The Danger Zone and Other Stories (Lost Classics)
Part of the Lost Classics series, these 11 previously uncollected tales of sneaky sleuths, dashing diplomats, and chivalrous crooks will tickle Gardner's loyal fans. Churning out most of these yarns in the 1930s for pulps such asDime Detective, Gardner gave his reed-thin characters one defining trait--such as Key-Clew Clark, a criminologist who always zeroed in on one critical clue. Then Gardner set in motion plots only Rube Goldberg (and perhaps Scooby-Doo) could love. Acting on wild-but-accurate hunches, his protagonists expose the guilty through cons so baroque--planting skunks under couches, salting crime scenes with false clues, hiring expert forgers to impersonate plaintiffs--they can be summed up only with the phrase, "It's so crazy, it just might work!" The real revelation here is 1933's "Time for Murder," in which a society swell gets the drop on a safecracker in his den. After the young bachelor orders the criminal to relieve his boredom by taking him on as an apprentice, they end up on the lam with a frightened monkey.Frank SennettCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.