widow (Is there any other kind?). She's concerned about her stepdaughter's, Ellen, taste in men. Ellen is but 17 and stands to inherit a tidy sum of money when she reaches maturity. She's been hanging around with a jazz pianist, Kent Shubert, who works in town and Moira wants Preston to find out about him and help get rid of him.
What seems a simple case turns into something a mite more... a big mite (is there such a thing? Preston goes to the jazz bar with Shubert plays, gets the lady photographer, who wanders around taking pictures of customers for cash, to get one of Shubert. Preston wants to send it to a fellow private eye in San Francisco, to see if they can dig up anything else on Shubert.
Preston mails the package to San Francisco, heads home and is mugged by 3 men before he can enter his apartment. His apartment is turned over. Preston feels that maybe they wanted the picture. But, why?
Preston discovers who was behind the mugging, a tough who works for a local night club owner. When he goes to teach 'Little Boy' Wiener a bit of a lesson, he is clubbed again and then finds Little Boy shot to death with his gun.
Things continue to get interesting as Preston finds himself looking into murders that took place in New York years back that might be related to things going on in Monkton. He's now mixing with the upper crust of the community and slowly finding out more and more.
It's an entertaining, pulp mystery and Mark Preston is an excellent protagonist. Enough action to keep you happy and enough crime solving and beautiful, intelligent women too. Most enjoyable. Number 2 has been ordered. (3.0 stars)
Mark Preston has an office in Monkton, near Los Angeles. One afternoon, he's visited by a new client, Moira Chase, a beautiful rich widow (Is there any other kind?). She's concerned about her stepdaughter's, Ellen, taste in men. Ellen is but 17 and stands to inherit a tidy sum of money when she reaches maturity. She's been hanging around with a jazz pianist, Kent Shubert, who works in town and Moira wants Preston to find out about him and help get rid of him.
What seems a simple case turns into something a mite more... a big mite (is there such a thing? Preston goes to the jazz bar with Shubert plays, gets the lady photographer, who wanders around taking pictures of customers for cash, to get one of Shubert. Preston wants to send it to a fellow private eye in San Francisco, to see if they can dig up anything else on Shubert.
Preston mails the package to San Francisco, heads home and is mugged by 3 men before he can enter his apartment. His apartment is turned over. Preston feels that maybe they wanted the picture. But, why?
Preston discovers who was behind the mugging, a tough who works for a local night club owner. When he goes to teach 'Little Boy' Wiener a bit of a lesson, he is clubbed again and then finds Little Boy shot to death with his gun.
Things continue to get interesting as Preston finds himself looking into murders that took place in New York years back that might be related to things going on in Monkton. He's now mixing with the upper crust of the community and slowly finding out more and more.
It's an entertaining, pulp mystery and Mark Preston is an excellent protagonist. Enough action to keep you happy and enough crime solving and beautiful, intelligent women too. Most enjoyable. Number 2 has been ordered. (3.0 stars)
July 25, 2016
It's okay but it lacks a bit of a spark. Not that it's dull or (too) predictable. Simply flat, straight-forward with a story that could use a twist or two.
More here (review includes spoilers!):
http://a60books.blogspot.ie/2016/07/m...
More here (review includes spoilers!):
http://a60books.blogspot.ie/2016/07/m...
October 24, 2016
Renyah. Tapi terlalu pendek. Cerita hardboiled yang cenderung ke misteri. Satu dari segelintir novel harboiled private eye yang diterjemahin di Indonesia. Mark Preston is very cool!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews