The Lady Is Available

Al Wheeler #27

by Carter Brown

She was a beautiful bohemian who wore the scantiest of bathing suits when she painted and less when she entertained. Her uninhibited hospitality made it hard for Lieutenant Al Wheeler to keep business before pleasure...but he was a cop, and he was there to ask questions about a murder. An artist dies violently, and Al Wheeler begins a deadly, dangerous case a case that leads from an artists studio to a tycoons plush pent-house office; from a lovely wanton to a strait-laced society wife; from a mysterious picture to multiple death!

Genres: Fiction, Crime

126 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Carter Brown was the pseudonym of Alan Geoffrey Yates (1923-1985), who was born in London and educated in Essex.

He married Denise Mackellar and worked as a sound engineer for Gaumont-British films before moving to Australia and taking up work in public relations.

In 1953 he became a full-time writer and produced nearly 200 novels between then and his retirement in 1981.

He also wrote as Tex Conrad and Caroline Farr.

His series heroes were Larry Baker, Danny Boyd, Paul Donavan, Rick Holman, Andy Kane, Randy Roberts, Mavis Siedlitz and Al Wheeler.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carter’s “The Lady is Available” features one of his favorite characters, Lieutenant Al Wheeler of Pine City, California. There are brief appearances by recurring characters, Sheriff Lavern and his secretary, Southern belle Anabelle Jackson, who after years of giving Wheeler a hard time, finally decides she is going to give in to his charms, cook him dinner, and seduce him, only to have Wheeler fall asleep from exhaustion on her.

The plot begins with a reported murder of a local artist, a report made by Bella, who has the apartment across the hall and is also an artist. The murdered artist made quite a mess as the murderer stabbed him repeatedly and viciously, wiping the blood on a full scale nude portrait. The portrait though featured only the model’s rear, but Wheeler finds out that a nearby oil tycoon’s wife was posing for a commissioned portrait. This leads Wheeler to spend his time shuttling between the oilman and his partner, trying to figure out if the motive was infidelity or jealousy.

There is a scene with Wheeler and the oil man’s maid Hilda, cooking dinner and listening to his hi-fi system with its five speakers. This scene is reminiscent of another detective series by a different author – the Shell Scott series.

Wheeler eventually solved the murder, but not before there is a virtual bloodbath. And not before he pisses off all the witnesses with his endless theories of motive and opportunity.

[Zebra Three · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I should give it fewer stars for being 60s-man-fantasy-trash. And yet I read it because it is trash, so I think it has served its purpose.

[robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this in Sarajevo thinking how wonderfully odd that it ended up there. The last four pages are enjoyable, kinky trash. The other 122 pages are boring trash.