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Blue Murder
Nelia Mason, wife of Dr. Carney Mason, was seeking evidence of infidelity by her husband with his nurse, Myra Holly. Dr. Mason's partner, Dr. Sebring, also had a crush on the nurse. Then all hell broke loose. Dr. Mason was found with a bullet through his brain and a naked, skinned, female was found dead on his examination table and Duke Pizzatello, private investigator, was up to his throat in crime and under-dressed women.
- GenresMystery
158 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1987
23 people want to read
About the author
Robert Leslie Bellem
353 books12 followersRobert Leslie Bellem (July 19, 1902 - April 1, 1968) was an American pulp magazine writer, best known for his creation of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective. Before becoming a writer he worked in Los Angeles as a newspaper reporter, radio announcer and film extra. After the demise of the pulps, Bellem switched to writing for television, including a number of scripts for The Lone Ranger, Adventures of Superman (1950s version), the original Perry Mason show, 77 Sunset Strip, and other shows.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 15, 2009
"So I climbed the hell into my duds, and they put nippers on my wrists and took me downstairs and loaded me in a squad car and took me to the clink."
So closes Chapter 5. Things get a whole hell of a lot worse for private dick Duke Pizzatello before this book is through, and, really, it's not hard to see why. When Duke comes upon a doctor with amnesia who is either the murderer he's after or Duke's best alibi, he thinks "[I'll:] arrange for a brain specialist to do something for Sebring and try to bring his memory back," and then, just two very short paragraphs later, punches the doctor in the head instead, and puts him into an empty packing crate. He then proceeds to pick up a hooker and punch her into unconsciousness (an epidemic in this book), in order to steal almost all of her money. But, because he's such a swell gee, he leaves her a couple of dollars, in case she doesn't feel like working the next day.
This is truly bizarre fantasy, told in a way that makes you think that ADD was invented a long, long time before it had a name. Events are constantly spiraling out of control, usually due to the idiotic actions of Pizzatello, and all of the plot's jagged edges are left jagged. Instead of resolving anything, another gunfight, murder, fit of amnesia, naked woman, etc. is wheeled out to draw your attention not-so-subtly away from the gaping holes in the story that open out into huge vistas of nonsense and illogic. It's like Paul Bowles writing for "Looney Tunes", or Mickey Spillane with (some) counseling. In other words: GREAT!
So closes Chapter 5. Things get a whole hell of a lot worse for private dick Duke Pizzatello before this book is through, and, really, it's not hard to see why. When Duke comes upon a doctor with amnesia who is either the murderer he's after or Duke's best alibi, he thinks "[I'll:] arrange for a brain specialist to do something for Sebring and try to bring his memory back," and then, just two very short paragraphs later, punches the doctor in the head instead, and puts him into an empty packing crate. He then proceeds to pick up a hooker and punch her into unconsciousness (an epidemic in this book), in order to steal almost all of her money. But, because he's such a swell gee, he leaves her a couple of dollars, in case she doesn't feel like working the next day.
This is truly bizarre fantasy, told in a way that makes you think that ADD was invented a long, long time before it had a name. Events are constantly spiraling out of control, usually due to the idiotic actions of Pizzatello, and all of the plot's jagged edges are left jagged. Instead of resolving anything, another gunfight, murder, fit of amnesia, naked woman, etc. is wheeled out to draw your attention not-so-subtly away from the gaping holes in the story that open out into huge vistas of nonsense and illogic. It's like Paul Bowles writing for "Looney Tunes", or Mickey Spillane with (some) counseling. In other words: GREAT!
July 16, 2017
This review is to defend my downgrade from 4 to 3.
Much as I love Robert Leslie Bellem, the prolific "Vivaldi" of spicy pulp,* I found Blue Murder structurally flawed. Bellem was a champion sprinter, but he could not go the distance of a full-length novel, at least without padding mercilessly- repeating conversations, recounting events just described, having circular arguments between protagonist and cop, protagonist and girlfriend.
It's nerve-wracking.
Furthermore, the tone is less slangy, certainly less whimsical, than in the Dan Turner stories and elsewhere.
It is not a long book, and the first half, at least, throws plenty of zany twists at the reader. It is the second half that seems endless.
* Did he write 500 stories, or the same story 500 times?
Much as I love Robert Leslie Bellem, the prolific "Vivaldi" of spicy pulp,* I found Blue Murder structurally flawed. Bellem was a champion sprinter, but he could not go the distance of a full-length novel, at least without padding mercilessly- repeating conversations, recounting events just described, having circular arguments between protagonist and cop, protagonist and girlfriend.
It's nerve-wracking.
Furthermore, the tone is less slangy, certainly less whimsical, than in the Dan Turner stories and elsewhere.
It is not a long book, and the first half, at least, throws plenty of zany twists at the reader. It is the second half that seems endless.
* Did he write 500 stories, or the same story 500 times?
September 16, 2017
The great Robert Leslie Bellem, with his one and only solo novel. First published in 1938, it is a tiny, obscure materpiece. Not quite the same as one of Bellem's Dan Turner tales, it is, nevertheless, filled with the kind of wacky, hard-boiled stylings that only RLB could create. If you have a taste for the pulpy, as do I, you are going to savor this.
March 7, 2025
A hard hitting classic hard boiled novel this book is a real treat. The character of Piscitello is a wonderful heart back to the 1930s 40s hard boiled gum shoe. I felt that the story was good and fast and very well written and I wish that there had been more of his writings saved so that the people could remember this classic American writer
February 23, 2018
Well done from one of the better pulpsters.
A classic work with all the errant paths and blind alleys you could want. Complicated, and wrapped up satisfactorily at the end.
A classic work with all the errant paths and blind alleys you could want. Complicated, and wrapped up satisfactorily at the end.
October 2, 2016
Every man's dilemma: You can't trust beautiful broads and no one wants the ugly ones.
Bellem started his successful, prolific career as a pulp writer in the mid-1930's and continued until television drove the pulps out of business. Then he started writing for television. Like the pulps, script writing is ephemeral. But in 1938, Bellem made an attempt to write something that would last. It was this short novel called BLUE MURDER. I applaud his courage, but the plain fact is that this book is readable, but nowhere near as good as some of his short stories.
Bellem's 1940's and 1950's short stories transcend the pulp genre with fascinating, off-beat characters and unexpected humor. This book is noir at it's noirest without having the brilliant touch of Chandler or Hammett.
Duke Pizzatello doesn't even run his own agency. He works for two brothers, one of whom hates him. He has a weakness for women and NO clue about what's going on in their heads. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer and when he manages to figure out a puzzle, the reader is usually ahead of him by several minutes.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Dan Turner's trademark humor. It isn't coming. And there's no buffoonish, but reasonable Lt. Donaldson to play sidekick, either. When Duke tangles with the LAPD he emerges alive, but missing several teeth.
It's a tricky plot, but fairly believable if you allow for over-the-top pulp style. A few of the characters (notably Dr. Sebring) show signs of what Bellem can do when he tries, but mostly they're cardboard cut-outs and I never got interested in what happened to any of them. Pulp at it's best was damned good. This is not pulp at it's best. End of story.
Bellem started his successful, prolific career as a pulp writer in the mid-1930's and continued until television drove the pulps out of business. Then he started writing for television. Like the pulps, script writing is ephemeral. But in 1938, Bellem made an attempt to write something that would last. It was this short novel called BLUE MURDER. I applaud his courage, but the plain fact is that this book is readable, but nowhere near as good as some of his short stories.
Bellem's 1940's and 1950's short stories transcend the pulp genre with fascinating, off-beat characters and unexpected humor. This book is noir at it's noirest without having the brilliant touch of Chandler or Hammett.
Duke Pizzatello doesn't even run his own agency. He works for two brothers, one of whom hates him. He has a weakness for women and NO clue about what's going on in their heads. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer and when he manages to figure out a puzzle, the reader is usually ahead of him by several minutes.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Dan Turner's trademark humor. It isn't coming. And there's no buffoonish, but reasonable Lt. Donaldson to play sidekick, either. When Duke tangles with the LAPD he emerges alive, but missing several teeth.
It's a tricky plot, but fairly believable if you allow for over-the-top pulp style. A few of the characters (notably Dr. Sebring) show signs of what Bellem can do when he tries, but mostly they're cardboard cut-outs and I never got interested in what happened to any of them. Pulp at it's best was damned good. This is not pulp at it's best. End of story.
May 14, 2008
The writing is so fast paced that the plot doesn't develop: it accumulates. And I say this with the best possible intentions. Bellem writes with a deft keystroke comprised of equal parts speed, dynamism, splatter, and flesh. There are no "guns" to be had in "Blue Murder," only "roscoes" and "gats." Bellem is far more graphic than any of the other crime fiction of the 1930s that I have read. Heck, even Spillane looks a little restrained compared to Bellem. But for all of the outlandishness of "Blue Murder," Bellem seems to run dry by the end, reusing the same phrases and descriptions. Bellem was best known as a short-story writer, and this novel suggests that he works better in the short format. But the frantic pacing of "Blue Murder" more than makes up for its repetitiveness, and you won't have much time to lollygag and think about what "could have been" when Duke Pizzatello's roscoe is saying "chow-chow-chow!" into another mans guts. I can't wait to read more!
November 1, 2013
In the introduction, Bill Pronzini talks about Robert Leslie Bellem and his career, a man reputed 3000 stories published in the pulps, the majority featuring his private eye Dan Turner. BLUE MURDER was the first of only a handful of novels and came out in 1938.
The P.I. is Duke Pizzatello and he was only slightly less risque than Turner.
We get a plot where Duke is on the hook for a murder of a doctor and a woman found in his offices carved up so badly, face and fingertips, that she couldn't be identified. The doctor's wife, having hired Duke to get compromising evidence on him for divorce proceedings suddenly claims she doesn't know him or had ever heard of him.
The plot is fast moving, the reader hardly has time to catch his breath, as Duke seems to get deeper into trouble with every move as he tries to clear his name.
Though I have a couple of Turner collections to read, I haven't read a lot by Bellem and will need to get into those two I can see now.
A good one.
The P.I. is Duke Pizzatello and he was only slightly less risque than Turner.
We get a plot where Duke is on the hook for a murder of a doctor and a woman found in his offices carved up so badly, face and fingertips, that she couldn't be identified. The doctor's wife, having hired Duke to get compromising evidence on him for divorce proceedings suddenly claims she doesn't know him or had ever heard of him.
The plot is fast moving, the reader hardly has time to catch his breath, as Duke seems to get deeper into trouble with every move as he tries to clear his name.
Though I have a couple of Turner collections to read, I haven't read a lot by Bellem and will need to get into those two I can see now.
A good one.
January 27, 2008
If you are a fan of deliciously bad writing, it doesn't get better than this.
January 15, 2010
BIFF-BAM-POW-SLAMMO! KERPOW! And then, after gruesome violence, mayhem, shanghais, murder, thievery, defenestration and amnesia, the ones who were not dead lived happily ever after and made a baby.
Want to read
February 9, 2019Synopsis: a 1938 pulp novel. Duke Pizzatello, PI, is surrounded by crime and under-dressed women! There's a predicament.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews