The Black Hole (1979)

A research vessel finds a missing ship, commanded by a mysterious scientist, on the edge of a black hole.

 Nearing the end of a long mission exploring deep space, the spacecraft USS Palomino is returning to Earth. The crew discovers a black hole in space with a spaceship nearby, somehow defying the hole's massive gravitational pull. The ship is identified as the long-lost USS Cygnus, the ship hat a scientists' father served aboard when it went missing. Deciding to investigate, the Palomino encounters a mysterious null gravity field surrounding the Cygnus. The Palomino becomes damaged when it drifts away from the Cygnus and into the black hole's intense gravity field, but the ship manages to move back to the Cygnus and finds itself able to dock to what initially appears to be an abandoned vessel.

Cast

 Maximilian Schell
Anthony Perkins
Robert Forster
Joseph Bottoms
Yvette Mimieux
Ernest Borgnine
Roddy McDowall
Slim Pickens

Directed by

Gary Nelson

More Double Trouble

More Double Trouble

Passion Playmate 

by Hank Janson

Cover by Robert Maguire

Printing History

Written by Stephen D Francis (1917-1989)

Gold Star Books IL7-18

February 1964

The Sad-Eyed Seductress

by Carter Brown

Cover by Robert McGinnis

  Printing History

Written by Alan G Yates (1923-1985) 

New American Library

Signet Books

S2023

November 1961

No Law Against Angels by Carter Brown

Meet the dames who'll go arm in arm with a snake.

All the way to murder.

And their corpses die in bed.

 The morgue before breakfast is not Al Wheeler's idea of living it up, but that is what comes from being an unorthodox cop! This was strictly business, too many beautiful dolls tattooed with snake sings had been found with their throats slit.

No Law Against Angels was revised as The Body with the introduction of Carter Brown in the United States in July 1958.

There was only one way a call girl could quit the business, as a corpse. 

And the corpses are piling up.

Barye Phillips Cover

 Killers are his business.

Dames as his pleasure.

In this case he tangles with both.

When hard drinking, quick thinking, California cop Al Wheeler goes gunning for the murderer of two call girls, he tangles with a luscious blonde, a big time racketeer, and a well stacked redhead who works in a fashionable mortuary. 

Grant Roberts Cover

Printing History
Written by Alan G Yates (1923-1985)
 

Horwitz Publications 

Numbered Series #43 (1957)

as The Body 
Horwitz Publications, Inc
Long Story Magazine #18 January 1961
International Edition #1 January 1961

International Edition #59 June 1969

New American Library

Signet Books (USA)

1st (1527) July 1958

2nd (G2488) May 1964

3rd (T4550) March 1971

Bonus Covers

USA

Australia

 

Brazil

Netherlands

Finland

A Hole In The Ground by Andrew Garve

 A leftwing MP man who fought being a coward by performing difficult physical feats then one day he invites one of his young constituents to explore a deep underground cave near his home. The consequences of this expedition were literally life and death, as this exploration leads to tragedy, which the MP tries to cover up.

Lawrence Quilter, a man in a position of power, finds some interesting records amongst his great grandfather's papers. This leads him to uncover a labyrinth of secret underground caves that have been hidden for decades. Julie, his wife, knows that her husband is an obsessive man with a quirky personality but she stands by him all the same. That is until her husband's behavior becomes increasingly worrying and she is forces to reconsider the man she has married. One moment brings about a tragic chain of events which affects both Lawrence and his wife.

Printing History

Written by Paul Winterton (1908-2001)

Harper Collins

1952

Pan Books

#343

June 1955

Dell

D275

1959

Bonus Covers

Double Trouble

Two mystery titles with the same title by different authors

The Mistress

by H.C. Branner

Cover  by Robert Maguire

  A day in the life of three people.  A beautiful woman and the two men who are rivals for her affections. They're forced to face the truth of their relationships with one another as well as with a man for whose death each feels responsible. Suzanne cannot forget her love for the dead riding master whose tragic, fatal accident she witnessed. Clement, the gentle doctor who worships her, has his own guilty memories about the dead man, whom he betrayed. Herman, the new owner of the riding academy, so desires Suzanne that in a frenzied moment alone with her he reveals his secret hatred of the dead riding master that has poisoned his life

Printing History

Written by H. C. Banner

New American Library

Signet Books

1056 (1953)

The Mistress

by Carter Brown 

She's a stripper stacked for love at a gambling joint where the odds are stacked for murder

It was a plush Las Vegas gambling joint with dice tables at the rear and a well stacked stripper out front. The stripper's name was Gabrielle and she played taps for three corpses. When Al Wheeler came to the scene he figured he hit it lucky. Because there was nothing he enjoyed more than a murder case that gave him a chance to get down to facts. Bare facts that is. Free wheeling Al Wheeler, the unorthodox cop. matched wits with a stripper and the syndicate. The stakes are high as he bets his life that he can beat a killer at the game of murder.

 Printing History

Written by Alan G Yates (1923-1985)

Horwitz Editions

Numbered Series #73 1958

Long Story Magazine #1 July 1959

International Edition #4 1961

International Edition #61 1969

Signet Editions

US and Canada

1st (1594) February 1959

2nd (1594) March 1959 Canada

3rd (D2996) 1966

1967 Book Signup

Rich Westwood has a meme over at his blog called Past Offences. Every month on Past Offences a year is chosen and crime fiction reviews are collected from that year. This month the year is 1967.

My entry is 

Target For Their Dark Desire

by Carter Brown

She was the hottest sexpot on the market until she ran into murder.

And then she was a very cold dish indeed.

Grant Roberts Cover

She had blonde hair and black sheets and everything.

All that a good girl should have. But someone decided she was getting too big for her lace unmentionables and put her out of business. Police Lt Al Wheeler investigates the sudden departure of a lovely sinner and is nearly dispatched himself. By a riotous joker with a very funny fetish for murder.

The Review
Elinor liked her work very much. And she never figured to end up dead in her own bed. But she was nonetheless very dead and Police Lieutenant Al Wheeler was asked to find her murderer and a not so clever little black book to a racket running in Pine City The typical Carter Brown tale with a corpse and multiple suspects. Some bedding of the female suspects and another murder and things heat up nicely. Until all the facts come together. A best fiend is not what she is supposed to be and some handwriting forgery and the mark on the forehead leads the funny facts. Forensics at its best, just like the TV show Quincy.


Printing History
Written by Alan G Yates  (1923-1985)

Horwitz Publications Inc.

Numbered Series #134
July 1967

The Sleeper by Holly Roth

He alone knew the secret 

And he had to die to reveal it

Cover by Rudy Nappi

Set in New York during the Cold War, at a time when there was heightened concern with the possible threats posed by Communism and the advent of nuclear weapons. It was to facilitate the spread of Communism that a young American teenager named Francis Burton Hollister was willing to sacrifice everything he might have been.

Cover by Lou Machetti

Printing History

Written by Holly Roth (1916-1964)

Simon and Schuster

1955

Lion Books

LB 171

1957

Pyramid Books

G338

1959

 Bonus Cover

Murder And The Married Virgin by Brett Halliday

A Michael Shayne Mystery

Shayne is hired by the fiancé of a dead girl to find out what happened in her apparent suicide attempt.  They were supposed to be married the very next day, but she supposedly went into her room, turned on the gas grate in the fireplace, and drifted off into the final sleep with a smile upon her lips.  She worked as a maid at the home of the Lomax family, the very same house where upon the night of her death an emerald necklace insured for $125,000 was stolen.  As it so happens (very conveniently so) the insurance company that issued the policy also hires Shayne to recover the necklace, and off he goes to rattle cages, stir the pot, and generally stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.  It quickly becomes obvious that both cases are related (duh) and that everyone involved knows more than they’re letting on (double-duh).  Shayne continues to bang his head against the wall until he finally breaks through to the truth, gathers all the players together, and then explains the mystery and sends the perpetrators off to the iron bar motel. - See more at: http://www.ireadabookonce.com/2012/01/murder-and-married-virgin-by-brett.html#sthash.vXkLOpPx.dpuf

Mike Shayne is hired by the fiancé of a dead girl to find out what happened in her apparent suicide attempt.  They were supposed to be married the very next day, but she supposedly went into her room, turned on the gas grate in the fireplace, and drifted off into the final sleep with a smile upon her lips.  She worked as a maid at the home of the Lomax family, the very same house where upon the night of her death an emerald necklace insured for $125,000 was stolen.  As it so happens the insurance company that issued the policy also hires Shayne to recover the necklace, and off he goes to rattle cages, stir the pot, and generally stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.  It quickly becomes obvious that both cases are related and that everyone involved knows more than they’re letting on.  Shayne continues to bang his head against the wall until he finally breaks through to the truth, gathers all the players together, and then explains the mystery and sends the perpetrators off to the iron bar motel.

 

 

Printing History

Written by Davis Dresser (1904-1977)

Dell Publishing Company

1944

Davis Dresser

Davis Dresser

Davis Dresser

Headed For A Hearse by Jonathan Latimer

A Bill Crane Mystery

With six days remaining until he goes to the electric chair for the murder of his wife, wealthy broker Robert Westland needs help, fast. He insists that he has been framed, and Bill Crane, a private detective with a method and manner all his own, must prove his client's innocence. In a mixture of the humorous and the macabre, Crane's investigation turns up more than a few nteresting characters, including a tight-lipped valet and a dypsomanic widow, who may or may not know something about who really murdered Mrs Westland.

Printing History

Written by Jonathan Latimer (1906-1983)

copyright 

1950

The Decoy by Edward Ronns

Death's Bait Was Beauty

Cover by Barye Phillips

Many a man have been led to heaven by a woman, or trapped into hell. Ben Sherman as one of these men. Phoebe Dunham was one of these women. Whether Phoebe was bait or beauty Ben had to know. With crooks and grafters as his throat, he risked his life for the right answer.

Printing History

Written by Edward S. Aarons (1916-1975)

Gold Medal

#194

1954