The Defective Detective in the Pulps

by Gary Hoppenstand, Ray B. Browne

The world of the defective detective was a strange one. Continuing the motif of the mythological hero, this unique detective type emerged in the 1930s in a very imperfect and threatened society. The stories reprinted in this volume reveal just how widely the genre ranged during the Depression.

Genres: Mystery, Anthologies, Short Stories

119 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1983

Reviews

[Edward Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

As per Wikipedia: Pulp magazines (often referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term pulp derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazines printed on higher-quality paper were called "glossies" or "slicks".

This pulp contained a few original short stories, a few reprints of ones from previous novels, and a whole host of fun advertisements from yesteryear (I mean who would not want to be an electric service person (electrician) or attend secondary school for learning stenography?)) - The stories were at times tasteless and crude but that was the expectation at the time. Weak-willed women, macho men, and fiendish plots of revenge and murder are all on display. What killed it for me were the grammatic and spelling errors that made it hard for a person like myself (mildly OCD) to remain involved in the story. That and the antiquated views of the world and it got a solid 3.2 stars in my book.