Dead On Time by Paul Denver gives exactly what is advertised: "Action, glamour, violence and intrigue against a background of New York", in the second exploit from the casebook of the inimitable Mike Power.
Wealthy Frank Passill asks to meet with Private Detective Mike Power at his New York apartment; the case is simple, deliver a cheque for $10,000 to the man his wife is having an affair with in exchange for ending the affair. It's no surprise when Mike arrives with the cheque at a secluded upstate cottage late that night, he finds a fresh corpse, but it is a surprise when Passill himself is fished from the Hudson River a few hours later. It's also a surprise that the envelope is empty.
Power investigates the cottage area and finds a large gambling house where the drinking parties go all night and discovers Passill was a much larger kingpin in the mob that runs it than anyone would admit. The house boss is keen to take over the whole operation; the widow Mrs. Passill shows up seductively asking for Mike's help with a blackmailer; and young Lucille Delray fills him in on the prostitution ring the mob runs. Wandering in and out of the action Detective-lieutenant Wes Halloran keeps Power on track, working the police angle while giving him free rein.
Power moves through the next few days methodically dealing with each character, even finding time for romantic jazz club dates with the receptive Mrs. Passill, until fate traps them all together in a third floor apartment for a dangerous reunion of murder and revenge.
I found Dead On Time rather conventional, with nothing remarkable about Mike Power or his situation I have not read before - however, there is enough intrigue and action to make the whole package enjoyable, perhaps for it's straight forward simplicity. Denver packs a lot of story into 121 pages. Textbook private eye action without extraneous distractions, a tough detective, seductive blondes, and the dark streets of New York. Just what I asked for.
Paul Denver is a pseudonym for English writer Douglas Enefer. In the 1960's and 70's he wrote as 'Paul Denver' (several Mike Power novels as well as novels of the TV series Cannon). In the 1950's, he wrote under the name Dale Bogard, notably the Harlequin published Pardon My Body.
I could not find a cover image online for this book, so added this picture from my copy.
Perhaps someone else is looking for Paul Denver?
1965 / Paperback / 121 pages
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