The Broken Angel / Backfire and Other Stories (Stark House Mystery Classics) - Softcover

“The fun in reading it is in Mahannah’s tough-minded prose and the classic Fifties setting.”—James Reasoner, Rough Edges

“The writing is clear, concise and action oriented.”—Ralph E. Vaughn

“A top-notch story, with an ending that is rough, violent and the bullets are flying.”—August West, Vintage Hardboiled Reads

“Slam bang.”—Kirkus Review

THE BROKEN ANGEL

Sara is a great secretary to Nevada newspaper editor Roy Holgren, and easy to fall for. But it’s not until she disappears that Holgren realizes how little he knows about her. She leaves town abruptly with a note that and signs off, “Now forget me quickly.” A short-haired blond man had come around asking for her, and Holgren just knows she’s in trouble. After a little investigating, he finds her in Lodi at a hospital, covered in bruises. Rescuing her, Holgren finds them a vacation cabin along the Sacramento Delta, and starts asking the questions he should have asked before. Sara had worked for a plastic surgeon, and was involved in the murder of the doctor’s wife. Holgren knows he has to clear her before they can have a life together, but a murder charge is only the beginning—to save Sara, Holgren is in for the ride of his life.

BACKFIRE & OTHER STORIES

“The killer had dropped a match in the library as he ran through the house to jump into the Cadillac and follow me, but the fire was spotted in a matter of minutes by a passing motorist, and the fire department got there before the body was badly charred. An alert police officer who re­membered my trial and threat two years ago was what had gotten the roadblocks up so fast. The cab driver's identification, and my fingerprints all around sewed the case up tight. I was guilty...”

Six hardboiled stories of revenge, robbery, murder and mayhem from the pages of Manhunt magazine!