PaperBack: “Two to Tangle”

Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider.



Two to Tangle, by Frank Kane (Dell, 1965), one of the last books in the Johnny Liddell private-eye series. Cover art by Ron Lesser.

Lesser Is More

Have I got a treat in store for you! Later this morning, The Rap Sheet’s companion blog, Killer Covers, will carry a lengthy interview with American artist Ron Lesser. Anyone who’s been reading Killer Covers for a while should know that Lesser, who is now in his 70s, was one of the people most responsible for giving mid- to late-20th century paperback covers their handsome and memorable appearance.

As I’ve done previously with Harry Bennett, Robert Stanley, Paul Rader, and Robert McGinnis (the last of whose work is often confused with Lesser’s—which is certainly a compliment), I shall devote the next full month to posting book fronts and other artwork by Lesser in Killer Covers. Expect at least one new series installment every day.

So I ask: Are you ready to join the celebration?

Double Take

Like many other readers, it seems, I’m looking forward to Hard Case Crime’s release in October of a never-before-published novel, Honey in His Mouth, by once super-productive Doc Savage creator Lester Dent. But ever since I saw the cover of that forthcoming paperback, featuring an illustration by Ron Lesser, I’ve thought it looked ... well, familiar, though I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why.

Then this morning, while shuffling through some vintage jacket illustrations for future mention in The Rap Sheet’s new Killer Covers blog, I came across the front of a 1972 paperback edition of The Decoy. That novel, published originally in 1951, was at one time credited to “Edward Ronns,” a pseudonym of Edward S. Aarons, best known for writing more than 40 novels about international spy Sam Durell (Assignment: Mara Tirana, Assignment: Burma Girl, etc.).

Imagine my surprise at seeing these two covers side by side. If artist Lesser wasn’t influenced by the Decoy front, I’d be more than a little astonished. The captivating brunette in a dance hall outfit on the Aarons front has become a still more lightly clad lovely on the jacket of Honey in His Mouth. The hair is different, and they’re facing opposite directions, but the cocked hips on both long-legged women are identical, as are their facial expressions and casually held cigarettes.

Is this what’s meant by that familiar old saying, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”?