"Doctor Cockaigne" by N.E. Davies (Methuen, 1930)

Found on the "Vintage" table at the Lifeline Bookfair.  It appears to be a first (and only?) edition, and wonder of wonders, it has its dust jacket intact!

PROFESSOR SARQUE is found dead at his private laboratory at Berkeley College, killed by an overdose of a new alkaloid which he had recently discovered.  Is his death accident, suicide—or murder?  For those who seek thrills, here are thrills in plenty.  For those who would exercise their wits, here is a wonderful opportunity.

Just a quick note before I start: I left this blog dormant for a while because I wasn't sure what to do with it.  On the one hand, you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover.  On the other hand, I was buying these vintage books for their covers (or dust jackets in the case of hardbacks!)  So I decided I'd split my commentary into two parts: "Judging the Cover" and "Judging the Book".  Of course I'm going to add my usual snippets of random snark as I go along!

So to begin...

Judging the Cover

And my, what a fascinating cover we have to kick off with!  There's drama galore as a sinister man appears to be about to hurl an unconscious young woman off the parapets of a castle.  Is he a criminal mastermind?  A mad scientist?  The villain's hapless henchman?  Who is the young woman, and how did he get hold of her?  This dust jacket could easily double as a contemporary movie poster advertising a horror film.  From Universal Studios, maybe, and staring Boris Karloff...

Judging the Book

The "Methuen Clue Stories" series was set up to discover and publish new authors.  Dr Cockcaigne is therefore N.E. Davies' first—and possibly only—book.   It has the sort of faults a novice writer produces: improbable incident piled on improbable incident, and enough coincidences to supply the complete works of Dickens!  On the other hand, it moves at a fast and entertaining pace and there's an excellent surprise twist at the end.  I had to go through the book again once I'd read it to realise the clues had been there all along, and I'd missed them!

The Right Hand of Dextra, and, The Gods of Xuma by David J. Lake (DAW, 1977 and 1978)

TO THE PURPLE BORN

The key to life on Earth is the DNA helix, which determines all the characteristics of every living thing.  The helix, a series of molecules within the life cell, is a spiral—with a left-hand turn.

The planet called Dextra could have been a duplicate of Earth.  It teemed with life, both fauna and flora.  But on Dextra the helix of life had a right-hand thread.  And there could be no viable combination between the two life forms, the native and the invading Terran. 

So it became a battle on the part of the colonists to uproot the native Dextran ecology—purple plants and beasts with surprising intelligence—and replace it with Earth-born green.  But the planet fought back in its own way.  And the result is a science fiction novel that is unusual, exciting, and highly original. 

(I'm tempted to make a joke about Dextra's right hand, but all I'll say is that there's some very strategically placed vegetation on this cover.  Moving right along...) 

BARSOOM REVISITED?

If the universe is infinite, it follows that there may be somewhere real physical worlds that duplicate those of the imagination.  And when Tom Carson caught sight of the third planet of 83 Eridani he recognized at once its resemblance to that imaginary Mars called "Barsoom" of the ancient novelist Burroughs.

Of course there were differences, but even so this planet was ruddy, criss-crossed with canals, and its inhabitants were redskinned, fought with swords, and had many things superficially in common with the fantasy Mars of the John Carter adventures. 

But there were indeed vital variations that would eventually trip up the self-deceived science-fiction-reading travellers from 24th century Earth.  Therin hangs a tale that will delight and surprise everyone who enjoys the thrill of exploring a new world, especially one that seems peculiarly familiar.

(Why is our hero wearing ski boots on a desert planet?)

By the 1970s paperback covers had grown exceedingly dull—except for the genres of fantasy, science fiction and (oddly enough) gothic romance.  These DAW covers with their bright colours and exotic creatures are definitely eye-catching!

"The Case of the Smoking Chimney" by Erle Stanley Gardner (Horwitz, 1963)

Found at the Lifeline Bookfair. Where else?

Millions of readers throughout the world read the cases of wily lawyer-detective Perry Mason and follow his brilliant courtroom career on television.

Here is another fast-moving story of Erle Stanley Gardner's famous hero.

This blurb on the back cover literally says nothing but: Here is another Perry Mason adventure.  But what else do you need to say?

(Oh, and it ties it in nicely with the Perry Mason TV series by depicting our hero on the cover looking suspiciously like Raymond Burr!)

Murder by the Pack by Carl G. Hodges (Original Novels Foundation, 1960?)

Found in a dusty corner of the Green Shed:

They got to Cochran just outside the safety of his home.  And when Bob Ruff got there his pal was sprawled out on the sidewalk—dead with nine bullets in his body. 

The tough shamus owed his life to the murdered man and he vowed this was one gang-killing that was going to be avenged. 

Ruff figured he was going up against vicious opposition, but he didn't know just how vicious until he met a girl on the run. 

Cherry Morgan knew more about the rackets than was good for her health.  And when Ruff learned the score he knew that every moment they both lived from then on was on borrowed time!

Though a lot of these digest sized novellas were published in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s, not many of them have survived.  They appear to have been throwaway material—quick and easy reads for commuters on their journeys to and from work.  I read this on the bus this morning and it was just the thing for the journey: an absorbing page turner that was small enough to stuff into a bag or a pocket when I reached my stop!

Dark Duet by Peter Cheyney (Pan, 1958)

(For the Fontana edition of the same book, go here.)

COUNTER ESPIONAGE!

IN THIS BUSINESS YOU'RE EITHER A BRAVE MAN ... OR A DEAD ONE

A look of intense surprise came over Mrs Marques's face.  Then her mouth opened.

Her face twisted in supreme agony for a split second; then she slumped sideways on the settee.

You have to be as tough as seven devils in hell for Process 5 ... but it's artistic.

"Process 5" is murder... of course!

Terror at Seacliff Pines by Florence Hurd (Manor Books, 1976)

A large scary house in the background?  A pretty young woman in the foreground?  This has got to be a Modern Gothic novel.

HOUSE OF TERROR

When young Jennifer inherited an old and sprawling mansion on the rocky California coast, a whole new world opened up to her.  She planned to sell the house, to travel, to do what she had always dreamed of.

But when she arrived at Seacliff Pines, her dreams became visions of hell.  For the house was tainted with the touch of death and alive with the whispers of madness...

It's a slightly unusual cover, because Our Heroine isn't running away from her "HOUSE OF TERROR" so much as standing around contemplating running away from it.  Or maybe walking away from it very, very slowly...

(I won't go into to the plot.  Suffice it to say it is resolved with very bizarre twist!)

Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (Pan, 1958)

Found in a corner of The Green Shed:

Boisterous, Light-hearted, Impudent! 

High spirits, robust and tender humour, in this gay story by America's famous novelist

JOHN

STEINBECK

AT Cannery Row, derelict Californian seaside town, Doc's friends are worried.  Doc's a scientist who makes a scanty living by collecting and selling marine specimens.  He's unhappy, needs looking after.

What to do?  Marry him off, of course. But to whom?  Well, there's the new girl at the house called Bear Flag.  She's tough and pretty, and not really good at her job because "she's got a streak of lady in her." 

Will Doc take her on?  Suzy is suspicious, Doc needs prodding.  But when Suzy goes to live respectably in an abandoned boiler, things start moving. 

Warning: not for the prudish!

I'm not a big fan of Steinbeck, but I love this cover.  Artist: Cy Webb.