Roscoes In The Night

by Robert Leslie Bellem, H.J. Ward

A tough, no-nonsense Hollywood private eye, Dan Turner was written with gusto by pulp scribe Robert Leslie Bellem. This volume includes 13 never before reprinted gems, spanning nearly two decades of rough and tumble adventures. Bellem's writing style was filled with colorful euphemisms and similes. It's this writing style that gives Turner his greatest appeal. Each story comes complete with the original spot illustrations that showed the meaning of "Spicy" in the original pulp magazine that published these stories, Spicy Detective. A real page-turner from beginning to end, Roscoes In The Night is destined to be a favorite of the pulp fans.

Genres: Pulp

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2003

About the author

Robert 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.

Reviews

[James Hold · Rating 1 out of 5]

I commented on another person's post that I believe the less you know about a writer the better off you are and like B Traven you should let the work speak for itself. This book by Robert Leslie Bellem has spent a long time on my 'currently reading' shelf and I've finally decided I will never finish it. Is it anything to do with the stories themselves? No, not at all. RLB remains an excellent and underappreciated writer who could and did write skillfully in every genre. His tales are always well plotted and he never cheats or withholds information. His action is forceful and direct. His descriptions of women and his slangy prose are a delight.

So what's the deal? Well, it's this. I was halfway thru the book when for whatever stupid reason I jumped to the back and scanned his biography. Usually I do this only to see how he got started and developed. I don't care for details about his personal life. Only this time I lit on a sentence that made me set the book aside and not pick it up again.

Without going into detail, and which the editor should have had sense enuf not to, it boils down to this: RLB was not kind to animals. And by that I mean really not kind.

I have no use for that sort of person. I know we're supposed to accept people warts and all, but it's not like you have to stick the wart in my face. We're told to overlook Wagner's blatant racism and concentrate only on his music. We're supposed to forgive Wittgenstein his unbearable ego and disrespect toward people and focus on his brilliant philosophy. No. No way. A jerk is a jerk is a jerk. And now that RLB has made that list I'm done with him.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ka-Chow!!!! Hollywood Detective Dan Turner blazes his way through a bevy of dishes, dames, babes, tomatoes, thugs, goons and bad guys in this collection of pulp stories from SPICY DETECTIVE and HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE pulps from the 30s and 40s. Yes...this is your grandfather's (or great-grandfather's, for you youngsters) entertainment. Lot's of fun, and lots of tongue-in-cheek (literally!) humor. Also contains the artwork from the old mags.

[Matthew Bieniek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It's a collection of short stories from the Spicy pulps, jam-packed with action, mystery, murder, dames, and enough outrageous slang to keep you turning the page just to see what the author will come up with next. I've read a number of Dan Turner stories in the past and have always enjoyed them. It's great to have so many of them in one volume. I'll have to keep my eyes open for more collections.
By the way, there have been two films featuring Dan Turner. The first was from 1947 titled Blackmail, and starred William Marshall, Adele Mara and Ricardo Cortez. The film is a B-movie but it's a hoot as well, and the story that the film adapted is in this collection.