Lancashire Post

Cover of The Body Looks Familiar and The Late Mrs. Five by Richard Wormser

Litchfield’s Lancashire Post Review of Richard Wormser’s ‘The Body Looks Familiar’ / ‘The Late Mrs. Five’

Nicholas Litchfield’s Lancashire Post Review of Richard Wormser’s ‘The Body Looks Familiar’ and ‘The Late Mrs. Five’: In two thrilling, out-of-the-ordinary crime stories, an assistant district attorney attempts to frame the city’s police chief for the murder of his mistress, and a travelling company vice president finds himself accused of the murder of his ex-wife. The Body Looks Familiar and The Late Mrs. Five are both impressive novels by the late Richard Wormser, a prolific American writer of some 300 short stories, 200 novelettes, and numerous crime and detective novels, movie and TV novelisations, screenplays and Westerns.

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The Bridge Troll Murders by Sheldon Russell

Litchfield’s Lancashire Post Review of The Bridge Troll Murders by Sheldon Russell

Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: In the gripping fifth book in Sheldon Russell’s critically acclaimed historical mystery series, one-armed railroad detective Hook Runyon goes undercover as a hobo to hunt down a formidable serial killer who is murdering and mutilating vagrants. Set shortly after the Second World War, The Bridge Troll Murders marks the welcome return of Russell’s tough, book-loving Yard Dog, last seen in the top-notch 2013 novel The Hanging of Samuel Ash.

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Book review: Never Say No to a Killer by Clifton Adams

Litchfield Reviews Never Say No to a Killer by Clifton Adams for the Lancashire Post

Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Never Say No to a Killer is a fast, lean, effective tale by a writer who was very proficient at penning marketable men’s adventure fiction. Although not as complex and stimulating as some of his Westerns, Adams’ tough crime novel has sufficient action and plot twists to make for a swift, entertaining read.

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Book Review of ‘The Desperado’ and ‘A Noose for the Desperado’ by Clifton Adams for the Lancashire Post

In two masterfully written, fast-paced Westerns reprinted from the 1950s, a hot-headed teenager on the run from the law becomes a bandit… and the fastest gunman ever to come out of Texas. The Desperado and the follow-up, A Noose for the Desperado, penned the following year, are two thrilling tales by Clifton Adams, a two-time

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Litchfield Reviews Day In, Day Out by Héctor Aguilar Camín for the Lancashire Post

“Distinguished Mexican author, journalist, and historian Héctor Aguilar Camín explores a dissolute writer’s lifelong obsession with a nefarious temptress in this hardboiled tale of lust, police corruption and murder in Mexico City. Day In, Day Out, originally published in 2016 as Toda La Vida, is Aguilar Camín’s second work of fiction to be translated into

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BOOK REVIEW OF THE DEVOURING BY JAMES R. BENN FOR THE LANCASHIRE POST

“In the twelfth instalment of James R. Benn’s much-loved wartime mystery series, the inimitable military sleuth Billy Boyle is transported to Switzerland to investigate a murder, monitor dubious bankers and a profiteering Gestapo agent, and help expose the illegal gold transactions coming out of Germany. Benn’s long-running historical mystery series set during the Second World

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BOOK REVIEW OF EVE / MORE DEADLY THAN THE MALE BY JAMES HADLEY CHASE FOR THE LANCASHIRE POST

“In two shocking tales reprinted from the 1940s, one of the world’s most notorious crime writers explores a self-destructive writer’s catastrophic fixation with a prostitute, and a meek, introverted encyclopaedia salesman’s transformation into the daring, determined hoodlum he has always fantasised about. Although best remembered for his infamous debut novel, No Orchids for Miss Blanding,

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The Pyx by John Buell

Litchfield Reviews The Pyx by John Buell for the Lancashire Post

First published in 1959 and later made into a Canuxploitation film starring Christopher Plummer, Canadian novelist John Buell’s critically acclaimed debut novel, The Pyx, is reprinted for the first time in 25 years. Buell, a full-time professor and part-time writer who penned five novels, three of which were adapted to film, died in 2013 aged

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Litchfield Reviews The Last Notch by Arnold Hano for the Lancashire Post

Reprinted for the first time under his own name, American author Arnold Hano’s innovative, provocative Wild West tale of greed, self-loathing and redemption sees a legendary outlaw attempting the perilous, complicated path toward amnesty. Hano, now aged 95, is a distinguished sportswriter who has authored nine sports books and contributed many sports-related articles to periodicals

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Virgin Cay and A Night Out by Basil Heatter

Litchfield Reviews Virgin Cay and A Night Out by Basil Heatter for the Lancashire Post

Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: In two suspenseful novels set in and around the Gulf of Mexico, the late American author Basil Heatter tells the stories of a shipwrecked boatman who is persuaded to commit murder for the price of a new ship, and a shrimp boat captain who unwittingly gets embroiled in a drug smuggling operation. A blend of crime fiction, nautical fiction and suspense, Virgin Cay and A Night Out are two exceptional novels by sea-loving Heatter, son of renowned newscaster Gabriel Heatter.

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