I have started to read pulp novels and mysteries on Ebook. I always love a pulp noir and have found a lot of oddball ones and buried treasures, as well as classic mysteries and sci-fi. Many I have downloaded were originally printed in Amazing Stories, or Black Mask serials from the 1920's to the 1940's and so are not widely available any other way.
There are several free epub sites to check out, and for me the best selection is ManyBooks.net, which offers a quick epub download complete with (usually) an original cover that you can import right onto your reader.
The feeling of Ereading is very different. The quality of holding the book in your hand, the feel of the pages and the look of the type. Nothing will beat the experience you have with a hard copy. However, with many of the titles that intrigue me being seventy to ninety years old (!) this is a fantastic way to preserve the authors work, and offer it to a new audience. I must say, though a book may be 87 years old, such as the book I am reading now "The Door With The Seven Locks", the action is surprisingly fun and fast, well written and entertaining. I hope readers won't be turned off by the early date of a publication, and give it a try. I've been discovering great authors that way.
Arson Plus is a short story first published in Black Mask in 1923 and introducing The Continental Op by the great Dashiell Hammett, creator of detective Sam Spade and The Maltese Falcon, and Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man series. There are 28 of these stories from Black Mask, and two novels including his popular Red Harvest.
Also known as the Continental Detective, Jim Tarr deals with a suspected arson and insurance case. He's the hard-boiled, no-nonsense type, a precursor to Sam Spade. A large mansion burns and there are several great characters diverting the investigation. The plot was well twisted, and the case not solved easily. I certainly didn't see the culprit until they were announced.
Arson Plus is easily available online. It's a short, but involving read. If you like detective noir, with bullets, action, and a tight plot, check it out. Hammett is the master of this genre.
1923 / ePub Edition / 48 pages
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