Paperback 409: The Party Was the Pay-Off / Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (Mercury Mystery 175)

Paperback 409: Mercury Mystery 175 (n.d. — early '50s, 1st ptg)

Title: The Party Was the Pay-Off
Author: Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
Cover artist: Stefan Salter

Yours for: $30


Best things about this cover:

• Aside from the fact that someone once used this book as a coaster (ugh), the book is lovely, square, bright. I think of Salter as more of a high-end illustrator than a dynamic cover artist, but I like his work nonetheless. Subtle, graceful, impressive.
• Can't decide if I like "Too Many Bottles" or "The Party Was the Pay-Off" better as a title. Thankfully, I own both versions, so I'm good. Not sure why they changed the title to get away from bottles and then made the cover concept all about bottles ... but they did, so there.
• Holding does suspenseful domestic drama better than anyone I know.

Best things about this back cover:

• This book is interesting if only for the fact that the protagonist, James Brophy, is a writer, and Holding has unique insight on the profession, as someone who had to deal with the implications of the pulps (working-class, male-oriented, low-paying) /slicks (middle-class, female-oriented, much better-paying) divide:

"But I'm no celebrity," he had explained. "So far , I've worked mostly for the pulps. I'm just beginning to break into the slicks."

She had wanted to know what the pulps were, and what the slicks; she had wanted to know what he was working on then; she had listened with an interest he had never before encountered.

"I think artists ought to be taken care of," she had said.

Brophy believed that he was a pretty good writer, and that someday he would be a very much better one, but he was not inclined to think of himself as an artist.

• Lulu's very name tells you everything you need to know about her. Pretty, bouncy, status-conscious, not the brightest — all in all, a poor match for Brophy. And quickly dead.

Page 123~

She spoke in a tone that was almost preposterously lofty. But that's the way she feels, poor devil, thought Brophy. Anything she does is right. Has to be, because she can always bring out such a noble motive.

"So don't worry, Jimmy," she said, with a pleasant social smile, and turned away to mount the stairs, followed by the matron.

~RP

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Paperback 162: The Black Curtain / Cornell Woolrich (Mercury Mystery 64)

Paperback 162: Mercury Mystery 64 (1st ptg, n.d.)

Title: The Black Curtain
Author: Cornell Woolrich
Cover artist: [Stefan] Salter (I think that's his first name...)

Yours for: $40


Best things about this cover:

• The entire book is in pristine condition. OK, maybe "pristine" is pushing it, but for a digest-sized paperback (notoriously flimsy and easy to destroy through negligence) this book is in superhot condition.
• Cornell Woolrich is the father of modern noir. He is an amazing writer (most of the time). His authorship, the elegant if understated Salter cover, and the overall condition of the book are what's driving the price here. If only it weren't for that damned penciled-in "W" (after "Curtain" in the title). What, did some alphabetically challenged librarian need a cue on where to file it? Yeesh.
• Look, a blurb from a real media entity! Most of the books I collect seem to have escaped the NYT's notice (not shocking).

Best things about this back cover:

• This isn't the whole cover, just a close-up of the Mercury Mystery logo (the only thing on the cover - one logo and a whole lot of Brown). The design is superb - love how the flourish on the end of the first "M" spirals into a little dagger handle. Sweet.

Page 123~

A querulous thread of black unraveled from the open magazine; then freed itself, broke off short, went up into nothingness. No more followed.

You gotta love an author who will throw down "querulous."

~RP