99 Down, One More to Go

As is the case with most of you, I presume, I have a list of crime-fiction-oriented blogs and Web sites that I visit regularly. Spots where I expect to find interesting material. Among my ever-dependables is Bruce Grossman’s Wednesday column at Bookgasm, “Bullets, Broads, Blackmail & Bombs.” I still don’t know how he does this (he must be a reading fiend), but every week he reviews a trio of older--not necessarily classic--paperbacks, usually from the crime/mystery/thriller genre. Many of these are obscure, and some are downright trashy, but Grossman always has clever or enlightening things to say about them.

This week’s column, for instance, covers three novels “dealing with women and their troubles.” No, these aren’t angst-ridden yarns; rather, they’re testosterone- and danger-fueled outings from Mona Williams (The Company Girls, 1965), Day Keene (To Kiss or Kill, 1951), and the ever-popular Brett Halliday (Counterfeit Wife, 1947). That last book, by the way, is merely the latest of several private eye Mike Shayne novels that have come under Grossman’s scrutiny, though some were ghosted under Halliday’s name, without his actual involvement. In the past, Grossman has also reviewed Bodies Are Where You Find Them, Guilty as Hell, and Never Kill a Client.

After sucking up all of this dusty old pulp, you might expect Grossman to be headed for the Emergency Room. But instead he’s putting the final touches to his 100th “Bullets, Broads, Blackmail & Broads” column for next Wednesday. He is a bit circumspect as to exactly what he has planned, but will say that it features “guest stars galore: Quint, Zardoz, Mrs. Peel, Seymour Golfarb Jr., Mitchell!, and the bad guy from Hot Fuzz.” Hmm. If you think hard about what all of those have in common, you’re likely to discern next week’s theme.