Mapback Monday: Helen McCloy's Do Not Disturb

MapBack Monday. I love these old books.. great stories and great graphics. The perfect match. Today's Mapback is Helen McCloy's Do Not Disturb (1943). The book also has a cast of characters with descriptions. The Hotel Majestic is another hotel I won't be checking into any time soon. I really enjoy the writing, too, in the McCloy books.

Mapback is a term used by paperback collectors to refer to the earliest paperback books published by Dell Books, beginning in 1943. The books are known as mapbacks because the back cover of the book contains a map that illustrates the location of the action. Dell books were numbered in series.

Helen McCloy (June 6, 1904 – December 1, 1994), is the pseudonym of Helen Clarkson. She was an American mystery writer, whose series character Dr. Basil Willing debuted in Dance of Death (1938). Willing believes, that "every criminal leaves psychic fingerprints, and he can't wear gloves to hide them." He appeared in 13 of McCloy's novels and in several of her short stories. McCloy often used the theme of doppelganger, but in the end of the story she showed a psychological or realistic explanation for the seemingly supernatural events. 

Read J F Norris's review of Do Not Disturb on Pretty Sinister Books.

MAPBACK MONDAY: Lenore Glen Offord

I've always enjoyed the mysteries by Lenore Glen Offord, maybe because she was local, maybe because I like the writing and the stories. I also love her period settings. She was true to her locale and time (WWII and post-war period). I'm glad I have this Dell Mapback in my collection to celebrate Mapback Monday!

The Glass Mask (1944) by Lenore Glen Offord, Dell #198 mapback edition, 1947.
A Todd McKinnon book.

Lenore Glen Offord was a mystery writer and mystery reviewer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She won an Edgar Award for Outstanding Criticism in 1952. She published 12 novels, 8 of which were mysteries.

Read Rich Rennicks article on Collecting Dell Mapbacks on The New Antiquarian Blog.

Mapback Monday: Who's Calling by Helen McCloy

It's been awhile since I've posted for Mapback Monday. Today I'm sharing a Dell Mapback cover and map from 1942. Thanks to Bill Gottfried who inadvertently purchased two copies of Helen McCloy's Who's Calling? at Bouchercon. I'm now the lucky owner of the extra copy! FYI: No severed ears appear in the story. Ah..the problems with covers.

I really like the Helen McCloy books. 
Check out the covers and maps for:
She Walks Alone
The Goblin Market
Through a Glass Darkly

Helen McCloy (June 6, 1904 – December 1, 1994), is the pseudonym of Helen Clarkson. She was an American mystery writer, whose series character Dr. Basil Willing debuted in Dance of Death (1938). Willing believes, that "every criminal leaves psychic fingerprints, and he can't wear gloves to hide them." He appeared in 13 of McCloy's novels and in several of her short stories. McCloy often used the theme of doppelganger, but in the end of the story she showed a psychological or realistic explanation for the seemingly supernatural events.

Read more about Who's Calling on The Passing Tramp.

Mapback Monday: Helen McCloy's She Walks Alone

Today's Mapback Monday is Helen McCloy's She Walks Alone (Dell 430-1948). This is a non-series book.

"A girl who expected to be killed, a jar of blood, boxes of terror..."

"A loose Bushmaster and Murder make a harrowing voyage in 'She Walks Alone'"

Mapback Monday: What Rhymes with Murder?

Mapback Monday: Jack Iams' What Rhymes with Murder? 
"When a lusty Lothario sings his serenade, romance rhymes with death!"

I love these Dell Mapbacks, don't you? This is #631. And, the price can't be beat! 25 cents!

 
From the 1950 Kirkus Review:  
City Editor Rockwell and his hard to woo and win Jane (of Do Not Murder Before Christmas) are again confronted by bodies when the Record is threatened by the new, mobminded owner of the Eagle and one of its imported gunsels killed. The murder of a radical, lecherous poet puts Rockwell hors de combat, endangers Jane and it is the Record's society editor Debbie who unmasks a jealous villain while Rockwell untangles the mobster's death. Two solutions to double-deading in a light touch, lover interest mystery.

Mapback Monday! Helen McCloy's The Goblin Market

Mapback Monday is back! I've been meaning to post more of these wonderful Dell Mapback Paperbacks from my collection.

Here's a great Mapback paperback-- Helen McCloy's The Goblin Market. The title and quotation are from Christina Rossetti's poem "Goblin Market." The novel was first published in 1942, but by Dell as a Mapback paperback in 1943.

I'm a big fan of Helen McCloy and her Dr. Basil Willing. The Goblin Market is set during WWII (1942) on the island of Santa Teresa in the Caribbean. This is a spy novel and involves codes and ciphers (cablese), as the foreign correspondents send cables to the home office. And, McCloy adds a good chapter on howcablese works. Helen McCloy was herself a newspaper correspondent in Paris, so she knows whereof she writes. I like the feminist and psychological elements of this novel. I also like that The Goblin Market foreshadows my favorite McCloy, Through a Glass, Darkly.