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So Dead My Love!
Ace Double published with "I, The Executioner" (orig. "False Bounty) by Frederick C. Davis writing as Stephen Ransome.
130 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
22 people want to read
About the author
Harry Whittington
179 books42 followersHe also wrote under the names Ashley Carter, Harriet Kathryn Myers, and Blaine Stevens, Curt Colman, John Dexter, Tabor Evans, Whit Harrison, Kel Holland, Suzanne Stephens, Clay Stuart, Hondo Wells, Harry White, Hallam Whitney, Henri Whittier, J.X. Williams.
Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.
His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
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Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.
His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 26, 2025
So Dead My Love! is one-half of an Ace Double published with "I, The Executioner" by Frederick C. Davis writing as Stephen Ransome. Set entirely in a small Florida town (Duval), Whittington masterfully plays out a number of his familiar themes. Jim Talbot is a private eye from New York City, but he could be just about everyman returning to a past he wanted to forget and wished would stay forgotten. For ten years, Talbot has disappeared and he is dreading his return, most of all he is dreading seeing Nita again, the temptress who ripped his heart to shreds and betrayed him to a corrupt justice system. Returning, Talbot is the proverbial stranger in a strange land and, despite having grown up there, has no longer any connection and no idea what a swampy mess he is stumbling into. The only thing that has brought Talbot back is a letter from attorney Mike Laynebeck, who saved Talbot from a lifetime on the chain gang, a lifetime that he would have been consigned to when he took the blame for a robbery that rich bitch Nita committed because she could not face up to her family knowing. Nita left Talbot to take the blame and never looked back. Even now, ten years later, he is seething with hatred for her. There you have the ultimate femme fatale betrayal, but here Whittington offers it up as a mark in Talbot's past, a cross he has to bear.
His assignment from Laynebeck, who is running half the town with Sheriff Roberts running the rest is to find Laynebeck's missing partner, Dan Calvert, who disappeared three weeks earlier. It puts Talbot right in the middle of a turf war between the powers that be. Nevertheless, it is a turf war where Talbot has no power, particularly when Roberts has him blackballed from every hotel in town and is entirely uninterested when Talbot is shot at outside of town. You never loose the sense that Talbot is lone guy on his own with no one he can really count on, not necessarily even Laynebeck, particularly when Talbot realizes that Nita is just one more possession that Laynebeck owns and controls as he married her years ago. But that perfectly positions her for playing his wiles and guiles on Talbot as Nita has grown from a high school kid to a beautiful woman who could charm the pants off any man without even half trying.
So Dead My Love! is a short concise story that develops themes which are repeated often in Whittington's work such as the stranger come to town, the heart-breaking femme fatale, the constant sense of being set up, and a world that always seems half-shrouded in darkness and gloom.
“I, The Executioner” by Frederick C. Davis writing as Stephen Ransome is the flip side of one of my the early Ace doubles with Whittington’s “So Dead, My Love” as the other side. Told from the point of view of attorney Webster Lindley, he tells us in practically his first breath that he intends to poison his ex-wife Lydia as revenge for this wicked woman getting away with poisoning his brother, her second husband. We get a first-hand account of Webster, during a break in court proceedings, sneaking into his ex-wife’s home and putting rat poison in her sugar bowl where she was sure to grab the last spoonful since she drank her coffee with sugar constantly throughout the day.
What follows is a carefully planned murder gone awry where the wrong person is killed. But suspicions do not fall on Webster, but on the maid Verna Doremus whose father, Dr. Doremus was the actual victim. After all, she had motive and opportunity and who else could have poisoned his drink?
And, of course, despite his protestations, Webster can’t get out of representing Verna even though the ethical dilemmas of the situation are exploding tenfold. He carries her, in fact, through a whole trial where the district attorney is determined to prove (and does) by showing that it couldn’t have been the coffee since both Lydia and the doctor had a cup and Lydia clearly didn’t get sick and die. And, after all, if it wasn’t Verna, who could it have been?
Told through Webster’s eyes, the whole point of the tale is the pickle he finds himself in rather than the well-planned murder of his awful ex-wife.
His assignment from Laynebeck, who is running half the town with Sheriff Roberts running the rest is to find Laynebeck's missing partner, Dan Calvert, who disappeared three weeks earlier. It puts Talbot right in the middle of a turf war between the powers that be. Nevertheless, it is a turf war where Talbot has no power, particularly when Roberts has him blackballed from every hotel in town and is entirely uninterested when Talbot is shot at outside of town. You never loose the sense that Talbot is lone guy on his own with no one he can really count on, not necessarily even Laynebeck, particularly when Talbot realizes that Nita is just one more possession that Laynebeck owns and controls as he married her years ago. But that perfectly positions her for playing his wiles and guiles on Talbot as Nita has grown from a high school kid to a beautiful woman who could charm the pants off any man without even half trying.
So Dead My Love! is a short concise story that develops themes which are repeated often in Whittington's work such as the stranger come to town, the heart-breaking femme fatale, the constant sense of being set up, and a world that always seems half-shrouded in darkness and gloom.
“I, The Executioner” by Frederick C. Davis writing as Stephen Ransome is the flip side of one of my the early Ace doubles with Whittington’s “So Dead, My Love” as the other side. Told from the point of view of attorney Webster Lindley, he tells us in practically his first breath that he intends to poison his ex-wife Lydia as revenge for this wicked woman getting away with poisoning his brother, her second husband. We get a first-hand account of Webster, during a break in court proceedings, sneaking into his ex-wife’s home and putting rat poison in her sugar bowl where she was sure to grab the last spoonful since she drank her coffee with sugar constantly throughout the day.
What follows is a carefully planned murder gone awry where the wrong person is killed. But suspicions do not fall on Webster, but on the maid Verna Doremus whose father, Dr. Doremus was the actual victim. After all, she had motive and opportunity and who else could have poisoned his drink?
And, of course, despite his protestations, Webster can’t get out of representing Verna even though the ethical dilemmas of the situation are exploding tenfold. He carries her, in fact, through a whole trial where the district attorney is determined to prove (and does) by showing that it couldn’t have been the coffee since both Lydia and the doctor had a cup and Lydia clearly didn’t get sick and die. And, after all, if it wasn’t Verna, who could it have been?
Told through Webster’s eyes, the whole point of the tale is the pickle he finds himself in rather than the well-planned murder of his awful ex-wife.
December 4, 2025
Published in 1953, this crime pulp paperback would have made for a top-notch film noir. Dan Duryea could have been the villain, and George Raft could have played the tortured private eye. Lana Turner would be the femme fatale. It's a fast-paced, atmospheric, and well-written crime story set in Florida. Mr. Whittington's muscular prose and lean style work perfectly. Recommended.
July 2, 2024
A great little gem from one of the greats.
Hell is going home to face the past,
Rich Florida snobs,
A PI with history,
Lots of rednecks and shitty cops,
Women are the root of all evil.
Hell is going home to face the past,
Rich Florida snobs,
A PI with history,
Lots of rednecks and shitty cops,
Women are the root of all evil.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews