Crime, lust, betrayal and romance rage on tropical islands in these four, classic noir novels from the 1950s & 60s.
The Telltale Tart by Peter Duncan
Reporter Laura Ames and magazine photographer Pete Farrell fly out to rich novelist John Hope Hamilton’s private, tropical island to interview him. But as soon as they arrive, they discover that the novelist’s secretary Mary Belle has died under mysterious circumstances and that Cuba, his voluptuous new secretary, is doing a lot more for him than taking dictation. The real story here could be murder… and the killing might not be over.
The Awakening by John Cantwell
Devout Catholic Robert Clover, haunted by a shattered marriage and the shame of his sterility, journeys to the Mediterranean island of San Jaime, where he hopes a miracle will cure his infertility. While there, he’s befriended by Buck, a Canadian writer who is battling his homosexual yearnings by bedding any woman on the island he can find. Robert soon falls passionately in love with Nieves, a twenty-year-old housekeeper, and when she becomes pregnant, he believes his miracle has been granted…or has it? While Buck, unable to ignore his desires, has torrid encounter with Nieves’ boyfriend Paco that leads to misery…and possible salvation.
The Tropic of Cleo by Rick Holmes
Three rugged men set off for the Caribbean to find millions of dollars in cash hidden by the Nazis…and split the lost fortune equally among themselves. But it isn’t the cash that threatens to tear the men apart… it’s Cleo, an alluring, mysterious woman whose physical treasures are every bit as tempting…and that can’t be shared.
The Calypso Caper by Robert Dietrich
Ex-spy and D.C. troubleshooter Steve Bentley travels to the Virgin Islands, a tropical paradise where the weather is hot and the women are hotter…and life is murder… in his eighth thrilling adventure
An old Cha-Cha fisherman finds the naked body of ex-casino boss Victor Polo floating off the Frenchtown docks and brings the corpse back to town. By noon, a Calypso band had penned a tune for poor Victor…and soon everybody on the island knows the words:
Mistah Victor Polo was a Big Time ManHe gable for money where evah he can Win lotta money, then lose it, too. Mistah Victor Polo, he all through…..
But nobody knows why Victor Polo came back to St. Thomas… or why he was killed. And not many people care. Only the Virgin Islands Police. The Murderer. And Polo’s old friend… Steve Bentley
John Cantwell, Peter Duncan, Rick Holmes, Robert Dietrich /
Anthologies, Crime Fiction
